Benchmark Science Test 7th Grade Science
Tuesday, April 21st
This graded multiple choice test will cover a variety of topics covered in 7th grade. You will need to know the following
information:
1. Astronomy
a. What is rotation? Earth spinning on its axis (takes 24 hrs for a
complete rotation).
b. What is revolution? Earth’s orbit around the sun (it takes 365 ¼ days to complete one revolution)
c. What is our magnetic field and why is it important? How is it made? A protective layer of charged
particles surrounding the earth. It is important because it protects us from harmful particles from the
sun (CME’s- coronal mass ejections). It is made by the liquid iron found in Earth’s outer core.
d. How does the density (mass) of a planet affect the weight of a traveler on it? The larger (more dense)
the planet, the greater its gravitational pull. The greater the gravitational pull, the higher your weight (a
measure of gravity’s pull on you) is. You will weigh more on larger (more dense) planets because of
increased gravitational pull.
e. What causes night and day? Draw a diagram Day occurs when you are facing the sun, then the earth
rotates on its axis and you are facing away from the sun, this is called night. Earth’s rotation causes day
and night to occur.
f.
What causes seasons? Draw a diagram. Earth’s tilted axis causes earth to be tilted towards the sun or
away from the sun as it orbits the sun. When the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, it is
getting direct light and longer hours of day light, this increases the temperature and you get summer.
When the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, there is indirect light, fewer hours of
sunlight and colder temperatures, this is winter.
g. Are they the same for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere? Seasons are opposite for the northern
and southern hemispheres. (for example: our spring is australia’s fall) See picture above.
2. Earth Science
a. Compare and contrast rocks and minerals Minerals must be 1. Solid, 2. Inorganic (no living/once living
pieces like fossils or shells), 3. Have a specific chemical recipe, 4. Have a crystal (repeating atom pattern)
structure, 5. Must be naturally made. Rocks can have organic material, don’t have a crystal structure,
don’t have a specific
recipe.
b. What are the five stages in the rock cycle and what happens to the rock to make it change form?
c. How do layers of rocks tell us about their age? Older rocks are generally found at the bottom of an
undisturbed layer of rocks. Rocks found at the same level are the same age. Sea life fossils can be lifted
high into the mountains when plates shift around and erosion exposes them.
d. What 4 pieces of evidence do we have to support the theory of continental drift? These four clues tell us
the continents were once connected and used to be in different places around the globe.
i. Matching animal fossils on different continents
ii. Matching plant fossils on different continents
iii. Climate clues (glacier scrapes in Africa and tropical plant fossils in Antarctica)
iv. Matching rock formations (mountain ranges) on different continents
e. What is weathering (chemical and physical) and what are some examples?
Chemical weathering: breaking down rocks through chemical changes (dissolving the chemical bonds)
examples: acid rain, water (dissolving), oxygen (rust), carbon dioxide (dissolving), living organisms (dissolving)
Physical weathering: Rocks are physically broken into smaller pieces. Examples: freezing and thawing,
plant growth, animals burrowing, friction and impact, temperature change.
f.
What is eroding and what are some examples? Erosion is the removal
of rocks. Rocks can be removed by the following processes: wind,
gravity, water (streams/rivers/oceans), or glacial movement (ice)
g. Where do volcanoes and earthquakes commonly occur? Why? Most commonly occur along plate
boundaries (edges) because that’s where the plates shift and move against each other. The largest area
of volcano and earthquakes are the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean.
3. Biology
a. What are the five characteristics of all
living things? Made of cells, grow and
develop, respond to environment,
reproduce, and use energy
b. What are the first five levels of
organization? Cells, tissue, organ, organ
system, organism
c. Compare and contrast plant, animal, and
bacterial cells. Plant and animal cells have a
nucleus (eukaryotic), bacteria cells are much
smaller and have no nucleus (prokaryotic)
d. Compare and contrast prokaryotic
and eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotic –
no nucleus, Eukaryotic –has a
nucleus and other membrane
bound organelles
e. What are some examples of inherited traits?
Freckles, rolling tongue, skin color, eye color
f.
Be able to do a Punnett square. Heterozygous (Bb),
Homozygous (BB or bb). Genotype are the genes
for a trait (BB), Phenotype is the physical
appearance of a trait (brown eyes)
g. How is an organism able to grow starting at only one cell big? Cell will undergo mitosis to make more
cells.
h. Compare and contrast sexual
and asexual reproduction
i.
What is natural selection? An organism with the best traits for their environment is more likely to
survive and reproduce
j.
Identify the following parts in the picture below: Cell, nucleus, chromosome, DNA, gene
chromosome
nucleus
cell
DNA
gene