Physical Science
You touch a metal handle on a hot pan and get burned. What method of heat transfer is this?
A) Radiation
B) Convection
C) Conduction
D) Insulation
What is conduction?
The process by which water vapor cools down and turns back into liquid water droplets to form clouds is called:
A) Evaporation
B) Precipitation
C) Condensation
D) Transpiration
What is condensation?
Which organelle is known as the "control center" of the cell because it contains the genetic material (DNA)?
A) Mitochondria
B) Cell Membrane
C) Nucleus
D) Vacuole
What is nucleus?
In a scientific experiment, the factor that the scientist deliberately changes or manipulates is called the:
A) Constant
B) Dependent Variable
C) Independent Variable
D) Control Group
What is an independent variable?
Which tool would you use to measure the volume of a liquid most accurately?
A) Triple Beam Balance
B) Meter Stick
C) Graduated Cylinder
D) Spring Scale
What is a graduated cylinder?
When a light wave hits a smooth, shiny surface and bounces off, it is called:
A) Refraction
B) Reflection
C) Absorption
D) Transmission
What is reflection?
A boundary where two different air masses (such as cold and warm) meet is called a:
A) Current
B) Front
C) Cyclone
D) Jet Stream
What is a front?
Plant cells have a rigid outer layer that provides support and protection which animal cells lack. What is it called?
A) Cytoplasm
B) Cell Wall
C) Chloroplast
D) Ribosome
What is cell wall?
A student wants to see if the amount of sunlight affects plant growth. They use three identical plants, give them the same amount of water, but place them in different light levels. In this experiment, what is the "amount of water"?
A) The Independent Variable
B) The Dependent Variable
C) The Controlled Variable (Constant)
D) The Hypothesis
What is a controlled variable?
Because the Earth rotates, global winds curve rather than move in a straight line. This is known as:
A) The Greenhouse Effect
B) The Coriolis Effect
C) The Doppler Effect
D) The Convection Effect
What is the Coriolis Effect?
According to the Law of Superposition, in a sequence of undisturbed sedimentary rocks, where is the oldest layer?
A) The top layer
B) The middle layer
C) The bottom layer
D) The layer with the most water
What is the ultimate source of energy that drives the water cycle and all weather patterns on Earth?
A) The Moon
B) Ocean Currents
C) The Sun
D) Earth's Core
What is the sun?
What is the correct order of organization in living things from simplest to most complex?
A) Tissue -> Cell -> Organ -> Organ System
B) Cell -> Tissue -> Organ -> Organ System
C) Organ -> Organ System -> Cell -> Tissue
D) Cell -> Organ -> Tissue -> Organ System
What is Cell -> Tissue -> Organ -> Organ System?
Which of the following is a "quantitative" observation about a rock sample?
A) The rock is rough and bumpy.
B) The rock has a mass of 15.5 grams.
C) The rock is dark grey with white spots.
D) The rock smells like wet dirt.
The rock has a mass of 15.5 grams
The highest point of a transverse wave is called the crest. What is the name for the lowest point of the wave?
A) Compression
B) Rarefaction
C) Trough
D) Amplitude
What is the trough?
Which type of rock forms specifically from the cooling and hardening of magma or lava?
A) Sedimentary
B) Metamorphic
C) Igneous
D) Fossilized
What is igneous?
If a scientist finds a fossil of a sea shell on the top of a high mountain in South Carolina, what is the most likely scientific explanation?
A) A giant bird carried the shell to the mountain top.
B) The mountain was once covered by an ocean before tectonic plates pushed the land upward.
C) Someone dropped the shell there while hiking.
D) Sea shells can grow on land if there is enough rain.
Answer: B) The mountain was once covered by an ocean before tectonic plates pushed the land upward.
These specialized cells in the nervous system are responsible for transmitting electrical signals throughout the body to respond to stimuli.
A) Blood Cells
B) Muscle Cells
C) Neurons
D) Epithelial Cells
What are neurons?
After collecting data during an experiment, a scientist makes a statement that sums up the findings and explains whether the hypothesis was supported. This is called the:
A) Procedure
B) Conclusion
C) Observation
D) Problem Statement
What is the conclusion?
This term describes the number of waves that pass a specific point in a certain amount of time (usually one second).
A) Frequency
B) Velocity
C) Period
D) Rarefaction
What is frequency?
A straw in a glass of water looks "bent" or "broken" because light changes speed as it moves from air to water. This is called:
A) Reflection
B) Refraction
C) Diffraction
D) Diffusion
What is refraction?
This process describes how rocks are continuously broken down, changed, and recycled into new types of rocks over millions of years.
A) The Water Cycle
B) The Rock Cycle
C) The Life Cycle
D) The Tectonic Cycle
The rock cycle
Often called the "powerhouse" of the cell, this organelle converts nutrients into energy (ATP).
A) Ribosome
B) Chloroplast
C) Mitochondria
D) Golgi Body
What is mitochrondria?
Why is it important for a scientist to perform multiple trials (repeat the experiment) instead of just doing it once?
A) To make the experiment take longer.
B) To ensure the results are consistent and not just a fluke.
C) To change the independent variable each time.
D) To make sure they use up all their supplies.
What is to ensure the results are consistent and not just a fluke?
Unlike sound waves, which require a medium (like air or water) to travel, electromagnetic waves (like light) are unique because they can travel through:
A) Only solid steel
B) A vacuum (empty space)
C) Only very hot liquids
D) Dark matter only
What is a vacuum?