5th Grade Science : 5th Grade Science

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for 5th Grade Science

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #2 : Identify Materials Based On Properties With Observation

Which answer choice(s) below are physical characteristics that can be gathered by observation?

Possible Answers:

None of the answer choices are correct.

All of the answer choices are correct.

Boiling point

Freezing point

Ability to conduct electricity

Correct answer:

None of the answer choices are correct.

Explanation:

None of the physical properties listed below can be determined through measurement. A material's freezing point can be determined by keeping track of the temperature the material is exposed to colder and colder temperatures until it freezes. The temperature this happens is decided after multiple trials determine its freezing point. A material's boiling point is discovered by measuring a rising temperature until the material comes to a rolling boil. Both of these physical properties are measured with a thermometer. Finally, whether a material conducts electricity depends on what the sample is made up of. Things like wood, plastic, and cloth do not conduct electricity well, while metal and copper do. The electrical conductivity can be calculated by measuring the resistance, area, and length of the test material. You can also use a four-terminal ohmmeter for greater accuracy. All of these physical properties require testing and the use of measurement to determine.

Example Question #16 : Identifying Material Properties

True or False: Color is a physical property that is determined through observation.

Possible Answers:

False

True

Correct answer:

True

Explanation:

The statement "Color is a physical property that is determined through observation." is true. Color cannot be measured with a tool but is a physical property that is gathered using one of the five senses. Our sense of sight allows us to see color and make determinations about what we are observing. We would not use a ruler or thermometer to determine a material's color.

Example Question #1 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Which of the following best describes how a carnivore gets energy from the sun.

Possible Answers:

Lions do much of their hunting at sunrise when nocturnal animals are ending their day and other animals are just getting their day started.

A plant uses photosynthesis to get its energy from the sun, and then a deer gets its energy by eating the plant. Then when a wolf eats the deer, it receives energy from the deer.

A grizzly bear sleeps all winter when it is mostly dark and cold outside, and then is active all summer when the weather is nicer.

A shark prefers to hunt in warmer water where seals and sea lions go in winter to give birth to their young.

Correct answer:

A plant uses photosynthesis to get its energy from the sun, and then a deer gets its energy by eating the plant. Then when a wolf eats the deer, it receives energy from the deer.

Explanation:

Photosynthesis is the way in which plants convert the sun's energy into their own energy. And since animals get their energy from food, when an animal eats a plant it gets its plant-based energy indirectly from the sun, because that's how the plant itself got energy. Then when a carnivore eats a plant-eating animal, the carnivore gets energy from the herbivore, who got its energy from the plant, which got it from the sun. So even meat-eaters indirectly get their energy from the sun.

Example Question #2 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

The leopard is a carnivore that eats impalas and other deer-like herbivores on the African savannah. Which of the following would be a potential consequence to leopards if a drought eliminated most of the plants in the leopard's habitat?

Possible Answers:

The leopard would be mostly fine, since it eats meat and not plants.

The herbivores that the leopard eats would die off from starvation, and the leopard would be left without a food source.

The leopard's teeth are sharp enough that it could survive by eating rocks and gravel until the drought was over.

Without plants to hide behind, impalas and other herbivores would be easier to catch and leopards would have an overabundance of food.

Correct answer:

The herbivores that the leopard eats would die off from starvation, and the leopard would be left without a food source.

Explanation:

The food chain is highly interdependent in any given habitat, so if the plant-eating impalas and deer that leopards eat were suddenly to lose their plant-based food sources, they would die out and the leopards wouldn't have much left to eat. All nutritional energy comes from the sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the sun's energy into plant energy, and then animals either feed on plants for that energy or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. A loss in plants means that the solar energy that supplies even the most ferocious carnivores will be less plentiful.

Example Question #3 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Which of the following animals would lose its nutritional energy if its habitat were to no longer receive sunlight?

Possible Answers:

Hawks, who eat plant-eating mice.

Vultures, who feast on deceased mice and hawks.

None of the answers are correct.

All of the answers are correct.

Mice, who eat plants that get their energy through photosynthesis.

Correct answer:

All of the answers are correct.

Explanation:

The food chain begins with the sun: plants get their energy by photosynthesizing sunlight into energy, and then herbivores eat those plants to get their energy. Carnivores who then eat the herbivores are getting that sunlight passed along from sun to plant to herbivore to carnivore. So if the sun were to no longer shine in this habitat, plants would not convert sunlight to energy, so mice would die, meaning that the hawks would have nothing to eat, and the vultures wouldn't get to feast on the scraps.  

Example Question #3 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Nrcs142p2 049822

Where does the energy passed from organism to organism in this food web originate? 

Possible Answers:

autotrophs

the sun

heterotrophs

the highest trophic level

Correct answer:

the sun

Explanation:

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

Example Question #4 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Which of the following shows the movement of energy through a food chain in the correct order?

Possible Answers:

all of these

the sun -> autotrophs -> heterotrophs

the sun -> producers -> consumers

the sun -> plants ->animals

none of these

Correct answer:

all of these

Explanation:

Through the photosynthesis process, producers, such as grass, absorb the sun's light energy to produce food (stored sugar and starches). Consumers cannot make their own food, so they have to consume other organisms. The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants and the sun. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plant parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met.

Example Question #1 : Energy From Animals' Food

Which statement about the flow of energy in an ecosystem is correct?

Possible Answers:

Energy flows from the Sun to consumers.

Energy flows from the Sun to producers.

Energy flows from the Sun to decomposers.

Energy does not flow from the Sun.

Correct answer:

Energy flows from the Sun to producers.

Explanation:

All nutritional energy comes from the Sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the Sun's energy into plant energy, and then animals either feed on plants for that energy or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. The food chain begins with the Sun and then the energy flows to producers.

Example Question #2 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Which object in the food chain would have an arrow coming from it, but no arrow going to it?

Possible Answers:

The Sun

A lake

A plant

A grasshopper

Correct answer:

The Sun

Explanation:

All nutritional energy comes from the Sun: plants use chlorophyll to photosynthesize the Sun's energy into plant energy. Then animals either feed on plants for that energy, or they feed on the animals that have eaten that plant energy. An arrow would be facing outwards, displaying energy leaving the Sun and being consumed by a producer, but no arrow facing towards it because the Sun does not consume energy in the food chain.

Example Question #3 : Model How Energy In Animals' Food Originated From The Sun

Plants make up most of Earth's organic material. What would happen to plants if there were no Sun?

Possible Answers:

They would die because they would have no source of energy.

They would just use photosynthesis to keep making their food.

They would begin to eat consumers to get nutrients.

They would get their energy from the water they absorb.

Correct answer:

They would die because they would have no source of energy.

Explanation:

Producers rely on the Sun to make the food needed to survive. Through photosynthesis, plants convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen, sugar, and carbohydrates. Without the Sun, plants would be missing an essential "ingredient" to create their nutrients and would not survive.

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors