Standing on one foot

Maria stood on her bathroom scale with two

feet. She read her weight on the scale. She
then lifted one foot. Circle what you think
happened to the reading on the scale when
she stood on one foot.
It showed an increase in weight
It showed a decrease in weight
Her weight stayed the same
Explain your answer
 Is it “Fitter”?
Natural selection is sometimes described as
“survival of the fittest.” Four friends were
arguing about what the phrase means.
Dora: ‘fit’ means bigger and stronger.
Lance: It means more apt to reproduce.
Felix: It means able to run faster.
Ed: It means more intelligent.
Vol 4 -16
Wet Jeans
Sam washed his favorite pair of jeans. He
hung the wet jeans on a clothesline outside.
An hour later the jeans were dry.
1. It soaked into the ground
2. It disappeared and no longer exists.
3. It is in the air in an invisible form.
4. It moved up to the clouds.
5. It chemically changed into a new substance
6. It broke down into atoms of H and O
Talking about gravity
Two friends were talking about gravity.
Ben said, “Gravity needs an atmosphere or
air. If there is no air or atmosphere, there will
be no gravity.”
Kelly said, “Gravity doesn't need an
atmosphere or air. If there is no air or
atmosphere, there will still be gravity.”
Which friend do you agree with? Why?
 Rotting Apple
Six friends argued about why an apple on the ground eventually
rots away and disappears. This is what they said:
Anna: “I think it is just something that happens over time.”
Selma: “I think small organisms use it for energy and building
material.”
Felicia: “I think the atoms and molecules in the apple just break
apart.”
Logan: “I think wind and water soften it, and it dissolves into the
soil.”
Eli: “I think water and air rot it, then small animals come and eat
the rest.”
Jack: “I think it gets old and breaks apart into pieces too small to
use.”
Which student do you agree most with and WHY?
 Objects and Temperature
Taz and Kyle are comparing the temperature readings of four
different objects:
 Blocks of wood
 Metal tray
 Wool hat
 Glass plate
They place the objects on a table in their science classroom and
leave them overnight. A thermometer is attached to each object.
The next day they recorded the temperature of each object at
the same time.
What statement best describes your prediction about the
objects?
 None of the objects will have the same temperature
 Two of the objects will have the same temperature
 Three of the objects will have the same temperature
 All of the objects will have the same temperature
 The Sun
What are the 6 components of the sun and their
make-up or function?
Write a description of each of the 6 components.
 Be sure to include their make-up and or function.
Nails in a Jar
Jake put a handful of wet, iron nails in a glass jar. He
tightly closed the lid and set the jar aside. After a few
weeks, he noticed that the nails inside the jar were
rusty. Which sentence best describes what happened
to the total mass of the sealed jar after the nails
rusted?
1. The mass of the jar and its contents increased.
2. The mass of the jar and its contents decreased
3. The mass of the jar and its contents stayed the same.
Global Warming
Seven students argued what they thought were major human
causes of global warming. This is what they thought were
caused that could be attributed to humans:
Maria: acid rain
Natalie: burning coal
Tessa: the fuel we use in our cars
Blaine: using leaded gasoline instead of unleaded
Anita: toxic chemicals in air pollution
Raul: the thinning of the Earth’s ozone layer
Van: water pollution
Choose the student(s) you agree with and explain why you
agree.
 Is It Matter?
Listed below is a list of things that are considered matter and things
that are not considered matter. Circle each of the things that you
consider to be matter.
Rocks baby powder milk air light
Love cells atoms fire smoke
Mars Jupiter steam heat sound
waves
 salt dust water stars rotten
apple
Bacteria oxygen gravity electricity
Magnetic force dissolved sugar
Iron Bar
Nate measured an iron bar. He put the iron bar in the
hot sun. When he measured the bar after it had been
in the sun, it was slightly longer. Which sentence
best describes what happened to the iron atoms
after the bar was left in the hot sun?
The number of atoms increased.
The size of the atoms increased
The space between each atom increased
The air in the spaces between the iron atoms expanded
Some of the atoms began to melt and spread out further
in the bar
The heat caused the atoms to flow around the bar and
pushed it outward.
Giant Sequoia Tree
The giant sequoia tree is one of the largest trees on Earth. It
starts as a small seedling and grows into an enormous tree.
Five children can stretch their arms across the width of the
trunk of one of the large sequoia trees!
Where did most of the matter that makes up the wood and
leaves of this huge tree originally come from?
1. Sunlight
2. Water
3. Soil
4. Carbon dioxide
5. Oxygen
6. Minerals
7. chlorophyll
Batteries, Bulbs, and Wires
Kirsten has a battery and a small bulb. She wonders
how many strips of wire she will need to connect
the battery and the bulb so that the bulb will light.
What is the smallest number of wire strips Kirsten
needs to make the bulb light up?
One strip of wire
Two strips of wire
Three strips of wire
Four strips of wire.
Explain your thinking about how to light the bulb.
Draw a picture to support your explanation.
 Sam’s Puppy
Sam brought home a tiny puppy. Her puppy grew.
Four weeks later, her puppy had grown to twice its
original size. Which answer below best explains why
Sam’s puppy got bigger?
The number of cells in the puppy’s body increased.
The puppy’s body absorbed the food it ate.
The puppy’s body cells grew larger as it got older.
Parts of the puppy’s body stretched out more.
Describe your thinking. Provide an explanation for
your answer.
Chocolate Lab
Based upon what you observed during the chocolate rock
lab. When was each part of the rock cycle symbolize?
List the three categories and describe how we used
different steps of the lab to demonstrate each part.
 Mineral Hunt
During your lab you utilized first hand observations of the
properties/characteristics of different mineral to
determine their identity.
1. Why does this method work?
2. How could you use this process in your everyday life?
3. Explain your answer. (Be specific, blanket answers will
no be accepted.)

