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Teacher Certification · 7814

Praxis Elementary Education: Science—CKT Practice Test

Praxis Elementary Education: Science—CKT (7814) practice focuses on explaining observable events using foundational science concepts. The available questions sample physical science, life science, and Earth and space science, with scenarios involving heat transfer, forces, food webs, shadows, Moon phases, erosion, Earth's layers, and properties of air.

Exam overview

Exam providerETS Praxis
Exam code7814
CategoryTeacher Certification

About the Praxis Elementary Education: Science—CKT Exam

Questions ask you to connect evidence in a classroom-style observation to a plausible scientific explanation. Physical science examples involve heat flow, motion, friction, gravity, combustion, and how warming affects gas in a sealed container. Life science reasoning includes tracing feeding relationships and predicting how a population change may affect other organisms. Earth and space science prompts ask you to interpret changing shadows and lunar phases, identify Earth's internal layers, and distinguish erosion from other processes that shape land. These tasks call for recognizing relevant variables, applying cause-and-effect reasoning, and selecting an explanation consistent with the stated conditions. For elementary teaching, the same skills help clarify why a result occurs and support students in using observations rather than unsupported guesses.

Sample Practice Questions

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

Question 1

A student places a metal spoon and a wooden spoon in the same room. The metal spoon feels cooler to the touch. Which explanation is best?

  1. AThe metal spoon is necessarily at a lower temperature than the wooden spoon.
  2. BMetal transfers heat away from the hand more quickly than wood does.
  3. CWood creates heat when it touches a hand, but metal does not.
  4. DMetal contains coldness that moves into the hand.
Show answerCorrect answer: B

When both spoons have been in the same room, they are usually at similar temperatures. Metal conducts heat more readily, so it draws heat from the hand faster and feels cooler.

Question 2

A student observes a small pond where algae are eaten by insect larvae, and the larvae are eaten by fish. If the fish population decreases greatly, which change is most likely to occur first in this food web?

  1. AThe insect larvae population may increase because fewer are eaten.
  2. BThe algae will immediately disappear because fish produce it.
  3. CThe insect larvae will stop needing food.
  4. DThe algae will become consumers that eat fish.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Fish prey on the insect larvae. If there are fewer fish, less predation may allow the larvae population to increase, although other factors in the pond can also affect population sizes.

Question 3

A student compares the shadows of a vertical stick at noon in two different months at the same location. The stick and measuring method are unchanged. Why might the shadow lengths differ?

  1. AThe Sun’s apparent height in the sky changes during the year.
  2. BThe stick’s mass changes with the season.
  3. CEarth’s rotation stops during one of the months.
  4. DThe shadow is made by light traveling from the ground to the Sun.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

The Sun’s apparent path and height in the sky vary over the year because Earth’s axis is tilted as Earth revolves around the Sun. A lower Sun angle generally produces a longer shadow.

Question 4

A student observes that a ramp is steeper at one end than the other. Which change would most likely make a toy car roll down the ramp faster, if other conditions stay the same?

  1. ARaise the starting end of the ramp.
  2. BCover the ramp with a softer surface.
  3. CStart the car lower on the ramp.
  4. DMake the ramp longer while keeping its height and surface unchanged.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Raising the starting end makes the ramp steeper, increasing the component of gravity that pulls the car down the slope. This tends to increase its acceleration.

Question 5

A ball rolls across a level floor and gradually slows down. Which force most directly causes the ball to slow?

  1. AFriction between the ball and floor
  2. BMagnetism between the ball and floor
  3. CBuoyant force from the floor
  4. DThe force of gravity disappearing
Show answerCorrect answer: A

Friction acts against the ball’s motion where it contacts the floor, reducing its speed. Gravity continues to act downward, but it does not disappear as the ball rolls.

Question 6

A student observes that a candle flame becomes smaller when a glass is placed over it. Which explanation best accounts for this observation?

  1. AThe glass removes all the candle’s fuel.
  2. BThe flame uses oxygen in the trapped air, and the available oxygen becomes limited.
  3. CThe glass turns the flame’s heat into water.
  4. DThe candle stops producing light because glass blocks all light.
Show answerCorrect answer: B

Combustion requires oxygen. In a covered setup, the flame consumes some of the limited oxygen in the trapped air, so it eventually becomes smaller and goes out.

Question 7

Why does the Moon appear to have different shapes over the course of a month?

  1. AWe see different portions of its sunlit half as the Moon orbits Earth.
  2. BEarth’s shadow covers the Moon every night.
  3. CClouds permanently remove parts of the Moon’s surface.
  4. DThe Moon changes its shape as it moves closer to the Sun.
Show answerCorrect answer: A

The Moon is illuminated by the Sun. As it orbits Earth, the angle between the Sun, Moon, and Earth changes, so observers see varying portions of the illuminated half. Earth’s shadow causes lunar eclipses, not the regular phases.

How to use this practice test

The free US Practice Tests practice session presents up to 20 randomly selected questions from the 7814 question bank. Use each item to practice explaining the observation, identifying the relevant science concept, and ruling out explanations that conflict with the stated conditions. Results appear after the session, so you can identify which kinds of reasoning need more attention.

Preparation tips

  • For heat-transfer scenarios, distinguish thermal conductivity from temperature; compare how metal and wood transfer energy from a hand.
  • Trace each organism's feeding links before predicting how a population decrease affects prey or other members of a food web.
  • For motion questions, separate the effect of a steeper ramp from forces such as friction that oppose motion.
  • Use diagrams and observations to explain Moon phases, seasonal shadow differences, erosion, and the order of Earth's layers.
  • When evaluating an investigation, identify what changes, what stays constant, and which observation supports the proposed cause.
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