Lewis County Schools

Skill: Science (Weather and Climate)

Science Grade 5
This test section contains EIGHT multiple-choice and ONE open-response (short-answer) questions. Please mark
your answers for the multiple-choice questions in the spaces provided on your Student Response Booklet. Mark
only one answer for each question. If you do not know the answer, make your best guess. DO NOT WRITE
ANY ANSWERS IN THIS TEST BOOKLET. WHEN YOU FINISH, DO NOT WORK ON ANY OTHER
TEST SECTION.

1. Which of the following areas have a similar climate?

O A. The northern half of South America and the southern tip of Africa
O B. The eastern half of North America and the northern part of Eurasia
O C. Australia and the islands in the Pacific Ocean
O D. The western United States and central Africa

2. If you wanted to know how humid it was outside, you would check a
O A. hygrometer
O B. thermometer
O C. Rain gauge
O D. Barometer

3. Which of the following is NOT true?

O A. As air gets warmer, air pressure increases.
O B. Cold air has less humidity than warm air.
O C. The lowest layer of the atmosphere has more water than the uppermost layer.
O D. Earth’s surface cools faster on clear nights than on cloudy ones.

4. A high pressure area is usually ____.

O A. A mass of cold air
O B. A mass of warm air
O C. A bank of cumulus clouds
O D. The calm area around a storm cloud

PLEASE GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE 

5. The global winds blowing over the southern tip of south America are ____
O A. Prevailing westerlies
O B. Northeast trades
O C. Southeast trades
O D. Polar easterlies

6. An updraft is ____
O A. The horizontal movement of air
O B. A strong, sudden wind
O C. The upward movement of warm air
O D. Any spiral-shaped wind

7. What is El Nino?
O A. A weather change that signals the start of an ice age
O B. A change in the Pacific Ocean currents
O C. A short-term climate change due to a change in ocean currents
O D. A powerful wind that blows onshore form the Pacific Ocean and affects weather

8. According to some theories, what will happen if Earth’s average temperature rises just a few more
degrees?
O A. We will enter another ice age.
O B. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase.
O C. The polar ice caps will begin to melt, and coastal cities will flood.
O D. Massive evaporation will occur, exposing vast sections of the seafloor.

OPEN-RESPONSE QUESTION
9. Prompt
Weather affects everything that we do.

Directions
a. List three important weather observations that can be measured.
b. Choose two of the three observations you listed in Part A and fully explain the
tools that would be used to measure that observation.

Do not write on this page. Please write your

answer to this open-response question in
The test answer booklet

STOP!
Student Name___________________________________________________
Scoring Guide

SCORE DESCRIPTION
4 Student gives correct answers for parts A and B. All explanations are clear
and complete.
3 Student gives correct answers for parts A and B. Explanations are correct,
but possibly unclear. There is less evidence of clear understanding.
2 Student answers 1 (A or B) part of the question completely correct. There is
some evidence of understanding.
1 Student gives only parts of correct answers. There is little evidence of
understanding.
0 Student’s response is totally incorrect or irrelevant.
Blank No student response.
Annotated Rubric/ Performance Expectations for ORQ
Academic Expectation: Students identify and analyze systems and the ways their components work
together or affect each other.
Core Content: 2.3.3
Ceiling DOK Level: 2 Question DOK Level: 2
Question Type (circle): Scaffold, Single Dimension/Component, Two or More Relatively Independent
Components, Student Choice, Respond to Provided Information

Essential Vocabulary: weather, barometer, thermometer, warm front, low front, El Nino
Resources/Technology:

Bill Nye Videos

Unitedstreaming
Windows on Science
Harcourt Science
McGraw Hill Science
Multiple Choice Item Information:

Grade 5– Subject
First First CC Second Second CC DOK Answer Rational/Annotation for MC Questions
Question

A.E. A.E. Level of Key

MC
Question

1 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 B The correct answer is B, because that is the area
SC – 05 – 2.3.4 that has similar weather to North America
2 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 3 A The correct answer is A because that is the tool
SC – 05 -2.3.4
used to measure humidity.
3 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 A The correct answer is A because the lower layer
SC – 05 – 2.3.4 of the atmosphere has more water than the
uppermost layer.
4 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level -2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 A The correct answer is A because that is what
SC – 05 – 2.3.4
cumulus clouds do
5 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 A The correct answer is A because that is what
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prevailing westerlies do.
6 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level -2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 C The correct answer is C, because that is what in
SC – 05 – 2.3.4
updraft is.
7 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 C The correct answer is C, because that is what El
SC – 05 – 2.3.4
Nino’s do.
8 2.1 DOK Ceiling Level – 2 DOK Ceiling Level 2 C The correct answer is C, because that is what the
SC – 05 – 2.3.4
proposed theory as to what will happen.