Here are some science questions to help you test your general science knowledge. They will also show you which of the Florida, Utah, and NGSS science standards each question is testing.
The questions are chosen randomly, so this quest will be different each time.
Get 5 more random questions.
Would you rather see the most recently added questions?
What season is Australia having in this graphic?
-
Spring
No. In the spring, the Earth's axis would not be tilted towards or away from the Sun. -
Summer
Yes! Australia is in the southern hemisphere, which is tilted towards the Sun. That tells us that it is summer there. -
Autumn
No. In the autumn, the Earth's axis would not be tilted towards or away from the Sun. -
Winter
No. Australia is in the southern hemisphere. If it was having winter, then the southern hemisphere would be tilted away from the Sun.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.4.E.5.1 Observe that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same although they appear to shift across the sky nightly, and different stars can be seen in different seasons.
| Global Science | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Space-5 | practice |
| Review Space-8 | practice |
| Review Space-12 | practice |
SC.8.E.5.9 Explain the impact of objects in space on each other including: 1. the Sun on the Earth including seasons and gravitational attraction 2. the Moon on the Earth, including phases, tides, and eclipses, and the relative position of each body.
| Global Science | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Why is a Full Moon So Bright? | text page, free, checked |
| Review Space-13 | quest |
| Review Space-12 | practice |
Utah
UT.6.II.2.e Use a model to explain why the seasons are reversed in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
| Global Science | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Space-5 | practice |
| Review Space-8 | practice |
| Review Space-12 | practice |
NGSS
5-ESS1-2 Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
| Global Science | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Finding Your Way | video, checked |
| Review Space-5 | practice |
| Review Space-8 | practice |
| Review Space-12 | practice |
MS-ESS1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
| Global Science | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Why is a Full Moon So Bright? | text page, free, checked |
| Review Space-6 | practice |
| Review Space-7 | practice |
| Review Space-9 | practice |
| Review Space-12 | practice |
Why are trees an important part of the water cycle?
-
Trees need water.
No. While trees do need water, that is not why they are part of the water cycle. -
Transpiration
Yes! In order to get nutrients up to the top of a tree, it has to let water evaporate from its leaves. This process is called transpiration. One tree can put hundreds of gallons of water into the air as water vapor every day. -
Trees help prevent erosion.
No. While trees can help prevent erosion, that is not why they are part of the water cycle. -
Condensation
No. Trees are not a major source of condensation.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.4.P.8.2 Identify properties and common uses of water in each of its states.
| Wax and Wood, part 2 | video, checked |
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| Ice Cream Science | video, checked |
| 75% Water | video, checked |
| Crushed Can | video, checked |
| A Boat Full of Holes | video, checked |
| A Bouncing Water Balloon | video |
| Cloud Types | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| Water on a String | video, blog, ClosedCaptions |
| Wonderful Water | video, checked |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| Wax and Wood, part 1 | video, checked |
| Adding to a Full Cup | text page |
| What Really Happens With Evaporation? | text page, free, checked |
| A Clean Trick | text page |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
SC.5.E.7.1 Create a model to explain the parts of the water cycle. Water can be a gas, a liquid, or a solid and can go back and forth from one state to another.
>>> Teacher Page: Water Cycle
| Cloud Formation, part 2 | video |
| Cloud Types | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
| Review Weather-1 | practice |
| Review Weather-2 | practice |
SC.6.E.7.2 Investigate and apply how the cycling of water between the atmosphere and hydrosphere has an effect on weather patterns and climate.
| Cloud Types | video |
| Nephoscope | video, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| Weather and Climate | video |
| Pine Cone Weather | text page, free |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-9 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.I.2.b Describe the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation as they relate to the water cycle.
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| Wonderful Water | video, checked |
| A Watched Pot | video |
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| A Cool Experiment | text page |
| What Really Happens With Evaporation? | text page, free, checked |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
UT.4.I.2.c Identify locations that hold water as it passes through the water cycle (e.g., oceans, atmosphere, fresh surface water, snow, ice, and ground water).
| Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| 75% Water | video, checked |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
NGSS
MS-ESS2-4 Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
| Cloud Formation, part 2 | video |
| Making a Solar Still | video |
| Wonderful Water | video, checked |
| Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| The Water Cycle | video, checked |
| A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Weather-10 | practice |
| Review Weather-8 | practice |
When a scientist makes a new discovery, other scientists usually do exactly the same experiment. Why?
-
They want to get part of the credit.
No. While replicating an experiment is very important, the scientists who do it usually don't get much credit for their work unless they discover an error in the original experiment. -
Repetition is part of the scientific process.
No. Repetition is when scientists repeat their own experiment several times, not when other scientists do the same experiment. -
They think they can make changes to improve the experiment.
