praxis 5005 (science) Flashcards
What is the term for the thick layer surrounding Earth’s outer core?
Mantle
Which of the following two gasses compose the vast majority of the Earth’s atmosphere?
Nitrogen and Oxygen
Which of the below is an example of metamorphic rock?
Schist
Mountains are most likely to form along which type of plate boundary?
Convergent
Approximately how long ago did the first anatomically modern humans appear on the Earth?
200,000 years ago
Which of the following best describes the process by which most waves on the ocean’s surface are created?
Wind stirs the ocean’s surface over great distances
The shape of the Milky Way can best be described as ________
A spiral disk
What is the moon’s position relative to Earth during a lunar eclipse?
The Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth
Months are based on which of the following?
The Moon’s revolution around the Earth
Which of the following best describes a difference in how two types of organisms maintain homeostasis?
A snake depends predominantly on external factors like sunlight to regulate its body temperature, while a rabbit utilizes mainly internal processes
During which phase of mitosis do the duplicated chromosomes line up along the equatorial plate of the spindle?
Metaphase
Which structure is responsible for regulating basic functions such as respiration and heartbeat?
Brainstem
If two brown-eyed parents each carry a recessive gene for blue eyes, what is the probability of them having a blue-eyed child?
1/4
How many pairs of chromosomes are contained within a typical cell in the human body?
23
A behavioral response from an organism is determined by which of the following factors?
Heredity and experience
Which of the following best explains why a person cannot drink sea water?
The high salinity of sea water causes tissues to become dehydrated due to the osmotic diffusion of water from within the cells
Which of these is not a division within the standard system of scientific taxonomy?
Rank
Within a forest ecosystem, which of the following would be considered a primary consumer?
Rabbit
Using the periodic table, how would you find elements with chemical properties similar to Helium?
Look in the column below it
The time required for half the atoms of a particular substance to disintegrate is known as that substance’s ___________
Half life
Which of the following factors least affects a compound’s tendency to change state?
Mass
The force of gravitational attraction between two bodies is least dependent on which of the following?
Temperature of the bodies
What is the term for the process of releasing atomic energy by bombarding a dense element with neutrons and splitting its nucleus?
Fission
As a part of a science class, a clear pot of water with heat sensors is placed above a burner. The water begins to boil, and a student observes that the hottest water at the bottom of the container seems to move upward and the cooler water continuously moves in to take its place as illustrated below. Which of the following best explains this cyclical movement of the water?
Heat is convected through the water, causing the hotter, less dense water to rise. Cooler, denser water then moves in to take its place
As Experiment A, a physics teacher places a pencil on the edge of a desk as pictured in the first illustration below. She presses down firmly with her finger near the tip of the pencil and asks a student to press down firmly on the end with the eraser. As Experiment B, she then moves the pencil so that it is positioned as seen in the second illustration. Again, she presses down firmly near the pencil’s tip and the student presses down firmly on the end with the eraser
In Experiment A, the pencil will flip and fall from the table because the pressure applied by the student is further from the pencil’s fulcrum, giving the student more mechanical advantage; in Experiment B, the pencil will stay in place because the pressure applied by the teacher is further from the fulcrum, giving her more mechanical advantage
The filament in a light bulb is made of a material which provides more _______ than the copper wires through which electricity usually flows?
Resistance
Which of the following has the shortest wavelength?
UV radiation
List the wavelengths from longest to shortest
Radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma ray
Which of the following is not considered a major class of nutrient?
Fibers
Which of the following would not necessarily contribute to the reduction of uncertainty when investigating a scientific phenomenon?
A new hypothesis
The process by which sediments are compacted and cemented into sedimentary rock is known as what?
Lithification
The concept of plate tectonics describes the large scale motions of which of the following?
The Earth’s lithosphere
Which of the following bodies of water would be most likely to have the lowest salinity level?
The Colorado River
According to Kepler’s First Law of Planetary motion the orbit of every planet is what?
Elliptical
Which of the following scenarios is likely to produce the most extreme tides?
The Moon and the Sun’s gravitational pull on the Earth when they are in alignment
Which of the following events happens the most often during a calendar year?
The Earth completes a full rotation on its axis
Which of the following would not be an example of an organism responding to an environmental stimulus (i.e. sensitivity)?
A pigeon laying an egg
Which of the following parts of an animal cell deal primarily with synthesizing protein chains?
Ribosomes
What is the key element needed for a fern to reproduce?
Moisture