Bones, muscles and the senses
Grade 7 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.
Ari learns that a person's eye is healthy, but the optic nerve is damaged. What will most likely happen?
- The brain sees the light directly through the eye, so sight is the same as before.
- The lens cannot focus any more, so images are blurry but the person can still see.
- The retina can no longer detect light, so the optic nerve has nothing to send to the brain.
- The retina still detects light, but the signal cannot reach the brain, so sight is lost.
The three small bones in Bo's middle ear are stiff. Sound still reaches the eardrum. What will most likely follow?
- The eardrum cannot vibrate, so no sound enters the ear and nothing is heard.
- Vibrations pass poorly from the eardrum to the cochlea, so sounds seem quieter.
- The cochlea makes sounds louder, so the stiff bones make hearing sharper than before.
- The auditory nerve stops carrying signals, so sounds seem the same but are not stored.
Jun touches a hot pan and pulls the hand back before feeling the pain. Which path best fits the reflex?
- Skin receptor → sensory neuron → spinal cord → brain, with no signal to the arm muscle
- Skin receptor → sensory neuron → spinal cord → motor neuron → arm muscle
- Skin receptor → sensory neuron → brain → motor neuron → arm muscle, then spinal cord
- Arm muscle → motor neuron → spinal cord → sensory neuron → skin receptor
Distance the ruler fell before the catch, in cm. Ari: 12, 14, 13. Bo: 22, 20, 24. Kira runs a ruler-drop test. A shorter catch distance means a quicker response. Whose reaction is quicker?
- Ari's, because the ruler fell a shorter distance before Ari caught it each time.
- Ari's, because 12 is the smallest number and the first number in the table.
- They are equal, because each person was tested three times with the same ruler.
- Bo's, because the ruler fell a longer distance, which shows Bo had more time to react.
Catch distance in cm. Try 1: 24. Try 2: 21. Try 3: 19. Try 4: 17. Try 5: 17. Luz practices the ruler-drop test five times. A shorter catch distance means a quicker response. What does the table best show?
- The response got slower with practice, since the distances became smaller each try.
- The response got quicker with practice at first, then leveled off at 17 cm.
- The response got quicker on each try, since the last two tries are equal.
- The response stayed the same, since the same person caught the ruler on each try.
Average catch distance for 10 students. Phone put away: 15 cm. Reading a phone: 22 cm. Milo tests the same 10 students with and without a phone in hand. A shorter catch distance means a quicker response. What do the averages suggest?
- A distraction seems to slow the response, though a test of 10 students is small.
- A distraction speeds the response up, since the average distance is longer with the phone.
- A distraction changes nothing, since both groups caught the ruler with their hands.
- A distraction shows that phones slow any person's response, since the averages differ.
Average catch distance for 8 students. Signal seen: 16 cm. Signal felt as a tap: 13 cm. Noah catches a ruler by sight, then catches it with eyes closed when a partner taps a shoulder as the signal. What do the averages suggest?
- Responding to a sight is quicker, since 16 cm is a bigger number than 13 cm.
- The two signals give the same speed, since the difference is just 3 cm.
- Responding to a tap seems a little quicker than to a sight, but 8 students is a small test.
- Touch is quicker than sight for any person, since the tap gave a shorter distance.
Read this first
Table (model data)
Joint P: bends and straightens in one direction. Joint Q: swings forward, back, out to the side and around in a circle. Joint R: turns a bone from side to side around another bone.
Pia records how three joints can move. Which match of joint to type is correct?
- P is a pivot, Q is a ball-and-socket, and R is a hinge.
- P is a ball-and-socket, Q is a hinge, and R is a pivot.
- P is a hinge, Q is a pivot, and R is a ball-and-socket.
- P is a hinge, Q is a ball-and-socket, and R is a pivot.
Table (model data)
Skeletal: attached to bones by tendons, controlled by choice. Smooth: in the walls of the stomach and intestines, works without choice. Cardiac: in the heart, works without choice.
Tala compares three muscle kinds. Which one moves bones, is under conscious control, and is attached to bones by tendons?
- Skeletal muscle, which is attached to bones by tendons and is controlled by choice.
- Smooth muscle, which is in the walls of the stomach and works without choice.
- Smooth muscle, which is attached to bones by tendons and can be controlled by choice.
- Cardiac muscle, which is in the heart and works without choice.
Zee hears that the Achilles tendon joins the calf muscle to the heel bone. What does this tell about how the foot moves?
- When the calf muscle shortens, the tendon pushes the heel bone, which lifts the heel.
- When the calf muscle shortens, the tendon pulls the heel bone, which lifts the heel.
- The tendon makes the heel bone move by itself, so the calf muscle just holds the heel up.
- The tendon holds the heel bone to the leg bones, so the calf muscle is not needed to lift the heel.

