Grade 5 Science

Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

Name _____________________________________
1. Sandy is conducting an investigation to find out which food his cat likes best. What is the independent
variable in his investigation?
A.
B.
C.
D.

The color of the cats food dish

The amount of food given the cat.
The kind of food given to the cat.
The time of day the cat is feed.

2. The four diagrams below show the setup of four similar tests. Which setup do you predict the stopper will
move the farthest when the ball is released and collides with the stopper?

A.

C.

B.

D.

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

Parachute Experiment
A student wants to investigate how the mass of the paper clip passengers affects how long it takes a
parachute to float to the ground. These are the materials she used to make her first parachute.
1

30-cm square, cotton fabric

25-cm pieces of string

10

paper clips

Cotton fabric parachute

String

Paper clip passenger

3. What materials should the student use to make the next parachute?

A.

B.

C.

1 30 cm square, cotton fabric 1 30 cm square, cotton fabric 1 30 cm round, cotton fabric

4 15 cm pieces of string

4 25 cm pieces of string

4 25 cm pieces of string

15 paper clips

20 paper clips

20 paper clips

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

4. An experiment was set up to measure the distance a snail would travel in 5 minutes.
Which of these rulers should be used to give the most precise measurement?

A.

B.

C.

D.

5. A person pushes a box as shown. What is the push most likely to change?

A. The mass of the box

B. The size of the box
C. The color of the box
D. The position of the box

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

6. Which type of energy change is occurring in the picture above?

A. Mechanical energy to chemical energy
B. Potential energy to kinetic energy
C. Chemical energy to heat energy
D. Solar energy to nuclear energy

7. A student rolls a ball on the ground. What causes the ball to slow down and then stop?
A. The motion of the ball
B. The speed of the ball
C. The friction from the ground

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

8. Two boats are photographed from above at 3:00pm and 3:15pm. The two boats are exactly the same.
Which statement correctly compares their motion?
A. Both boats are traveling in the same direction, and boat 2 has a greater speed.
B. Both boats are traveling in the same direction, and boat 1 has a greater speed.
C. Both boats are traveling in the same direction at equal speeds.

9. Which statement best explains your answer above?

A. The force acting on boat 1 and boat 2 is the same.
B. The force acting on boat 1 is greater than the force acting on boat 2.
C. The force acting on boat 2 is greater than the force acting on boat 1.
D. The speed of the boat has nothing to do with force.

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

A student had a toy truck that he planned to launch down a ramp, and let roll across a flat floor.. He placed
one or more 500-gram blocks in the back of the truck and recorded the distance the truck traveled from the
end of the ramp. The graph below displays his results.

10. How far will the truck most likely travel with a two-block load? (1.6, 1.8)
A. 1 meter
B. 2 meters
C. 3 meters
D. 4 meters

11. Which of the following is true about models? (1.7)

A. You must be able to physically manipulate the model.
B. There can only be one model of something.
C. Models represent an object or processes.
D. Models stay the same over time.

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

12. Which example is NOT considered a model?

A.

B.

C.

D.

Revised August 2014

Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

A class investigated flippers. Each group conducted several standard launches with a rubber stopper. Then
each group placed pennies between the flip stick and base to change how far down they could push the stick.
Each group did three trials. The distances the stopper traveled are shown in the table below.

Flipper Investigation
# of pennies

Trial 1
Distance (cm)

Trial 2
Distance (cm)

Trial 3
Distance (cm)

Average
Distance (cm)

0 (standard)

244

271

265

260

211

225

218

218

140

151

159

150

66

68

61

65

13. In this experiment, what is the dependent variable?

A. length of the flip stick
B. number of pennies
C. angle of launch
D. distance traveled

14. What is the purpose of doing multiple trials?

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Grade 5 Science
Unit 2: Physical Science

Benchmark Assessment

Revised August 2014

Rachel is wearing roller skates and is standing next to a wall. She pushes off from the wall and then glides to a
stop. Place an X next to all the statements that you think are true about Rachels motion.
A. The force from the wall is becoming less and less as
Rachel glides on her skates.
B. Rachels motion energy is naturally going down and the
energy is disappearing.
C. Rachels motion energy is being turned into other types
of energy.
D. There is a force by the ground slowing Rachel down.
E. There is a force by the ground that keeps Rachel moving
for a while before she stops.

15. Explain your thinking about why Rachel slowed down and stopped after pushing off from the wall.

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