NSCAS Science Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student observes that a metal spoon left in hot soup becomes warm. Which type of heat transfer does this best illustrate?
- Convection
- Radiation
- Conduction (Correct answer)
- Evaporation
Correct answer: Conduction
Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact between materials, such as a metal spoon in hot soup.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes a physical change?
- Wood burning in a fireplace
- Iron rusting on a fence
- Paper being cut into smaller pieces (Correct answer)
- Baking soda reacting with vinegar
Correct answer: Paper being cut into smaller pieces
Cutting paper changes its shape but not its chemical composition, making it a physical change.
Question 3: A ball is dropped from a tall building. As it falls, what energy transformation occurs?
- Kinetic energy converts to potential energy
- Potential energy converts to kinetic energy (Correct answer)
- Chemical energy converts to thermal energy
- Thermal energy converts to mechanical energy
Correct answer: Potential energy converts to kinetic energy
As the ball falls, gravitational potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.
Question 4: Which layer of Earth is composed primarily of solid iron and nickel?
- Crust
- Mantle
- Outer core
- Inner core (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Inner core
The inner core is composed mostly of solid iron and nickel under extreme pressure.
Question 5: A plant bends toward a light source over several days. What is this response called?
- Gravitropism
- Thigmotropism
- Phototropism (Correct answer)
- Hydrotropism
Correct answer: Phototropism
Phototropism is the directional growth of a plant in response to light.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of a producer in a food web?
- Frog
- Hawk
- Grasshopper
- Grass (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Grass
Grass is a producer because it makes its own food through photosynthesis.
Question 7: What happens to the temperature of water as it changes from a liquid to a gas?
- It decreases
- It stays the same during the phase change (Correct answer)
- It increases rapidly
- It fluctuates randomly
Correct answer: It stays the same during the phase change
During a phase change, added energy breaks molecular bonds rather than raising temperature, so temperature stays constant.
NSCAS Science Standards 2
A student observes that a metal spoon left in hot soup becomes warm.
Which type of heat transfer does this best illustrate?