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.
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This magnet attracts the compass and the magnetized needle without having to come in contact with them. This is an example of a force acting at a distance.
Which of the following is another example of a force that acts at a distance without actual contact?
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Wind turning a windmill.
No. The moving air is pushing against the blades of the windmill. Because a physical object (moving air) is pushing on the windmill, this is a contact force. -
Sound causing you to hear something.
No. For you to hear a sound, the vibrations of the object make the air vibrate. That is a contact force because there is direct contact between the vibrating object and the air. The vibrating air is in contact with your ear drum, causing it to vibrate too. That lets you hear the sound. Because a physical object (vibrating air) is moving your ear drum, this is a contact force. -
Gravity causing a rock to fall.
Yes. The gravitational attraction between the Earth and the rock does not need physical contact. The rock would fall, even if it was in a total vacuum, with no physical object to push or pull on it. This is a force acting at a distance. -
Throwing a ball to knock over a target
No. To throw the ball, your arm pushes against it. Your arm moving the ball is a contact force. The moving ball hits the target to knock it over. The ball is touching the target to knock it over, so this is also a contact force.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.5.P.10.3 Investigate and explain that an electrically-charged object can attract an uncharged object and can either attract or repel another charged object without any contact between the objects.
>>> Teacher Page: Electrostatic Charges
| Versorium | video, checked |
| Electrostatics and Water | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 2 | video |
| Sorting Salt and Pepper | video, checked |
| Electricity | video, free, Updated |
| Making Water Wiggle | video |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 1 | video |
| Electrostatic Charges | video |
| The Leyden Jar | video, checked |
| Review Energy-6 | quest |
| Review Energy-7 | quest |
| Review Energy-8 | quest |
SC.6.P.13.1 Investigate and describe types of forces including contact forces and forces acting at a distance, such as electrical, magnetic, and gravitational.
| Torque | video |
| Versorium | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 2 | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 3 | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 1 | video, checked |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 2 | video |
| Light a Bulb with a Balloon | video, checked |
| Crushed Can | video, checked |
| Electricity | video, free, Updated |
| The Compass and Magnetic Fields | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 1 | video |
| Making a Compass | video, checked |
| Review Energy-6 | quest |
| Review Energy-7 | quest |
| Review Energy-8 | quest |
Utah
UT.3.IV.2.c Pose questions about gravity and forces.
| Water in a Glass, part 3 | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 1 | video, checked |
| Planets and Pennies | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Force, Pressure, and Shoes | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 2 | video, checked |
| Balancing a Meter Stick | text page |
| Review Energy-8 | quest |
| Review Space-13 | quest |
NGSS
MS-PS3-2 Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
| The Leyden Jar | video, checked |
| Versorium | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 2 | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 3 | video, checked |
| Water in a Glass, part 1 | video, checked |
| Electrostatics and Water | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 2 | video |
| Sorting Salt and Pepper | video, checked |
| Making Water Wiggle | video |
| Measuring Kinetic and Potential Energy | video, checked |
| Challenge: Paper, Coin, Cup, part 1 | video |
| Review Energy-6 | quest |
| Review Energy-7 | quest |
| Review Energy-8 | quest |
The wood in this pile will be reduced to this much ash when it is burned. What happens to the rest of the mass from the wood?
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It was converted into energy.
No. Burning does not convert matter into energy. -
It evaporated.
No. While any moisture in the wood may have evaporated, wood itself does not evaporate. -
It was converted into water and carbon dioxide.
Yes! Burning converts the cellulose in wood into water vapor and carbon dioxide. The white ash that is left behind is made up of the minerals and nutrients which were taken in by the plant's roots. -
The matter is still there. It just got smaller.
No. If all of the matter was still there, the mass and weight would still be the same. The ash is much lighter than the wood, because the water vapor and carbon dioxide are now part of the air of the room. Still, if we could weigh all of the ash, water vapor, and carbon dioxide, the total mass would still be the same.
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.8.3 Explore the Law of Conservation of Mass by demonstrating that the mass of a whole object is always the same as the sum of the masses of its parts.
| The Difference Between Weight and Mass | video, checked |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
| Review Matter-2 | practice |
SC.8.P.9.1 Explore the Law of Conservation of Mass by demonstrating and concluding that mass is conserved when substances undergo physical and chemical changes.
| Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
| Review Matter-2 | practice |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
Utah
UT.5.I.1.a Compare the total weight of an object to the weight of its individual parts after being
disassembled.