Baby Mice
Royce’s pet mouse had babies. Five of the babies were black
and two were white. The father mouse was black. The mother
mouse was white. Royce and his friends wondered why the
mice were different colors. These were their ideas:
 Lacey: Baby mice inherit more traits from their fathers than their
mothers.
 Alexa: The baby mice got half their traits from their father and half
from their mother.
 June: Male traits are stronger than female traits.
 Royce: Black mice have more traits than white mice.
 Tiffany: The black baby mice are probably male and the white mice are
female.
 Lydia: Parent’s traits like fur color don’t matter- nature decides what
something will look like.
 Billy: Blood type determines what traits babies will have.

Which friend do you most agree with and why? Explain your
answer.
 What’s in the Bubbles?
Hannah is boiling water in a glass tea kettle. She
notices bubbles forming on the bottom of the
kettle that rise to the top and wonders what is in
the bubbles. She asks her family what they think,
and this is what they say:

Dad: “They are bubbles of heat.”

Calvin: “The bubbles are filled with air.”
Grandma: “The bubbles are an invisible form of water.”
Mom: “The bubbles are empty-there is nothing inside them.”
Lucy: “The bubbles contain oxygen and hydrogen that separate
from the water.”

Which person do you most agree with and Why? Explain

 Warming Water
Two friends put a bowl of very cold water outside on a
hot sunny day. The sun warmed the water. They
wondered about the energy of the water. This is what
they thought:
 Ted: “The very cold water had energy. The Sun
provided additional energy to warm the water.”
 Amber: “The very cold warm water did not have
energy. The energy in the warm water came from the
sun.”
• Vol4-7
 Rock Cycle and you
As a class we have been investigating how the rock cycle
affects the Earth in terms of geologic impact.
However, how could different aspects of the rock cycle
effect your life now or in the future?
Explain your reasoning.
 Is It a System?
Write down all items that you think are systems.
Explain the criteria you used for being considered “a
system.” Vol 4-11

Aquarium Digestion Cell phone Pile of sand Food web

Electrical
A+B=C Earth Hurricane circuit Grasshopper

Graph Water cycle Volcano Seed Human body

Density=Mass Earth and

Soil Box of Nails / Volume Ocean Moon
Biological Evolution
Four friends were discussing the meaning of the term
biological evolution. This is what they said:

Mario: “I think it is another term for natural selection.”

Sally: “I think it mainly explains how life started.”
Cameron: “I think it mainly explains how life changed after
it started.”
Paz: “I think it includes both how life started and how it
changed after it started.”

Who do you agree with? Explain what you think biological

evolution is.
 Vol 4-13
Chicken Eggs
The students in Mrs. Bartol’s class were studying how
chickens develop from an egg. The students put a dozen
freshly laid, fertilized chicken eggs in an incubator. They
wondered what would happen to the mass of an egg as
the chick inside developed.

Group A: The egg will gain mass. An egg’s mass is

more just before hatching than when the egg was laid.
Group B: The egg will lose mass.
Group C: The mass will stay the same.

Explain which group you agree with and why.

