USA quiz · Grade 12

Grade 12 Science review quiz

16 practice questions. Tap an answer, then use the list below to study with a parent or teacher.

Question and answer list

Open a card to see the answer. These are original practice items for US elementary students — not a state test copy.

1. The carbon cycle includes

Answer: photosynthesis, respiration, and fossil-fuel burning

CO₂ is a key greenhouse gas.

2. Biodiversity means

Answer: variety of life in an ecosystem

More diversity often means more resilience.

3. A carbon sink

Answer: stores more carbon than it releases, like a healthy forest

Oceans and forests can act as sinks.

4. Eutrophication is often caused by

Answer: excess fertilizer runoff that overfeeds algae

Algal blooms can steal oxygen when they decay.

5. An invasive species

Answer: spreads in a new habitat and can harm natives

Zebra mussels in the Great Lakes are a US example.

6. Renewable energy examples include

Answer: wind, solar, and hydro

They replenish on a human timescale.

7. The ozone layer

Answer: blocks much harmful UV from the Sun

Stratospheric ozone is helpful; ground-level ozone is a pollutant.

8. A keystone species

Answer: has an outsized effect on its ecosystem

Sea otters and wolves are textbook cases.

9. A wave’s frequency is

Answer: how many cycles occur per second (hertz)

f = 1/T.

10. The relationship v = fλ means

Answer: wave speed equals frequency times wavelength

In air, sound is much slower than light.

11. In a series circuit, current is

Answer: the same through each resistor

Voltage drops add to the battery voltage.

12. In a parallel circuit, voltage across each branch is

Answer: the same as the source (ideal wires)

Currents in the branches add.

13. Ohm’s law is

Answer: V = IR

Voltage, current, resistance.

14. Momentum is

Answer: mass times velocity (p = mv)

It is conserved in a closed system with no external impulse.

15. A transverse wave’s oscillations are

Answer: perpendicular to the direction of travel

Light and string waves are transverse.

16. Sound is a

Answer: longitudinal mechanical wave

It needs a medium; light does not.