MTTC TEST (LOWER ELEMENTARY
TEST #120) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
A third-grade teacher plans a lesson on the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek
tribes of Michigan. Which of the following activities would best promote students'
understanding of the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek tribes of Michigan?
A. investigating the traditional foods common to the Anishinaabek tribes of Michigan
B. listening to audio recordings of oral testimonies of the Anishinaabek tribes of
Michigan
C. reviewing the accounts of European settlers interacting with the Anishinaabek tribes
of Michigan
D. researching the borrowing of words from the languages of the Anishinaabek tribes of
Michigan into English - Answer-A. While food is part of the Anishinaabek culture, food is
only narrowly related to beliefs and histories.
B. CORRECT. Listening to audio recordings preserves the authenticity of the primary
sources so that they cannot be misinterpreted or mistranslated.
C. The accounts of European settlers would reflect their own perspectives and not
necessarily the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek peoples.
D. Researching words that have been borrowed into English could lead to information
regarding the history of the tribes, but not in a targeted way.
To introduce the geographic theme of places and regions, a first-grade teacher leads
the class on a tour of the school grounds and its immediate environment. The students
note the following observations.
-school buildings
-playground equipment
-trees and plants
-cars in the parking lot
-road work and construction
-birds and squirrels
Later, the teacher leads the students in dividing the list into two lists. This activity can
best be incorporated into a lesson designed to help students reach which of the
following understandings?
,A. A place can be described by either its absolute location or its relative location.
B. A place includes both physical characteristics and human characteristics.
C. The local community near the school differs from other communities.
D. The local community near the school is one part of a larger region. - Answer-A. The
students are observing objects that can be used to describe relative locations, but that
is not the focus of the exercise.
B. CORRECT. The students are observing their environment to list objects that are both
natural and made by people.
C. The students are discussing what they see in their school community, but no other
community is mentioned.
D. While this is a true statement, none of the information gathered by the students
would support that finding.
A third-grade teacher plans a lesson on the three branches of government that will be
based on student-centered activities involving classroom rules. The teacher will divide
the class into three groups. The first group will be responsible for writing new rules for
the class, the second group for determining how these rules will be upheld and
enforced, and the third group for determining if the new rules violate or contradict any of
the rules and norms previously established in the classroom. Which of the following
topics in civics would be most effectively demonstrated in this activity?
A. popular sovereignty
B. checks and balances
C. consent of the governed
D. equal protection under the law - Answer-A. Popular sovereignty is the principle that
the authority of a government is derived from the rights of the people, which is not what
is being modeled in this lesson.
B. CORRECT. The system of checks and balances was created so that each branch of
the government (e.g., the executive branch, judicial branch, and legislative branch) is
empowered to prevent overreach by other branches.
C. Consent of the governed is the theory that the citizens of a country give their
permission for the government to operate, and permission is not discussed in this
scenario.
,D. Equal protection under the law is a principle that means a law must treat every
person the same as it would treat others in similar circumstances, which is not an issue
in this lesson.
The teachers of an urban prekindergarten class plan a student field trip to a farm to
learn about the roles of farms and farmers in providing food for the community, the tools
and resources they use, and the goods and services they provide. Before the field trip,
the teachers could best use which of the following strategies to activate the children's
prior knowledge?
A. having children vote on the most interesting farm activities and farm animals and
graphing the results as a class
B. asking children about what they know and want to know about farms and creating
illustrations of the responses on a poster
C. creating a Venn diagram with the children in which they record the similarities and
differences between different types of familiar foods
D. walking with children around the school grounds to observe animals and machinery
to form a comparison with what they will see at the farm - Answer-A. Voting and
graphing the results would be a good math activity to do after the field trip, but it would
not be an appropriate way to activate the children's prior knowledge.
B. CORRECT. Having a discussion and using visual models will help the children
recognize and identify what they already know about farms and farmers.
C. A Venn diagram will focus the children's attention on the types of food, not the roles
of the farms and farmers in providing food for the community.
D. This activity could scaffold animals and machinery for the children, but it will not help
them think about what they already know about farms.
