Science Skills
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Figure 1-1
____
1. What type of graph is represented by Figure 1-1?
a. bar graph
c. circle graph
b. line graph
d. none of the above
____
2. What is a system of knowledge and the methods used to find that knowledge?
a. science
c. measurement
b. technology
d. curiosity
____
3. How are science and technology related?
a. Technology is a branch of natural science.
b. Science is a branch of technology.
c. Advances in science may lead to advances in technology and vice versa.
d. Science and technology are not related.
____
4. Which of the following is NOT a branch of natural science?
a. life science
c. physical science
b. Earth and space science
d. social science
____
5. Which of the following is NOT one of the main ideas of physical science?
a. The universe is very old and very large.
b. Forces cause changes in motion.
c. Energy can be transferred from one form to another, but it can never be destroyed.
d. One of the main branches of natural science is biology.
____
6. In which step of the scientific method is information obtained through the senses?
a. drawing conclusions
c. analyzing data
b. making observations
d. revising a hypothesis
____
7. What happens when the data in an investigation do not support the original hypothesis?
a. The scientist gives up and starts an investigation on a new topic.
b. The data must be incorrect and are thrown out.
c. The hypothesis is revised.
d. The data are altered so that they support the original hypothesis.
____
8. What is a statement that summarizes a pattern found in nature?
a. a scientific law
c. a scientific theory
b. a fact
d. a hypothesis
____
9. Which of the following statements is true about scientific theories?
a. Scientific theories become scientific laws.
b. Scientific theories are never proven.
c. Scientific theories become hypotheses.
d. Scientific theories summarize patterns found in nature.
____ 10. What is a physical or mental representation of an object or an event?
a. a theory
c. a model
b. a hypothesis
d. a scientific law
____ 11. Why are scientific models important?
a. They prove scientific theories.
b. They help visualize things that are very complex, very large, or very small.
c. They make it harder to understand things.
d. They never change.
____ 12. How is 0.00069 written in scientific notation?
a. 69  10–5
c. 0.69  10–3
b. 6.9  104
d. 6.9  10–4
____ 13. Timers at a swim meet used four different clocks to time an event. Which recorded time is the most precise?
a. 55 s
c. 55.25 s
b. 55.2 s
d. 55.254 s
____ 14. The type of graph used to show how a part of something relates to the whole is which of the following?
a. circle graph
c. line graph
b. bar graph
d. direct proportion
____ 15. What is the relationship in which the ratio of the manipulated variable and the responding variable is
constant?
a. inverse proportion
c. slope
b. direct proportion
d. interdependent
____ 16. How do scientists communicate the results of investigations?
a. by publishing articles in scientific journals
b. by giving talks at scientific conferences
c. by exchanging e-mails
d. all of the above
____ 17. How do scientists who speak different languages make their data understandable to one another?
a. They all use different systems of measurement.
b. They all use SI.
c. They communicate through a universal translator.
d. They all must speak French.
____ 18. What is a peer review?
a. a process in which only close friends of a scientist review the scientist’s work
b. a process in which scientists examine other scientists’ work
c. a process in which scientists copy other scientists’ work
d. a process in which scientists keep their work secret
____ 19. Why are peer reviews important?
a. Scientists receive questions and criticism from their peers.
b. Data are checked for accuracy.
c. Scientists receive comments and suggestions from other scientists.
d. All of the above
____ 20. If the relationship between the manipulated variable and the responding variable is a direct proportion, what
will a line graph of this relationship look like?
a. a straight line
c. a jagged line
b. a curved line
d. none of the above
____ 21. Which of the following ideas is part of science?
a. Science is objective
c. Science uses repetition when observing
the natural world
b. Science deals with the natural world
d. All of the above
____ 22. What is one possible meaning of “science is self-correcting”?
a. It means science is always right all the
c. It means that science is highly unreliable.
time.
b. It means science allows for mistakes to be d. It means all science answers come from
corrected.
the back of the book: where all the correct
answers are.
