STEM Challenge Practice: Animals

Animals Challenge Practice

Adult Education STEM Animals Challenge Practice Challenging 20 Questions 10 Views

Classroom Worksheet

STEM Challenge Practice: Animals

Animals Challenge Practice

Name____________________________

Date________________

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Grade: Adult Education

Subject: STEM

Topic: Animals

Time: 20 Minutes

Difficulty: Challenging

Questions: 20

Instructions:
Read each question carefully and answer in complete sentences when needed. Show your work for calculations and explain your reasoning for problem-solving questions. The questions increase in difficulty.

Skills Practiced:

Animals
STEM
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving

1Question

Classify each animal as a mammal, bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, or insect: dog, eagle, salmon, snake, frog, ant.

2Question

An animal has fur, gives live birth, and feeds its young with milk. What group does it belong to?

3Question

Name two adaptations that help polar bears survive in cold environments.

4Question

A bird species migrates 1,200 kilometers in the fall and 1,200 kilometers back in the spring. How far does it travel in one year?

5Question

A zoo feeds 8 penguins 3 kilograms of fish each day. How many kilograms of fish are needed for one day?

6Question

Explain why many animals have camouflage. Give one example.

7Question

A frog lays 400 eggs. If 25% survive to become tadpoles, how many tadpoles survive?

8Question

A class compares animal skeletons. What is one advantage of an endoskeleton and one advantage of an exoskeleton?

9Question

A bat uses echolocation to find insects at night. What does echolocation help the bat do, and why is it useful?

10Question

A sea turtle returns to the same beach where it hatched to lay eggs. What is this behavior called, and why is it important for the species?

11Question

A bee colony has 3,500 bees. If 40% are foragers, how many bees are foragers?

12Question

Compare a food chain and a food web in terms of energy flow.

13Question

An animal population in a reserve grows from 240 to 300 in one year. What is the percentage increase?

14Question

A predator-prey study shows that when prey numbers drop, predator numbers often drop later. Why does this happen?

15Question

A researcher tags 50 deer and later observes 200 deer, 10 of which are tagged. Estimate the total deer population using mark-recapture.

16Question

A fish species lives in freshwater and can only survive within a narrow temperature range. How might climate change threaten this species?

17Question

A farmer wants to increase pollination in an orchard. Which animal group is most helpful, and what feature makes them effective pollinators?

18Question

A wolf pack hunts in a group. Describe one advantage of group hunting and one possible drawback.

19Question

An ecologist finds that removing one top predator causes a rise in herbivores and a decline in plant life. What is this called, and what does it show about ecosystems?

20Question

Design a simple investigation to test whether insects are more attracted to blue or yellow paper. Include the question, variables, and how you would collect data.

Answer Key

#	Answer
1	Dog—mammal; eagle—bird; salmon—fish; snake—reptile; frog—amphibian; ant—insect.
2	Mammal.
3	Examples: thick fur, a layer of blubber, white fur for camouflage, large paws for walking on snow and ice.
4	2,400 kilometers.
5	24 kilograms.
6	Camouflage helps animals blend into their surroundings to avoid predators or catch prey. Example: a snowshoe hare’s white fur helps it blend into snow.
7	100 tadpoles.
8	Endoskeleton: grows with the animal and supports larger body sizes. Exoskeleton: provides strong protection from the outside.
9	It helps the bat locate objects and prey by using sound reflections. It is useful because bats can hunt in darkness.
10	It is called natal homing. It is important because it helps the species reproduce successfully in suitable nesting areas.
11	1,400 bees.
12	A food chain shows one path of energy flow from producer to consumers. A food web shows many connected feeding relationships and multiple paths of energy flow.
13	25% increase.
14	Predators have less food available when prey numbers drop, so predator survival and reproduction decrease after a time lag.
15	Estimated population = (50 × 200) ÷ 10 = 1,000 deer.
16	Warmer water or changing water conditions may move the habitat outside the fish’s safe temperature range, reducing survival and reproduction.
17	Bees are most helpful. Their bodies pick up and transfer pollen, and they visit many flowers while collecting nectar and pollen.
18	Advantage: they can take down larger prey or hunt more efficiently. Drawback: food must be shared among pack members.
19	This is a trophic cascade. It shows that changes at one level of a food web can affect multiple other levels.
20	Example answer: Question—Are insects more attracted to blue or yellow paper? Independent variable—paper color; dependent variable—number of insects attracted; controlled variables—same location, size of paper, time exposed, and lighting. Place blue and yellow papers side by side, count the number of insects landing on each after a set time, and repeat several trials to compare results.