CAASPP Science 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student pushes two boxes with the same force. Box A has more mass than Box B. Which box will have the greater acceleration?
- Box A, because more mass means more momentum
- Box B, because less mass results in greater acceleration for the same force (Correct answer)
- Both boxes accelerate equally since the same force is applied
- Box A, because heavier objects always accelerate faster under force
Correct 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.
Question 2: Which statement correctly describes the relationship between producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem?
- Consumers produce energy that decomposers break down into sunlight
- Producers make food using sunlight; consumers eat producers or other consumers; decomposers recycle nutrients from dead organisms (Correct answer)
- Decomposers create nutrients from sunlight which producers then consume
- Producers eat consumers, and decomposers create new producers from nutrients
Correct 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.
Question 3: Tectonic plates move due to convection currents in Earth's mantle. What drives these convection currents?
- The Moon's gravitational pull on Earth's interior
- Heat from Earth's core causing hot mantle rock to rise and cool mantle rock to sink (Correct answer)
- The rotation of Earth spinning the mantle material outward
- Solar radiation heating Earth's crust from above
Correct 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.
Question 4: 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?
- To use more fertilizer and get a clearer result faster
- To ensure a larger sample size, reducing the effect of random variation and increasing reliability (Correct answer)
- Because plants need competition to grow properly
- To make the experiment take longer so more data can be collected
Correct 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.
Question 5: Which type of rock is most likely to contain fossils?
- Igneous rock, because it forms quickly and traps organisms
- Metamorphic rock, because heat and pressure preserve organisms
- Sedimentary rock, because organisms are buried by layers of sediment that harden over time (Correct answer)
- All rock types preserve fossils equally well
Correct 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.
Question 6: An engineer designs a bridge using a triangular truss structure. Why is the triangle shape used rather than a square or rectangle?
- Triangles use less material than other shapes
- Triangles are rigid and distribute forces along their sides without collapsing when pressure is applied (Correct answer)
- Square shapes are harder to manufacture out of steel
- Triangles are aesthetically more pleasing to bridge designers
Correct 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.
Question 7: Earth's seasons are caused by which of the following?
- Earth's changing distance from the Sun as it follows an elliptical orbit
- The tilt of Earth's axis as Earth orbits the Sun, changing the angle and duration of sunlight (Correct answer)
- The Moon blocking sunlight from reaching different parts of Earth
- Variations in the Sun's energy output throughout the year
Correct 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.
CAASPP Science 5
A student pushes two boxes with the same force.
Box A has more mass than Box B.
Which box will have the greater acceleration?