Here are some science questions from the Standards for Grades 2-5 to help you test your knowledge of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
The questions are chosen randomly, so this quest will be different each time you reload the page.
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We enjoy the hummingbirds that visit our feeders. I am trying to find the mixture of sugar and water that they like the best.
Each day, I put out four feeders with different amounts of water and sugar. At the end of each day, I measure to see how much of each the hummingbirds drank. Which of the following is NOT an important part of this experiment?
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One of the feeders should only contain water, with no sugar.
No. This IS an important part of the experiment. The feeder without any sugar is the control. If the hummingbirds drink just as much pure water, it would indicate that the sugar is not important. -
The feeders should be placed randomly every day.
No. This IS an important part of the experiment. If you always put the same mixture in the same location, the results may be because the birds like that location instead of because they like the amount of sugar. -
I should repeat this experiment every day for several weeks.
No. This IS an important part of the experiment. The more times you repeat the same test, the more likely you are to get accurate results. -
The different mixtures should be colored different colors with nontoxic food coloring.
Yes. This is NOT an important part of the experiment. It would add a second variable to the experiment, which is a bad thing. You want everything to be the same for each sample, with the only difference being the amount of sugar. If you used different colors and different amounts of sugar, you would not know whether the results were due to the color or the sugar.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.5.N.1.4 Identify a control group and explain its importance in an experiment.
| Bacteria and Antibiotics | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Testing a Leaf for Starch | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
SC.7.N.1.4 Identify test variables (independent variables) and outcome variables (dependent variables) in an experiment.
| Floating Cups | video, checked |
| Testing for Tannic Acid | video |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
Utah
NGSS
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
I wanted to test different amounts of fertilizer to see which was best for growing grass. I mixed water with different amounts of fertilizer, and then added sodium polyacrylate to change it into a gel. Then I sprinkled the grass seeds on top, and waited for them to grow.
I really need a control group for this experiment. What would I use for a control?
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Water, fertilizer, and grass seed, without any sodium polyacrylate.
No. For the control, we want to skip the thing we are testing for. We are not testing changes caused by the amount of sodium polyacrylate. -
Water, sodium polyacrylate, and grass seed, without any fertilizer.
Yes! We are testing to see how different amounts of fertilizer change the growth of the grass. The amount of fertilizer is the variable we are testing, so the control group should not have any fertilizer. -
Water, sodium polyacrylate, and fertilizer, without any grass seed.
No. For the control, we want to skip the thing we are testing for. We are not testing changes caused by the amount of grass seed, and we know that no grass will grow if we do not have any seeds. -
Sodium polyacrylate, fertilizer, and grass seed, without any water.
No. For the control, we want to skip the thing we are testing for. We are not testing changes caused by the amount of water.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.5.N.1.4 Identify a control group and explain its importance in an experiment.
| Bacteria and Antibiotics | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Testing a Leaf for Starch | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
SC.7.N.1.4 Identify test variables (independent variables) and outcome variables (dependent variables) in an experiment.
| Floating Cups | video, checked |
| Testing for Tannic Acid | video |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
Utah
NGSS
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
I used a Density Column to show that olives are denser than cherry tomatoes. To follow proper scientific procedure, the experiment needs to be checked by repetition and replication. What is the difference between repetition and replication?
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Repetition means that I do the same experiment again. Replication means that other people do exactly the same experiment again.
Yes! To confirm your results it is important for you to repeat exactly the same experiment again (repetition) and then for other people to do exactly the same experiment again. (replication). If any of the results from repetition or replication are different from your original data, your original results are NOT confirmed, and you need to do more work. -
Repetition means that I do the same experiment again. Replication means that I do the experiment again after correcting errors.
No. Replication is when other people to do exactly the same experiment. -
Repetition means that I do the same experiment again. Replication means that other people try to improve on my experiment.
No. Replication is when other people to do exactly the same experiment. -
Repetition means that I do the experiment again after correcting errors.. Replication means that other people do exactly the same experiment again.
No. Repetition means that I do the same experiment again.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.2.N.1.4 Explain how particular scientific investigations should yield similar conclusions when repeated.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
SC.5.N.1.3: Recognize and explain the need for repeated experimental trials.
>>> Teacher Page: Nature of Science and Dissolving
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
SC.5.N.2.2 Recognize and explain that when scientific investigations are carried out, the evidence produced by those investigations should be replicable by others.
