Sample MEAP Problems:
An Important component to instruction is assessment. How well are the students learning the materials being presented. Following is a list of MEAP sample problems for your students to review.
Early Vegetable Garden Cluster Problem
Jo Ann wanted to get an early start for her vegetable garden. It
was too cold to plant seeds outside, so she decided to start
growing some tomato seeds in her apartment. She wasn't sure if it
would work. She planted tomato seeds in small boxes. She put the
boxes in a closet where it was warm and dark. She watered them
whenever the soil started to get dry. There was plenty of air in
the closet.
1. What do you think happened inside the tomato seeds?
* a. The embryo in the seeds could get food from the water to
begin to grow.
* b. The embryo in the seeds could get food from the soil to
begin to grow.
* c. The embryo in the seeds could get food from the cotyledon to
begin to grow.
* d. The embryo in the seeds could not grow because there is no
light.
2. If Jo Ann wants the plants to live and grow, can she keep them
in the dark or should she move them into the light?
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Explain your reasoning. ________________________________________
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3. When the weather gets warm, JoAnn moves her young tomato
plants outside. By the middle of the summer, she notices small
green tomatoes growing on the plant. She looks forward to eating
these tomatoes when they get bigger and red. Where did the food
inside the tomatoes come from?
* a. From the tomato seed
* b. The tomato plant made the food and stored it in the tomato
* c. From the soil
* d. From the air
4. If you could get inside of JoAnn's tomato plant, what would
you see moving around inside the plant?
* a. Water moving up through the roots and into the stems and
leaves
* b. Water moving up through the roots and food moving from the
leaves to all parts of the plant
* c. Water and food moving up through the roots and into the
stems and leaves
* d. Nothing moves in a plant.
Raking Leaves Cluster Problem
One autumn day, Jerry was helping rake leaves off the grass. The
weather was getting colder. He looked up at the huge tree that
was losing all its leaves.
1. If he were thinking like a good scientist, what question might
he ask?
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2. Without the leaves, the trees will
* a. die because they cannot make their own food
* b. die because it is too cold in winter
* c. live because the leaves made during the summer and stored
some for winter
* d. live because it can get food from the soil and stuff in the
soil
3. Jermaine noticed that the pine tree next to the big oak tree
was not losing its needles for the winter. He thought this was
good evidence that...
* a. Pine trees can continue to make their own food throughout
the winter
* b. All trees get their food from the soil.
* c. Pine trees and oak trees do the same things in winter.
* d. Pine trees do not make their own food because they do not
have leaves.
Apples Cluster Problem
Mark has diabetes and has to watch very carefully how much sugar
he eats. At lunch one day, a friend offered him an apple and
said, "Don't worry, there's no sugar in an apple."
1. Mark told his friend: I can give you good evidence that apples
DO have sugar in them. What might give good evidence that apples
have sugar in them?
* a. You could taste the apple and decide if it tasted like
sugar.
* b. You could put some iodine solution on the apple and if it
turns black, that means there is starch, which is another form of
sugar.
* c. You could look inside the apple and see if you see sugar.
* d. None of these.
2. Mark is right that there is sugar in an apple. How do you
think sugar got into the apple? Where did it come from?
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3. Inside of an apple there are seeds. Do you think the seeds
have sugar in them?
* a.Home Page, there is sugar stored in
the cotyledon. The sugar was made by the leaves and stored in the
seed.
* b. Yes, there is sugar stored in the cotyledon. The sugar was
soaked up into the seed from the soil.
* c. No, there is no sugar in the seed -- only water and food.
* d. No, there is no sugar in the seed because seeds have hard
covers so there is no way that the plant could get sugar into the
seed.
4. When the apples fall to the ground, they rot and get eaten by
animals. Seeds get left on the ground after the fruits are eaten
away. What do you predict will happen to these seeds?
* a. They will all get eaten by birds.
* b. Some will begin to grow into baby apple trees using food
from the soil and water.
* c. Some will begin to grow into baby apple trees using food
stored in the cotyledon.
* d. Those that are in the sunlight will begin to grow into baby
apple trees.
5. Michelle asked Mark a question about his diabetes. "Is it
true that your body can't make sugar like other people's bodies
can?" Do you agree with Michelle that can make sugar inside
their bodies?
