OAT Practice
th
5 Grade Science
Science Inquiry
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One year the pond dried up.
1) Which organism in the pond
ecosystem was still able to take
in oxygen?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Turtle
Trout
Sunfish
Tadpole
1) One year the pond dried up. Which organism in the
pond ecosystem was still able to take in oxygen?
A. Turtle
This is the correct answer.
The only organism with lungs is the turtle, so the
turtle has to breathe air to take in oxygen. The other
animals listed have to get oxygen from water
because they have gills and not lungs. So if the
pond dried up, only the turtle could still take in
oxygen.
B. Trout
If a student chooses B, he or she may be choosing
the largest organism, but the trout has gills and
takes in oxygen from the water.
C. Sunfish
If a student chooses C, he or she may think that the
sunfish spends time out of the water, sunbathing
like the turtle. The turtle has lungs; therefore, the
sunfish must have lungs. The sunfish has gills and
takes in oxygen from the water.
D. Tadpole
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that a
tadpole can breathe out of water because frogs can
breathe out of water. Tadpoles have gills and take in
oxygen from the water.
Two students want to
find out what affects
the sounds heard
through model
telephones. They
investigate the
materials used and the
tightness of the
material connecting
the cups.
Their first three setups are shown. They use the same length
of string or wire in each setup. The boy repeats the same
sounds at the same volume for each setup.
They record results of the three
setups in the table at the right.
The two students want classmates
to repeat the investigation so that they can compare results.
2) What should the students communicate so that
results may be compared?
A. materials and steps used in the investigation
B. conclusions about results from the investigation
C. where they got the idea for making model
telephones
D. where to purchase the materials for model
telephones
2) The two students want classmates to repeat the
investigation so that they can compare results. What
should the students communicate so that results may be
compared?
A. materials and steps used in the investigation
This is the correct answer.
Students need to use the same materials and steps that were
used in the first Model Telephone Investigation. To get
valid results a second time, students may not skip, add or
change the order of the first investigation.
B. conclusions about results from the investigation
If a student chooses B, he or she may think that the
conclusions are the most important part of an investigation
for comparing results, so they should be communicated or
told to other people. Results are used to make conclusions.
Conclusions should only be shared after results are
collected.
C. where they got the idea for making model telephones
If a student chooses C, he or she may think that the idea for
the phone is the first step in comparing valid results (will
get the same results over and over again). Where the idea
came from does not matter for the comparison of
conclusions.
D. where to purchase the materials for model telephones
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that having the
materials will make the investigation easy to compare.
Many detailed steps have to be followed to do the
investigation to make sure that the results are valid (will get
the same results over and over again).
Two students want to
find out what affects
the sounds heard
through model
telephones. They
investigate the
materials used and the
tightness of the
material connecting
the cups. Their first three setups are shown. They use the
same length of string or wire in each setup. The boy repeats
the same sounds at the same volume for each setup.
They record results of the
three setups in the table at
the right.
3) Which variable changed between
setup 1 and setup 2?
A.the type of cups used
B. the number of cups used
C. the tightness of the string
D.the thickness of the string
3) Which variable changed between setup 1 and setup 2?
A. the type of cups used
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that the
students changed the type of cups used in the
investigation. But the diagram does not show and the
investigation introduction does not describe using
different types of cups in setup 1 and setup 2.
B. the number of cups used
If a student chooses B, he or she may think that the
students changed the number of cups used in the
investigation. But the diagram shows that the same
number of cups was used in both setup 1 and setup 2.
C. the tightness of the string
This is the correct answer.
The diagrams for setup 1 and setup 2 show only one
difference: the string is sagging (not pulled tight) in
setup 2, and it is pulled tight in setup 1.
D. the thickness of the string
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that the
students changed the thickness of the string in the
investigation. But according to the introduction and
the diagram, only thin string of the same length was
used in the investigation. Length and thickness of the
strings were not changed between setup 1 and setup 2.
How tight the string was pulled was different between
setup 1 and setup 2.