1. Which Part of an Animal Might Form a Fossil?

Grade: 3rd Title: Science Benchmark Date Revised: September 7, 2006

1. Which part of an animal might form a fossil?

A. brain B. bones C. eyes D. heart

2. When lava from an erupting volcano cools, it forms

A. metamorphic rocks. B. igneous rocks C. iron ore. D. sand.

3. Which property can BEST be used to identify a type of mineral?

A. hardness B. mass C. size D. temperature

4. Soil is made up MOSTLY of

A. nitrogen. B. weathered rock. C. water. D. air.

5. Which soil is BEST for growing tomato plants?

A. red clay soil B. rocky soil C. sandy soil D. loamy soil

6. Fossils of fish are found under land where cows now live. You know that

A. this land was once under the ocean. B. fish used to live on land. C. the fish were dropped by flying birds. D. Farmers fed the fish to the cows.

Coweta County School System 1 of 16 Grade: 3rd Title: Science Benchmark Date Revised: September 7, 2006

7. Some rocks form when

A. snow covers a mountain. B. fertilizer is added to soil. C. rocks melt underground and flow to the surface. D. large, colored crystals from inside minerals.

8. Which is NOT a kind of soil?

A. clay B. mineral C. loam D. sand

9. Which is made of many different minerals?

A. talc B. quartz C. granite D. diamond

10. Which mineral is HARDEST?

A. copper B. diamond C. gold D. mica

11. If you found a fossil of a leaf in a rock, you would know that the fossil formed when

A. someone pressed the leaf against a soft rock. B. the leaf fell into soil that later became a rock. C. the leaf melted into the rock. D. the leaf grew inside of the rock.

12. What can scientists learn by studying fossils?

A. why earthquakes happen B. which animals lived long ago C. how far the Moon is from Earth D. why volcanoes erupt

13. Stan saw tiny crystals inside a rock. He should know that the rock has

A. a fossil inside. B. minerals inside. C. soil inside. D. air inside.

Use the picture below to answer question 14

14. Sam found this object in the garden soil. It is a dark color and seems to break into slabs. It is not soft, but it scratches with a nail. Sam decides it is a

A. cell. B. rock. C. fossil. D. mineral.

Use the picture below to answer question 15.

15. The picture shows the mineral test for

A. hardness. B. streak. C. magnetism. D. chemical makeup.

16. The best soil for making pottery is

A. sandy soil. B. loam soil. C. clay soil. D. rocky soil.

17. What happens when you heat a pot of water to 212° F (100° C)?

18. Which does NOT make heat?

A. a burning candle B. an electric current C. a campfire D. a sweater

19. Which correctly tells how heat gets to the water in a metal pan placed on hot water?

A. radiation from the water B. radiation from the burner C. conduction through the air D. conduction through the pan

20. Which does NOT make heat energy?

21. Water can exist in three forms – as liquid (water), solid (ice), and gas (water vapor). Which tells what happens to water as it changes form?

A. Liquid water gains heat to form a solid (ice). B. Liquid water loses heat to form a solid (ice). C. Solid water (ice) loses heat to form gas (water vapor). D. Water vapor (gas) gains heat to form liquid water.

22. Jana put a balloon over a bottle. Which could make the balloon get larger?

23. The hot water that heats springs in Georgia is warmed by ______.

A. geothermal energy B. nuclear energy C. solar energy D. electrical energy

24. Coal and oil are natural materials used ______.

A. to build houses B. to make jewelry C. as food for animals D. as fuel to make heat

Solar Panels

25. The panels on this space station change solar energy into electrical energy. The energy to do this comes from ______.

A. the Moon B. Earth C. the Sun D. a comet

26. Some modern houses have large windows that face toward the south. This helps heat the house by using ______.

A. electrical energy B. geothermal energy C. solar energy D. nuclear energy

27. Kelly put her plant near her bedroom window.

In a few weeks, what will her plant look like?

Use the picture to answer question 28.

28. What does a root bring to the plant?

A. air B. heat C. water D. sunlight

29. When it grows up, this baby animal will look like which animal?

C. D. Use the picture above to answer question 29.

Use the pictures in the box below to answer question 30.