* a. No, people can't make sugar inside their bodies; only plants
can make sugar in their bodies.
* b. Yes, people can use water and food to make sugar in their
stomachs.
* c. Yes, people can make sugar like plants do except people use
oxygen and plants use carbon dioxide to make sugar.
* d. Yes, people can make sugar in their kidneys just like plants
make sugar in their leaves.
Maple
Sugar
Cluster Problem
Little Porcupine White is an Anishinabe Indian who lives at Sugar
Point, Minnesota. Sugar Point is named after all the maple syrup
and sugar that these Indians make. They make the sugar each
spring by tapping maple trees when the sap is running. The sap
that drips out of the trees is sweet and sugary.
1. Where did this sap come from? How did it get into the tree
trunk? Why is it moving in the tree?
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2. The sugar in the sap comes from
* a. the maple tree seed's cotyledon
* b. food made in the leaves (photosynthesis )
* c. the soil
* d. the water
3. At the end of winter and beginning of spring -- at maple
sugaring time -- the sap is probably
* a. Moving from stored places up the tree to help new leaves
grow
* b. Moving from the leaves down the tree to feed the roots
* c. Moving from stored places to all parts of the tree
* d. Not moving.
4. Native Americans like Little Porcupine are scientists when
they
* a. Observe the weather carefully for clues about when the sap
will be running in the maple trees
* b. Collect sap from maple trees
* c. Thank the trees for giving life to people
* d. Show respect for trees as living things by never cutting
down living trees
5. Little Porcupine boils the sap for a long time. As he boils
the sap, it gets thicker and thicker like syrup because
* a. water is evaporating from the sap and into the air
* b. sugar gets thick when it is hot
* c. the sugar is melting
* d. the sugar is mixing with heat to make syrup
SCIENTIST NAME__________________________
Pumpkins
and Soil Problem
One summer Kelly planted 4 pumpkin seeds in the neighborhood
garden. She wanted to grow the biggest pumpkin for a contest at
school. She watered her pumpkins regularly. They were in a bright
sunny spot. She took good care of the pumpkins. She pulled weeds
near them, and she carefully measured and graphed their growth.
As the deadline for the contest came nearer, Kelly decided to
give her pumpkins some extra soil to help them grow even bigger.
1. When Kelly first planted the pumpkin seeds, the baby plants
started to grow using food from
* a. the soil
* b. the water
* c. the embryo
* d. the cotyledon
2. What evidence would convince you that there is food stored in
the cotyledon of seeds?
* a. Dr. Roth said so.
* b. Most of the people in my class think so.
* c. The embryo will only grow when it is attached to the seed's
cotyledon.
* d. The embryo will only grow if it gets water.
3. Three weeks after Kelly gave the big pumpkins some extra soil,
the pumpkins got even bigger. Is this good evidence that the soil
was food for the pumpkins?
* a. Yes, because she gave them soil and they grew.
* b. No, because soil is just there to help hold plants in the
ground.
* c. No, because the pumpkins might have used something else for
food to help them grow.
* d. Yes, because her class voted and agreed that soil was the
food helping the pumpkins grow.
4. Scientists would believe that soil or stuff in the soil is
food for plants if you can prove that it gives the plant
________.
* a. energy
* b. nutrients
* c. minerals
* d. water
5. The soil that Kelly added to her pumpkin patch weighed 20
pounds. After she added the soil, the pumpkins gained about 6
pounds. What do you think happened to the weight of the soil?
* a. The soil lost weight because the pumpkin plants used the
soil for food
* b. The weight of the soil stayed the same because the pumpkin
plants did not use the soil for food.
* c. The soil gained weight because the pumpkin plants put wastes
in the soil.
* d. The soil lost just a little bit of weight because the
pumpkin plants used minerals in the soil for their food.
6. Explain how the pumpkins are getting the food that they need
to grow so big.
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Cave Cluster Problem
Some seeds got stuck in the fur of a mouse. The mouse ran in
dark, wet cave. The seeds fell off the mouse's fur and onto the
wet soil.
1. Do you predict the seeds would begin to grow? Why or why not?
* a. Yes, because they could use the water to grow
* b. Yes, because they could use food stored in the cotyledon to
grow.
* c. Yes, because we planted grass seeds in the dark and they
grew.
