Praxis Middle School Science Online Center
This Praxis Middle School Science Online Center brings together practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Choose the resource that matches the skill you want to work on next.
Praxis Middle School Science Practice Center
Take a full 150-minute form, then read the explanation under every question you missed. Over forty percent of the real test wraps content inside a science and engineering practice, and about thirty percent inside a task of teaching. Sort your misses by which of those was actually being asked.
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Praxis Middle School Science at a glance
This is the content test for teaching science in roughly grades five through nine, and its framework was rebuilt around three-dimensional science. If you are studying from an older guide you will see six categories named things like Scientific Inquiry and Science, Technology, and Society. Those are gone. The current test has four categories, and inquiry is no longer a category of its own because it is distributed through all of them.
| Test code | 5442 (Middle School Science) |
|---|---|
| Status | Current. Note that the six-category framework in older study guides is superseded; the current framework has four categories. |
| Number of questions | 125 selected-response questions. There is no constructed response. |
| Time limit | 150 minutes, one session |
| Calculator | None is provided, and ETS states none is needed. |
| Reference materials | A periodic table is provided on the Help screen, along with a table of physical constants and some SI conversion factors. |
| Format | Computer-delivered, at a test centre or at home |
| Score scale | 100 to 200 |
| Passing score | ETS does not set one. Each state sets its own qualifying score. |
| How it is asked | More than 40 percent of questions integrate a science and engineering practice, and about 30 percent assess a task of teaching science. |
ETS publishes counts and percentages for all four categories: Nature and Impact of Science and Engineering 17 questions and 14 percent, Physical Science 38 and 30 percent, Life Science 38 and 30 percent, Earth and Space Science 32 and 26 percent. The three content categories are 86 percent between them, so the first category is small; but the practices it names appear inside all the others.
The four categories, in plain language
ETS lists each category and the topics under it. Here is what each one asks of you.
I. Nature and impact of science and engineering (14 percent, 17 questions)
How science works, how engineering differs, and what both do in the world.
- Science and engineering practices
- Designing and critiquing an investigation
- Engineering design, criteria, and constraints
- Laboratory and field safety
- Science, technology, and society
II. Physical science (30 percent, 38 questions)
Matter and energy, at middle school depth with real calculation.
- Atomic structure, the periodic table, and bonding
- Chemical reactions and conservation of mass
- States of matter and phase change
- Forces, motion, and Newton’s laws
- Energy, work, and energy transfer
- Waves, sound, and light
- Electricity and magnetism
III. Life science (30 percent, 38 questions)
From cells to ecosystems.
- Cell structure, function, and processes
- Photosynthesis and cellular respiration
- Genetics, heredity, and Punnett squares
- Evolution and natural selection
- Ecology, energy flow, and cycling of matter
- Human body systems
- Classification and biodiversity
IV. Earth and space science (26 percent, 32 questions)
The planet and what is beyond it.
- Plate tectonics and Earth’s structure
- Rocks, minerals, and the rock cycle
- Weathering, erosion, and landforms
- The water cycle and Earth’s water
- Weather systems and climate
- Earth’s history and the geologic record
- The solar system, stars, and the universe
A study routine for a 150-minute science test
One hundred twenty-five questions in one hundred fifty minutes is seventy seconds each. That rules out working anything out from first principles, which means the recall has to be automatic.
Complete topic map
Every topic ETS lists under the four categories of the current framework.
Nature and impact of science and engineering
- 01Recognize that scientific knowledge is developed through a variety of methods rather than a single fixed scientific method
- 02Recognize that scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence and is subject to revision in light of new evidence
- 03Distinguish among models, laws, and theories and explain how each is used to account for natural phenomena
- 04Apply crosscutting concepts and processes such as patterns, cause and effect, scale, systems, and structure and function
- 05Define an engineering problem and identify its criteria and constraints
- 06Design, test, and evaluate possible solutions against how well they meet stated criteria and constraints
- 07Optimize a design solution through a systematic process of modification and retesting
- 08Apply safety and emergency procedures in the laboratory and the field
- 09Follow correct procedures for the preparation, storage, use, and disposal of laboratory and field materials
- 10Select and use standard laboratory and field equipment appropriately
- 11Explain the interdependence of science, engineering, and technology
- 12Analyze the impact of engineering, science, and technology on the environment and society, including pollution, greenhouse gases and climate change, waste, acid rain, loss of biodiversity, ozone depletion, and land use
- 13Evaluate major issues associated with energy production and the management of natural resources
- 14Identify applications of science and technology in daily life across chemistry, physics, life science, and Earth and space science
Physical science
- 15Describe atomic structure, including protons, neutrons, and electrons, atomic number, atomic mass, isotopes and radioactive isotopes such as carbon-14, and electron arrangements
- 16Explain how the periodic table is organized into groups with similar chemical and physical properties, such as metals, nonmetals, and noble gases
