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
Which of the following pairs of organisms provides the best example of commensalism?
Barnacles adhering to the shell of a mollusk
An atom that is made up of 1 proton, 1 neutron, and 2 electrons would be classified as what?
A negative ion
Which of the following solutes would provide the best opportunity to create a solution in a glass of water?
Sugar
In a swimming pool, Jane is able to maintain a handstand, her entire body remaining completely still for 20 seconds. She is in a state of ____________
Equilibrium
Tom throws a baseball as high as he can into the air and then watches it fall to the ground. At what point during the ball’s trajectory would it possess the most potential energy?
At the apex of its trajectory
In which of the following scenarios would hydrogen atoms be expected to move at the greatest velocity?
Over an open flame
Which of the following best describes the relationship between electricity and magnetism?
Electricity can be used to create magnetism and vice versa
Mescaline is classified as which of the following types of drugs?
A hallucinogen
As part of a science experiment, a group of 50 people are given Drug X, a group of 25 people are given Drug Y, a group of 10 people are given Drug Z, and a group of 25 people are given a placebo. Which of the groups would be considered an experimental group?
Those that took Drug X, those that took Drug Y, and those that took Drug Z
Which of the following describes the process of sublimation?
A pure solid changes directly into a gas
Mr. Crane, a geologist, studies glacial movement. These slow-moving sheets of ice provide needed resources for many organisms. What could be an immediate environmental impact if the temperatures of the glaciers were increased to 5° Celsius?
Flooding of ecosystems (the melting point of ice is 0C)
Which set of the following factors can affect the growth of an organism?
Water, temperature, and light
A frozen ice cream bar was left in the sun and melted. Which statement is true regarding the physical properties of the ice cream bar after it melted?
The arrangement of molecules had changed (the ice cream bar changed physical properties but the molecules themselves did not change)
A wind turbine converts:
Kinetic energy into electrical energy (wind supplies kinetic energy which is converted into mechanical energy in the turbine and then to electrical energy by the wind turbine’s generator)
Pitch is a characteristic of sound that is related to which of the following properties of a sound wave?
Frequency (the higher the frequency of a sound wave, the higher the pitch)
Particles of light, called photons, carry energy. Which of the following colors of visible light have the highest energy photons?
Blue (the violet and blue end of the visible spectrum have the highest energy photons of visible light)
Which of the following refers to the amount of light emitted by a star?
Absolute magnitude (refers to the actual light a star gives off)
Which of the following best describes the lithosphere?
A zone of rigid rock on Earth’s surface and is made up of the crust and the very upper part of the mantle
Three seismometers are spread around the Earth. After an earthquake, what might scientists use these to locate?
The epicenter (scientists use 3 seismometers to triangulate the epicenter of an earthquake)
While Jessica is viewing membrane-stained cells under a compound microscope, she notices that the cells appear to have specialized organelles. These cells are most likely which of the following?
Eukaryotic cells (eukaryotic cells contain specialized, membrane-bound organelles)
Which of the following is the best example of homeostasis?
A person’s blood pressure is too high and their brain sends signals to slow their heart rate (homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a stable equilibrium)
Which of the following is the basic structure of every living organism?
Cells (all living things have cells as their basic structure–cells combine to form tissues, tissues combine to form organs, organs group together to make organ systems)
The Earth’s outer layer is divided into sections called plates. These plates essentially float around on the mantle of the Earth. If two continent boundaries collide with one another, Earth’s crust is pushed together. Which of the following best describes the result of the collision?
Mountains (when two plates collide, one plate typically sinks beneath the other; if most of the crust remains, a mountain range can form)
The first several elements are grouped into eight columns in the periodic table labeled columns I through VIII. Elements in which columns of the periodic table tend to form ionic bonds with each other?
Elements in columns I and VII (elements in column I have one valence electron, which is easily donated to elements in column VII, with seven valence electrons; elements in columns I and VII generally form ionic bonds)
Which of the following is an example of a positive feedback system?
Contractions during labor and childbirth (the action causes a result further in the direction the system was already moving, as in, the process of labor advances)
Which of the following is not a key tenet of the cell theory?
All cells have a cell wall (animal cells do not have a cell wall)
What are the 3 principles of cell theory?
- New cells come from existing cells
- Cells are the basic unit of life
- All living things are made of cells
Why does a red dress appear red when white light shines on it?
The pigments in the red dress reflect red light and absorb most other colors (we see the color that is reflected from a colored object)
Metal cooking utensils often have wooden handles. Which property of wood makes it a good material for the handle on a cooking tool?
Wood is a poor conductor of heat (The electrons of wood, glass, plastic, and air are examples of materials that have electrons that stay close to the nucleus of the atom making them poor conductors of heat and electricity. These poor conductors of heat and electricity are used as insulators)
Which of the following systems in the human body functions as the system responsible for transporting food and water waste?
