Here are some science questions from the Standards for Grades 2-5 to help you test your knowledge of the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
The questions are chosen randomly, so this quest will be different each time you reload the page.
* Click here to see only the most recently added questions.

This baby praying mantis looks very much like its mother, but not exactly. What does that tell us about its life cycle?
-
It does not undergo metamorphosis.
No. While it does look similar to its parents, it lacks wings and other features which it will have as an adult. -
It has incomplete metamorphosis.
Yes! It has most of the features of an adult, and will gain the final adult features later in its life. -
It has complete metamorphosis.
No. For complete metamorphosis, the larva looks very different from the parent. -
It skipped metamorphosis.
No. While it does look similar to its parents, it lacks wings and other features which it will have as an adult.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.2.L.16.1 Observe and describe major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.
Seed Search | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-4 | 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.c Compare various examples of offspring that do not initially resemble the parent organism but mature to become similar to the parent organism (e.g., mealworms and darkling beetles, tadpoles and frogs, seedlings and vegetables, caterpillars and butterflies).
Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-4 | practice |
NGSS
1-LS3-1 Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |
3-LS1-1 Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
Review Life Cycle-1 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-2 | practice |
Review Life Cycle-3 | practice |

Baking a cake is an example of:
-
A physical change
Partly right. Some of the changes involved in baking a cake are physical changes. -
A chemical change
Partly right. Some of the changes involved in baking a cake are chemical changes. -
Both
Yes! The process of baking a cake involves many changes. Some, such as water evaporating and sugar melting are physical changes. Others, such as baking powder reacting cause a change in the chemical formulas, indicating a chemical change. For more on this, read Changing How We Look at Changing -
Neither
No. There are many changes involved in baking a cake.
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.9.1 Investigate and describe that many physical and chemical changes are affected by temperature.
The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Why Wet Things Don't Burn | video, checked |
Igneous Sugar | video, checked |
Changing How We Look at Changing | text page, free |
Growing Crystals from Solution | text page, checked |
Review Matter-4 | practice |
SC.8.P.9.2 Differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes.
Changing Colors, part 1 | video |
Changing Colors, part 2 | video |
Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
Polymers and Slime | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Silver Pictures | video, checked |
Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Changing How We Look at Changing | text page, free |
Review Matter-4 | practice |
Utah
UT.5.I.3.d Compare a physical change to a chemical change.
Changing Colors, part 1 | video |
Changing Colors, part 2 | video |
The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Paper Petals | video, ClosedCaptions |
Changing How We Look at Changing | text page, free |
Review Matter-4 | practice |
UT.8.I.1.a Differentiate between chemical and physical properties.
Cabbage Indicator | video, checked |
Making Butter | video, free, ClosedCaptions, Updated |
Making Turmeric Paper | video, checked |
Testing for Tannic Acid | video |
Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Paper Petals | video, ClosedCaptions |
Review Matter-4 | practice |
NGSS
2-PS1-4 Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
A Watched Pot | video |
Why We Sweat | video, checked |
Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
Ice Cream Science | video, checked |
A Hot Change | text page |
Review Matter-4 | practice |
MS-PS1-2 Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
Science and the Haunted Pumpkin | video, free, checked |
Making Turmeric Paper | video, checked |
Testing for Tannic Acid | video |
Relighting Candles | video, checked |
Catalysts | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Changing Colors, part 1 | video |
Chemical and Physical Changes | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Changing Colors, part 2 | video |
The Chemistry of Milk | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
How They Get the Sparks in a Sparkler | video |
Orange Flash | video |
Candles in a Jar, part 2 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Candles in a Jar, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Cabbage Indicator | video, checked |
Polymers and Slime | video, free, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Silver Pictures | video, checked |
Changing How We Look at Changing | text page, free |
A Hot Change | text page |
Review Matter-4 | practice |

This snow fell when the temperature outside was 39°F. How can you get snow when the temperature is above freezing?
-
The wind made it feel colder, allowing it to snow.
No. While wind chill can make it feel colder, it does not actually make it colder. -
It was colder in the clouds where the snow formed.
Yes. Even when air temperatures at the surface are above freezing, the clouds can be much colder. If the air at the surface is not too warm, the snow can reach the ground without melting. -
Rain froze into snow when it hit the ground.
No. Freezing rain forms ice, not snow. Light, fluffy snow flakes form as they fall through the air, not after they hit the ground. -
This is really hail instead of snow.
No. Hail is made of large chunks of ice, not tiny flakes.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.5.E.7.4 Distinguish among the various forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and hail), making connections to the weather in a particular place and time.
Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
Building a Rain Gauge, part 2 | video, checked |
Building a Rain Gauge, part 1 | video, checked |
Snow Rollers | text page |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Review Weather-3 | practice |
SC.6.E.7.3 Describe how global patterns such as the jet stream and ocean currents influence local weather in measurable terms such as temperature, air pressure, wind direction and speed, and humidity and precipitation.
Nephoscope | video, checked |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.II.2.a Observe and record effects of air temperature on precipitation (e.g., below freezing results in snow, above freezing results in rain).
Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
Building a Rain Gauge, part 2 | video, checked |
Building a Rain Gauge, part 1 | video, checked |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Review Weather-3 | practice |
NGSS
3-ESS2-1 Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
Nephoscope | video, checked |
Pine Cone Weather | text page, free |
Review Weather-5 | practice |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Review Weather-4 | practice |
Review Weather-3 | practice |
Review Space-5 | practice |
Review Space-8 | practice |
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
Cloud Types | video |
Nephoscope | video, checked |
Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Pine Cone Weather | text page, free |
Review Weather-1 | practice |
Review Weather-2 | practice |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Review Weather-4 | practice |
Review Weather-3 | practice |

