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ILEARN Grade 4 Science Practice Test

Fourth grade science as ILEARN reports it: energy and waves, plant and animal structures, Earth's surface, and computer science.

A student rolls the same marble down a ramp three times. Each time the marble is moving faster when it hits a paper cup at the bottom. The cup slides 4 cm, then 9 cm, then 15 cm. What does this evidence show?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Indiana Department of Education. Bank checked October 13, 2026.

The real test: ILEARN Science, grade 4

Items
23 operational items: 6 item clusters, each counted once, and 17 stand-alone items. Field-test items are added and not scored.
When
One end-of-year summative test, given in April to May.
Reporting categories
Physical Science about 30%, Earth and Space Science about 28%, Life Science about 26%, Computer Science about 16%.
Essential content
Every student gets at least one item on each performance expectation marked Essential.
Calculator
A Desmos four-function calculator is built into every item.
Scores
Grade 4 science scores run from 100 to 220 in four proficiency levels. Approaching Proficiency starts at 145, At Proficiency at 163 and Above Proficiency at 180

Checked October 13, 2026 against the ILEARN page, the Indiana Assessment Framework: Science (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint) and the ILEARN cut scores of the Indiana Department of Education. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

The state's ILEARN page

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All 50 questions

Physical Science 15

  • A class designs a solar heater: a black box under a clear lid that warms the air inside when it sits in sunlight. What energy change is the heater designed to make? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A doorbell button at the front door is joined by wires to a chime in the kitchen. Pressing the button makes the chime ring. What carries energy from the button to the chime? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A leaf floats on a deep pond. A wave passes under it. What does the leaf mostly do? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A picture is sent as a grid of 1s and 0s. A 1 stands for a black square and a 0 stands for a white square. One row of the grid is 1 0 0 1. What does that row look like? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS4-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
Show all 50 questions (46 more)

Physical Science, continued

  • A rolling ball hits a ball of the same size that is sitting still. What will most likely happen? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A student builds a circuit with a battery, wires and a small motor that spins a fan blade. What energy change is the device designed to make? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A student claims that a faster-moving object has more energy. Which observation is evidence for the claim? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A student hits a drum. Grains of rice on a second drum nearby jump, though nothing touches that drum. What is the best explanation? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A student rolls the same marble down a ramp three times. Each time the marble is moving faster when it hits a paper cup at the bottom. The cup slides 4 cm, then 9 cm, then 15 cm. What does this evidence show? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • A team must build a buzzer circuit using only the parts in one kit, and must finish in one class period. In engineering, what are the parts limit and the time limit? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • In a dark room a student switches on a flashlight and can now see a book on the desk. Which model explains why? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • On a drawing of a water wave, which measurement is the amplitude? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • Two groups send messages across a field. One uses long and short flashes of a flashlight. The other uses loud and soft drum beats. What do the two solutions have in common? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS4-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • Two identical bikes roll along a flat path. Bike A is moving faster than Bike B. Which statement is true? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
  • Two toy cars crash into each other and stop, and a loud bang is heard. Where did some of the cars' energy go? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-PS3-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)

Life Science 13

  • A class models an arctic fox's coat. A jar of warm water wrapped in thick fur cools 4 °C in an hour. A jar with no wrap cools 15 °C. What does the model suggest about thick fur? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • A deer lifts its head when it hears a branch crack. Which body part received the information first? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • A dog smells food and walks to its bowl. Which part of the dog processes the information from its nose? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • A frog sees a fly land nearby and catches it with its tongue. Which shows the order of what happens? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • A squirrel digs up nuts it buried weeks ago at the base of the same oak tree. What is the squirrel using to guide its actions? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • A white flower is placed in a cup of blue water. A day later its petals have turned blue. What does this show about the stem? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • Deer ate the leaves of 9 out of 10 rose bushes whose thorns had been clipped off. They ate the leaves of only 2 out of 10 bushes that kept their thorns. What do the data support? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • How do the lungs help a person survive? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, How the Lungs Work
  • Students counted insect visits in a garden for one hour. Flowers with bright petals had 24 visits. Flowers of the same kind with the petals removed had 3 visits. Which argument do the data support? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science); U.S. Forest Service, What is Pollination?
  • Two animals hear the same loud noise. A bird flies away and a turtle pulls into its shell. What does this show? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • Two bean plants are the same age. The roots of plant B are cut off, and both plants are set in wet soil. Two days later plant A is firm and plant B has wilted. Which claim does this support? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
  • What is the function of the heart? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, How the Heart Works
  • Which list names only internal structures of an animal? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-LS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Life Science)

