4Th Grade Science Checkpoint #4: Inquiry

4th Grade Science Checkpoint #4: Inquiry 4th Nine Weeks

Name: ______

Date: ______

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

of 11 4th Grade Science Checkpoint #4: Inquiry 4th Nine Weeks

4. Dan thinks the boys in his school are taller, on the average, than the girls. Rose thinks the girls are taller. Which would be the SUREST way to find out who is right?

A. asking the teacher who knows all the students in school B. looking up the average height of people of various ages in the encyclopedia C. measuring the height of all the boys and girls in school D. looking at the school records which tell how tall the students were when they entered school

5. The bar graph below shows the weight of four boys. How much does Bill weigh?

A. 30 pounds B. 40 pounds C. 60 pounds D. 90 pounds

6. What is the best tool use for measuring the height of a schoolmate?

A. graduated cylinder B. balance C. tape measure D. thermometer

7. Which of the following is MOST important in performing an experiment?

A. keeping everything the same except the thing being tested B. taking measurements quickly and accurately C. knowing the answer before you make a hypothesis D. using clean or brand-new equipment

8. Between 4:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon, Earl counted the cars that went by his house each day for five days. Then he made this graph. On which two days did the same number of cars go by?

A. Day 1 and Day 3 B. Day 2 and Day 4 C. Day 2 and Day 5 D. Day 1 and Day 4

9. Susan wanted to see which brand of paper towel was the strongest. She bought 4 different brands, and used sheets of the same size for her experiment. She dampened each sheet, squeezing out any excess water. For each trial, Susan got a friend to hold the edges of a damp sheet while she counted how many pennies it would hold before tearing.

What was the variable in this experiment?

A. the amount of water she put on each sheet B. the cost of each brand C. the different brands of paper towel D. the size of each sheet

10. In which pair of lists are living things sorted into plants and animals?

Use the graph below to answer question 11.

11. Germination is the time it takes for a tiny plant to come through its seed coat. On which day did the most seeds germinate?

A. Day 1 B. Day 3 C. Day 5 D. Day 6

Use the chart below to answer question 12.

12. According to this chart, the average temperature in November would most likely be

A. lower in October. B. the same as in September. C. the same as in October. D. higher than in September.

13. Which statement below is a conclusion and NOT an observation?

A. The puppy gained 20 pounds. B. The puppy’s light hair turned darker. C. The puppy became more playful. D. The puppy’s new food made him grow faster.

14. Compared to the unfertilized plant, how much taller was the fertilized plant at the end of the experiment?

A. 1 cm B. 2 cm C. 3 cm D. 4 cm

Use the table below to answer question 15.

15. One serving of raisin cereal without milk is highest in

A. copper. B. magnesium. C. potassium. D. sodium

Use the diagram of an air pressure gauge below to answer question 16.

16. What is the reading on the air pressure gauge?

A. 12 B. 14 C. 15 D. 17

17. A student placed a stick in the ground and measured the length of its shadow four times. The student made this graph of her measurements. About how long was the shadow of the stick at 11 a.m.?

A. 10 cm B. 20 cm C. 30 cm D. 40 cm

18. Blast O’Wind is a horse that runs around a track each day. The graph below shows the time it took Blast O’Wind to run around the track each day.

How many seconds did it take Blast O’Wind to run around the track on Day 2?

A. 40 seconds B. 50 seconds C. 60 seconds D. 70 seconds

19. Michael wanted to test if cold water freezes faster than hot water. He used identical cups and filled one cup with hot water and the other cup with same amount of cold water. He placed the two cups in his freezer. Michael checked on his cups every 20 minutes and recorded his observations. What is being tested in this experiment?

A. the temperature of the water samples B. the amount of water in each cup C. the time it takes each cup of water to freeze D. the material the cups are made out of

Use the diagrams below to answer question 20.

20. The life cycles of a butterfly and a ladybug are similar. The diagrams show the life cycle of each. Which stage of the ladybug’s life cycle is missing?

A. egg B. larva C. pupa D. adult

Use the pictures below to answer question 21.

21. When you blow across the top of a test tube partly filled with water, a sound is made. Which lists the test tubes in order, beginning with the one that makes the lowest- pitched sound and ending with the one that makes the highest-pitched sound?

A. N,O,P,M B. O,M,N,P C. P,N,M,O D. M,P,O,N

22. Bill was growing fast. He wrote down his weight on the first day of each month from March until September. He forgot to write it down in June. He made this chart:

Which of the following is MOST LIKELY to have been Bill’s weight on June 1?

A. 84 pounds B. 86 pounds C. 88 pounds D. 89 pounds

23. New York City is one of the largest cities in America. If the population of New York City doubles in three years, which is the most likely effect of this population increase on the environment?

A. There will be less air pollution. B. More garbage will be produced. C. There will be less noise pollution. D. The water will be cleaner.

Use the table below to answer question 24.

24. Which electrical device in the table costs the MOST to operate?

A. hairdryer B. color television C. microwave oven D. clock

25. Rachel wants to know which of two brands of flashlights batteries has the most energy. The BEST way for Rachel to find out would be to

A. question several store owners, asking which brand sells best. B. question people who buy batteries, asking them why they buy the brand they buy. C. compare the prices of several different brands of batteries. D. compare how long the two brands keep a flashlight lit.

26. Which step comes first when conducting an experiment?

A. gathering data B. drawing a conclusion C. making observations D. interpreting data

27. Which is the BEST way for a dog owner to find out how the dog is reacting to a new puppy around the house?

A. Interview pet shop owners. B. Observe the dog’s behavior. C. Ask several veterinarians. D. Do an experiment on the dog.

28. Which is the BEST way for someone to find out about an unfamiliar tree?

A. Find out what kinds of birds build their nests in it. B. Compare the bark and leaves with pictures in a book about trees. C. See how many trees like it are in the area. D. Find out how well it grows in different kinds of soil.

29. Which pairs of pictures below sorts objects into natural and man-made things?

30. Frank’s science class keeps several different animals in the classroom. The students decided to do a group experiment to compare the amount of food each type of animal eats in a week. Their data are shown in the table below.

Which table BEST summarizes the total amount of food eaten by each type of animal?

Answer Key

1. A 2. A 3. C 4. C 5. C 6. C 7. A 8. D 9. C 10. B 11. C 12. A 13. A 14. D 15. D 16. B 17. B 18. C 19. C 20. C 21. C 22. B 23. B 24. C 25. D 26. C 27. B 28. B 29. C 30. C