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Science: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Investigations 2 (Questions)

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Investigations normally involve experiments, predictions, methods, equipment and variables. You should have many opportunities to plan investigations in your science classes. Investigations are lots of fun and are one of the most interesting things to do in science lessons. But they are also a chance to develop your skill in being logical and methodical. Not only that, but investigation is also how scientists discover new facts and learn more about how the world works.

You are testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity. You have built a circuit of a battery and two crocodile leads which you will attach to the material. What is missing?

[ ]	A switch
[ ]	A light bulb, buzzer or motor
[ ]	A parallel circuit
[ ]	Nothing is missing

If you were testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity using a circuit and bulbs, what variable would you be changing?

[ ]	The strength of the battery
[ ]	The number of bulbs
[ ]	The material
[ ]	The time it takes the electricity to complete the circuit

If you were testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity using a circuit and bulbs, what would be the dependent variable?

[ ]	The length of the crocodile leads
[ ]	How long the investigation takes
[ ]	The strength of the battery
[ ]	Whether electricity passes through the material

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, which variable would you change?

[ ]	The amount of water you give the seeds
[ ]	The temperature of the places where you've left the seeds
[ ]	The amount of light to which the seeds are exposed
[ ]	The types of seeds which will be germinating

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, what would be the dependent variable?

[ ]	Whether the seeds germinate
[ ]	How many seeds you plant
[ ]	How tall the plants grow
[ ]	How much light you give the seeds

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, how would you measure the dependent variable?

[ ]	By how tall the shoots grow in a certain number of days
[ ]	By the number of days it takes the seeds to germinate
[ ]	By the number of seeds which germinate after a certain number of days
[ ]	Either the number of days it takes or by the number of seeds which germinate

You would like to investigate the effect of water resistance on different shapes molded from plasticine. You are dropping the shapes in a beaker of water. What is the dependent variable?

[ ]	The amount of time it takes the shape to reach the bottom of the beaker
[ ]	The amount of water in the beaker
[ ]	The mass of the plasticine shape
[ ]	The color of the plasticine

What unit of measurement would you use to record the amount of time it takes different shapes to reach the bottom of a beaker of water?

[ ]	Centimetres
[ ]	Degrees Celsius
[ ]	Seconds
[ ]	Millilitres

If you were testing the effect of water resistance on three different plasticine shapes, which variable would you be changing?

[ ]	The mass of the plasticine shape
[ ]	The shape of the plasticine
[ ]	The amount of water in the beaker
[ ]	All of the above

10.

If you investigated the effect of water resistance on different shapes molded from plasticine by dropping them in a beaker of water and timing how long it takes them to reach the bottom, what would happen if you changed the amount of water, the shape of the plasticine and the mass of the different shapes?

[ ]	Your results would all be the same
[ ]	Your investigation would take too much time
[ ]	The investigation would not be a fair test
[ ]	You wouldn't have enough time to display your results

Science: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Investigations 2 (Answers)

You are testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity. You have built a circuit of a battery and two crocodile leads which you will attach to the material. What is missing?

[ ]	A switch
[x]	A light bulb, buzzer or motor
[ ]	A parallel circuit
[ ]	Nothing is missing

Without a light bulb, buzzer, or motor, you will not be able to see whether electricity can pass through the material you are testing - if electricity can pass through, the buzzer will buzz, the motor will run or the bulb will light up

If you were testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity using a circuit and bulbs, what variable would you be changing?

[ ]	The strength of the battery
[ ]	The number of bulbs
[x]	The material
[ ]	The time it takes the electricity to complete the circuit

The materials are what are being tested so they are the only thing that should be changed

If you were testing materials to see whether they conduct electricity using a circuit and bulbs, what would be the dependent variable?

[ ]	The length of the crocodile leads
[ ]	How long the investigation takes
[ ]	The strength of the battery
[x]	Whether electricity passes through the material

The dependent variable is the variable you measure - here it would be measured by whether the bulb works

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, which variable would you change?

[ ]	The amount of water you give the seeds
[ ]	The temperature of the places where you've left the seeds
[x]	The amount of light to which the seeds are exposed
[ ]	The types of seeds which will be germinating

Only the amount of light should be changed - all other variables would be kept the same

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, what would be the dependent variable?

[x]	Whether the seeds germinate
[ ]	How many seeds you plant
[ ]	How tall the plants grow
[ ]	How much light you give the seeds

The dependant variable is the thing we are measuring - in this case, seed germination

If you were carrying out an investigation into the effect of light on seed germination, how would you measure the dependent variable?

[ ]	By how tall the shoots grow in a certain number of days
[ ]	By the number of days it takes the seeds to germinate
[ ]	By the number of seeds which germinate after a certain number of days
[x]	Either the number of days it takes or by the number of seeds which germinate

The amount of light might also affect how much the shoots grow, but we are only interested in germination in this investigation

You would like to investigate the effect of water resistance on different shapes molded from plasticine. You are dropping the shapes in a beaker of water. What is the dependent variable?

[x]	The amount of time it takes the shape to reach the bottom of the beaker
[ ]	The amount of water in the beaker
[ ]	The mass of the plasticine shape
[ ]	The color of the plasticine

We are measuring water resistance which can be seen from the amount of time it takes an object to sink - a longer time means more water resistance and a shorter time means less

What unit of measurement would you use to record the amount of time it takes different shapes to reach the bottom of a beaker of water?

[ ]	Centimetres
[ ]	Degrees Celsius
[x]	Seconds
[ ]	Millilitres

Because you would be measuring the amount of time it takes, you would need to measure in seconds

If you were testing the effect of water resistance on three different plasticine shapes, which variable would you be changing?

[ ]	The mass of the plasticine shape
[x]	The shape of the plasticine
[ ]	The amount of water in the beaker
[ ]	All of the above

You would have to make sure the mass (weight) of each of the three shapes was exactly the same

10.

[ ]	Your results would all be the same
[ ]	Your investigation would take too much time
[x]	The investigation would not be a fair test
[ ]	You wouldn't have enough time to display your results

As it's the shapes we are investigating, only the shapes and nothing else must change