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
UT.5.I.1.d Investigate chemical reactions in which the total weight of the materials before and after reaction is the same (e.g., cream and vinegar before and after mixing, borax and glue mixed to make a new substance).
| Polymers and Slime | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Changing Colors, part 1 | video |
| Changing Colors, part 2 | video |
| The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
UT.5.I.3.d Compare a physical change to a chemical change.
| Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
| Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Paper Petals | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Changing Colors, part 1 | video |
| Changing Colors, part 2 | video |
| The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Changing How We Look at Changing | text page, free |
| Review Matter-4 | practice |
UT.8.I.4.c Demonstrate that mass is conserved in a chemical reaction (e.g., mix two solutions that result in a color change or formation of a precipitate and weigh the solutions before and after mixing).
| Growing Crystals Under the Microscope | video, free, learnalong, checked |
| Microscopes: Growing Crystals | video, free, learnalong, Updated |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
NGSS
5-PS1-2 Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.
| The Difference Between Weight and Mass | video, checked |
| Ice Cream Science | video, checked |
| Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
| Air has Weight | text page |
| Review Matter-2 | practice |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
MS-PS1-5 Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
| Scientific Thinking and Creative Thought, part 1 | video, checked |
| Catalysts | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
| Scientific Thinking and Creative Thought, part 3 | video, checked |
| Scientific Thinking and Creative Thought, part 2 | video, checked |
| Review Matter-6 | practice |
This is called Quartzite. It was once sandstone, but heat and pressure changed it by fusing the grains of sand to each other, making it much harder. What kind of rock is it?.
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Igneous
No. Igneous rocks formed from magma or lava. That would have melted the sand grains. This is not an igneous rock. -
Sedimentary
No. Sedimentary rocks are deposited by wind, water, ice, or gravity, and they often contain fossils. When it was sandstone it was a sedimentary rock. -
Metamorphic
Yes!. This quartzite been changed by heat and pressure from a different kind of rock. It is metamorphic. -
Quartzite is not a rock.
No. Quartzite is a naturally occurring solid that forms large layers in the Earth. Quartzite is a rock.
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.6.1 Identify the three categories of rocks: igneous, (formed from molten rock); sedimentary (pieces of other rocks and fossilized organisms); and metamorphic (formed from heat and pressure).
| Igneous Rocks and Bubbles | video, free, learnalong, Updated |
| Sedimentary Rocks | video, learnalong |
| What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
| Bioclastics: Rocks With No Minerals | video |
| Evaporites | video, learnalong, checked |
| Homemade Fossil Dig | text page |
| Foliated and Unfoliated Rocks | text page, learnalong |
| Identifying Igneous Rocks | text page, learnalong |
| Intrusive and Extrusive Igneous Rocks | text page, learnalong |
| Light and Dark Minerals | text page, learnalong |
| Review Rocks-1 | practice |
| Review Rocks-2 | practice |
| Review Rocks-3 | practice |
| Review Rocks-4 | practice |
| Review Rocks-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-6 | practice |
| Review Rocks-8 | practice |
| Review Rocks-9 | practice |
| Review Rocks-7 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
SC.7.E.6.2 Identify the patterns within the rock cycle and relate them to surface events (weathering and erosion) and sub-surface events (plate tectonics and mountain building).
| What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
| The Rock Cycle | video, learnalong |
| Change: Fast and Slow | video |
| Erosion | video, checked |
| Continuous Change | video, checked |
| Bioclastics: Rocks With No Minerals | video |
| Weathering and Erosion | video, learnalong, checked |
| Evaporites | video, learnalong, checked |
| Review Rocks-1 | practice |
| Review Erosion-1 | practice |
| Review Erosion-2 | practice |
| Review Erosion-3 | practice |
| Review Erosion-4 | practice |
| Review Erosion-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-4 | practice |
| Review Rocks-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-6 | practice |
| Review Rocks-8 | practice |
| Review Rocks-9 | practice |
| Review Rocks-7 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.III.1.a Describe the differences between minerals and rocks.
