UNIT 1
Read the scenario.
Rose works at a weather station. She is responsible for collecting and recording data about the weather.
Which of Rose’s tasks involves making a quantitative observation?
determining the amount of rainfall that fell during the day
Examine the list of organisms.
Which option correctly describes a similarity between the organisms?
They are all living organisms made of one or more cells.
Which option explains why genes are sections of chromosomes, but chromosomes are not made up of genes?
There are sections of chromosomes that are not genes.
Which statement is a pattern in the fossil record?
Multiple mass extinction events have occurred in Earth’s history.
Read the statements.
Some baby birds peck at a red dot under their parent’s beak. This triggers a gagging reflex in the parent.
Which option describes how this behavior increases fitness?
The parent regurgitates the partly digested food for the baby bird. The baby bird can eat this food.
Which statement includes an everyday use of the word theory?
Dan has a theory about why the computer will not work.
Read the scenario.
A group of students is working on an experiment about cells. They heat some bacterial cells in an oven until all the cells die. The dead cells are then placed in a petri dish with nutrient molecules that are needed by cells to grow. The dish is kept at room temperature.
Which option correctly describes what will happen next?
No new bacterial cells will form.
Read the statements.
The molecule that gives skin its color is a molecule called melanin. In some people, skin contains no melanin. These people have white skin and are called albinos.
Which statement explains why some people cannot form the protein that produces melanin?
Their genes for the production of that protein do not function.
Which option describes how the absolute age of a fossil is commonly determined?
The carbon-14 in a fossil breaks down over time. The remaining amount of carbon-14 in the fossil can be used to calculate its age.
Read the statements.
_[Blank 1]_ are known at birth. _[blank 2]_ are learned later in life.
Which option correctly completes these statements?
Blank 1: Innate behaviors
blank 2: Learned behaviors
Read the passage.
The theory of plate tectonics explains how continents move. Plate tectonics explain events such as earthquakes and volcanoes.
The beginnings of the plate tectonics theory can be traced to 1912. Alfred Wegener suggested that continents moved. Around 1930, Arthur Holmes provided an explanation on how continents could move. In the 1960s, the reason the continents moved could be observed and tested. The plate tectonics theory continued to be added to throughout much of the 1960s.
Which option correctly explains how the theory of plate tectonics was formed?
Scientists’ understanding of plate tectonics changed and developed throughout the 1900s.
Read the false statement.
In an organism with more than one cell, some cells must burn food molecules to produce energy in order to survive.
Which option correctly rewords the false statement so that it is true?
In an organism with more than one cell, all cells must burn food molecules to produce energy in order to survive.
Read the statement.
Donna throws two six-sided dice.
What is the chance that the total of the two dice will be 3?
2/36
Which statement describes Hutton and Lyell’s work?
Both Hutton and Lyell claimed that Earth was very old and changed very slowly over time.
Read the incomplete statements.
In temperate regions, a lot of animals are active in daylight and inactive at night. This is _[blank 1]_ because daytime temperatures are warm, and animals can rely on their _[blank 2]_ to find food.
Which option shows how to correctly complete these statements?
blank 1: a survival advantage
blank 2: sight