New Jersey Student Learning Assessments Science Grade 5

1.A tray of ice sits in a freezer at a school in Toms River. The ice keeps its own shape. How are the water particles arranged?

2.Water from Barnegat Bay is poured from a tall bottle into a wide bowl. It takes the shape of each container and keeps the same volume. What do the liquid particles do?

3.A student at Sandy Hook pumps air into a beach ball until the ball is round. What are the air particles doing inside the ball?

4.Ice on a Trenton sidewalk, water in the Delaware River, and invisible water vapor above the river are all water. How can one substance be a solid, a liquid, and a gas?

5.In a Hoboken school kitchen, bread is baking. Students in the hallway smell it, but they see no crumbs in the air. What reaches the hallway?

6.A student in Princeton stirs sugar into warm tea until no grains can be seen. The tea tastes sweet. What happened to the sugar?

7.A granite cobble from the Palisades keeps its shape on a desk in Fort Lee. Water poured beside it spreads into a puddle. Why does the rock keep its shape?

8.An air bubble rises through the water at a dock in Barnegat Light. Before it breaks at the surface, what is true of the particles inside the bubble?

9.A sealed beach ball full of air at a park in Red Bank can be pressed into a smaller shape. A sealed bottle full of water cannot. What does that difference show?

10.A class in New Brunswick models water with dots that vibrate in place, dots that slide, and dots that fly far apart. Which state matches the dots flying far apart?

11.On the same schoolyard scale in Montclair, a brick weighs more than a foam block of the same size. What does the greater weight show?

12.A flat soccer ball in a Newark school gym is weighed. After the ball is pumped full of air and sealed, the scale reads higher. Why?

13.A closed jar of water at a kitchen in Long Beach Island weighs 300 grams. Salt is stirred in until the grains disappear, and the closed jar then weighs 320 grams. What does the new weight show?

14.A sealed bag of ice from a cooler in Ocean City weighs 400 grams. The ice melts, and the bag stays closed. What should the bag weigh after the ice becomes liquid water?

15.A pan of rainwater on a patio in Morristown weighs less after a sunny afternoon, and the water level is lower. What left the pan?

16.Water is sealed in a jar in a Lambertville classroom. Some of the water becomes vapor, and the water line drops a little. The jar stays closed. What happens to the weight of the jar?

17.At a campsite near Batsto, peanuts are poured in with pretzel pieces. No new substance forms, and nothing spills. How does the weight of the combined snack compare with the two foods?

18.A small oak log burns in a fireplace in Phillipsburg. The ash on the grate weighs much less than the log did. What happened to the rest of the matter?

19.Two stones from a trail at the Delaware Water Gap are the same size. On a trail scale, one weighs more than the other. What is a fair conclusion?

20.In a Cherry Hill cafeteria, apple juice is poured into a bottle of water. The bottle is capped, nothing spills, and no gas bubbles away. How does the weight of the mixture compare with the juice and the water?

21.Sand from a Pine Barrens path is mixed with iron bits. A magnet still lifts the iron, and the sand still feels gritty. What kind of material is this?

22.A hiker in Wharton State Forest pours peanuts, raisins, and pretzel pieces into one bag. Each piece still looks and tastes as it did before. What is in the bag?

23.Salt stirred into a glass of water in a Salem kitchen can no longer be seen. The water tastes salty. Did the salt keep a property that identifies it?

24.Cooking oil floats as slippery blobs on rainwater in a bucket at a marina in Atlantic City. The water underneath is still water. What does that result show?

25.A school garden in Edison has pebbles mixed through the soil. The pebbles can be picked out, and the soil still holds water the way soil does. Which statement fits?

26.A shiny copper weather vane on a barn in Hunterdon County has turned green and dull. The green layer does not shine or bend like the copper did. Did the copper keep its properties?

27.At a stand in Ocean Grove, lemon, sugar, and water are combined. The drink tastes like lemon and like sugar, and no new solid appears. What is the drink?

28.Sawdust and sand are swept together on a dock in Salem, beside the Delaware River. The pale dust still looks like wood, and the grains still look like sand. Is this a mixture?

29.A student in a Paterson classroom tears a sheet of paper into scraps. The scraps are still paper. What kind of change is the tearing?

30.A nail left on a damp windowsill in Jersey City becomes rough and reddish brown. The flakes are not strong, shiny metal. What does that result show?

31.Wax drips from a candle in Cape May Court House and hardens on the holder. The hard drip is still wax. What kind of change is the melting and hardening of the wax?

32.Bread in a toaster in a Hamilton kitchen turns dark brown, smells different, and crumbles in a new way. What does that result show?

33.A shallow puddle in a schoolyard in Wayne freezes overnight and melts back into water the next afternoon. What kind of change is the freezing?

34.An egg on a griddle in an Asbury Park diner changes from a clear runny liquid to a white solid. Cooling does not make it clear and runny again. What does that result show?