____ 23. A manipulated variable is one where
a. The scientist controls and modifies it,
watching how another variable responds
to it.
b. The scientist is watching how it responds
to another variable.
c. It is a variable that is eliminated from the
experiment.
d. It describes how a scientist manipulates
and changes data.
The following two questions are designed to be ACT style questions. The answers will come from the
passage detailed below.
A student performed 2 studies to investigate the factors that affect the germination of peony seeds.
Study 1
Peony seeds were placed in dry containers. Some of the containers were stored at 5°C for either 4, 6, 8, or
10 weeks. The temperature and time periods were defined as the storage temperature and the storage period,
respectively.
The peony seeds were divided evenly so that there were 20 sets of 25 seeds. Twenty petri dishes were
then prepared. Each contained damp paper. Each set of seeds was placed in a separate petri dish. Each petri
dish was maintained at 1 of 4 temperatures for 30 days. The temperature and time periods were defined as the
germination temperature and the germination period, respectively. Table 1 shows the number of seeds that
germinated in each dish.
Table 1
Storage period (weeks)
0
4
6
8
10
Number of peony seeds that germinated when
maintained at a germination temperature of:
13°C 18°C 23°C 28°C
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
3
8
6
0
7
22
18
0
15 24
21
1
Study 2
Peony seeds were placed in dry containers. The containers were stored at various temperatures for 10
weeks.
The peony seeds were divided evenly so that there were 20 sets of 25 seeds. Twenty petri dishes were
then prepared. Each contained damp paper. Each set of seeds was placed in a petri dish. The petri dishes were
maintained at 1 of 4 temperatures for 30 days. Table 2 shows the number of seeds that germinated in each
dish.
Table 2
Storage temperature (°C)
0
5
10
15
20
Number of peony seeds that germinated when maintained at a
germination temperature of:
13°C
18°C 23°C 28°C
15
24
21
1
16
23
21
1
0
6
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
____ 24. In general, the results of Study 1 suggest that peony seeds that are placed in a petri dish containing damp
paper are most likely to germinate when they are maintained at which of the following temperatures?
a. 13 oC
b. 18 oC
c. 23 oC
d. 28 oC
____ 25. Suppose another set of 25 peony seeds had been included in Study 2 and these seeds had a storage
temperature of 25°C and a germination temperature of 18°C. Based on the information provided, the number
of seeds that would have germinated after being maintained for 30 days would most likely have been closest
to:
a. 0
c. 16
b. 8
d. 24
Science Skills
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
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23. ANS:
B
1.4.1
A
1.1.1
C
1.1.1
D
1.1.2
D
1.1.3
B
1.2.1
C
1.2.1
A
1.2.2
B
1.2.2
C
1.2.3
B
1.2.3
D
1.3.1
D
1.3.3
A
1.4.1
B
1.4.2
D
1.4.3
B
1.4.3
B
1.4.4
D
1.4.4
A
1.4.2
D
B
A
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Organize and analyze data using tables and graphs.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Explain how science and technology are related.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Explain how science and technology are related.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
List the major branches of natural science and describe how they overlap.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Describe the main ideas of physical science.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Describe the steps in a scientific method.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Describe the steps in a scientific method.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Compare and contrast facts, scientific theories, and scientific laws.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Compare and contrast facts, scientific theories, and scientific laws.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Explain the importance of models in science.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Explain the importance of models in science.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Perform calculations involving scientific notation and conversion factors.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Compare and contrast accuracy and precision.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Organize and analyze data using tables and graphs.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Identify the relationship between a manipulated variable and a responding variable.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Explain the importance of communicating data.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Explain the importance of communicating data.
PTS: 1
DIF: L1
Discuss the process of peer review.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Discuss the process of peer review.
PTS: 1
DIF: L2
Identify the relationship between a manipulated variable and a responding variable.
PTS: 1
PTS: 1
PTS: 1
24. ANS: B
25. ANS: A
PTS: 1
PTS: 1