Science Flashcards
7 cards from real CAASPP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Science flashcards as text
A student pushes two boxes with the same force. Box A has more mass than Box B. Which box will have the greater acceleration?
Answer: Box B, because less mass results in greater acceleration for the same force
According to Newton's Second Law (F = ma), with the same force applied, the object with less mass (Box B) will have greater acceleration.
Which statement correctly describes the relationship between producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem?
Answer: Producers make food using sunlight; consumers eat producers or other consumers; decomposers recycle nutrients from dead organisms
In an ecosystem, producers use photosynthesis to make food, consumers eat other organisms for energy, and decomposers break down dead matter to recycle nutrients back into the soil.
Tectonic plates move due to convection currents in Earth's mantle. What drives these convection currents?
Answer: Heat from Earth's core causing hot mantle rock to rise and cool mantle rock to sink
Heat from Earth's core warms mantle rock, causing it to rise; cooler, denser mantle rock sinks, creating slow convection currents that move tectonic plates.
A scientist wants to determine whether fertilizer affects plant growth. She grows 20 plants with fertilizer and 20 plants without fertilizer, keeping all other conditions identical. Why is having 20 plants in each group important?
Answer: To ensure a larger sample size, reducing the effect of random variation and increasing reliability
A larger sample size reduces the impact of random variation, making the results more reliable and the conclusion more valid.
Which type of rock is most likely to contain fossils?
Answer: Sedimentary rock, because organisms are buried by layers of sediment that harden over time
Fossils form most commonly in sedimentary rock because organisms are buried by accumulating sediment layers that compact and cement around them before they decay.
An engineer designs a bridge using a triangular truss structure. Why is the triangle shape used rather than a square or rectangle?
Answer: Triangles are rigid and distribute forces along their sides without collapsing when pressure is applied
Triangles are the strongest geometric shape because they are inherently rigid — force applied to any side is distributed along all three sides, preventing deformation.
Earth's seasons are caused by which of the following?
Answer: The tilt of Earth's axis as Earth orbits the Sun, changing the angle and duration of sunlight
Earth's 23.5° axial tilt means that as Earth orbits the Sun, different hemispheres receive more direct sunlight and longer days at different times of year, causing seasons.