| What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
| Bioclastics: Rocks With No Minerals | video |
| Definition of a Mineral | video, checked |
| What is a Mineral? | video, checked |
| Identifying Minerals | video, learnalong |
| Review Rocks-1 | practice |
| Review Rocks-4 | practice |
| Review Rocks-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-6 | practice |
| Review Rocks-8 | practice |
| Review Rocks-9 | practice |
| Review Rocks-7 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
NGSS
4-ESS1-1 Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
| Igneous Rocks and Bubbles | video, free, learnalong, Updated |
| Sedimentary Rocks | video, learnalong |
| Reading the Rocks: Law of Superposition | video |
| Reading the Rocks: Law of Crosscutting | video |
| What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
| Reading the Rocks: The Present is the Key to the Past | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Paleo Cookies | video |
| Evaporites | video, learnalong, checked |
| Homemade Fossil Dig | text page |
| Review Rocks-1 | practice |
| Review Geologic Time-1 | practice |
| Review Rocks-4 | practice |
| Review Geologic Time-2 | practice |
| Review Rocks-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-6 | practice |
| Review Rocks-8 | practice |
| Review Rocks-9 | practice |
| Review Rocks-7 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Geologic Time-3 | practice |
MS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
| Igneous Rocks and Bubbles | video, free, learnalong, Updated |
| What is a Mineral? | video, checked |
| Identifying Minerals | video, learnalong |
| Sedimentary Rocks | video, learnalong |
| What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
| The Rock Cycle | video, learnalong |
| Bioclastics: Rocks With No Minerals | video |
| Evaporites | video, learnalong, checked |
| Definition of a Mineral | video, checked |
| Light and Dark Minerals | text page, learnalong |
| Review Rocks-1 | practice |
| Review Rocks-2 | practice |
| Review Rocks-3 | practice |
| Review Rocks-4 | practice |
| Review Rocks-5 | practice |
| Review Rocks-6 | practice |
| Review Rocks-8 | practice |
| Review Rocks-9 | practice |
| Review Rocks-7 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
| Review Rocks-10 | practice |
Which of the following observations is scientifically testable?
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Honeybees are good insects.
No. "Good" is a generic term that could mean many different things in different situations. It is an opinion, not a testable property. This statement is NOT scientifically testable. -
Honeybees are important insects.
No. "Important" is a generic term that could mean many different things to different people. It is an opinion, not a testable property. This statement is NOT scientifically testable. -
Honeybees are pretty insects.
No. Some people might think that a honeybee is pretty, and some people might not. It is an opinion, not a testable property. This statement is NOT scientifically testable. -
Honeybees are not insects.
Yes! While this statement is not correct, it is scientifically testable. You could examine the bee to see that it does fit the definition of an insect. This statement is IS scientifically testable.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.5.N.2.1 Recognize and explain that science is grounded in empirical observations that are testable; explanation must always be linked with evidence.
| Mobius Strip | video |
| My Position on Science and Religion | video |
| What is Science?: Objective | video |
| Is Your Project Scientifically Testable? | text page |
| Is Your Project Scientifically Testable? Part 2 | text page |
| Review Scientific Process-4 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-8 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-3 | practice |
SC.8.N.2.1 Distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific ideas.
| What is Science? | video, ClosedCaptions |
| Fact checking GMOs | text page |
| I Saw It on the Internet, part four | text page |
| I Saw It on the Internet, part three | text page |
| I Saw It on the Internet, part two | text page |
| I Saw It on the Internet, part one | text page |
| Feeding Bread to Birds | text page |
| Review Scientific Process-3 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-4 | practice |
| Review Scientific Process-8 | practice |
Utah
NGSS
Cannonball Jelly fish are excellent swimmers, and Portly Spider Crabs often hitch a ride on them. What type of relationship is that?
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mutualism
No. In mutualism, both organisms benefit. The jellyfish gets no benefit from the crab's hitchhiking. -
commensalism
Yes. In commensalism, one organism (the crab) benefits, and the other (jellyfish) is not affected. The crab gets free transportation, and the jellyfish is not helped or harmed. -
parasitism
No. For parasitism, one organism benefits, and the other is harmed. Neither the crab nor the jellyfish is harmed by this relationship. -
predation
No. In predation, one organism eats another. Neither the crab nor the jellyfish gets eaten in this relationship.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.7.L.17.2 Compare and contrast the relationships among organisms such as mutualism, predation, parasitism, competition, and commensalism.
| Secondary Consumers | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated, checked |
| Review Food Web-11 | practice |
| Review Food Web-12 | practice |
Utah
UT.8.II.2.a Categorize the relationships between organisms (i.e., producer/consumer/decomposer, predator/prey, mutualism/parasitism) and provide examples of each.
| Producers | video, free, Updated, checked |
| Primary Consumers | video, ClosedCaptions, Updated, checked |
| Secondary Consumers | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated, checked |
| What is a Food Web? | text page, free, checked |
| Review Food Web-2 | practice |
| Review Food Web-1 | practice |
| Review Food Web-3 | practice |
| Review Food Web-4 | practice |
| Review Food Web-5 | practice |
| Review Food Web-6 | practice |
| Review Food Web-7 | practice |
| Review Food Web-8 | practice |
| Review Food Web-9 | practice |
| Review Food Web-10 | practice |
| Review Food Web-11 | practice |
| Review Food Web-12 | practice |
NGSS
MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
| A Walk in the Park | video, checked |
| Review Food Web-12 | practice |
| Review Food Web-11 | practice |
The questions are chosen randomly, so this quest will be different each time.