SCI_ 5th Grade District Unit 2 Assessment - Digital Assessment Book

Students will take the Science District Unit 2 Assessment today.
Instructions: Read each question and follow the directions to answer. Review sources if needed.
If unsure about an answer, move on to the next question.
Early finishers may review their answers.

Scenario: Designing an airtight, temperature-controlled dome on Mars for human habitation.
Plants Chosen: Grass and corn.
Key Consideration: Differences in environmental conditions on Mars compared to Earth.
Response Options:
- A: Discusses plant needs for soil, water, and sunlight based on classroom investigations.
- B: Correctly states air and water matter are used for growth, emphasizing the need for soil nutrients.
- C: Incorrectly claims no need for sunlight.
- D: States nutrient needs from soil without acknowledging the role of sunlight.

Organisms Living in Dome: Corn plants, grass, sheep, chickens, humans, insects.
Task: Draw a food web showing the relationships and energy flow between these organisms.

Decomposers Needed in Ecosystem: Bacteria and fungi that break down dead matter.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; states plants will have everything without decomposers.
- B: Incorrect; focuses solely on plant decomposition.
- C: Incorrect; misrepresents the role of decomposers and plant health.
- D: Correct. States that without decomposers, nutrient cycling fails, affecting plant and animal health.

Claim: Some team members believe additional air and soil are unnecessary.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; states air and soil are not recycled, emphasizing the cycling of oxygen and carbon dioxide between plants and animals.
- B/C: Incorrect; both support the false claim.
- D: Misleading; discusses nutrient cycling without mentioning air.

Options Describing Energy Transfer:
- A: Incorrect; misplaces energy flow.
- B: Incorrect; skips energy from grass.
- C: Incorrect; lacks starting point from plants.
- D: Correct; outlines energy flow from sun to grass to sheep to human.
- E: Incorrect; skips important steps.

Task: Choose an animal in the dome. Describe what it gets from its food and how it uses it.

Task: Evaluate if the ecosystem remains stable over five years.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; suggests instability due to fluctuating numbers of organisms.
- B: Incorrect; misrepresents that team members artificially regulate populations.
- C: Incorrect; misjudges the sufficiency of only plants.
- D: Correct; indicates survival based on stable needs being met.

Task: Determine the stability of the ecosystem post-goat introduction.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; notes that as goat numbers rise, other organisms decline.
- B/C: Incorrect; implies stability where there is not.
- D: Correct; confirms decline of other organisms due to goat population increase.

Task: Review two scientists' explanations for sheep and chicken population decrease from years 5 to 8.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; explains goat impact on plants affecting chick and sheep food supply.
- B: Incorrect; misattributes blame on unhealthy plants.
- C: Incorrect; claims mutual plant consumption affects all animal populations.

Observation: Squirrels will not hibernate without enough body fat.
Response Part A: Why is body fat critical?
Response Part B Options:
- A: Incorrect; misrepresents fighting for shelter.
- B: Incorrect; mating relevance not tied to hibernation.
- C: Correct; highlights food energy storage ability for winter.
- D: Incorrect; temperature maintenance irrelevant here.

Task: Explain energy flow in a pond ecosystem.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; connects food sources back to photosynthesis.
- B: Incorrect; suggests soil as primary energy source.
- C: Incorrect; implies deaths supply food energy.
- D: Incorrect; neglects plant connection to sunlight.

Observation: Investigating growth height affected by water.
Response Part A: Likely outcome of plant experiment and correct response.
Response Part B Options:
- A: Incorrect; mutual health cannot guarantee growth.
- B: Incorrect; fails observation specifics.
- C: Correct; contrasts strong stems with weak ones.
- D: Incorrect; plants with weak stems should not be thriving.

Details: Largest swamp ecosystem in the U.S., home to diverse flora and fauna.
Question: How do duckweeds acquire growth matter?
Response Options:
- A/B: Correct; emphasizes both water and soil as growth matter sources.
- C/D: Incorrect; misrepresents nutrient transfer dynamics.

Details: Rainforests are rich in biodiversity despite poor soil nutrients.
Q18: Investigate plant growth needs due to poor soil.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; temperature impact not primary.
- B: Incorrect; leaf size not sole factor.
- C: Correct; directly addresses nutrient sources.
- D: Incorrect; nutrient efficiency unrelated to growth.

Task: Explain why plants thrive despite poor soil.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; emphasizes rainfall adequacy for growth.
- B: Incorrect; variety described isn't vital for individual growth.
- C/D: Incorrect; temperature alone does not account for growth viability.

Task: Suggest improvements for enriching food web model.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; climate does not describe interaction well.
- B: Correct; highlights decomposer significance in nutrient cycles.
- C/D: Incorrect; fails to address critical components.

Task: Analyze impact of new plants on local ecosystem.
Response Options:
- A: Correct; suggests overall ecosystem health persistence.
- B: Incorrect; oversimplifies competition description.
- C: Incorrect; does not consider resource competition.
- D: Correct; highlights struggle for resources post-introduction.

Task: Review fur trade implications on kangaroo ecosystem dynamics.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; overlooks competition effects.
- B: Correct; reveals overhunting impact, reducing biodiversity.
- C: Incorrect; competition effects detail.

Task: Discuss energy flow after kangaroo feeding behaviors.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; misidentifies energy return.
- B: Incorrect; energy absorption concepts discarded.
- C: Correct; transitions one energy form to another.

Task: Define interactions between decomposers and plants.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; establishes chain of energy deemphasized.
- B: Correct; highlights nutrient recycling role of decomposers.
- C: Incorrect; air does not feature in plant nourishment.

Task: Predict effects of increased lion populations.
Response Options:
- A: Incorrect; suggests competition is balanced.
- B: Correct; recognizes herbivore implication in ecosystem health.
- C: Incorrect; misrepresents predator-prey dynamics.
- D: Correct; predicts herbivore population impact due to increased predation.