A glacier slides slowly down a mountain valley, dragging rock and sediment with it. What does it do to the valley?Answer: It scrapes rock away and reshapes the valley. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; National Park Service, Glaciers
A town builds a seawall along its beach. What is the seawall meant to limit?Answer: Erosion of the shore. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.c; NOAA National Ocean Service, What is shoreline armoring?
A tree grows beside a cliff. Year after year its roots push into a crack and make the crack wider. What does this show?Answer: Weathering by an organism. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; National Park Service, Weathering
Can scientists tell the exact day and place of the next major earthquake?Answer: No, but they can work out the chance of one in an area over many years. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.c; U.S. Geological Survey, Can you predict earthquakes?
Show all 42 questions (38 more)
Earth Science, continued
Instruments around a quiet volcano begin to record many more small earthquakes, and the ground swells slightly. What can scientists use this for?Answer: To warn that the volcano may erupt. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.c; U.S. Geological Survey, How can we tell when a volcano will erupt?
Lava pours from a volcano into the sea, cools into rock and makes an island larger. Which kind of process is this?Answer: Constructive: it builds new land. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; U.S. Geological Survey, How Do Volcanoes Erupt?
Over millions of years the Colorado River cut down through rock and made the Grand Canyon. Which describes the river’s work?Answer: Destructive: erosion by moving water. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; National Park Service, Grand Canyon: Geology
Rainwater turns slightly acidic as it soaks through soil. Over a long time it dissolves limestone underground. Which feature does this make?Answer: A cave. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; National Park Service, Solution Caves
Students build a hill of damp sand in a tray and pour water down it. Sand washes off the hill and piles up at the bottom. What does the model show?Answer: Erosion on the hill, deposition at the bottom. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.b; National Park Service, Erosion: Water, Wind & Weather
Waves carry sand toward a shore and drop it. In time a long ridge of sand stands along the beach. Which process built the ridge?Answer: Deposition. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5E1.a; National Park Service, Beaches and Coastal Landforms
Physical Science 15
A circuit has a gap in it. Which object placed across the gap lets the bulb light?Answer: A strip of aluminum foil. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.c; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Magnets and electricity
A cold can of juice is carried outdoors on a muggy afternoon. Soon the outside of the can is wet. Where does the water come from?Answer: Water vapor in the air cooling into liquid. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.b; U.S. Geological Survey, Condensation and the Water Cycle
A log burns in a campfire. Smoke rises, heat is given off and gray ash is left. Which kind of change is this?Answer: A chemical change, because new substances formed. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.c
A puddle dries up on a sunny afternoon. What happens to the tiny particles of water?Answer: They move faster and spread into the air as a gas. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.b; U.S. Geological Survey, Evaporation and the Water Cycle
A simple circuit has a battery, two wires and a light bulb. Which part is the load?Answer: The light bulb. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.b; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Batteries, circuits, and transformers
A student wraps wire three times around an iron rod and connects it to a battery. It picks up two paper clips. Which change should make it pick up more?Answer: Wrapping more coils of wire around the rod. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P3.a; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Magnet Academy: Electromagnets
A wire is connected to both ends of a battery and held beside a compass. The compass needle swings. Why?Answer: The current in the wire makes a magnetic field. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P3.b; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Magnet Academy: Electromagnets
Before lightning strikes, the air between a storm cloud and the ground keeps the charges apart. What is the air acting as?Answer: An insulator. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.c; NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Lightning Basics
How is an electromagnet different from a bar magnet?Answer: Its field goes away when the current is off. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P3.a; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Magnet Academy: Electromagnets
Iron filings are stirred into dry sand. A student pulls the filings back out with a magnet. What kind of change was the mixing?Answer: Physical: the iron and the sand were still the same materials. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.a
People harness electricity at power plants. Which device there turns another form of energy into electricity?Answer: A generator. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.a; U.S. Energy Information Administration, How electricity is generated
Salt is stirred into water until it can no longer be seen. The water is left in a warm room until it is gone, and white crystals remain. What happened?Answer: The water evaporated and left the salt behind. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.a; U.S. Geological Survey, Evaporation and the Water Cycle
Tia connects one wire from the negative end of a battery to a bulb. The bulb stays dark. What does the circuit still need?Answer: A second wire from the bulb back to the battery’s positive end. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.b; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Batteries, circuits, and transformers
Which observation is not evidence of a chemical change?Answer: A change in shape. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P1.c
Which of these is electricity that occurs in nature?Answer: Lightning. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5P2.a; U.S. Energy Information Administration, The science of electricity
Life Science 17
A bat flies, but it is covered in fur and its young drink milk from the mother. Which group does a bat belong to?Answer: Mammals. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.a; National Park Service, Mojave National Preserve: Mammals
