8th PSSA Review

The Nature of Science

100

What are the 6 steps of the Scientific Method?

1. Ask a TESTABLE question

2. Perform Research

3. Make a Hypothesis

4. Perform Experiment

5. Analyze Data

6. Conclusion

200

Which statement correctly describes one of the benefits of technology?

A. Technology must be used to make a discovery

B. Technology leads to new discoveries

C. Technology reduces the need for scientists to communicate.

B. Technology leads to new discoveries.

300

What is the equation to calculate speed?

Bonus: What is the speed of a person who runs 10 miles in 2 hours?

speed = distance/time

5 mph

400

A company is testing a new medicine to see whether or not various dosages give pain relief.  Which statement correctly describes the independent variable and the dependent variable in this test?

A. The dependent variable is the new medicine, and the independent is whether or not there is pain relief.

B. The dependent variable is whether or not there is pain relief, and the independent variable is the dosage of the new medicine.

C. The dependent and independent variables are both the new medicine.

B. The dependent variable is whether or not there is pain relief, and the independent variable is the dosage of the new medicine.

500

What scientific instrument is used to measure mass?

What scientific instrument is used to measure volume of a liquid?

What scientific instrument is used to magnify small objects?

What scientific instrument is used to study space by looking at far away objects?

1. Triple beam balance

2. Graduated Cylinder

3. Microscope

4. Telescope

Biology/Ecology

100

Which of these characteristics do all organisms share?

A. response to stimuli

B. multicellular structure

C. Ability to adapt quickly

D. Ingestion of nutrients

A. response to stimuli

200

Which is an abiotic factor in a bird's ecosystem?

A. leaves it eats

B. tree in which it lives

C. water it drinks

D. organism it eats

C. water it drinks

300

Which is a unicellular organism?

A. Human being

B. Birch tree

C. Bacteria

D. Mushroom

C. Bacteria

400

A guinea pig with black coat color is crossed with a guinea pig with brown coat color.  All their offspring have black coat color. What of these conclusions can you draw from this observation?

A. Brown coat color is the dominate trait

B. Black coat color is the dominate trait

C. Black coat color is the recessive trait

D. Neither coat color is the dominate trait

B. Black coat color is the dominate trait

500

An example of a renewable resource is

A. water

B. coal

C. natural gas

D. minerals

A. water

Physics

100

What is the equation used to calculate work?

work= force x distance

200

Which of the following is an example of gravitational potential energy changing to kinetic energy?

A. a person riding a bicycle along a level road

B. rocks falling down a mountainside

C. sunlight heating the water in a lake

D. a plant producing food by photosynthesis

B. rocks falling down a mountainside

300

An object can start to move only when the force applied to it is

A. balanced

B. unbalanced

C. contact

D. gravity

B. unbalanced

400

Which statement refers to the physical property of a substance?

A. Carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide

B. The density of copper is 8.93 g/cm3

C. Acids are corrosive

D. Zinc metal reacts with an acid to produce hydrogen gas

B. The density of copper is 8.93 g/cm3

500

Which statement correctly describes what happens to the total amount of energy when one form of energy is converted into two or more other forms of energy?

A. It decreases

B. It increases

C. It becomes zero

D. It is unchanged

D. It is unchanged

Geology/Astronomy

100

Name the 8 planets in order from the sun.

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

200

Which of these is the amount of time it takes Earth to make one complete rotation?

A. 1 year

B. 24 hours

C. 12 hours

D 28 days

Bonus: How long does it take for Earth to make 1 revolution?

B. 24 hours

Bonus: A. 1 year

300

Which statement correctly describes why we see the Moon's phases?

A. As Earth spins on its axis, we see the Moon seem to move across the sky

B. As the Moon moves around Earth, we see different parts of the Moon lit by the Sun.

C. As Earth spins on its axis, different parts of the Earth are lit by the Sun.

D. As Earth revolves around the Sun, the Sun's rays strike parts of Earth at different angles.

B. As the Moon moves around Earth, we see different parts of the Moon lit by the Sun.

400

Which characteristic do all the inner planets share?

A. They all have moons

B. they are all gaseous

C. They are all solid and rocky

D. They are all larger than Earth

C. They are all solid and rocky

500

Which of the following describes humidity?

A. the amount of water vapor in the air

B. how much the air weighs

C. how much heat energy is in the air

D. the pressure a column of air above a certain location exerts on Earth's surface

A. the amount of water vapor in the air

Grab Bag

100

What two quantities must be known to calculate the density of a sample of matter?

A. color and mass

B. mass and volume

C. length and mass

D. solubility and mass

B. mass and volume

200

What rock is formed when magma or lava cools?

A. Sedimentary

B. Igneous

C. Metamorphic

B. Igneous

300

Which term best describes water after it has undergone evaporation?

A. ice

B. liquid water

C. water vapor

D. precipitation

C. water vapor

400

Which of these is a system made by humans?

A. highway system

B. water cycle

C. mountains

D. digestive system

A. highway system

500

Write a scientific testable question, and identify the independent variable, dependent variable, and 2 control variables

varies