- 17Use the particle model to describe solids, liquids, and gases and the effect of changes in temperature and kinetic energy on particle motion
- 18Classify matter as elements, compounds, or mixtures, and distinguish heterogeneous from homogeneous mixtures
- 19Describe saturated and unsaturated solutions, dilute and concentrated solutions, acids and bases and pH, and the factors that affect dissolving
- 20Interpret formulas and structures of elements and simple compounds and distinguish ionic, covalent, and metallic bonding
- 21Analyze phase changes and the effect of thermal energy transfer on matter, including melting, evaporation, freezing, condensation, and heating and cooling curves
- 22Distinguish chemical changes from physical changes
- 23Apply conservation of matter to chemical reactions, including balancing simple reactions with visual and mathematical models
- 24Identify types of chemical reactions such as combustion, acid-base, synthesis, and decomposition, and classify reactions as exothermic or endothermic
- 25Describe motion using distance and displacement, speed and velocity, and acceleration
- 26Apply Newton’s laws of motion, buoyancy and relative density, and gravitational force as it depends on mass and distance, including weight versus mass on Earth and the Moon
- 27Treat force as a vector with both magnitude and direction
- 28Explain electrostatic attraction and repulsion, identify series and parallel circuits, and distinguish conductors from insulators
Life science
- 29Describe cell structure and function, including organelles, the cell membrane, and the differences among cell types
- 30Describe the characteristics of viruses and how they differ from cells
- 31Identify the levels of organization in multicellular organisms and explain how organisms maintain homeostasis
- 32Explain cell reproduction, including mitosis and meiosis, and describe modes of reproduction
- 33Analyze the effect of environmental and genetic factors on plant and animal growth and development
- 34Identify important biomolecules and their roles
- 35Explain photosynthesis in plants, cellular respiration in plants and animals, and fermentation, and distinguish matter from energy in these processes
- 36Describe sensory information processing in animals, including stimuli, sensory receptors, and the transmission, processing, and response to signals
- 37Analyze interdependent relationships in ecosystems, including the impact of resource availability and organism relationships and behaviors
- 38Trace the cycling of matter and the transfer of energy in ecosystems through food webs and the cycling of atoms
- 39Explain ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience, including biotic and abiotic factors, the distinction between biomes and ecosystems, and the role of biodiversity in stability
- 40Describe the structure of DNA and RNA and explain patterns of inheritance and the variation of traits
- 41Solve Mendelian inheritance problems and explain how mutations produce genetic variation
- 42Evaluate evidence of common ancestry, including the fossil record and comparative evidence
Earth and space science
- 43Describe basic characteristics and life cycles of stars, including composition, apparent brightness, and distance from Earth
- 44Identify basic types, characteristics, and motion of galaxies, and explain the observed motions of stars as seen from Earth
- 45Explain the formation of the universe and the evidence supporting the big bang theory
- 46Explain the formation of the solar system and the role of gravity, and compare the properties of solar system objects including models, scales, structure, composition, and surface features
- 47Analyze patterns of movement in the Sun-Earth-Moon system, including Moon phases, eclipses, and tides
- 48Explain the effect of Earth’s tilt on seasons and climate
- 49Apply the basic principles of historical geology and the geologic time scale, including superposition, intrusive and crosscutting relationships, and fossil succession
- 50Identify major events in Earth history such as extinction events, volcanic eruptions, glaciation, and asteroid impacts
- 51Distinguish relative dating from absolute dating and use the fossil record and radiometric dating
- 52Identify rock types and their formation processes through the rock cycle, and identify minerals by properties such as color, streak, hardness, and acid test
- 53Distinguish chemical, biological, and physical weathering and identify agents of erosion including water, ice, and wind
- 54Explain how weathering, erosion, and deposition shape surface features and produce landforms such as valleys, canyons, and coastline topography
- 55Describe Earth’s internal structure, composition, properties, and processes such as convection
- 56Apply plate tectonics theory, including convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries, folding and normal, reverse, and strike-slip faulting, and the supporting evidence from crustal rock ages, hot-spot volcanoes, and the distribution of rocks, fossils, and continental shapes
Before test day
Two habits pay here. First, read the question for what is actually being asked, because a physical science stem can be a practices question in disguise and the right answer may be about experimental design rather than about physics. Second, trust the reference materials: the periodic table and the constants table are on the Help screen, and candidates lose time trying to remember what is one click away.
A USEFUL NEXT STEP
Praxis Middle School Science: study questions
What can I study in this Praxis Middle School Science Online Center?
This Praxis Middle School Science Online Center includes practice, lessons, worksheets, flashcards and review tools. Topics on the page include Nature and impact of science and engineering, Physical science, Life science.
How should I use the Praxis Middle School Science resources?
Choose a topic or practice activity from this Online Center. Review the linked explanation, try the practice, and use the result to decide what to study next. Check each resource’s directions for its format and access requirements.
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