Public Release Items: Science Grade 5

A parent and a child share several characteristics. Both individuals are tall, have curly hair, are good cooks, and have freckles.

Which of these characteristics is a learned behavior?

Materials combine chemically or physically.

Which materials form a new substance when chemically combined?

Heating and cooling water change the state of matter of water.

What happens when a block of ice is heated to 10° Celsius?

Which measurement best represents the distance of the orbiting space shuttle from Earth?

What is the primary source of friction on the space shuttle during re-entry?

Explain how air molecules affect the space shuttle during re-entry. In your explanation, be sure to include

• the relationship between air molecules and forces acting on the space shuttle

Write your answer in the space provided.

Weather patterns sometimes result in drought.

Which activity would be most negatively affected during a drought year?

While walking along the trail, the hiker sees a fossil that looks like a shell.

Which statement best explains the presence of this fossil in the canyon?

A large river flows along the bottom of the canyon. The vertical distance between the upper rim of the canyon and the river is 1,743 meters.

What process is most responsible for the depth of the canyon?

At 9:00 P.M., the hiker is in camp and observes that the constellation Orion appears to be directly overhead. At 3 A.M., the constellation does not appear directly overhead.

What best explains the change of location in the sky for the constellation Orion?

Snakes, tortoises, and alligators are examples of reptiles. Most reptiles live on land and have scales. Reptiles were the first animals to develop the ability to lay hard-shelled eggs.

Based on this information and the data table, which animal is most likely a reptile?

Most amphibians, such as frogs, live on land and reproduce in water.

Based on the information in the data table, which of these animals is most likely an amphibian?

Flexibility is a physical property of some matter.

Which of these materials best demonstrates the property of flexibility?

A star is a celestial object that produces its own heat and light.

Which of these celestial objects is the closest star to Earth?

The bald eagle hunts and eats other organisms.

Which of these organisms does the bald eagle most likely hunt?

Underwater plants are needed for the Chesapeake Bay habitat to be healthy. Eelgrass is one of the most common underwater plants in the bay area.

Which of these methods is the most likely way that thousands of eelgrass seeds are spread naturally throughout the bay area?

The students discover that mute swans eat mainly bay grass.

What role do mute swans have in the Chesapeake Bay area?

Wind is a natural resource that benefits the southeastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

How could these winds best benefit humans?

The Statue of Liberty was built in France and then taken apart into 350 pieces for shipping. When the pieces arrived in New York, the statue was put together.

Which statement describes the relationship between the mass of the 350 pieces and the mass of the whole statue?

Farmers grow different types of crops.

Which of the following factors would most affect the type of crop a farmer grows?

A student used two horseshoe magnets in an investigation.

Why did the two magnets come together in Position 2?

Explain how the students used the properties of the magnets to construct this pattern. In your explanation, be sure to include

• why some magnets are touching
• why some magnets are not touching

Write your answer in the space provided.

A student uses a wand with a magnet on the tip and iron filings to complete pictures. A clear sheet of plastic covers a cardboard picture. Iron filings are between the cardboard picture and the sheet of plastic. As the student moves the wand across the sheet of plastic, the iron filings follow the movement of the wand.

Which change in the design of the toy would allow the student to move more iron filings with the wand at one time?

A student notices a paw print while walking in a park.

The paw print could be considered a fossil if the print was in

Which product is made mainly from a nonrenewable resource?

Humans do not use cows

Which action positively affects the environment?

Some foods that humans eat, such as corn and peas, are actually seeds from plants.

What best describes the role of humans in a food web containing these plants?

A student wants to show that the matter in a whole apple is equal to the matter in the pieces of the same apple.

Which process best describes how the student can demonstrate the relationship between the matter in the whole apple and the apple pieces?

Several different types of cells are shown below.

Which two types of cells are most similar in shape?

Which of the circuits shown below will make both light bulbs glow?

The students replaced the switch in a closed circuit with four different objects.

Which of the following objects conducted electricity and made the light bulb glow?

The students observed that removing the switch in a closed circuit and adding a plastic spoon or a piece of string did not make the light bulb glow.

The students concluded that the plastic spoon and the piece of string

A student measures the mass and volume of a balloon before filling the balloon with air. The student then fills the balloon with air and measures the mass and volume again.

Which set of properties best explains how the mass and volume in the inflated balloon are different from the mass and volume in the deflated balloon?

Many states require vehicles to be examined and to meet safety and pollution standards.

What impact might vehicle inspections have on the environment?

Which of the following regions of the United States had the worst air quality on this day?

Which of these activities is the most likely source of poor air quality?

Which nonrenewable resource is used by most cars and trucks?

The data table below compares three features of four plants. The four plants are in the same plant family.

What feature must a plant have to be grouped into this plant family?

A student wants to build an electric buzzer. The diagram below shows the buzzer design.

When the button is pushed, the two ovals connect and the electrical current from the battery flows through the circuit, producing a sound.

What material should be used to make the ovals?

Another microbiologist studied bacteria in the stomach of an ocean mammal. This scientist observed that bacteria in the ocean mammal did not attach to food particles.

Which of these statements best explains the findings?

Based on Dr. Weimer's data, bacteria might be a good source for wood glue because the bacteria

Explain how cows, grasses, and bacteria interact within an environment. In your explanation, be sure to include

• the role of each of the organisms in the environment
• how the organisms depend on each other

Write your answer in the space provided.

The monument carved in Mount Rushmore is most likely weathered year-round by

Coral, clam, and starfish fossils are common in South Dakota.

These fossils are evidence that South Dakota was once

Over the next 20,000 years, Mount Rushmore will most likely