PECT Module 3 Exam Questions and Correct Answers Already Passed
ecosystem - Answers the community of living and non-living things and how they interact
inheritance - Answers the passing of traits to offspring from its parents to ancestor
life cycles - Answers the cycle of an organisms birth, reproduction, and death
adaptation - Answers evolutionary process by which an organism lives
habitat - Answers the specific place where an organism lives
invasive species - Answers a species that has been brought out of its natural habitat and introduced to a
new habitat and cause a good amount of damage
producer - Answers typically plans, harnessing light energy from the sun to produce their own food
consumer - Answers typically animals, they can't make their own food so they need to consume plants
and/or other animals
decomposers - Answers Typically bacteria and fungi, along with insects like maggots and earthworms-
they eat decaying matter-dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and
decompose them--when they do this, they release nutrients back into the soil for plants to produce with
biosphere - Answers The parts of the land, sea, and atmosphere in which organisms are able to live.
atmosphere - Answers Layer of gases surrounding the Earth that protect life by absorbing UV rays--
mostly made of oxygen and nitrogen.
soil - Answers Made up of humus (organic matter), bits of rock/minerals, clay, water and air.
acid rain - Answers When air pollutants creates rain that is highly acidic and harmful to plants, aquatic
animals and infrastructure.
smog - Answers A type of air pollutant found in cities which can be created by burning fossil fuels and
cars.
moon phases - Answers As the moon orbits the earth, the shape of the moon appears to change
because different amounts of the illuminated part of the moon are facing us.
Earth's orbit and axil tilt - Answers The earth rotates on a 23 degree angle and this is the reason for the
Earth's seasons, NOT the fact that it has an elliptical orbit.
magnent - Answers A material that attracts or repels the same material and attracts iron and steel.
model - Answers A visual, mathematical, or three-dimensional representation in detail of an object or
design, often a different scale than the original. A model is used to test ideas, make changes to a design,
and to learn more about what would happen to a similar, real object
, energy - Answers Energy is potential when a book is resting on a table, but kinetic when it is in motion
and falling to the floor. potential=static. kinetic=motion
waves - Answers repeating patterns of motion that transfer energy from place to place without overall
displacement of matter
valid and reliable experiment - Answers Reliable means that you can count on the results and they are
repeatable. a valid experiment is one that identifies and controls all potential variables, measures
accurately, removes all potential biases
conservation of mass and energy - Answers Things cannot be created or destroyed. Mass and energy are
always being repurposed. Just about all energy comes from the sun and gets transferred and generally
radiated back out into space.
energy cycle - Answers Energy starts with the sun, travels to Earth as light and much of it is reflected or
radiated by our atmosphere back into space. Some of it gets absorbed by plants and turned into food
through photosynthesis. This then begins the food chain of producers, consumers and decomposers.
properties of minerals - Answers Observable traits that allow students to classify different minerals. A
good inquiry based lesson is to give them minerals, allow them to perform the following
tests/observations on them and match their findings with a key: color, streak, hardness, luster.
Earth's core, mantle, crust - Answers The crust is the top layer and is all that we see and what we live on.
The mantle is the middle and thickest part of the earth and is incredibly hot (magma). The core is the
center and extremely hot and dense.
rock cycle - Answers The process by which rocks are formed, altered, destroyed, and reformed.
Volcanoes create igneous rocks, erosion turns igneous rocks into sediments, pressure turns sediments
into sedimentary rocks, intense heat and pressure turns igneous and sedimentary rocks into
metamorphic rocks
igneous rocks - Answers formed from cooled lava
sedimentary rocks - Answers formed when eroded rocks (sediments) are put under pressure (ex:
sandstone)
metamorphic rocks - Answers when rocks are put under intense pressure they form metamorphic rocks,
like diamonds
density - Answers a measure of how tightly matter in an object is packed together
mass - Answers How much matter their is in an object. Usually when a thing is heavier, it has a greater
mass. Weight is dependent upon gravity while mass is not. Mass is measured in kilograms.
