Student Learning Objective

Science
Post-Assessment
Grade 7

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

 Student Learning Objective
Science Post-Assessment
7th Grade

1. Jamie wants to conduct a scientific investigation on Which battery last longer?. How can she make sure
her results are valid?

A. write a report about her results

B. repeat the investigation several times
C. confirm that her results match her hypothesis
D. use metric measuring units during her investigation

2. Karen wants to know where in her garden would a basil plant grow the best. She thinks basil plant will grow
best in the corner of the garden that gets the most sunlight. To test her hypothesis, she decided to plant
several groups of basil in her garden as an experiment. Which of the following variables should Karen
change from one group of basil plant to the next?

A. the amount of water she gives the plants

B. the location of the plants
C. the height of the plants
D. the type of plants

3. You are planning to conduct an experiment to determine which disinfectant is best for killing bacteria often
found in kitchens. Which of the following would be the most logical dependent variable for your experiment?

A. Type of Detergent
B. Source of Bacteria
C. Amount of detergent
D. Number of bacteria that survived using the detergent

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

4. Dichotomous keys ask a series of questions in order to arrive at the exact identification of an
organism. Which feature would a yellowfin goby exhibit?

A. a black-tipped fin
B. a speckled dorsal fin
C. a dark body with stripes
D. a mouth extending past its eye

5. Suppose you are conducting an experiment to determine which metal best conducts electric current. You
decide the independent variable will be the type of metal wire used. The dependent variable will be the
current measured in amperes. Which of the following should be the same for each of the wires used?

A. Cost of the metal wires

B. Length and width of the metal wires
C. Whether the metal wires react with acid
D. How rapidly the metal wires react with oxygen

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the chart to answer Question 6.

Alligator Research: Rate of Eggs Hatched Versus Temperature

Incubation Temperature Male Eggs Hatched Female Eggs Hatched

25.2C 0 95

28.4C 8 42

30.6C 51 15

32.8C 112 0

6. According to the incubation data, what valid conclusion can be made regarding the relationship between
temperature and alligator gender?

A. Male alligators hatched more often at the coolest incubation temperatures

B. More Female alligators hatched at warmer incubation temperature than males
C. The greatest total number of both male and female alligators hatched at 30.6C
D. Females hatched best at cool temperatures, and males hatched best at warm temperatures

7. Jorge wants to know whether music affects plant growth. He puts two identical plants in separate rooms.
One room has a window and a stereo that plays rock music all day. The other room is quiet and dark. He
waters both plants the same. After two weeks he compares the plants. The plant in the room with music is
green and growing. Leaves on the plant in the other room are turning yellow. He concludes that music helps
plants grow. What makes this scientific explanation weak?

A. He did not have a testable hypothesis

B. He did not use two different plants in each room
C. He did not add fertilizer to the plants in either room
D. He had more than one variable in his experimental conditions

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

8. Dr. Einstein performs an experiment to determine how plants grow in a variety of temperature and moisture
conditions. He runs five trials with five different groups of the same species of plant. The table below shows
the results from his experiment.

Plant Group Temperature Moisture Average Plant Growth

Group 1 high high 2 in

Group 2 moderate moderate 6 in

Group 3 low low 0 in

Group 4 high moderate 3 in

Group 5 moderate high 4 in

After finishing the experiment, Dr. Einstein explained that heat and moisture have no effect on plant growth.
Based on the evidence shown in the table, was his explanation valid?

A. Yes, it is valid because the evidence shows a plant with no growth.

B. Yes, it is valid because the table shows the same level for some groups.
C. No, it is not valid because some of his tested conditions show greater growth than other conditions.
D. No, it is not valid because he did not test plants in moderate moisture and moderate temperature conditions.

9. Medical researchers strive to cure diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Many of them use animals in their
testing. Through their tests, researchers learn which drugs work and what dosages are safe. However, a
negative consequence to animal testing is that

A. human lives can be saved

B. animal diseases are cured
C. animals can be hurt or killed
D. new treatments for diseases are found

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the diagram below to answer Questions 10 and 11.

10. Which of the following is true about a compound and its elements?

A. The properties of a compound are the same as the properties of its elements.
B. The properties of a compound are different than the properties of its individual elements.
C. The compound shares identical properties with one element, but all the other elements have different
properties.
D. The individual elements share identical properties to each other, but their properties are different than the
compound's properties.

11. Sodium Chloride is an example of

A. an atom
B. a mixture
C. an element
D. a compound

12. Hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) are pure substances. Each is made of only one type of atom, but hydrogen
atoms are different from oxygen atoms. Hydrogen and Oxygen chemically combine to form water (H 2 O).

Based on this information,

A. hydrogen, oxygen and water are all elements

B. hydrogen, oxygen and water are all compounds
C. hydrogen and oxygen are elements and water is a compound
D. hydrogen is an element and oxygen and water are compounds

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

13. Carbon is a pure substance represented by the chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. Carbon plays a
huge role in the world we live in and is present in all known life forms. Which of the following best describes
carbon?

