3rd Grade Science Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. What causes the regular change from day to night on Earth?
Earth rotates on its axis.
The Sun travels around Earth once each day.
Clouds block all sunlight every evening.
Earth moves closer to and farther from the Sun each day.
2. A hillside loses soil whenever heavy rain falls. Which action would best help reduce this erosion?
Planting vegetation whose roots hold the soil
Covering the hill with loose sand
Removing the remaining grass
Pouring more water down the hill
3. Which object is most likely to be attracted to a magnet?
A wooden craft stick
A plastic bottle cap
An iron paper clip
A rubber band
4. In a food chain, grass is eaten by rabbits, and rabbits are eaten by foxes. If the number of rabbits greatly decreases, what is a likely effect on the foxes?
The foxes will begin making their own food from sunlight.
The foxes will become plants.
The foxes will have more rabbits available to eat.
The foxes will have less food available.
5. Which feature would best help a plant survive in a hot, dry desert?
Large, thin leaves that release lots of water
A thick stem that stores water
Soft roots that grow only above the ground
Flowers that remain open only during rain
6. A student adds equal amounts of sugar to equal amounts of warm and cold water, then stirs both cups in the same way. In which cup will the sugar usually dissolve faster?
The warm water, because higher temperature usually speeds dissolving
The cold water, because cold water has more matter
Both cups at exactly the same speed in every case
Neither cup, because sugar cannot dissolve in water
7. Two identical toy cars are pushed with equal force. One rolls on smooth tile, and the other rolls on thick carpet. Why will the car on tile usually travel farther?
Tile gives the car more mass.
Tile creates less friction than carpet.
Carpet removes the force of gravity.
Carpet makes the car's wheels magnetic.
8. Two identical plants receive the same water. One is placed by a sunny window, and the other stays in a dark cupboard. Why will the plant by the window usually grow better?
Light makes the plant's roots stop growing.
Sunlight replaces the plant's need for water.
The window turns soil into plant food.
It can use light to make food.
9. Which observation best supports classifying a whale as a mammal rather than a fish?
A whale lives in ocean water.
A whale has a body shaped for swimming.
A whale breathes air and feeds milk to its young.
A whale moves with fins.
10. Dead leaves on a forest floor slowly break down with help from fungi. What role do the fungi have?
They are predators that hunt the leaves.
They are producers that turn the leaves into sunlight.
They are decomposers that break down dead material.
They are pollinators that carry the leaves between flowers.
11. A flashlight shines on a toy in front of a wall. If the toy moves closer to the flashlight while the wall stays in place, what will usually happen to the toy's shadow?
It will disappear completely.
It will become a different color.
It will become larger.
It will move behind the flashlight.
12. Which stage comes directly after the caterpillar stage in a butterfly's life cycle?
Egg
Chrysalis
Adult butterfly
Seedling
13. A student wants to measure how warm the air is outside. Which tool should the student use?
Rain gauge
Wind vane
Hand lens
Thermometer
14. A worker uses a ramp to move a heavy box into a truck. How does the ramp make the task easier?
It removes the box's weight completely.
It allows the box to be moved with less force over a longer distance.
It makes gravity push the box upward.
It shortens the distance the box must move.
15. A student plucks the end of a ruler hanging over a desk, and the ruler makes a sound. What happens when the ruler stops vibrating?
The sound stops because the vibration stops.
The sound becomes higher but never ends.
The sound changes into light.
The ruler continues making sound at the same volume.
16. An ice cube is left in a bowl at room temperature. What state of matter will it become as it melts?
A gas called water vapor
A different kind of solid
A material that is neither solid nor liquid
Liquid water