>>> Teacher Page: Nature of Science and Dissolving
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
SC.8.N.1.2 Design and conduct a study using repeated trials and replication.
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
Utah
NGSS
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-1 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-2 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-9 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-11 | practice |
The brown spots on this fern contain spores. How are spores different from seeds?
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Spores are much smaller, because they do not contain stored food for the young plant.
That is part of the answer. Most seeds contain stored food for the developing plant. Orchid seeds are an exception.. -
Spores are a form of asexual reproduction.
That is part of the answer. Spores contain only the genetic material from the parent plant. -
Spores develop into a different kind of plant from the parent.
This is part of the answer. Ferns have alternation of generations, which means that the spores grow into a plant called a prothallia. The prothallia produces male and female sex cells, which join, and grow into another fern plant. -
All of the above.
Yes! All three of the answers are correct.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.3.L.15.2 Classify flowering and nonflowering plants into major groups such as those that produce seeds, or those like ferns and mosses that produce spores, according to their physical characteristics.
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Seed Search | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Plants-8 | practice |
SC.4.L.16.4 Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seedbearing
plants.
| Orange Slices | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Creating a Sprout Guide | text page, photography, free |
| Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-4 | practice |
Utah
UT.5.V.1.e Investigate variations and similarities in plants grown from seeds of a parent plant (e.g., how seeds from the same plant species can produce different colored flowers or identical flowers).
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
UT.7.IV.1.c Cite examples of organisms that reproduce sexually (e.g., rats, mosquitoes, salmon, sunflowers) and those that reproduce asexually (e.g., hydra, planaria, bacteria, fungi, cuttings from house plants).
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
NGSS
MS-LS1-4 Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
| Flowers | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Onion Crystals | video |
| A Walk in the Park | video, checked |
| Nature Watching | video, checked |
| Calling a Woodpecker | video, checked |
| Selective Smelling | video, checked |
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Seed Search | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Orange Slices | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Bacteria and Antibiotics | video, ClosedCaptions |
| How Does a Butterfly Fly? | text page, free |
| Thoughts on an Exoskeleton | text page, free |
| Review Adaptation-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-2 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-4 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-5 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-6 | practice |
| Review Plants-8 | practice |
MS-LS3-2 Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
| Extracting Your Own DNA | video |
| Review Plants-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
MS-LS3-2 Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
| Extracting Your Own DNA | video |
| Review Plants-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
I poured some water on this rock. Later that day, the water was all gone. What happened to it?
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It evaporated.
Yes. When liquid water turns into water vapor, the process is called evaporation. That is what happened to the water on the rock. -
It sublimated.
No. Sublimation is when a solid turns directly into a gas. Dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) is an example of sublimation. The solid changes directly into carbon dioxide gas, without becoming a liquid. -
It condensed.
No. Condensation is when a gas turns into a liquid. The drops of water that form on the outside of a glass of ice is the result of condensation. -
It precipitated.
No. In weather, precipitation is when solid or liquid water falls from the clouds. Rain, snow, and sleet are examples of precipitation.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.3.P.9.1 Describe the changes water undergoes when it changes state through heating and cooling by using familiar scientific terms such as melting, freezing, boiling, evaporation, and condensation.
| Ice Cream Science | video, checked |
| Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Cloud Formation, part 2 | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| Wonderful Water | video, checked |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| Why We Sweat | video, checked |
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| What Really Happens With Evaporation? | text page, free, checked |
| Review Weather-1 | practice |
| Review Weather-2 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
SC.5.E.7.1 Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and forth from one state to another.
>>> Teacher Page: Water Cycle
| Cloud Formation, part 2 | video |
| Cloud Types | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Weather-1 | practice |
| Review Weather-2 | practice |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.I.2.a Locate examples of evaporation and condensation in the water cycle (e.g., water evaporates when heated and clouds or dew forms when vapor is cooled).
| Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Cloud Types | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| A Cool Experiment | text page |
| Review Weather-1 | practice |
| Review Weather-2 | practice |
NGSS
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
| Cloud Types | video |
| Nephoscope | video, checked |
| Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Pine Cone Weather | text page, free |
| Review Weather-1 | practice |
| Review Weather-2 | practice |
| Review Weather-6 | practice |
| Review Weather-4 | practice |
| Review Weather-3 | practice |