Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation ~ Item RG166001 ~ Student Performance

A student has two blocks. One block is warmer than the other block. If the student stacks the warmer block on top of the cooler block, what will happen to the temperature of the blocks?

The cooler block will stay the same temperature, and the warmer block will get cooler until it is the same temperature as the cooler block.
The warmer block will stay the same temperature, and the cooler block will get warmer until it is the same temperature as the warmer block.
The warmer block will get cooler and the cooler block will get warmer until both blocks are at the same temperature.
The warmer block will get cooler and the cooler block will get warmer, but they will never be the same temperature.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades			Gender		Primary Language
		n = 3326	4–5 n = 644	6–8 n = 1385	9–12 n = 1297	Male n = 1492	Female n = 1734	English n = 2928	Other n = 287
A.	The cooler block will stay the same temperature, and the warmer block will get cooler until it is the same temperature as the cooler block.	16%	24%	15%	14%	16%	17%	16%	19%
B.	The warmer block will stay the same temperature, and the cooler block will get warmer until it is the same temperature as the warmer block.	18%	26%	17%	14%	17%	18%	17%	21%
C.	The warmer block will get cooler and the cooler block will get warmer until both blocks are at the same temperature.	53%	36%	54%	60%	54%	53%	54%	45%
D.	The warmer block will get cooler and the cooler block will get warmer, but they will never be the same temperature.	13%	13%	14%	12%	13%	13%	13%	15%

Science Assessment

Item RG166001: When a warmer block is placed on top of a cooler block, the warmer block will get cooler and the cooler block will get warmer until both blocks are at the same temperature.