Earth and Space Science 14

  • A cliff has a rock layer with plant fossils and no shells. Above it is a rock layer with sea shell fossils. What does this pattern suggest? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A dam is built on a river to make electricity. The water behind a dam is a renewable resource, but the dam still affects the environment. How? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A power plant burns coal to make electricity. Which effect on the environment comes from burning fossil fuels? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A student claims that a river carved the canyon it flows through. Which observation is the best evidence for the claim? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A student studies a map of the world's major mountain chains. Which pattern is she most likely to find? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A town beside a river has flooded several times. Which statement about the flood hazard is true? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • A world map marks each earthquake with a dot. Most of the dots form bands along the edges of the Pacific Ocean. What pattern does the map show? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Engineers test two model buildings on a shaking table. Design A cracks during a medium shake. Design B stays whole through a strong shake. Both cost the same. Which design better solves the problem of earthquake damage? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Over many years a rough rock in a fast stream becomes smaller and smooth. What best explains the change? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Scientists place instruments on a volcano to watch it for changes. How does this reduce the impact of an eruption on people? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Students build two hills from the same sand, one steep and one nearly flat. They sprinkle one cup of water over each and weigh the sand that washes into a tray: 90 grams from the steep hill and 20 grams from the flatter hill. What do the measurements show? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Students measure a crack in a large rock. It is 2 mm wide in the fall and 5 mm wide in the spring, after a winter in which water in the crack froze and thawed many times. What is this evidence of? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Two trays of soil are tilted the same way. Grass grows in one and the other is bare. The same amount of water is sprinkled on each. The runoff from the bare tray holds 60 grams of soil. The runoff from the grass tray holds 8 grams. What do the measurements show? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
  • Which of these energy sources is renewable? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, performance expectation 4-ESS3-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Kids, Energy Sources

Computer Science 8

  • A class wants to make a video game. Their teacher says to decompose the problem first. What does that mean? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.DI.1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • A program reads: "When the green flag is clicked, repeat 10 times: move 5 steps. If touching the edge, turn around." Which part is a conditional? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.PA.2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • A program should draw a square: "Repeat 3 times: move 50 steps, turn right 90 degrees." The drawing has only three sides. How should the bug be fixed? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.PA.3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • A program should make a robot take 4 steps forward. Which line of the program uses a loop? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.PA.2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • A student records plant growth in a spreadsheet. Plants watered once a week grew 2 cm, twice a week 4 cm, and three times a week 6 cm. Based on the pattern in the data, what is the best prediction for plants watered four times a week? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.DI.5 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • A wireless mouse stops moving the pointer on the screen. Which is the best first troubleshooting step? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.CD.2 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • In a game a variable named score starts at 0. Each coin adds 5 to score. The player collects 3 coins. What value is stored in score now? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.DI.3 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
  • Technology can have positive and negative impacts on a person's life. Which is an example of a positive impact? 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 3-5.IC.1 (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)

How this list was compiled: Outline: Indiana Assessment Framework: Science, the Grade 4 sheet (ILEARN Science Grade 4 Test Blueprint, published Summer 2023), Indiana Department of Education, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u4SnIb6TNTGV3-VULsbVQErXX85H9RQm/edit, linked from the department's ILEARN page, https://www.in.gov/doe/students/assessment/ilearn/, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the performance expectation or standard it practices in the 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 4 Science, https://media.doe.in.gov/standards/indiana-academic-standards-grade-4-science.pdf, or the 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, https://media.doe.in.gov/standards/indiana-academic-standards-grades-k-8-computer-science.pdf, both read 2026-10-13. The fact in an answer is one the standard's own text gives (its core ideas and clarification statements), is read from the data in the question, or was read the same day on the public page named under the answer: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, How the Heart Works, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart, and How the Lungs Work, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/lungs; U.S. Forest Service, What is Pollination?, https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/pollinators/what-is-pollination; U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Kids, Energy Sources, https://www.eia.gov/kids/energy-sources/. No released item or item specification was read. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from an ILEARN or ISTEP+ test, a released item, an item specification of the state or another practice test.

How it works

Unofficial practice for ILEARN Science in grade 4, the test Indiana gives fourth graders each spring. The 50 questions are our own and follow the blueprint's four reporting categories. Not affiliated with the Indiana Department of Education.

Read the full guide

What the 4th grade science test covers

The ILEARN Science blueprint for grade 4 has four reporting categories, and the questions keep their shares. Physical Science, about 30 percent: speed and energy, energy carried by sound, light, heat and electric current, collisions, waves and codes. Earth and Space Science, about 28 percent: rock layers, weathering and erosion, map patterns, energy resources and natural hazards. Life Science, about 26 percent: plant and animal structures, senses and the brain. Computer Science, about 16 percent: breaking down problems, data, troubleshooting, loops and conditionals.

Essential standards

Six of the fourteen science standards are marked Essential, and the blueprint promises every student at least one item on each. Here each has three or more questions.

  • Computer science is part of this science test: the grade 4 blueprint lists eleven computer science standards from the grades 3 to 5 band.

Questions and answers

Is there an ILEARN science practice test for 4th grade?

Yes, this unofficial one. For the state's own items, Indiana's ILEARN page, linked under the questions, leads to its Released Items Repository.

How many questions are on the grade 4 ILEARN science test?

23 operational items: 6 item clusters and 17 stand-alone items. A cluster holds several tasks and counts as one item. Field-test items are added and do not count toward the score.

What is a passing score on 4th grade ILEARN science?

Indiana sets no passing percent. Grade 4 science has its own scale, 100 to 220: a score of 145 reaches Approaching Proficiency, 163 reaches At Proficiency and 180 reaches Above Proficiency.

Which grades take ILEARN science?

Indiana gives ILEARN Science as an end-of-year test in grades 4 and 6, with a Biology test in high school. Math and English language arts are tested in every grade from 3 to 8.

Can students use a calculator on ILEARN science?

Yes. The blueprint says a built-in Desmos four-function calculator is available on every item. It also says the science test has no performance task.

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