Sixth grade science in the four reporting categories of ILEARN Science, the test Indiana gives sixth graders today.
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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 6
Items
22 operational items: 6 item clusters, each counted once, and 16 stand-alone items. Field-test items are added and not scored.
When
One end-of-year summative test, given in April to May. Science has no Checkpoints.
Reporting categories
Life Science about 31%, Physical Science about 26%, Earth and Space Science about 26%, Computer Science about 17%.
Essential content
Every student gets at least one item on each performance expectation marked Essential.
Calculator
A four-function calculator is built into every item.
Scores
Grade 6 science scores run from 300 to 420 in four proficiency levels. Approaching Proficiency starts at 347, At Proficiency at 363 and Above Proficiency at 372
A beam of light hits a very smooth mirror. What happens to almost all of the light?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Wave Behaviors
A black road and a light concrete sidewalk sit in the same sunlight. The road becomes hotter. Which model explains this?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Wave Behaviors
A class copies a recording 20 times. Each analog tape copy has more hiss than the one before. Each digital copy matches the first file exactly. Which claim does this evidence support?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
A straw standing in a glass of water looks broken at the water's surface. What happens to the light there?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
Show all 46 questions (42 more)
Physical Science, continued
How does a fiber optic cable carry information from one place to another?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
In a wave tank, waves 2 cm, 4 cm and 6 cm high hit a floating block. The block is pushed 1 cm, 4 cm and 9 cm up a ramp. What does the pattern in the data show?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
On a drawing of a water wave, the distance from one crest to the next crest is 4 centimeters. Which property of the wave is 4 centimeters?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave
Six crests of a wave pass the post of a dock in 3 seconds. What is the frequency of the wave?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave
Two astronauts work outside a space station. They can see each other's helmet lights, but a shout does not cross the empty space between them. Why?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave
Two sound waves have the same frequency. Wave X has half the amplitude of wave Y. How do the two sounds compare?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); National Park Service, Understanding Sound
Which describes a digitized signal?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science)
White light shines on a red apple. Why does the apple look red?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-PS4-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Physical Science); NASA Science, Wave Behaviors
Life Science 14
A dam is built on a stream and the water below it gets warmer. Counts of trout there are 200, then 140, then 60 over three years. No other change is recorded. Which argument does the evidence support?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
A disease kills most of the oak trees in a forest. Squirrels there eat acorns, and their count drops from 80 to 35. Which claim is best supported?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
A food chain is drawn as grass → rabbit → fox. What do the arrows show?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
A park counts deer for three years. After a large acorn crop there are 120 deer. After a small crop there are 90. After another large crop there are 115. Which explanation fits the data?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
A student claims that removing a predator from a park affects only that predator. Records after the removal show deer counts doubled and young trees fell by half. What do the records show about the claim?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
A water plant sits in a sealed jar. In bright light, the carbon dioxide in the jar falls from 40 to 25 units and the oxygen rises. In the dark, neither changes. What does the evidence support?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS1-6 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Field notes from a forest say owls caught and ate mice. Notes from a pond say large fish caught and ate small fish. Which pattern of interaction do both ecosystems show?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
In a food web model, which group returns nutrients from dead plants and animals to the soil or the water?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
In one ecosystem, species A gets food from species B and helps B reproduce. In another, species C gets food from species D and keeps D free of pests. Which pattern do both show?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Pot A has 5 seedlings and pot B has 40. Both pots have the same soil, water and light. After a month the seedlings in pot B are much shorter. Why?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Rain washes soil from a bare hillside into a creek. Design A plants many kinds of native grasses and shrubs at low cost. Design B covers the slope with concrete at high cost. Which design better maintains biodiversity while stopping erosion?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-5 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
What can a plant do with the sugars it makes in photosynthesis?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS1-6 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Which is an example of an ecosystem service?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS2-5 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Which two materials does a plant combine to make sugars during photosynthesis?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-LS1-6 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Life Science)
Earth and Space Science 12
A class builds a scale model in which 1 centimeter stands for 10 million kilometers. NASA lists Mars as 228.0 million km from the Sun. How far from the model Sun does Mars go?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, Planetary Fact Sheet
A model shows two objects in space. How does the pull of gravity between them change if they are moved farther apart?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Place, What Is Gravity?
A student says summer comes because Earth moves closer to the Sun. Which statement corrects the student?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Place, What Causes the Seasons?