 Vol 4-14
Pennies
A shiny new penny is made up of atoms. Write down all of
the things on the list that describes the atoms that make
up the penny.
Explain why you selected the things you selected. vol 3-1

hard solid Very small Always warm

moving
Made of Contains
smaller mostly empty soft Copper- Has mass
particles space colored

Does not Shiny Cold dull happy

move
 Thermometer
Mr. Fox placed a thermometer in a jar of very hot water. His
students watched what happened to the thermometer.
Immediately the level of the red liquid in the thermometer went
up. His students disagreed about why the red liquid in the
thermometer rose when the thermometer was placed in the hot
liquid.
 John Paul- “The hot water pushed it up.”
 Troy- “The heat inside the thermometer rises.”
 Elizabeth- “The air inside the thermometer pulls it up.”
 Molly-”The molecules of the red liquid are further apart.”
 Greta- “The number of molecules in the red liquid increased.”
 Jim- “The molecules of the red liquid are getting bigger.”
 Vol 3-3
 Is it made of molecules?
Bread Protons Water Atomic Brain cell
nucleus
Milk Egg Atom Seed Bacteria
Cell
Skin DNA membrane Cloud Oil

Worm Protein Sugar Flower Chromosome

Leaf Electrons Blood Air Cell nucleus

Mushroo fruit
m

Describe your criteria for determining if something is made of molecules.

Vol. 1-11
 Is it food for plants?
Organisms, including plants, need food to survive. Circle
the things you think plants use as food.

Sunlight plant food from Sugar Carbon dioxide

A garden store

Minerals Fertilizer Soil Water

Leaves Oxygen Chlorophyll vitamins

Explain what your criteria was for determining if it is

plant food or not. Vol 2-15
 Is it melting?
The list below involves situations that cause
changes in materials/ The materials are italicized.
Write down the situation in which the italicized
materials undergo melting.
1. Putting a bowl of frozen ice cream in the sun.
2. Sawing wood to make sawdust.
3. Dissolving salt in water.
4. Adding a LifeSaver candy to a glass of warm water.
5. Water evaporating from a pan.
6. Dissolving a sugar cube in a cup of hot tea.
7. Pouring vinegar on baking soda.
8. Sucking on a lollipop or other hard candy.
9. Holding an ice cube in your hand.

Explain your opinion, and describe your criteria for melting.

Vol. 1-9
 Respiration
Write down all of the organisms on the chart that use the
process of respiration. Explain your rational. Vol 3-17

Human Frog eggs Fish Germinating Worm

seed

Butterfly larva Chick inside

Bacteria inside a Grass Mushroom an egg
chrysalis

Single-celled Human body

Horse pond Duck Tomato plant cell
organism

Apple tree honeybee mice Corn plant kitten

Camping Trip
Five friends were camping in the north woods. It was a clear
night with mild weather conditions. Sunset was at 9:14 pm.
Sunrise was at 5:22 am. The five friends wondered when it
would be coldest as they slept under the stars.
 Colin: “I think it will be coldest right after the Sun sets.”
 Ed: “I think it will be coldest at midnight.”
 Jeri: “ I think it will be coldest around 3:00am.”
 Emma: “ I think it will be coldest at the beginning of sunrise.”
 Kit: “ I think it will be coldest a few hours after sunrise.”

Which person do you agree most with and why? Explain

your answer.Vol.4-19
Day, Month and Year
Define in your own words…
Day
Month
Year
 Volcanoes
One a blank piece of paper….
Describe the three basic types of volcanoes.
Be sure to discuss how they are formed and what are there
major characteristics.
DO NOT COPY IT OUT OF YOUR BOOK.
DO NOT COPY OFF OF YOUR NEIGHBORS!!
 Is it a Rock?
What is a rock? How do you decide if something is a rock? On
your paper make a chart that organizes rock and none rock
items.
Cement Dried mud Hardened Asphalt Glass
block lava
Piece of clay Coral Limestone Iron ore Concrete
pot

