Nature of Science
Ty states that the rock is rough and gray. Has he made an inference, observation, or prediction?
He is gathering information through his senses. This is an observation.
What is the ocean?
False-Rocks are made of minerals.
Which type of air pressure is associated with stormy weather-high pressure or low pressure?
Low pressure is associated with stormy weather.
Matter is anything that has ______________ and _______________.
What are mass and volume?
Solar energy, wind, and water would all be considered-renewable or nonrenewable-resources.
These are all renewable resources.
Yolanda notices that several grasshoppers are near a particular plant. Yolanda states that they must like to eat the leaves of this plant. Has she made an inference, observation, or prediction?
Yolanda is sharing an idea about why something is happening. She has made an inference.
This gives energy to keep the water cycle going.
What is the sun?
Alan scrapes a mineral against a white tile and observes the powder left behind. What is Alan testing?
He is testing streak color.
What environment is known for receiving almost no precipitation and being VERY dry?
The desert environment is very dry and gets almost no precipitation.
Which state of matter has a shape that does not change, even if you change it to another container?
This would be a solid.
Coal, oil, silica, and limestone would all be considered-renewable or nonrenewable-resources.
They are nonrenewable resources.
Joy comes in from outside and states that it will rain soon. Has she made an inference, observation, or prediction?
Joy is predicting something that may happen in the future but has not happened yet. This is a prediction.
What is condensation?
A rock formed when melted/molten lava or magma cools and hardens is this type.
What is igneous?
Kyle goes outside and sees a large, towering, black cloud. It is 68 degrees Fahrenheit when a solid form of precipitation begins to fall.
A. What was the cloud type Kyle observed?
B. What type of precipitation was falling?
A. The cloud type was cumulonimbus, which are associated with thunderstorms and severe weather.
B. The precipitation falling would be hail. It is the only solid form of precipitation that falls when the temperature is ABOVE freezing. Hail is produced by the strong winds in thunderstorms.
This state of matter can change shape if it goes into a container with a different shape. However, the volume (amount of space it takes up) does NOT change.
What is a liquid?
Fredrica sees if a mineral can be scratched with her fingernail or a copper penny. What is she testing?
She is testing hardness.
Gary wants to see if using Pesticide X will help his corn plants have less damage from insects. He has four rows of corn in his garden. He treats two rows with Pesticide X and leaves two rows untreated.
A. What is his control group?
B. Why is it important to have a control group for this experiment?
A. The two rows with no pesticide would be the control group.
B. It's important to have a control group so that you can compare your results and see if the pesticide actually made any difference.
Water heating up and changing from a liquid to a gas would be this stage of the water cycle.
What is evaporation?
Caitlyn checks a mineral to see the shapes it forms when it breaks and notices that it breaks in thin sheets. What is Caitlyn testing?
She is testing cleavage.
Mary goes outside and sees that the clouds are cumulus. The air pressure is high. What type of weather should Mary expect?
She should expect fair or good weather.
George has a mixture of sugar, sand, and pebbles. How could he separate them?
He can use a strainer to separate the pebbles. He can then add water to dissolve the sugar. He can use filter paper to remove the sand, let the water evaporate, and the sugar will be left behind.
Which rock type would be the best type in which to find fossils?
Sedimentary rock would be the best rock type in which to find fossils.
Sula has 8 tomato plants. She waters four of them twice a day and waters the other four once a day. She measures the height of the plants once a week.
A. What is the variable that Sula is testing?
B. What factors should she keep the same (control) to make sure it is a fair test.
A. The number of times per day the plants are watered would be the variable being tested.
B. She should make sure the amount of sunlight, type of soil, type of plant, and all other factors are controlled or kept the same. The only difference should be the number of times the plants are watered each day.
Water falling out of the clouds would be this stage of the water cycle.
What is precipitation?
Oli looks at a mineral and notices that it is shiny and metallic, reflecting the light that shines on it. What is Oli testing?
He is testing luster.
Martin is outside. The temperature is -5 degrees Celsius. Precipitation starts falling. It is solid all the way down. What precipitation type does he observe falling?
It would be snow. It is solid and falls when the temperature is below freezing. Unlike sleet which freezes on the way down, snow is solid for the whole trip.
What is gas?
A. Ice causes a rock to break into small pieces. Would this be erosion or weathering?
B. Wind blows soil and small rocks across a valley. Would this be erosion or weathering?
A. When rocks break down, it is weathering. This can happen because of wind, water, ice, plant roots, or temperature changes.
B. When rock, soil, etc. gets moved from one place to another, it is erosion. It can be moved by wind, water, ice, or gravity.
Mrs. Baker's class and Mr. Vitori's class both performed the same experiment. Their results are very different. What should they do?
They should check to make sure the experiment was performed in the same way and repeat it. It's VERY important for scientists to carefully record and share their results like these two classes did.
A. When water droplets form on the side of a cold glass, on blades of grass, a window, or a mirror, what is happening?
B. When a puddle disappears or a wet washrag dries, what is happening?
A. When gas has started to COOL and form liquid droplets, this is condensation.
B. When liquid water becomes a gas, this is evaporation.
Shale forms when fine particles of clay and silt get deposited and harden into a rock. If shale is subjected to great heat and pressure, it can change to a new type of rock called slate. Based on this information,
A. what type of rock is shale? and B. what type of rock is slate?
Shale is sedimentary. It forms when sediment builds up and gets stuck together.
Slate is metamorphic. It has been changed from one type of rock to another by heat and pressure.
Would you expect an air mass that forms over the Arctic Ocean to be
wet or dry?
hot or cold?
Since it forms over the ocean, it would be wet. Since it formed in the arctic, it would be cold.
An egg is cooked on the stove. Is this a physical change or chemical change?
With magnets, if a north pole is placed near a north pole, what will happen?
The two will push away or repel one another. Only opposites attract.