Circulatory system
A solution of 4 on the pH scale is:
An acid (when the pH is less than 7, the solution is an acid)
Of the choices listed, which is the best analogy for voltage in a circuit?
The height difference between the top and bottom of a hill (voltage is related to the potential energy of the charges in a circuit)
Comets are composed of:
Gas, dust, and ice
A year on Earth is approximately 365 days, while a year on Venus takes about 224 Earth days, and a year on Mars takes about 687 Earth days. What causes the number of days in a year on each of these planets to differ from one another?
Different distances (a year is measured by how long it takes a planet to revolved around the SUN; some planets have years that are longer because they are further distances from the sun and thus have wider orbits)
As a demonstration during a unit on heat transfer, a teacher heats one end of a long metal rod and later measures the temperature at different positions along the rod. Which of the following processes is demonstrated by the range of temperatures?
Conduction (conduction is a method of heat transfer that happens when the kinetic energy of molecules is transferred to other molecules in the substance)
Marta holds a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. Select the true statement about Marta and the cup.
The cup of hot chocolate delivers heat to Marta’s hands (heat is the energy transferred from a hot object to a cooler object)
Why is it important for scientists around the world to adhere to the same system of measurement?
It allows for easier and more consistent communication of results
Phloem primarily transports which of the following substances through a plant?
Food
How do a population and a community differ?
A population is a group of only one species and multiple populations form a community
A weatherman on the local news is describing a cold front reaching and pushing up warm air later in the day. Which of the following is the weatherman most likely explaining?
Select all answers that apply.
- The likelihood of rain (when cold and warm air meet in the atmosphere, then inclement weather develops, usually rain)
- The development of thunderstorm clouds (when cold and warm air meet in the atmosphere, then inclement weather develops, usually rain)
What period of time can be measured by roughly one revolution of the moon around the Earth?
One month
Alysha pours about 70 mL diluted base from the stock container into a beaker, then measures out 50 mL of this into her graduated cylinder. What should she do with the remainder of the diluted base in her beaker?
Pour it into the liquid waste bottle
Which of the following is a reactant of the photosynthesis reaction?
Carbon dioxide (photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide, water, and light energy to produce oxygen and glucose)
The uneven heating of the Earth results in which of the following?
Deserts commonly found near the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn
Which of the following geologic features forms at a continent-continent convergent plate boundary?
- Mountains (mountains form as the earth is pushed upward by the collision of two continents)
- Faults (Faults, or great cracks in the rocks form from the immense forces on the rocks as two continental tectonic plates converge)
Michelle pours lemonade powder into a cup of ice and water. She stirs it with a spoon to mix up the powder more quickly. What is the solvent?
The liquid water (the material that the object is dissolved within is the solvent)
The tilt of the Earth causes
The seasons (the tilt of the Earth causes the four seasons based on which region is tilted toward or away from the sun)
A school’s PTA volunteered to make outside improvements to the school. A pile of sand and river rock was delivered to the school for the repair of the playground. After a week of rain, the river rock was still piled high, but the sand was no longer in a pile. What could have happened to the sand?
Erosion (the gradual wearing away or decrease of soil due to natural processes)
The layer of the atmosphere right above the troposphere is called the
Stratosphere
Proteins are most useful for the:
Growth of muscles (proteins help the body grow and repair itself)
Which of the following is NOT an example of acceleration?
Lionel rides the last mile of a race at a fast but steady speed (acceleration measures how fast someone changes their velocity; motion at a steady speed, no matter how fast, is constant velocity motion with no acceleration)
Which of the following would be found at the bottom of a food chain in an ecosystem?
Plants (primary producers are always at the bottom of the food chain)
When determining the accurate measurement of a liquid, which piece of laboratory equipment would be best to find the liquid’s volume to the nearest milliliter?
Graduated cylinder
Which of the following is the best example of a response to an external stimuli?
A plant grows toward the sunlight
Of the following, which is a statement of Newton’s second law of motion?
An object’s acceleration depends on its mass and the net force acting on the object
The gravitational force from the sun extends:
To infinity (the gravitational force from any object extends to infinity; the strength of the force decreases with distance, but the force never decreases to zero)
Which organelle is responsible for breaking down glucose into energy for the cell?
Mitochondrion
Which of the following is true of evolution?
Evolution can result in new species
Sally notices that there has often been dew on the ground the past four mornings. Sally asks her science teacher why dew forms on the ground. Which of the following would be the best response by Sally’s science teacher?
As the temperature drops during the night, the air cannot hold as much water, and the water vapor forms into liquid water on the ground (The lower the temperature of the air, the less water vapor the air can hold. Dew forms on the ground because the air temperature cools and the water vapor in the air condenses and forms as liquid water on the ground)
