Human endeavour — Foundational

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Level 1: Foundational

Identify, describe, state, calculate — recall facts and use standard relationships (typical early Year 10).

1. What is the main purpose of peer review before scientific work is widely shared?

   A)To certify that every claim in a paper is permanently true with no further checkingB)To have independent experts scrutinise methods and reasoning and improve qualityC)To keep data, methods, and results secret from the wider scientific communityD)To replace the need for replication, data sharing, or follow-up studies entirely

2. Compared with a typical peer-reviewed journal article, a preprint or informal post usually:

   A)Has already met the same independent expert checks a journal would applyB)Cannot legitimately report measurements, methods, or quantitative results at allC)May not yet have the same level of independent expert evaluation as a journal paperD)Is automatically unreliable no matter who wrote it or how carefully it was prepared

3. Why does repeating a study independently matter in science?

   A)It tests whether findings are reliable rather than one-off quirks of one team or labB)Ethical rules normally ban repeating another group’s experiment without their consentC)International law allows only a single published attempt on any research questionD)Successful repetition removes every remaining uncertainty in that topic for all time

4. A team builds a new medical imaging device to detect disease earlier. This best illustrates:

   A)Archival history work with no design cycle tied to measurement or human needB)Science knowledge and engineering design combined to address a human needC)Marketing slogans and branding choices detached from technical specificationsD)Safety signage and warning pictograms on existing equipment without new design

5. In real engineering projects, constraints that teams must work within often include:

   A)Visual style as the only constraint that determines every engineering decisionB)Unlimited money, materials, and schedule slack on essentially every buildC)Relaxing safety rules so iteration can proceed without regulatory requirementsD)Cost, materials, safety, reliability, environmental impact, and similar limits

6. Broad uptake of a scientific practice in society can depend on factors such as:

   A)Evidence strength alone, with no role for cost, access, values, or communicationB)Cost, values, trust, communication quality, access, and related practical factorsC)Journal title length, impact factor, or citation count as the sole drivers of uptakeD)Whether the idea appeared first on social media rather than in a journal or report

7. Vaccination uptake in a population is shaped most strongly by which combination?

   A)Clinic décor and colour schemes, without reference to access, cost, or trustB)Random noise unrelated to logistics, beliefs, misinformation, or service accessC)Access, institutional trust, clear communication, misinformation, and perceived risks and benefitsD)Celebrity endorsements alone, as if evidence quality and service access did not matter

8. A society’s urgent health crisis is most likely to influence:

   A)Fundamental physical constants such as the speed of light, which policy cannot alterB)Research priorities, funding calls, and which questions attract urgent investmentC)The agreed teaching order of elements in standard periodic-table classroom chartsD)Earth’s axial tilt and seasonal cycle, which health emergencies do not redirect

9. The focus of scientific research is influenced by drivers such as:

   A)Scientific opportunity, funding, ethics, societal needs, policy, and similar pressuresB)Whichever field has the shortest grant forms with the fewest required questionsC)The order of chapters in one textbook’s contents list, taken as a fixed agendaD)Headline counts in a single news cycle, with no role for budgets or long-term plans

10. In science, a hypothesis is best described as:

    A)The same as a law that has been proved for all conditions with no exceptionsB)A random guess that cannot be tested with evidence or revised with new dataC)A proposed explanation that can be tested with evidence and observationD)Only a figure caption that states no testable relationship between variables

11. Researchers often report uncertainty in measurements so that:

    A)Readers can hide weak methods behind vague uncertainty wording in the write-upB)Others can judge precision, spread, and limitations of the reported result fairlyC)Publication permanently erases measurement error from the scientific recordD)Only credentialed specialists are permitted to read methods sections or appendices

12. Science literacy in public life usually means being able to:

    A)Memorise every formula and constant without grasping reasoning or evidenceB)Understand enough evidence and method to engage responsibly with scientific claimsC)Avoid graphs, statistics, and data in civic debate to keep discussion informalD)Trust any confident expert title without checking sources, methods, or conflicts

13. A scientific theory, such as evolution or plate tectonics, is best described as:

    A)A broad explanation supported by many independent lines of converging evidenceB)An untested guess made before any observations or measurements were collectedC)A fixed doctrine that cannot be revised, limited, or refined when new data appearD)Only an informal classroom opinion with no role in peer-reviewed research programmes

14. Technology assessment often weighs expected benefits against:

    A)Visual design treated as the only downside or upside worth comparing in decisionsB)Historical dates on a timeline, without social, health, or environmental effectsC)Risks, costs, equity concerns, environmental impacts, and similar downside factorsD)Journal peer-review scores treated as the sole quantitative measure of possible harm

15. STEM integration in schools is meant to highlight connections between:

    A)Arts subjects only, framed to exclude quantitative fields from integrated unitsB)Physical education metrics alone, without cross-disciplinary design or analysisC)Narrative history only, taught without quantitative reasoning or data skillsD)Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as linked disciplines

16. Documented methods and data matter in published science mainly because:

    A)Others can follow the chain of evidence and attempt checks, repeats, or extensionsB)Vague write-ups speed publication by preventing any reader from questioning resultsC)Transparency removes the need for peer review once a manuscript is uploaded onlineD)Long methods sections guarantee that every conclusion is already replicated elsewhere

17. Intellectual property tools such as patents and copyright are intended to:

    A)Balance incentives for creators with staged public access and reuse over timeB)Hide all knowledge from the public sphere forever without limited-term releaseC)Replace peer review as the main quality check on scientific claims and methodsD)Ban open data and open methods in every discipline regardless of field norms

18. Sustainability in resource use is often summarised as aiming to:

    A)Use resources faster without regard for future supply or ecosystem limitsB)Ignore future generations when setting present extraction and consumption choicesC)Meet present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirsD)Stop all technology use regardless of context, trade-offs, or substitution options

19. During a health alert, risk communication should usually prioritise:

    A)Maximising fear and panic to drive action without nuance, ranges, or contextB)Technical jargon only, with no plain-language explanation for a general audienceC)Complete silence until every detail is final and all expert disagreement has endedD)Clear, honest messages that explain uncertainty and give actionable guidance

20. Interdisciplinary research may combine fields, for example:

    A)Only one traditional discipline, with no intentional crossing of field boundariesB)Climate science with economics or health to study co-benefits and trade-offsC)Unrelated hobbies that share no methods, instruments, or comparable datasetsD)Philosophy alone, framed to exclude empirical measurement or quantitative analysis

21. Reporting serious research misconduct when it is evidenced can protect:

    A)Public trust and participant safety when wrongdoing is documented and addressedB)Only journal profits, subscription revenue, and publisher market positionC)Trade secrets unrelated to integrity, participant harm, or scientific accuracyD)Social-media engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and viral reach alone

22. Evidence-based policy ideally draws on:

    A)Only tradition and precedent, without incorporating new data or evaluationB)Single anecdotes chosen for rhetorical effect instead of systematic evidenceC)Data and expert synthesis, while recognising that values still shape final choicesD)Opinion polls with undisclosed methods, sampling frames, and weighting details

23. Greenwashing refers to:

    A)Honest eco-labels backed by transparent standards and independent verificationB)Misleading environmental claims used to look greener than the evidence supportsC)Peer-reviewed life-cycle studies reported without selective emphasis or omissionD)Transparent carbon pricing or taxation policies implemented by elected governments

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