A cell seen under a microscope has a nucleus, cytoplasm, a membrane, a wall and green chloroplasts. Where did the cell most likely come from?Answer: An oak leaf. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L3.c
A girl has brown eyes, pierced ears, a sunburn and a short haircut. Which of these did she inherit from her parents?Answer: Her brown eyes. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L2.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Trait
A parrot says “hello” after hearing its owner say the word every day for months. What kind of behavior is this?Answer: A learned behavior. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L2.a
A pine tree has no flowers. Into which plant group is it sorted, and why?Answer: Seed producers, because its seeds form in cones. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.b; U.S. Botanic Garden, How Plants Work: Plant Multiplication
A student looks at a thin piece of onion skin under a microscope and sees rows of tiny box shapes. What are they?Answer: Cells. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L3.a; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Cell
A woman builds strong arm muscles by rowing for many years. Will her baby be born with strong arm muscles because of the rowing?Answer: No, because muscles built by exercise are not coded in her DNA. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L2.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Inherited
A young spider spins a web the first time it tries, with no other spider to show it how. What kind of behavior is this?Answer: An instinct. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L2.a
An animal has thin, moist skin. Its young hatch in water and pass through a larval stage before they become adults. Which group is it in?Answer: Amphibians. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.a; National Park Service, Yellowstone: Amphibians
Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals belong to one large group. Insects and worms do not. What do the five groups share?Answer: A backbone. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.a
Moss grows on a shady rock. It never makes flowers or seeds. How does moss reproduce?Answer: By spores. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.b; U.S. Botanic Garden, How Plants Work: Plant Multiplication
On a cool morning a turtle climbs onto a log and lies in the sun. Why do reptiles do this?Answer: They take body heat from outside sources. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L1.a; National Park Service, Yellowstone: Amphibians
What is cytoplasm?Answer: The jelly-like liquid that fills a cell. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L3.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Cytoplasm
Which is a way that microorganisms living in the human body are helpful?Answer: They help the body digest food. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L4.a; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Microbiome
Which part of a cell holds its chromosomes, the genetic material?Answer: The nucleus. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L3.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Nucleus
Which part of a cell regulates the materials that pass into and out of the cell?Answer: The cell membrane. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L3.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Cell Membrane
Which word describes bacteria that cause disease?Answer: Pathogenic. Source: Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, S5L4.b; National Human Genome Research Institute, glossary: Bacteria
How this list was compiled: Outline: Georgia Milestones Assessment System, Grade 5 Science Assessment Blueprint (Georgia Department of Education, July 2025), https://lor2.gadoe.org/gadoe/file/4feebd77-4a21-4788-a3ba-b6f50a71c876/1/GM_Gr5_Sci_Blueprint.pdf, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the element it practices in the Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science, read 2026-10-13 on the department's standards site, https://case.georgiastandards.org/27a08dc6-416e-11e7-ba71-02bd89fdd987. Each fact that is more than the standard's own words rests on the public page named under its answer, opened 2026-10-13: the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Georgia Milestones test, a released or sample item, an item of the state's study guide or assessment guide, or another practice test.
How it works
Unofficial practice for the grade 5 science test of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, GMAS for short. The 42 questions were written for this page from the state's standards; none is a state sample item. Not affiliated with the Georgia Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What the 5th grade science GMAS covers
The state blueprint has three reporting categories. Life Science is the largest, 42 percent: sorting animals and plants into groups, inherited and acquired traits, the parts of plant and animal cells, and helpful and harmful microorganisms. Physical Science is 35 percent: physical and chemical changes, static and current electricity, circuits, conductors, magnets and electromagnets. Earth Science is 23 percent: the constructive and destructive processes that shape landforms.
How the answers are checked
Each answer names the standard it practices, such as S5P2.b. Where a fact goes past the standard's own words, the answer names the public page it was read on, such as the National Park Service or the U.S. Geological Survey.
For a landform, name the process first, then say whether it builds land up or wears it down.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the GMAS science test in 5th grade?
42 items in two sections of up to 40 minutes each. 38 count toward the score, for 46 points: 30 one-point items and 8 two-point technology-enhanced items. Four are field test items.
Is there a GMAS study guide for 5th grade science?
Georgia's own guides are on Experience Online Testing Georgia, the state's practice site: a study guide and an assessment guide for the grade, both with practice items. Nothing here comes from them.
How is the GA Milestones 5th grade science test scored?
In four achievement levels: Beginning Learner, Developing Learner, Proficient Learner and Distinguished Learner. A percent on this page is practice only and does not place a student in a level.
Where is GMAS practice for 5th grade math and reading?
On our grade 5 Georgia Milestones page, which has shorter sets in English language arts, mathematics and science. None of its science questions is repeated here.