GED Practice Questions: Science

Preparing for the GED? Try your hand at a few Science practice questions.

[ TRY KAPLAN’S OTHER GED PRACTICE QUESTIONS: Social Studies • Mathematics • Language Arts ]

GED Science Practice Question 1
An _______ involves introducing a change to the treatment group, whereas in an ________, the treatment group is based on current behavior.
A. experiment; observational study
B. observational study; experiment
C. observational study; observational study
D. experiment; experiment

GED Science Practice Answer 1

A. experiment; observational study
In an experiment, the researcher directs the behavior of both treatment and control groups. In an observational study, those groups are selected based on their current behavior, and that behavior is not directed by the researcher.

GED Science Practice Question 2
Growing the same crop on a field year after year can cause crop yields to decline as the soil becomes depleted and insect populations become firmly established. Crop rotation, or growing different crops in different years, is one way to avoid these problems. However, discovering the most effective rotation of a number of different crops is difficult, because there are so many possible orders in which to grow them and testing any given crop rotation takes several years.
For example, imagine a proposed rotation of corn, peanuts, onions, beets, and carrots, with a different crop grown each year for five years. How many different orderings of these five crops are possible?
A. 15
B. 25
C. 120
D. 125

GED Science Practice Answer 2

C. 120
The question asks how many different orderings, or sequences, of the five crops are possible. This is a permutations question, because order matters. Thus, multiply to find the number of permutations: 5×4×3×2×1 = 120

GED Science Practice Question 3
Common garden snails are hermaphroditic. That is, each individual snail produces both sperm and eggs. Mating between two garden snails involves the transfer of sperm from each partner to the other. A high school science teacher has created a large terrarium for his classroom that contains 6 adult garden snails. Assuming that all 6 snails are healthy, how many different mating pairs are possible? You may use your calculator for this question.
A. 2
B. 12
C. 15
D. 36

GED Science Practice Answer 3

C. 15
This is a combinations question: you are asked for all possible groupings of two out of the six snails, and the order of snails within each group does not matter. Use a table or an organized list to find the number of possible groupings. Name the snails A–F if that makes it easier.

Count the possible pairs: there are 15.

GED Science Practice Question 4
A urologist is a doctor who specializes in disorders of the urinary system. Which of the following patients is most likely to be treated by a urologist?
A. a patient with low levels of iron in her blood
B. a patient with a painful kidney stone
C. a patient with swollen veins in the anus, called hemorrhoids
D. a patient with chronic indigestion

GED Science Practice Answer 4

B. a patient with a painful kidney stone
Because a kidney stone forms in the urinary system, the patient is most likely to be treated by an urologist.

GED Science Practice Question 5
When a cell reproduces through cell division, scientists call the reproducing cell the parent cell, and the two cells that result from the division are called daughter cells. The daughter cells are genetically identical to the parent cells. Before a parent cell starts to divide, the DNA in its nucleus replicates, or makes a complete copy of itself.
Why is this process necessary?
A. so that the parent cell will have an extra copy of DNA
B. so that each daughter cell receives a complete set of DNA
C. so that each daughter cell will not need to synthesize proteins
D. so that each daughter cell will receive half its DNA from each parent cell

GED Science Practice Answer 5

B. so that each daughter cell receives a complete set of DNA
Cell division produces two daughter cells with genetic material, or DNA, that is identical to that of the parent cell. The DNA must be replicated in the parent cell first so that each daughter cell can receive an exact copy of it.

GED Science Practice Question 6
Which of the following is implied by the fact that seafloor spreading at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is causing the Atlantic Ocean to widen by about 5 centimeters a year?
A. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is thousands of miles long.
B. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the largest underwater structure in the Atlantic Ocean.
C. The continents of North America and Europe are moving apart.
D. The continents of North America and Europe are growing larger at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

GED Science Practice Answer 6

C. The continents of North America and Europe are moving apart.
Since the Atlantic Ocean is getting wider, it follows that the continents on either side of the Atlantic are moving further apart.

GED Science Practice Question 7
Pluto has a diameter of just 1,438 miles. It is made mostly of ice and frozen rock. It is very small and has an irregular orbit. It was originally classified as the ninth planet from the Sun, but it has been recategorized as a dwarf planet within the Kuiper belt.
Which of the following is not a factual detail about Pluto?
A. Pluto has a diameter of 1,438 miles.
B. Pluto is made mostly of ice and frozen rock.
C. Pluto has an irregular orbit.
D. Pluto should be classified as a dwarf planet.

GED Science Practice Answer 7

D. Pluto should be classified as a dwarf planet.
Choices (A), (B), and (C) are factual details about Pluto. Choice (D) is not a fact but rather a recommendation (that is, an opinion) of the scientists.

GED Science Practice Question 8
It is well known that the boiling point of water is 100° Celsius. More viscous, or thicker, substances often have higher boiling points. Glycerin, for example, boils at 290° Celsius, while olive oil boils at 300° Celsius.
By what percentage is the boiling point of glycerin greater than that of water? You MAY use your calculator.

GED Science Practice Answer 8

190
According to the paragraph, glycerin’s boiling point is 190 ̊ greater than water’s boiling point. To find the percentage by which glycerin’s boiling point is greater than that of water, divide the difference between the two substances’ boiling points by the boiling point of water and multiply the quotient by 100%. Thus, 190 / 100 × 100% = 190% . Always read questions carefully. Glycerin’s boiling point is 290 percent of water’s boiling point, but this question asks for the percent by which glycerin’s boiling point is greater than water’s.

GED Science Practice Question 9
After a transverse wave passes through a substance, no particle ever ends up far from its original position. Which of the following illustrates this principle?
A. A cork in water bobs up and down as waves pass.
B. Sound waves travel through air.
C. When two waves overlap, they interfere with one another.
D. A stone dropped into a pond causes ripples to radiate outward.

GED Science Practice Answer 9

A. A cork in water bobs up and down as waves pass.
The question asks for an example in which something stays in roughly the same place after a wave passes through it. If a cork merely bobs up and down as waves pass, then the cork will be in its original position after the waves stop. Thus, choice (A) is the right example.

GED Science Practice Question 10
Objects are attracted to one another by the force of gravity. Gravity is proportional to the mass—the amount of matter—objects have; gravity decreases as the distance between the objects increases. An object’s weight is a measurement of the Earth’s gravitational pull on the object.
What happens to the mass and weight of a rocket as it travels beyond Earth’s orbit?
A. Its mass remains the same, and its weight increases.
B. Its mass remains the same, and its weight decreases.
C. Its mass decreases, and its weight decreases.
D. Its mass increases, and its weight remains the same.

GED Science Practice Answer 10

B. Its mass remains the same, and its weight decreases.
The mass of an object doesn’t depend on anything; rather, mass is a property of the object. By contrast, the weight of an object gets smaller as the object gets farther from Earth. So, as a rocket travels away from Earth, its mass won’t change, but its weight will get smaller.

[ KEEP STUDYING: What’s tested on the Science GED Test Section? ]