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Teacher Certification · 7005

Praxis Elementary Education: Science Practice Test

Praxis Elementary Education: Science (7005) practice covers foundational physical, life, and Earth science concepts through classroom-style observations and investigations. The question bank includes mineral hardness, natural selection, motion, particle behavior, plant water transport, evaporation, simple circuits, density, and magnetism.

Exam overview

Exam providerETS Praxis
Exam code7005
CategoryTeacher Certification

About the Praxis Elementary Education: Science Exam

Questions ask you to connect observable evidence with scientific explanations. You may distinguish a mineral’s hardness from other properties, predict how camouflage can affect insect populations over generations, or compare the motion of objects falling under gravity. Other items focus on how heating affects air particles, how water moves through plant stems, and why temperature and airflow change evaporation. The set also tests reasoning about closed electrical circuits, air compression, floating and sinking, and magnetic effects on a compass. For classroom practice, attend to what an investigation changes or measures, identify the relevant variable or property, and use the stated evidence to select the explanation it supports. These tasks draw on interpreting observations and applying basic scientific models, rather than recalling terminology in isolation.

Sample Practice Questions

Review a selection from this exam's published US Practice Tests practice bank.

Question 1

A student observes that a mineral scratches a glass plate, while a fingernail does not scratch the mineral. What property is the student primarily comparing?

  1. AHardness
  2. BLuster
  3. CStreak
  4. DCleavage
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Hardness describes a mineral’s resistance to being scratched. A scratch test can compare relative hardness; luster describes how a mineral reflects light, streak is the color of its powder, and cleavage concerns how it breaks.

Question 2

A student studies a population of insects in which some individuals are better camouflaged from birds than others. Over many generations, which outcome is most likely if birds continue to hunt the insects?

  1. ABetter-camouflaged insects may survive and reproduce more often, making camouflage more common in the population.
  2. BEvery insect will deliberately change its color during its lifetime.
  3. CBirds will cause the insects to stop inheriting traits from their parents.
  4. DThe population will become identical immediately after one generation.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Individuals with inherited traits that improve survival may leave more offspring. Over generations, natural selection can increase the frequency of those traits in a population.

Question 3

Two identical balls are released from the same height at the same time. One is dropped, and the other is thrown horizontally. Ignoring air resistance, which ball reaches the ground first?

  1. AThe dropped ball, because it has no horizontal motion
  2. BThe thrown ball, because its forward motion helps it fall
  3. CBoth reach the ground at the same time
  4. DNeither reaches the ground because gravity acts only on falling objects
Show answerCorrect answer: C

Horizontal and vertical motion are independent. Both balls begin with the same vertical velocity and experience the same downward acceleration due to gravity, so they take the same time to fall.

Question 4

A sealed glass jar contains air. If the jar is warmed, what generally happens to the air particles inside?

  1. AThey move faster on average.
  2. BThey stop moving completely.
  3. CThey change into liquid water immediately.
  4. DThey become heavier while remaining the same particles.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Heating a gas increases the average kinetic energy of its particles, so they move faster on average. In a sealed, rigid jar, the gas pressure can also increase.

Question 5

A student places a plant cutting in colored water. After a few hours, colored lines are visible in the stem and leaf veins. What does this observation most directly show?

  1. AWater can move through transport tissues in the plant.
  2. BLeaves make colored water from sunlight.
  3. CRoots absorb food from the air.
  4. DThe stem changes water into soil.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

The dye travels with the water through conducting tissues in the stem and into the leaf veins. This demonstrates that water moves through the plant’s transport system.

Question 6

A student places equal volumes of water in two identical open dishes. One dish is placed in a warm, breezy area and the other in a cool, still area. After a day, the first dish has less water. Which process most directly explains the difference?

  1. ACondensation
  2. BEvaporation
  3. CFreezing
  4. DPrecipitation
Show answerCorrect answer: B

Evaporation occurs when liquid water changes into water vapor at its surface. Warmer conditions and moving air generally increase evaporation by helping water molecules escape into the air.

Question 7

A student makes a circuit with a battery, wires, and a small bulb. The bulb lights only when both wire ends touch the battery terminals and the bulb’s metal contacts. What condition allows the bulb to light?

  1. AThe circuit forms a closed path through which electric current can flow.
  2. BThe wires must be longer than the battery.
  3. CThe bulb must be exposed to sunlight.
  4. DThe battery must be placed above the bulb.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

A working circuit needs a complete, closed conducting path from one battery terminal, through the bulb, and back to the other terminal. A break in that path prevents current from flowing.

How to use this practice test

The free practice session presents up to 20 random questions from the 7005 bank. Answer each item by matching the observation to the scientific concept it tests, then review the results shown after the session. Use missed questions to identify which ideas—such as forces, matter, life science, or investigation evidence—need closer review.

Preparation tips

  • Compare observable mineral properties such as hardness, and distinguish scratch tests from tests of other characteristics.
  • Practice explaining how variation and environmental pressures, including predation, can change populations over generations.
  • Review basic models of motion, gravity, particle behavior, air compression, and density; connect each model to a stated observation.
  • Trace water movement in plants and compare how warmth and airflow affect evaporation from exposed water.
  • Draw a battery-and-bulb circuit and check which connections form a complete path; also review how magnets affect compass needles.
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