FTCE Elementary Education K-6 · Subtest 3
FTCE Elementary Education K-6: Science (603) Practice Test & Study Guide
Prepare for FTCE Elementary Science with independent practice, flashcards, and connected lessons. Understand the official assessment, choose a focused study route, and review the reasoning behind missed answers.
Free study tools · Focused review · Official study guidance
FTCE Elementary Science Practice Tests
Use the existing independent study form and review its explanations. Results are for study, not official certification scores.
FTCE Elementary Science Flashcards
Recall a concept and explain how it applies to a teaching situation or subject example.
FTCE Elementary Science Study Guides
FTCE Elementary Science assessment and course guidance
Use the official page to find the course description, assessment directions, and preparation resources. No matching Effortless Math book has been verified for this subject.
FTCE Elementary Science Quick Review
Refresh one weak skill before your next practice session.
MEET THE ASSESSMENT · CHOOSE YOUR NEXT SKILL
Know FTCE Elementary Science before you start.
Florida’s official Elementary Education K–6 (060) page lists Subtest 3, Science, as approximately 45 multiple-choice questions in 70 minutes. The full assessment has four subtests; confirm which tests your certification requires. Some items may be unscored pretest questions. Independent practice here gives learning feedback, not an official FTCE score.
Reading and interpreting science
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Scientific reasoning
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Experimental design
Review the explanation, apply it to an example, and explain why an alternative answer would fail.
Official test readiness
Confirm your test code, format, and certification requirements with the official provider.
FTCE Elementary Science Practice Center
Take a full 70-minute form, read the explanation under every question you miss, then use the flashcards to close the content gaps the test found.
Opens on this page
Elementary Science at a glance
Half of this subtest is content you either know or do not: cells, matter, forces, the solar system. The other half is reasoning about an investigation someone else ran. The second half is where most points are won and lost, and it is the part you can improve fastest.
| Subtest | Science, part of Elementary Education K-6 (060) |
|---|---|
| Part of | The FTCE Elementary Education K-6 test, code 060, alongside Language Arts and Reading, Social Science, Science, and Mathematics. Each subtest is passed and retaken separately. |
| Number of questions | Approximately 55 multiple-choice questions |
| Answer options | Four per question (A, B, C, or D) |
| Time limit | 70 minutes |
| Format | Computer-based. Many questions attach to a described investigation or a small data table. Nothing depends on seeing a photograph. |
| Passing score | A scaled score of at least 200. |
| Retakes | Subtests are retaken individually after a 31-day wait. |
Florida does not publish how many questions come from each competency. Any percentage breakdown you see on a prep site is someone’s estimate, not an official figure, so this Online Center does not repeat one.
The five competencies, in plain language
Forty-eight skill statements, grouped into what the test actually checks.
Competency 1: Knowledge of effective science instruction
Teaching science to children, not just knowing it.
- Planning inquiry that children can actually run
- Safety in an elementary classroom and on field work
- Common misconceptions children hold, and how to surface them
- Assessment that shows what a child understands rather than what they memorized
Competency 2: Knowledge of the nature of science
What counts as evidence, and what evidence allows you to say.
- Variables, controls, and fair tests
- The difference between a hypothesis, a theory, and a law
- Correlation against causation
- Reading tables, graphs, and measurement with units
Competency 3: Knowledge of physical sciences
Matter, energy, force, and motion.
- Properties and states of matter, and physical against chemical change
- Atoms, elements, compounds, and mixtures
- Force, motion, and simple machines
- Energy forms, transfer, heat, light, sound, and basic electricity
Competency 4: Knowledge of Earth and space
The systems children can observe and the ones they cannot.
- Rocks, soil, and the processes that shape the surface
- Water cycle, weather, and climate
- Earth, Moon, and Sun: days, seasons, phases, and tides
- The solar system and the universe beyond it
Competency 5: Knowledge of life science
Living things, from cells to ecosystems.
- Cells, body systems, and how structure fits function
- Life cycles, heredity, and traits
- Adaptation, natural selection, and change over time
- Ecosystems, food webs, and human effects on them
A routine that fits a 70-minute subtest
Seventy minutes for about 55 questions is roughly 75 seconds each, and the investigation items eat more than that. Build the content knowledge first so the reasoning items get the time they need.
Complete lesson map
Forty-four lessons, grouped the way the content clusters. Each opens in a new tab.
Reading and interpreting science
Scientific reasoning
Experimental design
Data: tables, charts, and graphs
Life science
Heredity, evolution, and ecosystems
Matter and reactions
Earth and space science
- 34Earth’s Layers and Plate Tectonics↗
- 35Rocks and the Rock Cycle↗
- 36The Water Cycle and Weather↗
- 37Climate and the Greenhouse Effect↗
- 38Natural Resources↗
- 39Atmosphere, Oceans, and Earth Systems↗
- 40Natural Hazards and the Age of Earth↗
- 41The Solar System↗
- 42Earth, Moon, and Sun: Days, Seasons, Phases, Tides↗
- 43Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe↗
- 44Eclipses and Stellar Life Cycles↗
Before test day
Two habits carry this subtest. The first is checking what changed and what was held constant before you answer anything about an experiment. The second is refusing to pick an answer that goes further than the data. A choice can be true about the world and still be wrong about the study in front of you.
Watch the classic misconceptions, because the test writes distractors from them: seasons come from axial tilt and not from distance to the Sun, mass and weight are different things, and dissolving is not melting.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
FTCE Elementary Science: study questions
What should I know about the official FTCE Elementary Science assessment?
Florida’s official Elementary Education K–6 (060) page lists Subtest 3, Science, as approximately 45 multiple-choice questions in 70 minutes. The full assessment has four subtests; confirm which tests your certification requires. Some items may be unscored pretest questions. Independent practice here gives learning feedback, not an official FTCE score.
Official source ↗How should I use these independent FTCE Elementary Science study tools?
Start with a practice activity, review explanations for missed questions, and use quick review or flashcards for one weak topic. The practice results are study feedback, not official exam scores. Compare a book’s contents with your course or test requirements before buying.
Resources from Effortless Math · Editorial standards