Practice Test 1: What is Science?
1) Which of the following is NOT a goal of science?
a.
to investigate and understand the natural world
b.
to explain events in the natural world
c.
to establish a collection of unchanging truths
d.
to use derived explanations to make useful predictions
2) Scientists will never know for sure why dinosaurs became extinct. Therefore, scientists should
a.
stop studying dinosaurs and study only living animals.
b.
work to raise live dinosaurs to study.
c.
continue to learn as much as they can about dinosaur extinction.
d.
accept the current theory about dinosaur extinction as the best possible theory.
3) Science is best described as ____________________
4) The work of scientists usually begins with
a.
testing a hypothesis.
b.
careful observations.
c.
creating experiments.
d.
drawing conclusions.
5) Information gathered from observing a plant grow 3 cm over a two-week period is called
a.
inferences.
b.
variables.
c.
hypotheses.
d.
data.
6) Based on your observations, you suggest that the presence of water could accelerate the growth of
bread mold. This is
a.
a conclusion.
b.
a hypothesis.
c.
an experiment.
d.
an analysis.
7) During a controlled experiment, a scientist isolates and tests
a.
a conclusion.
b.
a mass of information.
c.
a control group.
d.
a single variable.
8) Suppose that a scientist proposes a hypothesis about how a newly discovered virus affects humans.
Other virus researchers would likely
a.
reject the hypothesis right away.
b.
change the hypothesis to fit their own findings.
c.
design new experiments to test the proposed hypothesis.
d.
assume that the hypothesis is true for all viruses.
9) Suppose a scientist must choose whether to publish a report in a newspaper or in a peer-reviewed
journal. What is a benefit of publishing in the journal?
a.
Other scientists will know that everything in the report is true.
b.
The reviewers will fix mistakes in the report’s experiment.
c.
The report will be published more quickly in the journal.
d.
The quality of the report will meet high scientific standards.
10) Who reviews articles for peer-reviewed journals?
a.
friends of the scientists who wrote the articles
b.
anonymous and independent experts
c.
the scientists who did the experiments
d.
people who paid for the experiments
11) How does sharing ideas through peer-reviewed articles help advance science?
a.
Peer-reviewed articles are published only when the ideas they contain have been accepted by
most scientists.
b.
Experiments in peer-reviewed articles do not need to be repeated.
c.
Scientists reading the articles may come up with new questions to study.
d.
Ideas in the articles always support and strengthen dominant theories.
12) A theory
a.
is always true.
b.
is the opening statement of an experiment.
c.
may be revised or replaced.
d.
is a problem to be solved.
13) How do scientific theories compare to hypotheses?
a.
Theories are the same as hypotheses.
b.
Theories unify a broad range of observations and hypotheses.
c.
Hypotheses combine the ideas of several theories to explain events.
d.
Hypotheses are the dominant view among scientists.
14) A well-tested explanation that explains a lot of observations is
a.
a theory.
b.
an inference.
c.
a hypothesis.
d.
a controlled experiment.
15) A personal preference or point of view is
a.
a bias.
b.
a theory.
c.
a hypothesis.
d.
an inference.
16) ________________ is the study of life.
17) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of all living things?
a.
growth and development
b.
ability to move
c.
response to the environment
d.
ability to reproduce
Figure 1–1
18) Figure 1–1 illustrates which characteristic of living things?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Living things grow and develop
Living things are made up of cells.
Living things need material and energy.
Living things reproduce.
19) The process by which organisms keep everything inside their bodies within certain limits is called
_____________________
True or False
20) An important goal of a scientist is to use evidence to learn about the natural world.
___________________
21) Scientists usually believe ideas that are supported by evidence. _________________________
22) “The bird has brown spots on its wings” is an example of an inference.
_________________________
23) The smallest units in living things that are considered to be alive are organisms.
_________________________
Completion
Complete each statement.
24) Scientists try to use explanations of the natural world to understand patterns and make
____________________ about natural events.
25) An experiment in which only one variable is changed is a(an) ____________________ experiment.
26) An article that is undergoing ____________________ is read carefully and checked by other
scientists.
27) In science, a theory is a well-tested explanation that explains a lot of ____________________.
28) Charles Darwin’s ideas about change over time have been well tested by other scientists and is now
considered to be a ____________________.
29) ________________ applies under the same conditions, and implies that there is a causal relationship
involving its elements.
30) A/An ________________ object is something that is or once was living.
Use the following description of an experiment to answer the following questions
You want to know if putting an aspirin in the soil will make flowers more colorful. So you grow 30 tulips
in the same type of pots using the same fertilizers. 10 of the tulips you put aspirin in the soil, 10 with
a half of a pill of aspirin, and ten that do not have aspirin in the soil. You place all the plants in the
same area where they get the same amount of light and water. Every three days for three months you
compared each flower making careful observation of the color of the petals of the flowers.
31) What is the independent variable? _________________________
32) What is the dependent variable? ______________________
33) Name one constant ________________________
34) Identify the control group(s) _____________________
35) Identify the experiment group(s) ______________________
Answer Key
1) C
2) C
3) A way of knowing
4) B
5) D
6) B
7) D
8) C
9) D
10) B
11) C
12)
13)
14)
15)
16)
17)
18)
19)
20)
21)
22)
23)
24)
25)
26)
27)
28)
29)
30)
31)
32)
33)
34)
35)
C
B
A
A
Biology
B
C
Homeostasis
True
True
False; observation
False; cells
Prediction
Control
Peer reviewed
Explanations
Theory
Laws
Biotic
Aspirin in the soil
Color of the petals
Soil type, amount of light, amount of water
The group of plants without aspirin
The two groups with ½ the aspirin and full aspirin.