No. By doing exactly the same experiment, they are not changing anything. Instead, they are replicating the experiment as closely as possible. -
Replication is part of the scientific process.
Yes. By replicating the experiment, other scientists can help verify that the results are accurate. There is always a possibility that there was some unnoticed influence on the original experiment, and replication can help spot that.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.2.N.1.4 Explain how particular scientific investigations should yield similar conclusions when repeated.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
SC.5.N.2.2 Recognize and explain that when scientific investigations are carried out, the evidence produced by those investigations should be replicable by others.
>>> Teacher Page: Nature of Science and Dissolving
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
SC.6.N.1.2 Explain why scientific investigations should be replicable.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
SC.7.N.1.2 Differentiate replication (by others) from repetition (multiple trials).
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
SC.8.N.1.2 Design and conduct a study using repeated trials and replication.
| What is Science?: Repeat and Replicate | video |
| Review Scientific Process-6 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-5 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-7 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-10 | practice |
Utah
NGSS
The brown spots on this fern contain spores. How are spores different from seeds?
-
Spores are much smaller, because they do not contain stored food for the young plant.
That is part of the answer. Most seeds contain stored food for the developing plant. Orchid seeds are an exception.. -
Spores are a form of asexual reproduction.
That is part of the answer. Spores contain only the genetic material from the parent plant. -
Spores develop into a different kind of plant from the parent.
This is part of the answer. Ferns have alternation of generations, which means that the spores grow into a plant called a prothallia. The prothallia produces male and female sex cells, which join, and grow into another fern plant. -
All of the above.
Yes! All three of the answers are correct.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.3.L.15.2 Classify flowering and nonflowering plants into major groups such as those that produce seeds, or those like ferns and mosses that produce spores, according to their physical characteristics.
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Seed Search | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Plants-8 | practice |
SC.4.L.16.4 Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seedbearing
plants.
| Orange Slices | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Creating a Sprout Guide | text page, photography, free |
| Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |
| Review Life Cycle-4 | practice |
Utah
UT.5.V.1.e Investigate variations and similarities in plants grown from seeds of a parent plant (e.g., how seeds from the same plant species can produce different colored flowers or identical flowers).
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
UT.7.IV.1.c Cite examples of organisms that reproduce sexually (e.g., rats, mosquitoes, salmon, sunflowers) and those that reproduce asexually (e.g., hydra, planaria, bacteria, fungi, cuttings from house plants).
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
NGSS
MS-LS1-4 Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
| Seed Search | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Orange Slices | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Bacteria and Antibiotics | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Flowers | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Onion Crystals | video |
| A Walk in the Park | video, checked |
| Nature Watching | video, checked |
| Calling a Woodpecker | video, checked |
| Selective Smelling | video, checked |
| Pumpkin Guts | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Thoughts on an Exoskeleton | text page, free |
| How Does a Butterfly Fly? | text page, free |
| Review Adaptation-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-2 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-4 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-5 | practice |
| Review Adaptation-6 | practice |
| Review Plants-8 | practice |
MS-LS3-2 Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
| Extracting Your Own DNA | video |
| Review Plants-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
MS-LS3-2 Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
| Extracting Your Own DNA | video |
| Review Plants-3 | practice |
| Review Plants-4 | practice |
Which of the following is a vertebrate?
-
A: crab
No. Crabs have an exoskeleton. They are arthropods, which are invertebrates. -
B: starfish
No. Starfish do not have a vertebral column or a notochord. They are echinoderms, which are invertebrates. -
C: fly
No. Flies have an exoskeleton. They are insects, which are invertebrates. -
D: tadpole
Yes! Tadpoles are amphibians. They have an internal skeleton, which includes a vertebral column. They are vertebrates.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.3.L.15.1 Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical characteristics and behaviors.
| Feathers | video, checked |
| A Walk in the Park | video, checked |
| Scientific Names | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Classify-2 | practice |
| Review Classify-1 | practice |
| Review Classify-3 | practice |
SC.6.L.15.1 Analyze and describe how and why organisms are classified according to shared characteristics with emphasis on the Linnaean system combined with the concept of Domains.
| Scientific Names | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Classify-2 | practice |
| Review Classify-1 | practice |
| Review Classify-3 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.V.3.b Use a simple classification system to classify unfamiliar Utah plants or animals (e.g., fish/amphibians/reptile/bird/mammal, invertebrate/vertebrate, tree/shrub/grass, deciduous/conifers).
| A Walk in the Park | video, checked |
| Scientific Names | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Classify-2 | practice |
| Review Classify-1 | practice |
| Review Classify-3 | practice |
UT.7.V.2.c Generalize rules for classification.
| Scientific Names | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Review Classify-2 | practice |
| Review Classify-1 | practice |
| Review Classify-3 | practice |
NGSS
The questions are chosen randomly, so this quest will be different each time.