30. Which leaf is MOST LIKE the leaves in the box?

31. Which bird lives by getting nectar from flowers?

32. Green plants get energy from the Sun and turn it into

A. water. B. food. C. fossils. D. minerals.

33. Which is found inside a seed?

A. a young plant and stored food B. many smaller seeds C. a flower and little leaves D. nothing because seeds are hollow

34. Different kinds of animals have different needs to stay alive. Many kinds of animals do NOT

A. need air. B. drink water. C. eat other animals. D. protect themselves.

35. ALL living things are made of

A. fibers. B. tissues. C. cells. D. organs.

36. Which shows the same animal at two different stages in its life cycle?

37. The three logs are from trees that were cut down. Which tree was the oldest?

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. They were all the same age.

38. Owls hunt for food mostly at night. How do owls find food in the dark?

A. Owls find food by feeling with antennas. B. Owls use their feet to scratch and find seeds. C. The eyes of owls open very wide to see in dim light. D. Owls sit in trees and wait for food to move closer.

39. Tom put flowers into two groups. What was Tom looking at to help him decide which group to put each flower in?

A. odd or even number of petals B. long petals or short petals C. small flowers or large flowers D. long stems or short stems

Use the graph to answer question 40.

40. The graph shows HOW TALL a plant has grown. The plant was 2 centimeters tall on Day 3. How tall was it on Day 6?

A. 4 centimeters B. 5 centimeters C. 6 centimeters D. 7 centimeters

41. A teacher asked a class to find out what kinds of birds visit the school bird feeder. Which is the best way for the class to do this?

A. Take turns watching the feeder one hour each day for a month and keep a list of all the birds that they see. B. Try to remember all the birds they saw during the last year. C. Take turns watching the feeder for one hour and keep a list of all the birds that they see. D. Read a bird guide to find out what types of birds visit the area.

42. John’s hypothesis is that mold grows better in the dark than in the light. To test this, he put a piece of bread in each of two jars with lids. He put exactly 10 drops of water on each slice of the bread. He put one jar in a lighted room and one in a dark closet. Which statement about John’s experiment is true?

a. John’s experiment is a good test of his hypothesis. b. John only needs one jar and one piece of bread for this experiment. c. John should test his hypothesis in a real laboratory. d. John should put more water on the bread in the lighted room.

43. Tom wanted to find out whether plants can grow in the dark or in the light. He put a pot with six radish seeds in a dark room and a pot with six bean seeds on the windowsill.

He added the same amount of water to both pots. The bean seeds grew better than the radish seeds, so Tom said his plants grew best in the light. To be able to say this he should have

a. used more seeds in each pot. b. watered the radish seeds more. c. put the same kind of seeds in both pots. d. grown radish seeds in light instead of dark.

44. Fossil fuels are A. made from dinosaur bones B. made from electricity C. no longer useful D. formed from living things that died millions of years ago

Four picture choices are given for each question. Pick the picture that answers the question better than the other pictures. (Questions 45 – 47)

45. Which bulb will probably light up?

46. Which magnets will push each other away?

47. Which tool makes use of a magnet?

48. Melany made a chart showing which objects were lifted by a magnet. How many objects did Melany’s magnet lift?

Melany’s Chart – Objects Lifted by Magnet Object Yes No Nail  Paper  Paper Clip  Penny  Metal Bell 

A. 1 object B. 2 objects C. 3 objects D. 4 object

Answer Key

Number Answer GPS 1 B S3E2b 2 B S3E1b 3 A S3E1a 4 B S3E1c 5 D S3E1c 6 A S3E2a 7 C S3E1d 8 B S3E1c 9 B S3E1a 10 B S3E1a 11 B S3E2b 12 B S3E2a 13 B S3E1a 14 D S3E1a 15 B S3E1b 16 C S3E1c 17 B S3P1a 18 D S3P1a 19 D S3P1c 20 D S3P1a 21 B S3P1a 22 D S3P1a 23 A S3P1a 24 D S3P1a 25 B S3P1c 26 C S3P1c 27 B S3L1d 28 C S3L1b 29 D S3L1a 30 D S3L1b 31 C S3L1a 32 B S3L1b 33 A S3L1b 34 C S3L1c 35 C S3L1b&c 36 B S3L1c 37 B S3L1b 38 C S3L1a 39 A S3CS2 40 B S3CS4b 41 A S3CS1a 42 A S3CS8a 43 C S3CS7a

44 D S3E2b 45 A S3CS5 46 D S3P2a 47 A S3P2b 48 B S3P2a

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