35.An apple from a farm stand in Pittstown is cut into slices. The slices are still apple. What kind of change is the cutting?

36.Dry leaves in a fire pit in Stokes State Forest burn and leave gray ash and smoke. The ash does not look or feel like a leaf. What kind of change is the burning?

37.A young pitch pine in the Pine Barrens grows much heavier over ten years. The sandy soil around it does not lose that same amount of weight. Where did most of the new plant material come from?

38.A tomato plant in a pot in Vineland gains a lot of weight. The soil in the pot stays nearly the same weight. Which conclusion fits that outcome?

39.A sycamore beside the Delaware River near Stockton adds a thick layer of new wood. Which materials chiefly became that wood?

40.A maple in a schoolyard in Westfield grows taller. Its leaves take in carbon dioxide, and its roots take in water. What is the outcome for the tree?

41.Beach grass on a dune in Stone Harbor grows longer blades. The sand under the grass does not shrink by the weight of those new blades. What does that outcome show?

42.Potato plants in a garden in Freehold produce heavy potatoes. Which statement matches where that plant material came from?

43.A fallen cedar log in a Pine Barrens swamp is wood the living tree had stored. Where did that stored material chiefly come from while the tree was growing?

44.A seedling in a classroom in Red Bank grows several new leaves. It has air and water, and the soil weight changes very little. Which outcome explains the new leaves?

45.In the Pine Barrens, a white-footed mouse eats blueberries, and a red fox eats the mouse. An arrow means 'is eaten by.' Which food chain matches?

46.Fallen oak leaves cover the ground near Chatsworth. Fungi and bacteria slowly turn the leaves into crumbs and gases. What role do those fungi and bacteria play?

47.In the bay near Tuckerton, algae are eaten by a shrimp, and a striped bass eats the shrimp. An arrow means 'is eaten by.' Which chain is correct?

48.Pitch pines in Wharton State Forest make their own food. In the food web, what are the pines?

49.A mushroom grows on a dead log in a schoolyard in South Orange and takes in material from the dead wood. What is the mushroom's role?

50.Near Island Beach, algae are eaten by a shrimp, a fluke eats the shrimp, and an osprey eats the fluke. Which organism is the producer?

51.Bacteria break down a dead deer in the pines near Batsto. How do those bacteria fit the food web?

52.On a beach in Wildwood, a mole crab eats tiny algae, and a herring gull eats the mole crab. An arrow means 'is eaten by.' Which chain is right?

53.A red-tailed hawk near Hopewell catches a chipmunk that had eaten clover. Why is the hawk not a decomposer?

54.In a Delaware Bay marsh, terrapins eat snails, herons eat fish, and the fish eat insects that eat marsh plants. Why does a food web fit this better than one chain?

55.A cranberry bush in the Pine Barrens takes in carbon dioxide. A deer eats the leaves, and decomposers later break down the deer's waste. Which path describes the carbon?

56.A red fox in the pines eats a mouse and later breathes out carbon dioxide. How is matter moving?

57.Fungi break down dead beach-plum leaves on a dune near Cape May Point. Crumbs from the leaves become part of the sandy soil. What movement of matter is this?

58.Algae in Barnegat Bay take in carbon dioxide, a clam eats the algae, and bacteria later break down the clam's waste. Where can that carbon end up?

59.An oak in a Princeton schoolyard builds an acorn from air and water. A squirrel eats the acorn. Which sentence tracks the matter?

60.An oyster in Delaware Bay takes particles from the water. After the oyster dies, decomposers break down its body. What is one outcome for that matter?

61.A sealed classroom jar in Lawrenceville holds a living plant, small insects, damp soil, and air. Weeks later the plant is still alive, and the jar was not opened. What is happening to the matter inside?

62.Marsh plants along Delaware Bay take in carbon dioxide. Snow geese eat the plants, and bacteria break down goose droppings. Which way does that plant matter move?

63.A strong wind at Island Beach blows dry sand off the top of a dune. Which Earth systems are interacting?

64.Beach-grass roots hold sand on a dune in Avalon. Less sand blows away where the grass is thick. Which systems are interacting?

65.Rainwater flows across a rock ledge at the Delaware Water Gap and carries loose grains away. Which Earth systems are interacting?

66.Rain falls on sandy soil in the Pine Barrens and sinks down to the groundwater. Which interaction does that show?

67.A shade tree in a Trenton schoolyard takes carbon dioxide from the air and releases oxygen. Which systems are interacting?

68.Waves along Long Beach Island pick up beach sand and drop some of it farther along the shore. Which Earth systems are interacting?

69.Fog wets the pitch pines near Batsto, the pines grow in sandy soil, and damp air hangs over the cedar swamp. Which Earth systems are in this scene?

70.After a heavy rain, the Delaware River near Lambertville runs brown, and a fresh scoop is missing from the bank. What made the water muddy?