In testing this piece of quartz, I found that it would scratch glass. What property was I testing?
-
Hardness
Yes! Hardness is a substance's resistance to being scratched. With a hardness of 7, quartz is hard enough to scratch glass. -
Cleavage
No. Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weakness to produce pieces with flat, smooth sides. Cleavage involves breaking, not scratching. -
Fracture
No. Fracture is a property of minerals that do NOT break along planes of weakness to produce flat, smooth sides. This involves breaking, not scratching. -
Streak
No. Streak is a test to see the color of a mineral when it is ground into a powder by scratching it on a porcelain streak plate. For streak, we are powdering the mineral, not scratching another substance.
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.6.2 Identify the physical properties of common earth-forming minerals, including hardness, color, luster, cleavage, and streak color, and recognize the role of minerals in the formation of rocks.
What is a Mineral? | video, checked |
Identifying Minerals | video, learnalong |
Definition of a Mineral | video, checked |
Minerals Around You | text page, learnalong, checked |
Review Minerals-1 | practice |
Review Minerals-2 | practice |
Review Minerals-3 | practice |
Review Minerals-4 | practice |
Review Minerals-5 | practice |
Review Minerals-6 | practice |
Review Minerals-7 | practice |
Review Minerals-8 | practice |
Utah
UT.8.III.1.b Observe and describe the minerals found in rocks (e.g., shape, color, luster, texture, hardness).
What is a Mineral? | video, checked |
Identifying Minerals | video, learnalong |
What is a Rock? | video, learnalong, checked |
Definition of a Mineral | video, checked |
Review Minerals-1 | practice |
Review Minerals-2 | practice |
Review Minerals-3 | practice |
Review Minerals-4 | practice |
Review Minerals-5 | practice |
Review Minerals-6 | practice |
Review Minerals-7 | practice |
Review Minerals-8 | practice |
NGSS

I poured some water on this rock. Later that day, the water was all gone. What happened to it?
-
It evaporated.
Yes. When liquid water turns into water vapor, the process is called evaporation. That is what happened to the water on the rock. -
It sublimated.
No. Sublimation is when a solid turns directly into a gas. Dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) is an example of sublimation. The solid changes directly into carbon dioxide gas, without becoming a liquid. -
It condensed.
No. Condensation is when a gas turns into a liquid. The drops of water that form on the outside of a glass of ice is the result of condensation. -
It precipitated.
No. In weather, precipitation is when solid or liquid water falls from the clouds. Rain, snow, and sleet are examples of precipitation.
Click to see which state standards this question tests, and which of my videos, experiments, and other resources support that topic.
Florida
SC.3.P.9.1 Describe the changes water undergoes when it changes state through heating and cooling by using familiar scientific terms such as melting, freezing, boiling, evaporation, and condensation.
Cloud Formation, part 2 | video |
Making a Solar Still | video |
Wonderful Water | video, checked |
A Watched Pot | video |
Why We Sweat | video, checked |
Photographing Snowflakes | video, checked |
Ice Cream Science | video, checked |
Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
The Water Cycle | video, checked |
A Model of the Water Cycle | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
What Really Happens With Evaporation? | text page, free, checked |
Review Weather-1 | practice |
Review Weather-2 | 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-1 | practice |
Review Weather-2 | practice |
Review Weather-8 | practice |
Review Weather-10 | practice |
Utah
UT.4.I.2.a Locate examples of evaporation and condensation in the water cycle (e.g., water evaporates when heated and clouds or dew forms when vapor is cooled).
Cloud Types | video |
Making a Solar Still | video |
A Watched Pot | video |
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 |
Review Weather-1 | practice |
Review Weather-2 | practice |
NGSS
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
Cloud Types | video |
Nephoscope | video, checked |
Cloud Formation, part 1 | video, ClosedCaptions, checked |
Pine Cone Weather | text page, free |
Review Weather-1 | practice |
Review Weather-2 | practice |
Review Weather-6 | practice |
Review Weather-4 | practice |
Review Weather-3 | practice |