volume - Answers the amount of space taken up by a three-dimensional shape such as a box or room
ecosystem - Answers the community of living and non-living things and how they interact
inheritance - Answers the passing of traits to offspring from its parents to ancestor
life cycles - Answers the cycle of an organisms birth, reproduction, and death
adaptation - Answers evolutionary process by which an organism lives
habitat - Answers the specific place where an organism lives
invasive species - Answers a species that has been brought out of its natural habitat and introduced to a
new habitat and cause a good amount of damage
producer - Answers typically plans, harnessing light energy from the sun to produce their own food
consumer - Answers typically animals, they can't make their own food so they need to consume plants
and/or other animals
decomposers - Answers Typically bacteria and fungi, along with insects like maggots and earthworms-
they eat decaying matter-dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and
decompose them--when they do this, they release nutrients back into the soil for plants to produce with
biosphere - Answers The parts of the land, sea, and atmosphere in which organisms are able to live.
atmosphere - Answers Layer of gases surrounding the Earth that protect life by absorbing UV rays--
mostly made of oxygen and nitrogen.
soil - Answers Made up of humus (organic matter), bits of rock/minerals, clay, water and air.
acid rain - Answers When air pollutants creates rain that is highly acidic and harmful to plants, aquatic
animals and infrastructure.
smog - Answers A type of air pollutant found in cities which can be created by burning fossil fuels and
cars.
moon phases - Answers As the moon orbits the earth, the shape of the moon appears to change
because different amounts of the illuminated part of the moon are facing us.
Earth's orbit and axil tilt - Answers The earth rotates on a 23 degree angle and this is the reason for the
Earth's seasons, NOT the fact that it has an elliptical orbit.
magnent - Answers A material that attracts or repels the same material and attracts iron and steel.
model - Answers A visual, mathematical, or three-dimensional representation in detail of an object or
design, often a different scale than the original. A model is used to test ideas, make changes to a design,
and to learn more about what would happen to a similar, real object
, energy - Answers Energy is potential when a book is resting on a table, but kinetic when it is in motion
and falling to the floor. potential=static. kinetic=motion
waves - Answers repeating patterns of motion that transfer energy from place to place without overall
displacement of matter
valid and reliable experiment - Answers Reliable means that you can count on the results and they are
repeatable. a valid experiment is one that identifies and controls all potential variables, measures
accurately, removes all potential biases
conservation of mass and energy - Answers Things cannot be created or destroyed. Mass and energy are
always being repurposed. Just about all energy comes from the sun and gets transferred and generally
radiated back out into space.
energy cycle - Answers Energy starts with the sun, travels to Earth as light and much of it is reflected or
radiated by our atmosphere back into space. Some of it gets absorbed by plants and turned into food
through photosynthesis. This then begins the food chain of producers, consumers and decomposers.
properties of minerals - Answers Observable traits that allow students to classify different minerals. A
good inquiry based lesson is to give them minerals, allow them to perform the following
tests/observations on them and match their findings with a key: color, streak, hardness, luster.
Earth's core, mantle, crust - Answers The crust is the top layer and is all that we see and what we live on.
The mantle is the middle and thickest part of the earth and is incredibly hot (magma). The core is the
center and extremely hot and dense.
rock cycle - Answers The process by which rocks are formed, altered, destroyed, and reformed.
Volcanoes create igneous rocks, erosion turns igneous rocks into sediments, pressure turns sediments
into sedimentary rocks, intense heat and pressure turns igneous and sedimentary rocks into
metamorphic rocks
igneous rocks - Answers formed from cooled lava
sedimentary rocks - Answers formed when eroded rocks (sediments) are put under pressure (ex:
sandstone)
metamorphic rocks - Answers when rocks are put under intense pressure they form metamorphic rocks,
like diamonds
density - Answers a measure of how tightly matter in an object is packed together
mass - Answers How much matter their is in an object. Usually when a thing is heavier, it has a greater
mass. Weight is dependent upon gravity while mass is not. Mass is measured in kilograms.
volume - Answers the amount of space taken up by a three-dimensional shape such as a box or room
