Can You Pass This Learning Measurement Test for 9th Graders?

The scientific method is more of a general set of guidelines than a strict set of steps, but the first step is always to identify a problem. This step may also be listed as "ask a question" or "make an observation," but they mean the same thing.

The producers of Woodstock in 1969 were faced with a dilemma come showtime. They could either build a stage so performers could perform or build a fence so they could charge admission, but they couldn't do both. They ended up putting on a historic free show.

"Lord of the Flies" was written in 1954 and follows a group of boys who get trapped on a deserted island. Two movie adaptations have been made and a third is on the way. The book is commonly read in ninth-grade classrooms across the country.

Elicit is a verb meaning to evoke, and illicit is an adjective meaning illegal. They are pronounced the same way but have completely different meanings. The word "illicit" stems from 16th century French and "elicit" stems from 17th century Latin.

The Magna Carta was published in 1215 under King John of England. The charter of rights was one of the first of its kind and laid the groundwork for other charters that followed, including the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution.

Richard Nixon is the only president to resign from office but he was never impeached. He was going to get impeached and likely be removed from office, so he resigned before all that happened. No president has ever been impeached and removed from office.

The top layer of Earth (crust) is about 18 miles thick, but is only a few miles thick under the ocean floor. More than 80% of the Earth is the mantle, which is the second layer and is close to 2,000 miles thick.

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and is the building block of life. It encodes genetic directions into all living things and is so complex that it's still not fully understood. The DNA molecule consists of two strands that coil to form a double helix.

The English language is full of tricky words, and this is one of them. The first "a" is commonly mistaken for an "e," but this word has two a's and two e's. Devastate is a verb that means to destroy or cause overwhelming stress.

This novel is one of John Steinbeck's most popular and follows a couple of ranch hands as they try to survive the Great Depression. He wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" about two years later, and it, too, is set during the Great Depression.

Guerrilla is another tricky word to spell, but just remember all consonants are doubled except for the "g." The word doesn't stem from the animal, but instead stems from the Spanish word "guerra," which means war.

Before Washington, D.C. became the permanent capital of the country, both NYC and Philly served as capital for some time. Philly's Independence Hall was the site where the First and Second Continental Congresses held debate and discussion.

The legislative branch of the government creates legislation. The executive branch executes the legislation. And the judicial branch judges the legislation. Each branch has other powers that serve as checks and balances on each branch.

The prime meridian is the imaginary line that splits the globe in half latitudinally. The equator splits the globe in half longitudinally. Unlike the equator, there are several prime meridians because several different methods have been used to find it.

Carbs get a bad rap in the diet world, but they're essential for human life. They generate the fuel we need to metabolize food. There are many types of carbs, and they're broken down into simple and complex carbohydrates.

Gist is a noun that defines the substance of a text. If you understand the gist (soft g) of a story, you understand the main idea or underlying theme of the story. It doesn't mean you leaned the moral of the story.

This Ray Bradbury story is set in a dystopian future where books are illegal and firemen go around lighting books on fire. Paper burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit, and that's where Bradbury got the title from.

Very few things in life are impossible. Implausible means not likely or not reasonable. Impossible means not able to happen in any way. It's implausible to travel 500 mph in a car, but not impossible. It's impossible to travel faster than the speed of light in a car.

Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln was assassinated, and although he was responsible for purchasing Alaska, he's most remembered for being impeached. He didn't want to follow through with Lincoln's wishes upon assuming office and that led to a lot of conflict.

There are 118 elements on the table and they are listed by atomic number. Hydrogen has atomic No.1 and it's the most abundant element in the universe. A hydrogen atom only has one proton in its nucleus. It's so light it easily escapes gravity unless it bonds to oxygen to form water (H2O).

The five layers of the atmosphere are the troposhpere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. The exosphere is closest to space and toposphere is closest to the Earth's crust. The ozone layer is in the stratosphere.

If you know what DNA stands for, you probably know RNA. It stands for ribonucleic acid, and along with DNA, it's present in all living things. It's an essential acid, but unlike DNA, it isn't a double helix. It is usually a single, folded strand.

"Hieroglyphics" is an "i before e" word and they are similar to today's emojis. There are close to 3,000 emojis being used regularly and there were about 700 hieroglyphics in the Ancient Egyptian alphabet.

The "Oedipus Cycle" consists of three stories written by Sophocles and most Americans are taught the story when they first enter high school. The overall themes of the story are fate and destiny. The books date back to 400 BC.

To be famous means to be known by a lot of people, but to be infamous or notorious means to be famous for a bad reason. A career criminal might be notorious, or an entire city might be notorious for its levels of crime.

Cleisthenes is considered the father of democracy, since he instituted democratic ideals in Athens in 508 BC. The move came following the overthrow of a tyrant king. The new democracy promised equality for all citizens.

Ronald Reagan was the 40th U.S. president and served two terms from 1981 to 1989. His economic initiative came to be known as Reaganomics. Before becoming president, he was governor of California, and before that he was a Hollywood actor.

The outer core is the only layer of Earth to be in a liquid state. It is about 1,500 miles thick, and made of molten iron and nickel registering up to 7,500 degrees Fahrenheit. When the Earth spins, the liquid outer core is able to flow around the solid inner core.

Fire requires oxygen to survive, but that doesn't make it a living thing. Clouds, water and rain are other natural things that are non-living but are sometimes mistaken for living things. A seed is a living thing in a dormant state.

A guru is a spiritual teacher, but it can also define any teacher or expert on a subject. A company might hire a sales guru to talk to the sales team one day, or you may travel to India to study Hinduism under a spiritual guru.

Ninth-grade literature has no shortage of dystopian novels, and this may be the most famous of them all. George Orwell's classic was published in 1949 and eerily predicted many of the privacy, data and language issues of today.

To elude means to avoid something by use of cleverness. It can be interchanged with the word "avoid," but you don't need to use trickery to avoid anything, you just have to ignore it, so the words are slightly different. To allude means to mention something indirectly.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the main law that separates America from many other world powers, and it's probably the country's most powerful law. Freedom of choice is not defined in the amendment.

During the War of 1812, British forces sacked Washington, D.C. and burned everything they could. President Madison fled and instructed his wife (who later instructed her slaves) to save valuables from the White House before it burnt.

If you want to remember the order of the planets, you should create an acronym. The correct acronym is: MVEMJSUN. You can make that mean whatever you want. A common one is: "My very excellent mom just served us noodles."