6th Grade Science Pretest
Select the choice that BEST answers each question or correctly completes the statement.
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Please write your NAME and SCIENCE CLASS PERIOD you are in.
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1. Which of these is a renewable resource?
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Petrolium, because it can be refined into gasoline
Gold, because more can be made very easily
Coal, because more can be made in about 100 years
Wood, because trees grow again
2. Since stars give off their own light, they are like the...
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Earth
Sun
Planets
Moon
3. Which pieces of laboratory equipment are used for safety?
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Use the pictures on page 1 to help you answer this question
4 and 8
3 and 5
2 and 6
6 and 10
4. This rock was brought to school. The class found fossils of water plants and shells in the rock. What does this tell us about the rock?
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Use the picture on page 1 to help you answer this question.
The rock was once at the bottom of the sea
The rock needs to be washed off.
The rock is dark and gray.
The rock is heavier than most rocks.
5. Nine bean plants were grown in varying amounts of light. What conclusion can be drawn from the graph?
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Use the graph at the top of page 2 to answer this question.
Bean plants grow best in moderate light.
Bean plants grow best in low light.
Bean plants grow the same in all.
Bean plants grow best in high light.
6. Students were assigned to measure the length of the hallway outside their classroom in feet. Some tiles in the hall were 7 1/2 inches wide and others were 8 inches wide. Which technique for measuring the hall is the most accurate?
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Estimating the length
Using yardsticks
Using the students' feet
Counting the classrooms
7. Look at the diagram for the days Monday through Thursday. Which best describes the relationship between temperature and pressure for those days?
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Use the chart at the bottom of page 2 to help you answer the question.
As the temperature rose, the pressure remained the same.
As the pressure rose, the temperature dropped.
As the pressure rose, the temperature remained the same.
As the temperature rose, the pressure dropped.
8. Which bird beak would be most helpful for a bird that eats insects in the bark of trees?
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Use the picture at the top of page 3 to help you answer the question.
Bird beak C
Bird beak A
Bird beak D
Bird beak B
9. Erin wants to make a tool that can be dipped into a bubble solution and used to blow bubbles. Which item would work best?
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A wire clothes hanger
A wooden spoon
A yardstick
A toothbrush
10. What do these animals have in common?
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Use the picture in the middle of page 3 to help you answer the question.
Cold-blooded
Warm-blooded
Invertebrate
Vertibrate
11. If a scientist wanted to find out how tall a plant grows each day, the scientist would...
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give the plant a half-cup of water each day
measure the plant with a ruler each day
put the plant on a scale each day and weigh it
put the plant in a sunny place each day
12. Brent noticed that when he held a piece of cork under water and then let it go, the cork rose to the surface. This occurred because the cork is less dense than water. Which of these is most similar to what happened to the cork?
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Airplane taking off
Sun rising in the morning
Hot-air balloon rising in the air
Model rocket taking off
13. Which word is under the wrong heading?
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Use the table on page 4 to help you answer the question.
Steam
Pencil
Milk
Ice Cube
14. Which of these skulls is from a dinosaur that was probably a carnivore?
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Use the pictures on page 4 to help you answer the question.
A
B
C
D
15. A girl found the skull of an animal. She did not know what the animal was, but she was sure that it preyed on other animals for its food. Which clue led to her conclusion?
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There was a projecting ridge on the front of the skull.
Four of the teeth were long and pointed
The eye sockets faced sideways.
The skull was much longer than it was wide.
16. A town passes a law that makes it illegal to hunt deer. Which will MOST likely happen during the following year in the town's forest?
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Trees will increase.
Small plants will decrease.
Insects will increase.
Deer will decrease.
17. A student conducted an experiment to find out how temperature affects air in a balloon. He drew a line around the center of the balloon and measured the length of the line around the balloon. According to the chart, what conclusions can be made about how temperature affects air in a balloon?
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Use the chart on page 5 to help you answer the question.
The warmer the balloon gets, the more it expands.
The balloon bursts after being warmed for 4 minutes.
The colder the balloon gets, the faster the gas moves.
The balloon is unaffected by changes in temperature.
18. Which of these parts of an animal would be most likely to form a fossil?
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Kidney
Tooth
Eye
Heart
19. If these 4 identical balls are dropped at the same time and from the same height, which ball will land first?
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Use the pictures at the bottom of page 5 to help you answer this question.
Ball 1
Ball 2
Ball 3
Ball 4
20. An experiment was conducted to determine the feeding rate at which two different water beetles eat frog eggs. The data is shown in the following graph. How many frog eggs did Beetle B eat in the first 4 minutes?
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Use the graph at the top of page 6 to help you answer the question.
20
90
60
30
21. Snakes feed on mice. The mice eat grain crops. When the crops are plentiful (lots) what will happen?
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The snake population will decrease.
The mouse population will decrease.
The snake population will increase.
The mouse population will not change.
22. If foxes and hawks are removed from this food web, the result will be...?
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Use the food web at the bottom of page 6 to help you answer the question.
a decrease in snakes
an increase in insects
a decrease in moles
an increase in rabbits
23. These graphs show the rate at which four different disease-producing bacteria grow. Which bacterium would produce a disease in the shortest amount of time?
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Use the graphs at the top of page 7 to help you answer the question
Bacterium 1
Bacterium 3
Bacterium 2
Bacterium 4
24. Two companies make golf balls, and each claims that its ball goes farther. Which would be the best scientific evidence to decide which balls go farther?
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You read results of tests conducted on the two balls by each company.
You ask the best 100 golfers in the world which ball goes farther.
A machine hits each ball with exactly the same force, and you measure how far each goes.
The best golfer in the world hits each ball 100 times, and you measure how far each goes.
25. A student wants to perform an experiment to test how much water bean plants need for good growth. Which factor should be changed?
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The amount of light
The amount of water
The amount of soil
The temperature
26. How much more rain fell in February than in November?
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Use the graph at the bottom of page 7 to help you answer the question.
6cm
16cm
14cm
cm
27. Which rock layer is probably the oldest?
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Use the picture on page 8 to help you answer the question.
4
1
6
3
28. Look at the picture of the candle. Which statement is a direct visual observation?
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Use the picture of the candle on page 8 to help you answer the question.
The candle is heavy.
The candle is lit.
The candle is made of wax.
The flame is hot.
29. Why were these animals placed into these groups?
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Use the chart at the bottom of page 8 to help you answer the question.
One group lives near prairies; the other group lives near forests.
One group eats only plants; the other group eats only meat.
One group benefits people; the other group is a pest to people.
One group is active during the day; the other group is active at night.
30. What are your strengths in science?
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31. What things do you struggle with in science?
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