The Nature of Science
Practice Test
1.
Which of the following is an example of science being performed?
a.
watching television
b.
discovering why salt melts ice
c.
an astronaut flying the space shuttle
d.
heating your room with a space heater
Hint
2.
What is the goal of science?
a.
to better understand the natural world
b.
to teach the scientific method
c.
to perform experiments
d.
to provide an education in school
Hint
3.
What is the correct approach to doing science?
a.
form your hypothesis after you have gathered data
b.
draw conclusions early
c.
experiment to test a hypothesis
d.
rely on mythology and stories to explain the natural world
Hint
4.
Which topic is not studied in Earth science?
a.
the solar system
b.
weather
c.
volcanoes
d.
the human brain
Hint
5.
Which is not used to predict weather today?
a.
radar
b.
weather balloons
c.
mythology
d.
satellites
Hint
6.
What is a hypothesis?
a.
a conclusion
b.
an experiment
c.
an educated guess
d.
a wild guess
Hint
7.
The difference between a theory and a law is that ___________.
a.
a theory describes the natural world
b.
a law explains the natural world
c.
a law is scientific fact
d.
a theory is scientific fact
Hint
8.
Which of the following is an example of technology?
a.
fire
b.
acid rain
c.
weather patterns
d.
microwave oven
Hint
9.
Upon what event did the ancient Egyptians develop the first calendar?
a.
when the snow fell
b.
when the Sun rose
c.
when the Moon changed
d.
when to plant crops
Hint
10.
Why do experiments use controls?
a.
to prove the hypothesis
b.
to provide a standard
c.
to support any conclusions
d.
to help average the data
Hint
11.
What is the final step in experiments?
a.
eliminating bias
b.
drawing conclusions
c.
developing a hypothesis
d.
identifying the problem
Hint
12.
One of the first cultures to develop instruments to study the weather was the __________.
a.
Mexicans
b.
Italians
c.
Americans
d.
British
Hint
13.
What is meteorology?
a.
the study of meteors
b.
the study of mythology
c.
the study of space
d.
the study of weather
Hint
14.
How old is technology?
a.
only 25 years or so
b.
thousands of years old
c.
millions of years old
d.
about a century old
Hint
15.
How often are scientific theories proved wrong?
a.
sometimes
b.
They are neither proved nor disproved.
c.
never
d.
always
Hint
16.
You are conducting an experiment to discover which brand of mosquito repellent works best. In this experiment, the brand of mosquito repellent is the __________.
a.
control
b.
constant
c.
dependent variable
d.
independent variable
Hint
17.
Why is scientific information published in journals?
a.
to show that experiments on certain subjects should no longer occur
b.
to make scientists money
c.
so others can build upon that knowledge
d.
to show how accurate a scientist's data are
Hint
18.
What is the first step in solving a problem in a scientific way?
a.
drawing conclusions
b.
developing a hypothesis
c.
identifying the problem
d.
performing an experiment
Hint
19.
The __________ was the first instrument developed to study weather.
a.
hydrometer
b.
barometer
c.
rain gauge
d.
thermometer
Hint
20.
What can cause an experiment to be inaccurate?
a.
forming a hypothesis
b.
drawing conclusions
c.
changing variables
d.
not enough data
Hint
