CER Practice Sets – 5th & 6th Grade Science (Combined Packet)
Physical Science – Matter
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** You put a metal spoon in hot soup. After a few minutes, the handle
of the spoon feels hot even though it wasn’t in the soup.
❓ **Question:** Why did the spoon’s handle get hot?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The spoon’s handle got hot The spoon was in hot soup, Heat moves from warmer to
because heat traveled and after a few minutes the cooler objects. Metal is a
through the metal. handle became hot too. good conductor, so the heat
traveled through the spoon
to the handle.
Life Science – Ecosystems
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** A class grew bean plants. The plants placed near a sunny window
grew taller and greener than plants kept in a dark closet.
❓ **Question:** Why did the plants near the window grow better?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The plants near the window Plants in sunlight grew Plants need sunlight for
grew better because they taller and greener, while photosynthesis, which helps
got more sunlight. plants in the dark closet did them make food. Without
not. sunlight, plants cannot grow
well.
Earth Science – Weather
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** After a warm, sunny day, the ground feels warm. At night, the air
becomes cooler quickly.
❓ **Question:** Why does the air cool down faster than the ground?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The air cools faster than the The ground stayed warm Different materials heat and
ground because the ground after the sun went down, cool at different rates. Soil
holds heat longer. while the air felt cool. and rock hold heat longer
than air, so the air loses
warmth faster.
Space Science – Moon Phases
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** A student notices that the moon looks different each night for a few
weeks, changing from a thin crescent to a full circle.
❓ **Question:** Why does the moon appear to change shape?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The moon looks like it The moon appears as a Half of the moon is always
changes shape because we crescent, half, or full at lit by the sun, but as the
see different parts of the lit different times in the moon orbits Earth, we see
side as it orbits Earth. month. different amounts of that lit
half.
Everyday Science – Ice Cube Experiment
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** You place an ice cube in a cup of cold water and another ice cube in
a cup of warm water. The ice cube in warm water melts much faster.
❓ **Question:** Why did the ice cube melt faster in warm water?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The ice cube melted faster The ice cube in warm water Heat moves from warmer
because the warm water disappeared quickly, while objects to colder ones. The
transferred more heat to it. the one in cold water lasted warm water transferred
longer. heat to the ice cube more
quickly, causing it to melt
faster.
Physical Science – Melting Chocolate
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** During a summer picnic, two chocolate bars were left outside. One
was placed in direct sunlight on a table, and the other was kept under the shade of a tree.
After 15 minutes, the chocolate in the sun was soft and melting, while the one in the shade
stayed mostly solid.
❓ **Question:** Why did one chocolate bar melt faster than the other?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The chocolate in the sun The chocolate bar in Direct sunlight gives more
melted faster because it sunlight melted, while the heat energy, which makes
absorbed more heat. shaded one stayed solid. chocolate melt faster.
Life Science – Owls and Mice
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** Scientists observed an owl population in a forest. In years with
plenty of mice, the owls had more babies. In years with fewer mice, owl numbers decreased.
This pattern repeated for many years.
❓ **Question:** What explains the connection between mice populations and owl
populations?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Owls depend on mice for When there were more Owls eat mice, so more food
food, so their population mice, owl numbers went up. allows them to survive and
changes with mouse When there were fewer reproduce more
numbers. mice, owl numbers went successfully.
down.
Earth Science – Rocks by the River
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** A student collected rocks from a riverbank and noticed that most
were small, smooth, and rounded. When the student compared them to sharp, jagged rocks
from a mountain trail, they looked very different. The river rocks had clearly been shaped
over time.
❓ **Question:** Why do rocks near a river look smoother than rocks found on a mountain
trail?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
River rocks are smoother Rocks in rivers are rounded Flowing water causes rocks
because water movement and smooth, unlike sharp to bump into each other,
wears them down over rocks in the mountains. breaking off sharp edges
time. and making them smooth.
Space Science – Shadows on the Moon
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** Astronauts on the Moon noticed that shadows there are much
darker than on Earth. On Earth, shadows are softened because air and water vapor scatter
sunlight. On the Moon, there is no atmosphere to scatter light, so the shadows are sharply
black.
❓ **Question:** Why do shadows appear darker on the Moon than on Earth?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Shadows are darker on the On Earth, air and water Without an atmosphere,
Moon because it has no vapor scatter sunlight and sunlight cannot spread out,
atmosphere to scatter soften shadows. On the so shadows stay dark and
sunlight. Moon, shadows look black. sharp.
Everyday Science – Wet Clothes
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** After washing clothes, one shirt was hung outside on a sunny,
windy day, while another was left inside a dark, cool closet. The shirt outside dried within
an hour, but the one in the closet stayed damp all day.
❓ **Question:** Why did the shirt outside dry faster than the one in the closet?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The shirt outside dried The shirt outdoors dried Heat from the sun and
faster because sunlight and quickly, but the one in the moving air help water
wind made the water closet stayed wet. change into gas more
evaporate. quickly.
Life Science – Plants and Salt Water
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** A group of students tried watering bean plants with salt water
instead of fresh water. After a week, the saltwater plants looked wilted and droopy, while
the freshwater plants were healthy and green.
❓ **Question:** Why did the plants given salt water not grow well?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Plants watered with salt The saltwater plants looked Salt pulls water out of plant
water did not grow because wilted, while the freshwater cells, making it harder for
salt harms them. plants were healthy. plants to stay healthy.
Earth Science – Weathering of Statues
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** Many old statues in cities look worn down and rough compared to
when they were new. Scientists explain that wind, rain, and pollution slowly wear away the
rock over time. Some statues near the ocean weather even faster because salty sea spray
speeds up the process.
❓ **Question:** Why do old statues often look worn and damaged?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Statues wear down because Older statues are rough and Wind, water, and pollution
weather, rain, and pollution damaged compared to when cause rocks to break down
break down the rock. they were new. slowly over time, especially
near the ocean.
Physical Science – Balloon in a Freezer
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** A balloon was filled with air and left in a freezer overnight. By
morning, the balloon had shrunk and looked smaller. When the balloon was taken back into
a warm room, it slowly expanded again.
❓ **Question:** Why did the balloon shrink in the freezer?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
The balloon shrank because The balloon got smaller in Air molecules move less in
cold air takes up less space the freezer and bigger again cold temperatures, so they
than warm air. in the warm room. take up less space,
shrinking the balloon.
Life Science – Wolves and Deer
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** In a national park, scientists noticed that when wolf populations
decreased, deer populations grew quickly. However, when there were too many deer, plants
were eaten faster than they could grow back. When wolves returned, deer populations
dropped, and plant life improved again.
❓ **Question:** How do wolves affect the health of the ecosystem?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Wolves keep deer numbers When wolves disappeared, Predators like wolves
under control, which helps deer increased and plants control prey populations,
plants grow back. were eaten too much. When which keeps the ecosystem
wolves returned, plants balanced.
grew better.
Space Science – Seasons
📖 **Reading/Scenario:** Some students thought summer is hotter because Earth is closer to
the Sun. But scientists explained that Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, and summer
happens when Earth’s axis is tilted toward the Sun. This tilt makes sunlight more direct and
days longer.
❓ **Question:** Why is summer warmer than winter in the same place on Earth?
✍️Student Response Table:
Claim Evidence Reasoning
✅ Exemplar Answer (Mid-Low Level Student Target):
Claim Evidence Reasoning
Summer is warmer because Scientists explained that When sunlight hits directly,
Earth’s tilt makes sunlight Earth’s tilt, not distance, it delivers more energy,
hit more directly. causes seasons. Days are making temperatures
longer and sunlight more warmer.
direct in summer.