A third-grade teacher begins a lesson on forces and motion by showing their students a
video of a professional bowler repeatedly throwing a ball and knocking down bowling
pins. This instructional choice primarily gives students:
A. a clear demonstration of crosscutting patterns across scientific content areas and
their applications.
B. justification that the class's topics of study exist in the real world in engaging settings.
C. data that can be recorded in charts to support the teacher's explanations of the topic.
, D. a realistic example of a core idea in the form of an explainable observation. -
Answer-A. Students observe the phenomenon, but there is no questioning or specific
directed observation of crosscutting concepts.
B. This explanation may be an ancillary effect of the instructional choice but is not its
purpose.
C. The scenario does not describe students collecting data, and data should not be
used to support a teacher's explanation but to support students developing their own.
D. CORRECT This is an explanation of scientific phenomena, of which the bowling
demonstration is an example.
As part of a unit about sound and vibration, a first-grade teacher poses the following
investigation question: "What happens to guitar strings when they are plucked?"
Students take turns plucking guitar strings, and the teacher records students'
observations of the guitar string sounds and vibrations on the board. With the teacher's
guidance, students collaboratively identify and discuss patterns in the observations.
Together, the teacher and students examine how their observations of the identified
patterns will answer the investigation question.
Which of the following elements represents the lesson's investigative phenomenon?
A. guitar string sounds and vibrations
B. the investigation question
C. data analysis
D. patterns - Answer-A. CORRECT. Sound and vibration from plucked guitar strings is
the scientific phenomenon that students experience, describe, and use for pattern
identification and discussion in this lesson.
B. An investigation question helps guide student investigation into a phenomenon, but is
not the phenomenon itself.
C. Data analysis is a science and engineering practice, not a scientific phenomenon.
D. Patterns are a crosscutting concept in science, not a scientific phenomenon.
Which of the following anchoring phenomena would be appropriate for a kindergarten
lesson sequence on the needs of plants and animals?
A. growing sunflowers in the classroom in order to discuss how and why they move
B. examining and comparing how to take care of different common household pets
TEST #120) EXAM QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
A third-grade teacher plans a lesson on the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek
tribes of Michigan. Which of the following activities would best promote students'
understanding of the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek tribes of Michigan?
A. investigating the traditional foods common to the Anishinaabek tribes of Michigan
B. listening to audio recordings of oral testimonies of the Anishinaabek tribes of
Michigan
C. reviewing the accounts of European settlers interacting with the Anishinaabek tribes
of Michigan
D. researching the borrowing of words from the languages of the Anishinaabek tribes of
Michigan into English - Answer-A. While food is part of the Anishinaabek culture, food is
only narrowly related to beliefs and histories.
B. CORRECT. Listening to audio recordings preserves the authenticity of the primary
sources so that they cannot be misinterpreted or mistranslated.
C. The accounts of European settlers would reflect their own perspectives and not
necessarily the beliefs and histories of the Anishinaabek peoples.
D. Researching words that have been borrowed into English could lead to information
regarding the history of the tribes, but not in a targeted way.
To introduce the geographic theme of places and regions, a first-grade teacher leads
the class on a tour of the school grounds and its immediate environment. The students
note the following observations.
-school buildings
-playground equipment
-trees and plants
-cars in the parking lot
-road work and construction
-birds and squirrels
Later, the teacher leads the students in dividing the list into two lists. This activity can
best be incorporated into a lesson designed to help students reach which of the
following understandings?
,A. A place can be described by either its absolute location or its relative location.
B. A place includes both physical characteristics and human characteristics.
C. The local community near the school differs from other communities.
D. The local community near the school is one part of a larger region. - Answer-A. The
students are observing objects that can be used to describe relative locations, but that
is not the focus of the exercise.
B. CORRECT. The students are observing their environment to list objects that are both
natural and made by people.
C. The students are discussing what they see in their school community, but no other
community is mentioned.
D. While this is a true statement, none of the information gathered by the students
would support that finding.