* d. No, because there is no light.
2. If the seeds did start to grow, could they continue to live in
the dark cave?
* a. Yes, as long as they get plenty of water for their food.
* b. No, because they need light in order to make their food
* c. No, because they need lots of different kinds of food and
one kind of food they need is light.
* d. Yes, but they would not look very healthy and would be
yellow.
3. Explain why you think the seeds will or will not grow in the
cave. Be sure to talk about how the seeds get the food they need
to grow.
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4. Jermaine watched the seeds in the cave for 2 weeks. Everyday
he checked on them and wrote down in his journal what he saw
happening to them. Jermaine was acting like a scientist by
* a. making careful observations
* b. making up hypotheses
* c. using evidence to make explanations
* d. asking good questions
5. Which of the following is good evidence to CHALLENGE the
hypothesis that water is food for plants?
* a. Grass plants in the dark will not grow even when they have
plenty of water.
* b. Seeds will not begin to grow unless they have water.
* c. The textbook says that water is not food because it does not
have energy in it.
* d. Water does not have any calories in it.
SCIENTIST NAME __________________________
Are Fertilizers Food for Plants?
Mrs. Collar’s class was investigating how plants get their
food. They had 14 different hypotheses about how plants get their
food. Steven and some other students thought that plants get
their food from the fertilizers or "plant food" that
people give them. Bobby and many others thought that water is
food for plants.
1. A hypothesis is
* a. Always right.
* b. Always wrong.
* c. The same thing as a fact.
* d. A scientist’s idea or guess about how something works
2. For a scientist to consider something to be a food, they have
to prove that it:
* a. gives living things minerals and nutrients to help them
* b. can be chewed by living things
* c. tastes good
* d. gives living things the energy they need to live and grow
3. Some of Steven’s classmates disagreed with him about the
fertilizers and minerals. They thought that fertilizers and
minerals were not food for plants. Which of the following are
evidence that fertilizers and plant food from the store are NOT
providing food for plants?
* a. Fertilizers and plant food containers do not list any
calories in them. So they must not have any food energy.
* b. People give plants fertilizers and plant food, and it helps
them grow better.
* c. The label on the box says it is "plant food" so it
must be food for the plants.
* d. Commercials on TV say that things like Miracle Grow are food
for plants.
4. Andy said to Steven: "But look at the seeds in the zip
lock bags that we grew. They are growing, but we didn’t give
them any fertilizers or plant food. I think they got their food
from:
* a. the embryo
* b. the cotyledon
* c. the water
* d. the air
5. Bobby and others had a hypothesis that water is food for
plants. Which of the following provides good evidence to support
his hypothesis that water IS food for plants?
* a. Water does not have any calories which measures energy.
* b. Grass plants will die in the dark, but they will live and
grow in the light..
* c. When bean seeds are given water, they grow. Without water,
they do not grow.
* d. Most adults would say that water is food for plants.
6. Which of the following gives good evidence that water IS NOT
food for plants?
* a. When bean seeds are given water, they grow. Without water,
they do not grow.
* b. Water does not have any calories which means it has no
energy.
* c. Grass plants will die in the dark, but they will live and
grow in the light.
* d. Most adults would say that water is food for plants.
7. What would be a good experiment to see if fertilizers are
providing food energy for plants?
* a. Grow three bean plants with the same amount of water, soil,
and light, but give one plant no fertilizer, one plant a little
bit of fertilizer, and one plant a lot of fertilizer.
* b. Grow two bean plants with the same amount of fertilizer, but
put one in the dark and one in the light.
* c. Grow one bean plant in soil, one bean plant in fertilizer,
and one bean plant in water.
* d. Add fertilizer to your garden at home and see if it helps
the plants grow.
Steven set up an experiment. He planted some grass plants in
three containers. All three containers had light, soil, and
water. One container got NO fertilizers. One container got some
fertilizer. One containter got a lot of fertilizer.
8. Look at the graph of the results of Steven’s experiment.
What does the graph NOT show about the experiment?
* a. The height of the plants.
* b. The effect of fertilizers on plant growth.
* c. How light helps plants grow.
* d. That plants can grow without fertilizer.
9. Give at least two scientific observations that can be made,
from the data in the graph, about the effect of fertilizers on
plant growth.
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