During which phase of the Moon can a solar eclipse happen?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Science, The Moon and Eclipses
Earth and the rest of the solar system are part of which larger system?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science)
How much of the Moon is lit by the Sun at any time?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Science, Moon Phases
NASA data: Mercury is 57.9 million km from the Sun and orbits in 88 days. Venus: 108.2 and 224.7 days. Earth: 149.6 and 365.2 days. Mars: 228.0 and 687 days. Which pattern do the data show?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, Planetary Fact Sheet
NASA lists the diameter of Earth as 12,756 km and of Jupiter as 142,984 km. About how many Earths would fit side by side across Jupiter?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, Planetary Fact Sheet
There is a new Moon about once a month. Why is there not a solar eclipse at every new Moon?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Science, The Moon and Eclipses
What holds the planets in their orbits around the Sun?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Place, What Is Gravity?
When the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, the Northern Hemisphere has summer. Which hemisphere has winter then, and why?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Space Place, What Causes the Seasons?
Which arrangement of the Sun, Earth and Moon produces a lunar eclipse?Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 6 Science (2023), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Earth and Space Science); NASA Science, The Moon and Eclipses
Computer Science 8
A phone app turns a spoken sentence into typed words. Which model of intelligent behavior is the phone using?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.CD.4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
A school keeps its server in a locked room. To log in, staff type a password and then a code sent to a phone. Which of these is a physical security measure?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.NI.1 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
A voice assistant was tested only with adult voices before it was sold. It often fails to understand children. Which issue does this show?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.IC.2 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
In binary, the places are worth 8, 4, 2 and 1 from left to right. Which number is binary 1011?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.DI.3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
Pseudocode: SET total TO 0. FOR each number n FROM 1 TO 4: ADD n TO total. DISPLAY total. What is displayed?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.DI.4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
Sam's family posts vacation photos on a public page while they are still away. Which tradeoff does this choice involve?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.IC.4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
Twenty older adults test a new tablet. All 20 hold it comfortably, but 18 cannot read the small labels on its buttons. Which improvement does the test support?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.CD.3 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
Why does a programmer add comments that explain what each part of a program does?2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grades K-8 Computer Science, standard 6-8.PA.4 (ILEARN Science Grade 6 Test Blueprint, Computer Science)
ISTEP+ science practice for 6th grade now means ILEARN Science, the test Indiana's sixth graders take in spring. These 46 unofficial questions follow its blueprint's four reporting categories. Written for this site; not affiliated with the Indiana Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What the 6th grade science test covers
The ILEARN Science blueprint for grade 6 has four reporting categories, and the questions keep their shares. Life Science, about 31 percent: photosynthesis, food webs, competition and changes to ecosystems. Physical Science, about 26 percent: wave properties, light and sound meeting materials, digital signals. Earth and Space Science, about 26 percent: Moon phases, eclipses, seasons, gravity and the scale of the solar system. Computer Science, about 17 percent: binary, algorithms, device design, security and privacy.
Under each answer
Each answer names its standard, such as MS-LS2-4, and the public page its fact was read on.
Computer science is on this science test: the blueprint lists eight computer science standards for grades 6 to 8 beside twelve science ones.
Four science performance expectations are marked Essential, and the blueprint promises every student at least one item on each. Here each has three or more.
Questions and answers
Is there an ILEARN science practice test for 6th grade?
This page is one, and it is unofficial. Indiana also keeps a Released Items Repository of its own, reached from the ILEARN page linked under the questions.
How many questions are on the 6th grade ILEARN science test?
22 operational items: 6 item clusters and 16 stand-alone items. A cluster is several tasks on one real-world scenario and counts once. Field-test items are added and do not count toward the score.
Do 6th graders still take ISTEP science in Indiana?
ISTEP+ is not among the assessment programs the Indiana Department of Education lists today. Sixth graders take ILEARN Science, an end-of-year test that is also given in grade 4.
What is a passing score on 6th grade ILEARN science?
Indiana sets no passing percent. Grade 6 science has its own scale, 300 to 420: a score of 347 reaches Approaching Proficiency, 363 reaches At Proficiency and 372 reaches Above Proficiency.
What kinds of questions are on ILEARN science?
It is computer adaptive. Students meet clusters of tasks on a real-world scenario, some with simulations, and stand-alone questions. Some are multiple choice and others technology enhanced. No question is scored by hand, and there is no performance task.