A third-grade teacher plans a lesson on the three branches of government that will be
based on student-centered activities involving classroom rules. The teacher will divide
the class into three groups. The first group will be responsible for writing new rules for
the class, the second group for determining how these rules will be upheld and
enforced, and the third group for determining if the new rules violate or contradict any of
the rules and norms previously established in the classroom. Which of the following
topics in civics would be most effectively demonstrated in this activity?
A. popular sovereignty
B. checks and balances
C. consent of the governed
D. equal protection under the law - Answer-A. Popular sovereignty is the principle that
the authority of a government is derived from the rights of the people, which is not what
is being modeled in this lesson.
B. CORRECT. The system of checks and balances was created so that each branch of
the government (e.g., the executive branch, judicial branch, and legislative branch) is
empowered to prevent overreach by other branches.
C. Consent of the governed is the theory that the citizens of a country give their
permission for the government to operate, and permission is not discussed in this
scenario.
,D. Equal protection under the law is a principle that means a law must treat every
person the same as it would treat others in similar circumstances, which is not an issue
in this lesson.
The teachers of an urban prekindergarten class plan a student field trip to a farm to
learn about the roles of farms and farmers in providing food for the community, the tools
and resources they use, and the goods and services they provide. Before the field trip,
the teachers could best use which of the following strategies to activate the children's
prior knowledge?
A. having children vote on the most interesting farm activities and farm animals and
graphing the results as a class
B. asking children about what they know and want to know about farms and creating
illustrations of the responses on a poster
C. creating a Venn diagram with the children in which they record the similarities and
differences between different types of familiar foods
D. walking with children around the school grounds to observe animals and machinery
to form a comparison with what they will see at the farm - Answer-A. Voting and
graphing the results would be a good math activity to do after the field trip, but it would
not be an appropriate way to activate the children's prior knowledge.
B. CORRECT. Having a discussion and using visual models will help the children
recognize and identify what they already know about farms and farmers.
C. A Venn diagram will focus the children's attention on the types of food, not the roles
of the farms and farmers in providing food for the community.
D. This activity could scaffold animals and machinery for the children, but it will not help
them think about what they already know about farms.
A third-grade teacher begins a lesson on forces and motion by showing their students a
video of a professional bowler repeatedly throwing a ball and knocking down bowling
pins. This instructional choice primarily gives students:
A. a clear demonstration of crosscutting patterns across scientific content areas and
their applications.
B. justification that the class's topics of study exist in the real world in engaging settings.
C. data that can be recorded in charts to support the teacher's explanations of the topic.
, D. a realistic example of a core idea in the form of an explainable observation. -
Answer-A. Students observe the phenomenon, but there is no questioning or specific
directed observation of crosscutting concepts.
B. This explanation may be an ancillary effect of the instructional choice but is not its
purpose.
C. The scenario does not describe students collecting data, and data should not be
used to support a teacher's explanation but to support students developing their own.
D. CORRECT This is an explanation of scientific phenomena, of which the bowling
demonstration is an example.
As part of a unit about sound and vibration, a first-grade teacher poses the following
investigation question: "What happens to guitar strings when they are plucked?"
Students take turns plucking guitar strings, and the teacher records students'
observations of the guitar string sounds and vibrations on the board. With the teacher's
guidance, students collaboratively identify and discuss patterns in the observations.
Together, the teacher and students examine how their observations of the identified
patterns will answer the investigation question.
Which of the following elements represents the lesson's investigative phenomenon?
A. guitar string sounds and vibrations
B. the investigation question
C. data analysis
D. patterns - Answer-A. CORRECT. Sound and vibration from plucked guitar strings is
the scientific phenomenon that students experience, describe, and use for pattern
identification and discussion in this lesson.
B. An investigation question helps guide student investigation into a phenomenon, but is
not the phenomenon itself.
C. Data analysis is a science and engineering practice, not a scientific phenomenon.
D. Patterns are a crosscutting concept in science, not a scientific phenomenon.
Which of the following anchoring phenomena would be appropriate for a kindergarten
lesson sequence on the needs of plants and animals?
A. growing sunflowers in the classroom in order to discuss how and why they move
B. examining and comparing how to take care of different common household pets