Coal Brick Gravestone Marble granite

statue

Explain your thinking! What criteria did you follow to

determine is an item “is” or “is not” considered a
rock.vol. 2-21
Solids and Holes
Lance had a thin, solid piece of material. He placed
the material in water and it floated. He took the
material out and punched holes all the way
through it. What do you think Lance will observe
when he puts the material with holes back in the
water?
1. It will sink
2. It will barely float.
3. It will float the same as it did before the holes were
punched in it.
4. It will neither sink nor float. It will bob up and down in the
water.
Explain your thinking. Describe the “rule” or reasoning you
used to make your prediction. Vol.2-4
Epicenter
There has been an earthquake, it has registered on three
different seismographic stations. How could you
determine the epicenter of the earthquake using only the
three seismographic readings?
Explain your answer.
 Plants in the Dark and Light
Four friends wondered how light affected the growth of plants.
They decided to test their ideas using young bean plants.
One set of plants was put in a dark closet for eight days. The
other set of plants was put on a shelf near a sunny window
for eight days. The friends then measured the height of the
plants after eight days. This is what they predicted.
Carl: I think the plants in the dark closet will be the tallest.
Monique: I think the plants by the sunny window will be the tallest.
Jasmine: The plants will be the same height.
Drew: The plants in the closet will stop growing and die.
Explain why you selected the answer that you did. Vol. 2-14
 Where would it fall?
Six friends were talking about asteroids and meteorites
that could fall to the Earth. The friends wondered where
an object from space would most likely fall. This is what
they said:
Maya: “It has the greatest chance of landing in a desert.”
Elsa: “It is most apt to land where humans are living.”
Walter: “ It will most likely land in an ocean.”
Mac: “It will probably land on an ice-covered area.”
Amber: “Chances are it will land on the largest continent.”
Evan: “Most likely it will land in a body of freshwater.”
Which person do you agree with? Explain your reasoning.
Vol. 4-22
Digestive system
Six friends were talking about the function of the digestive
system. This is what they said:
Mina: “I think the main function is to release energy from food.”
Manny: “To help you breath.”
Sasha: “To break food down into molecules that can be
absorbed by cells.”
Harriet: “The main function is to break food down in the
stomach into small pieces of food that can be used by the
body.”
Todd: “To carry bits of food and nutrients to all the different
body parts.”
Who do you agree with? Explain your reasoning. Vol. 4-18
 Mixing Water
Melinda filled two glasses of equal size half-full with water. The water
in one glass was 50 degree Celsius. The water in the other glass
was 10 degrees Celsius. She poured one glass into the other,
stirred the liquid, and measured the temperature of the full glass
of water.
What do you think the temperature of the full glass of water.
1. 20 degrees C
2. 30 degrees C
3. 40 degree C
4. 50 degree C
5. 60 degree C
Explain your thinking. Describe the “rule” or reasoning you used for
your answer. Vol. 2-11
 Mountain Age
Mountain A is 4,800 ft. tall, looks smooth and rounded,
and is located in North America. Mountain B is 19,280
ft. tall, looks sharp and jagged, and is located in South
America. Both mountains were originally formed by the
uplifting of the Earth’s crust millions of years ago, are
composed of similar materials, and are found in similar
climate conditions.
1. Mountain A is probably younger then B.
2. Mountain A is probably older then B.
3. Mountain A and B are the same age.
Which statement best describes your opinion about the age of the
mountains based upon it’s physical appearance. Provide a
justification for your answer.
Lemonade
A glass of unsweetened lemonade weights 255 grams. A
spoonful of sugar is weighted before stirring it into
the lemonade. The sugar weights 25 grams. Predict
how much you think the sweetened lemonade will
weight after you stir in the sugar.
It will weight….
1. slightly less than 255 g but more than 230 g.
2. Slightly more than 255 g but less than 280 g.
3. 230 g.
4. 280 g.
5. The same: 255 g.
 Apple in the Dark.
Imagine you are setting at a table with a red apple in front of you. Your
friend closes the door and turns off all the lights. It is completely
dark in the room, and no light what so ever may enter the room.
You will….
1. not see the red apple, regardless of how long you are in the room.
2. see the red apple after your eyes have had time to adjust to the
dark.
3. see the apple after your eyes have had time to adjust to the
darkness, but you will not see the color red.
4. see only the shadow of the apple after your eyes have adjusted to
the darkness.
5. see only a faint outline of the apple after your eyes have had time
to adjust to the darkness.
Describe your reasoning. Vol. 1-2
 Can it Reflect Light?
Make a list on your paper of all of the items that reflect
light. Then describe your criteria for reflection. Vol.1-1
water Gray rock Leaf Mirror

Glass Sand Potato skin Wax paper

Tomato soup Crumpled paper Shiny metal Dull metal

Red apple Rough cardboard The Moon Rusty nail

Clouds Soil Wood Milk

Bed sheets New penny Old tarnished Aluminum foil

penny
 Does it have a life cycle?
List all of the organism that go through a life cycle. Explain
your criteria for a life cycle.vol.3-14

frog butterfly grasshopper fern

shark Bean plant Snake Cow
Mushroom Grass Earthworm Snail
Mold Spider Daisy Chicken
Maple tree Human Beetle Crab
Moth Mouse Lizard horse
 Floating Logs
A log was cut from a tree and put in water. The log
floated on its side so that half the log was above the
water surface. Another log was cut from the same
tree. This log was twice as long and twice as wide.
How does the larger log float compared with the
smaller log?
1. More than half of the larger log floats above the water
surface.
2. Half of the larger log floats above the water surface.
3. Less than half of the larger log floats above the water surface.
Explain your reasoning.