71.In winter, ice covers a pond in the Hackensack Meadowlands. Geese stand on the ice, and wind blows snow across it. Which systems are in this scene?

72.On a June afternoon, open soil in a Bloomfield schoolyard is hot, while soil under a broad oak is cooler. What interaction explains the difference?

73.A puddle on the blacktop of a schoolyard in Linden shrinks on a warm afternoon. Nobody wipes it up. Which water-cycle process removes the water?

74.Water vapor rising over the ocean off Asbury Park forms tiny droplets that make a cloud. Which process turns the vapor into droplets?

75.Clouds over the Pine Barrens release a steady rain that wets the sandy trails. What is the falling rain called in the water cycle?

76.A cold drink sits outside at a picnic in Sea Isle City. Droplets appear on the outside of the cup, and the cup is not leaking. Where did those droplets come from?

77.A class in Cape May compares where Earth's water is found. Which statement matches the pattern?

78.Which statement best describes Earth's fresh water, compared with the water in rivers, lakes, and the air?

79.The Sun shines on Delaware Bay, and water from the bay enters the air. What is the Sun's role in that part of the water cycle?

80.A student in Point Pleasant says a cloud is invisible water vapor. Which description of the cloud is more accurate?

81.Snow falls on the Kittatinny Ridge near the Delaware Water Gap. Which water-cycle process is the falling snow?

82.Water leaves the ocean as vapor, forms cloud droplets, and later falls as rain on the Pine Barrens. Which order names those three processes?

83.Water freezes in a crack in a boulder at the Delaware Water Gap. The crack is wider, and the pieces have not been carried away. What process widened the crack?

84.After a storm, the Raritan River runs muddy and leaves silt farther downstream. What process moved the soil?

85.A tree root in a sidewalk in Hoboken lifts and splits a concrete slab. The broken pieces are still there. What process split the slab?

86.Wind at Sandy Hook blows loose sand off the open beach. The sand grains leave that part of the beach. What is the wind doing?

87.A storm pulls sand off a Cape May barrier-island dune, and the dune is lower the next week. Is this a constructive or a destructive process?

88.Over many years, waves drop sand at the end of a spit along the Shore, and the spit grows longer. What kind of process is that growth?

89.A limestone monument in a Morristown park has small pits where rainwater dissolved bits of the stone. The dissolved material washed away. Which pair names what happened?

90.The Delaware River slows as it meets Delaware Bay and drops a load of mud. The mudflat grows. What process is the dropping of that mud?

91.Wind-blown sand scrapes a wooden fence in Strathmere. Splinters lie at the base of the fence and have not been carried off. What broke the wood?

92.After hard rains, a gully cuts a bare slope behind a school in Phillipsburg. Soil is missing upslope, and a fan of mud sits at the bottom. What pair of processes is this?

93.A school in Elizabeth paves the last grassy corner of the yard. After the next storm, more rainwater rushes into the storm drain instead of soaking into the ground. What is the outcome?

94.People cut the beach grass off a dune in Ocean City. During the next windy week, more sand blows away there than from a grassy dune nearby. What outcome does the missing grass explain?

95.Plastic bottles left on a beach in Belmar wash into the ocean. Later, a gull is tangled in a plastic loop. What outcome does this show?

96.A town plants trees along a bare, eroding bank of the Delaware River in Burlington. A year later, storms wash away less soil from that bank. What outcome do the trees help explain?

97.Extra nutrients from lawns wash into Barnegat Bay after heavy rain. Thick algae then cover parts of the bay and shade the plants underwater. What is the outcome?

98.A marsh near the Meadowlands is filled in for a parking lot. In the next heavy rain, nearby streets flood more than they did when the marsh was open. What outcome fits?

99.At a school in Teaneck, families turn car engines off while they wait instead of letting the cars idle. The pickup line then has less exhaust in the air. What is the outcome?

100.Oysters on a bed in Delaware Bay take particles from the water as they feed. Water near the oysters is clearer than water over a nearby bare mud bottom. What outcome does that difference show?

101.In a schoolyard in Ridgewood, a flagpole's shadow is shortest around noon and longer in the early morning. What daily pattern does that show?

102.On a clear morning in Princeton, the Sun is low in the east. Which way does a student's shadow point?

103.From the Pine Barrens, the Sun looks much bigger and brighter than the stars seen at night. Why does it look that way?

104.At noon in January, a goalpost in a Morristown schoolyard casts a longer shadow than the same goalpost does at noon in June. What seasonal pattern explains this?

105.When it is daytime at a school in Newark, it is nighttime on the opposite side of Earth. What causes this day-and-night pattern?

106.Orion is high in the evening sky over Cape May in January. It is not in the evening sky there in July. What pattern explains that difference?

107.During a night at High Point, most stars seem to move across the sky, but Polaris stays nearly in the same spot. Why does Polaris seem fixed?

108.A June day in Asbury Park has more hours of daylight than a December day. What causes that seasonal pattern?