A. Carbon is an element made of only one kind of atom.

B. Carbon is a compound made of only one kind of atom.
C. Carbon is an element made of two or more kinds of atoms.
D. Carbon is a compound made of two or more kinds of atoms.

14. Copper is an element with high conductivity. When copper wire is exposed to an electric current, it is most
likely that

A. the atoms of copper will not be changed

B. the atoms of copper will all move closer together
C. the atoms of copper will change into atoms of zinc
D. the atoms of copper will be broken into smaller parts

15. The diagrams below illustrate models of various chemical compounds. The diagrams suggest that
compounds are

A. made up of only one chemical element

B. made up of two or more different chemical elements
C. made up of oxygen and one other chemical element
D. made up of two or more of the same chemical elements only

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the diagram of plant cell and animal cell below to answer Questions 16-17.

16. Which statement best describes why the cell membrane is often called selectively permeable?

A. It will allow only water to pass into and out of the cell freely.
B. It selects only nutrients to allow into and out of the cell freely.
C. It selects harmful substances and will not allow them to enter the cell.
D. It will allow some substances to move in and out freely, but not the others.

17. Which structure in the plant and animal cell contains hereditary information, or DNA, and controls cellular
growth and reproduction?

A. Nucleus
B. Vacuole
C. Chloroplast
D. Mitochondria

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the diagram below to answer Questions 18-19.

A student observed different types of cells under a microscope. Four of the cells he observed are shown below.

18. Which of these structures in Cell 3 releases energy for use in cell processes?

A. nucleus
B. cell wall
C. chloroplast
D. mitochondrion

19. Unicellular organisms are composed of a single cell that live and carry out all of their life processes on its
own. They also have the ability to move. Which of the cells are unicellular?

A. Cell 1 and 2
B. Cell 2 and 3
C. Cell 3 and 4
D. Cell 1 and 4

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

20. During a trip to the beach, Allen finds a colony of sea anemones on a rock. These sea anemones are green
and get their color from tiny single-celled algae that live in their tissues. The algae produce food for the
anemones while the anemones provide a place for the algae to live.

Algae are single-celled organisms. Which statement best explains how scientists know that algae are living
things?

A. Algae do not grown in cell number.

B. Algae move from one place to another.
C. Algae rely on other organisms for survival.
D. Algae have chloroplasts which capture energy.

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the diagram to answer Question 21.

Unicellular and Multicellular Organisms

21. Which statement best compares the needs of the single-celled organism to the needs of multicellular
organisms?

A. Both unicellular and multicellular organisms need energy to survive.

B. Neither unicellular nor multicellular organisms need energy to survive.
C. Unicellular organisms need energy to survive, but multicellular organisms do not need energy to survive.
D. Unicellular organisms do not need energy to survive, but multicellular organisms do need energy to survive.

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the picture and information below to answer Questions 22 through 23.

Sodium and Water

Students watched a video of sodium metal (Na) reacting with water in a fume hood. The reaction occurred
quickly and produced the compound sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrogen gas. The reaction also gave off
heat and sparks at times.

22. The element that would react with water in a similar way as sodium (Na) is

A. Lead (Pb)
B. Copper (Cu)
C. Aluminum (Al)
D. Potassium (K)

23. When sodium (Na) reacts with water (H 2 O), the properties of sodium

A. remain the same after the reaction

B. change when the compound is formed
C. change to properties similar to hydrogen
D. remain the same during the entire reaction

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the information and table below to answer Question 24.

Chromosomes, thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells, contain the genetic
information for organisms. Each parent provides half the number of chromosomes to their offspring. The
number of chromosomes for some species is given in the table below.

24. Which parent provides 32 chromosomes to their offspring?

A. cat
B. apple
C. horse
D. tomato

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

Use the information below to answer Question 25.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary ecosystem in the United States. Organisms living there have
developed food webs in which they depend upon one another for energy. A partial Chesapeake Bay food web is
shown below.

25. Which two organisms are most likely to compete for the same resources in this food web?

A. bay grasses and blue crab

B. algae and microscopic animals
C. bay anchovies and striped bass
D. common goldeneye duck and human

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017

26. The amount of dissolved oxygen in the water needed by several organisms found in the Chesapeake Bay is
shown in the table below.

If the oxygen level in the water dropped below 2 milligrams per liter of water, blue crabs would most likely

A. relocate to the shore

B. move closer to plants
C. decrease in population
D. increase rapidly in size

27. A group of students compared copper, an element the scientists used in the urine-powered battery, to
copper bromide, a compound made within the battery.

When copper reacts to form copper bromide, the coppers

A. mass increases
B. properties change
C. atomic number changes
D. number of atoms increases

SLO Science Post-Assessment Grade 7 2016-2017