WGU C165 Integrated Physical Sciences Pre-Assessment
Summer 2023 completed
A mathematical model is used to predict the trajectory of a bullet fired from a gun.
Which discipline of physical science is used to develop this model?
Physics
An environmental scientist monitors pollutants in a lake.
Which two disciplines of physical science does this scientist use?
Choose 2 answers
1. Chemistry
2. Earth science
Which study involves both Earth science and physics?
Calculating how much energy is associated with a hurricane
Which question could be answered with a controlled experiment?
Does ice melt faster in an empty glass or in a glass full of water?
Which topic would be appropriate for a controlled experiment?
Determining how fast different chemical pollutants dissolve in water
Which question requires a controlled experiment to answer?
Which elements are found in Earth's atmosphere?
Sir Isaac Newton discovered that the force of gravity between two masses increases if
the masses increase, and decreases if the distance between the masses increases. No
experiments have ever contradicted this relationship.
Which type of scientific statement is this?
Law
The well-accepted scientific explanation for many characteristics of Earth's crust states
that the crust is broken into several large plates. These plates move slowly over the
mantle below because of convection and other processes. Earthquakes and volcanoes
are most common at places where the plates interact. Evidence from physics,
chemistry, and geology supports this explanation.
Which type of scientific idea is this explanation an example of?
Theory
A student proposes that sugar will dissolve faster in rubbing alcohol than in water. The
student reasons that sugar and rubbing alcohol both contain carbon so they will mix
more easily.
Which type of scientific idea is the student's proposal an example of?
Hypothesis
Why was the shrinking Earth idea replaced by the theory of plate tectonics?
, Plate tectonics explained observations about Earth that the shrinking Earth idea could
not explain.
Astronomers have long accepted that plate tectonics exists nowhere in our solar system
except on Earth. In 2011, a scientist analyzed 100 NASA-space-mission photographs of
Valles Marineris on Mars, the longest known series of canyons in the solar system. The
scientist found that Valles Marineris showed features found only in locations on Earth
where major tectonic plates divide.
What would be the appropriate response of scientists to this information?
Carry out further research to gain more understanding of possible plate tectonics on
Mars
According to the theory of plate tectonics, volcanoes are especially likely to form along
plate boundaries because of rising magma. New satellite data mapping the ocean floor
reveals thousands of seamounts, which are small volcanoes. Some of the seamounts
are in lines that could correspond to past or present plate boundaries, but many are not
aligned in this way.
How should scientists appropriately respond to the idea that some new mechanism of
forming the volcanoes is involved?
Carry out more research to understand better how the seamounts form
For many decades, scientists thought they understood how ozone breaks down in the
stratosphere, creating ozone holes. However, new data show significantly lower
reaction rates than can be explained by the long-held model.
What is the appropriate scientific approach for dealing with this contradiction?
Conduct additional experiments to confirm the new data
For almost 1500 years most scientists in Europe accepted Ptolemy's geocentric
planetary model that suggested the sun revolved around Earth. By the eighteenth
century, most scientists supported a heliocentric model that suggests that Earth
revolves around the sun.
What is an appropriate scientific basis for this change in view?
The existing theory was changed to account for new data
A woman does pushups by lowering her body to the floor using her arms and then
pressing against the floor with her hands to push herself back up.
A woman is in a typical prone, plank position doing a push-up. She is looking at the
floor. Her toes are contacting the floor with her feet perpendicular to the floor. Her hands
are flat on the floor with wrists bent so that her forearms are perpendicular to the floor
and elbows bent so that her upper arms are parallel to the floor.
Which force causes her to rise?
The upward force that the ground exerts on the woman
Two boxes sitting on the floor look identical, but one has more mass than the other.
Summer 2023 completed
A mathematical model is used to predict the trajectory of a bullet fired from a gun.
Which discipline of physical science is used to develop this model?
Physics
An environmental scientist monitors pollutants in a lake.
Which two disciplines of physical science does this scientist use?
Choose 2 answers
1. Chemistry
2. Earth science
Which study involves both Earth science and physics?
Calculating how much energy is associated with a hurricane
Which question could be answered with a controlled experiment?
Does ice melt faster in an empty glass or in a glass full of water?
Which topic would be appropriate for a controlled experiment?
Determining how fast different chemical pollutants dissolve in water
Which question requires a controlled experiment to answer?
Which elements are found in Earth's atmosphere?
Sir Isaac Newton discovered that the force of gravity between two masses increases if
the masses increase, and decreases if the distance between the masses increases. No
experiments have ever contradicted this relationship.
Which type of scientific statement is this?
Law
The well-accepted scientific explanation for many characteristics of Earth's crust states
that the crust is broken into several large plates. These plates move slowly over the
mantle below because of convection and other processes. Earthquakes and volcanoes
are most common at places where the plates interact. Evidence from physics,
chemistry, and geology supports this explanation.
Which type of scientific idea is this explanation an example of?
Theory
A student proposes that sugar will dissolve faster in rubbing alcohol than in water. The
student reasons that sugar and rubbing alcohol both contain carbon so they will mix
more easily.
Which type of scientific idea is the student's proposal an example of?
Hypothesis
Why was the shrinking Earth idea replaced by the theory of plate tectonics?
, Plate tectonics explained observations about Earth that the shrinking Earth idea could
not explain.
Astronomers have long accepted that plate tectonics exists nowhere in our solar system
except on Earth. In 2011, a scientist analyzed 100 NASA-space-mission photographs of
Valles Marineris on Mars, the longest known series of canyons in the solar system. The
scientist found that Valles Marineris showed features found only in locations on Earth
where major tectonic plates divide.
What would be the appropriate response of scientists to this information?
Carry out further research to gain more understanding of possible plate tectonics on
Mars
According to the theory of plate tectonics, volcanoes are especially likely to form along
plate boundaries because of rising magma. New satellite data mapping the ocean floor
reveals thousands of seamounts, which are small volcanoes. Some of the seamounts
are in lines that could correspond to past or present plate boundaries, but many are not
aligned in this way.
How should scientists appropriately respond to the idea that some new mechanism of
forming the volcanoes is involved?
Carry out more research to understand better how the seamounts form
For many decades, scientists thought they understood how ozone breaks down in the
stratosphere, creating ozone holes. However, new data show significantly lower
reaction rates than can be explained by the long-held model.
What is the appropriate scientific approach for dealing with this contradiction?
Conduct additional experiments to confirm the new data
For almost 1500 years most scientists in Europe accepted Ptolemy's geocentric
planetary model that suggested the sun revolved around Earth. By the eighteenth
century, most scientists supported a heliocentric model that suggests that Earth
revolves around the sun.
What is an appropriate scientific basis for this change in view?
The existing theory was changed to account for new data
A woman does pushups by lowering her body to the floor using her arms and then
pressing against the floor with her hands to push herself back up.
A woman is in a typical prone, plank position doing a push-up. She is looking at the
floor. Her toes are contacting the floor with her feet perpendicular to the floor. Her hands
are flat on the floor with wrists bent so that her forearms are perpendicular to the floor
and elbows bent so that her upper arms are parallel to the floor.
Which force causes her to rise?
The upward force that the ground exerts on the woman
Two boxes sitting on the floor look identical, but one has more mass than the other.
