• 44 questions

ILTS Environmental Science Practice Test

Unofficial practice for the Illinois ILTS Science: Environmental Science test, field 242, weighted like its four subareas.

A pump does 6,000 J of work lifting water in 20 s. What is its power output?

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Exam mode: 40 questions, 78 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Illinois State Board of Education or Pearson. Bank checked October 16, 2026.

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All 44 questions

Science process skills 10

  • A class lowers a plain white disk on a line into a lake and records the depth at which it can no longer be seen. What are the students measuring? Wikipedia, Secchi disk (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0001
  • A teacher wants to know whether an article on wetlands suits ninth graders and runs a formula based on word length and sentence length. Which measure gives a result as a school grade? Wikipedia, Flesch-Kincaid readability tests (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0003
  • Across 30 lakes, those with more boat docks have lower dissolved oxygen. A student concludes that docks remove oxygen from water. What is the flaw in the argument? Wikipedia, Correlation does not imply causation (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0001
  • As a quick check of comprehension, a teacher masks words in a paragraph on the nitrogen cycle and has students supply them from the context. What is this exercise called? Wikipedia, Cloze test (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0003
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Science process skills, continued

  • In a sealed bottle of soda, carbon dioxide leaves the liquid and returns to it at equal rates, so the concentration in each phase stays the same. What is this state called? Wikipedia, Dynamic equilibrium (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0002
  • One lab reports that a soil microbe doubles crop yield. Before the claim is accepted, different researchers repeat the study with the same methods. Which principle of science is being applied? Wikipedia, Reproducibility (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0001
  • One lake holds 30 micrograms of phosphorus per liter and another holds 3,000. By how many orders of magnitude do the two concentrations differ? Wikipedia, Order of magnitude (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0002
  • Students net 40 sunfish in a pond, clip a fin on each and release them. A week later they net 50 sunfish, and 10 of them are clipped. What population does the mark and recapture method estimate? Wikipedia, Mark and recapture (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0001
  • Students take Cornell Notes on a reading about aquifers: a wide column on the right holds the notes themselves. What goes in the narrower column on the left? Wikipedia, Cornell Notes (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0003
  • Thawing permafrost could pass a critical threshold beyond which change in the climate system becomes large, accelerating and often irreversible. What is such a threshold called? Wikipedia, Tipping points in the climate system (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0002

Disciplinary core ideas 16

  • A beaker of ice at 0 °C is heated steadily. While the ice melts, a thermometer in the mixture stays at 0 °C. What is the energy that is being absorbed called? Wikipedia, Latent heat (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0004
  • A power plant takes in 1,000 MJ of energy from its fuel and delivers 350 MJ of electricity. What is its energy conversion efficiency? Wikipedia, Energy conversion efficiency (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0005
  • A pump does 6,000 J of work lifting water in 20 s. What is its power output? Wikipedia, Power (physics) (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0005
  • A student claims that viruses will multiply in a flask of sterile nutrient broth, as bacteria do. Why is the claim wrong? Wikipedia, Virus (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0006
  • After Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, average global temperatures fell for a time. What caused the cooling? Wikipedia, Mount Pinatubo (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0008
  • By Coulomb's law the force between two point charges grows with the product of the charges. How does it depend on the distance between them? Wikipedia, Coulomb's law (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0005
  • The container holding a gas-phase equilibrium is made smaller, which raises the pressure. By Le Chatelier's principle, which side of the equilibrium becomes more favorable? Wikipedia, Le Chatelier's principle (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0004
  • Every cell of an oak seedling carries the same DNA, yet some become root hairs and others guard cells. By which process do cells become specialized? Wikipedia, Cellular differentiation (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0006
  • The Haber process makes ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen: N2 + _ H2 gives 2 NH3. Which coefficient for H2 balances the equation? Wikipedia, Haber process (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0004
  • Heat and pressure recrystallize the carbonate minerals of a sedimentary rock. When the parent rock is limestone, what do geologists call the product? Wikipedia, Marble (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0007
  • Radio telescopes detect faint microwave radiation that fills all space and arrives from every direction. What is it, and which theory does it support? Wikipedia, Cosmic microwave background (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0007
  • Seismograph stations on the far side of Earth from a large earthquake record no direct S waves. What does this show about Earth's interior? Wikipedia, S wave (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0007
  • Sunspot numbers rise and fall in a periodic cycle, and the Sun's output of radiation changes slightly with it. About how long is one cycle? Wikipedia, Solar cycle (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0008
  • Which long-term driver of climate consists of changes in the eccentricity of Earth's orbit, its axial tilt and its precession over thousands of years? Wikipedia, Milankovitch cycles (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0008
  • Which organisms are inferred to have caused the Great Oxidation Event, having evolved a photosynthesis that releases oxygen as a byproduct? Wikipedia, Great Oxidation Event (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0008
  • Yeast sealed in sugar water with no oxygen still obtain energy, giving off ethanol and carbon dioxide. Which process is this? Wikipedia, Ethanol fermentation (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0006

The biosphere 11

  • A barnacle could survive across the whole rocky shore, but competition confines it to the upper zone. What is the zone it actually occupies called? Wikipedia, Ecological niche (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0009
  • A honeycreeper lives on one island and nowhere else on Earth. Which term describes a species found only in a single defined geographic location? Wikipedia, Endemism (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0011
  • A thin clay layer found worldwide at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary is unusually rich in iridium. Which cause of the extinction does this evidence point to? Wikipedia, Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0011
  • After a fire, one forest soon regains its species and functions. Which property is this: the capacity of an ecosystem to resist damage from a disturbance and then recover? Wikipedia, Ecological resilience (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0009
  • After wolves returned to a park, elk browsed less along streams and willows recovered. What is this chain of top-down effects called? Wikipedia, Trophic cascade (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0010
  • Fresh snow sends back most of the sunlight that strikes it, and dark ocean water very little. Which property, measured on a scale from 0 to 1, describes this difference? Wikipedia, Albedo (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0010
  • Matter cycles within an ecosystem, but energy must keep arriving from the sun. Why can energy not be recycled the way matter is? Wikipedia, Energy flow (ecology) (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0010
  • Soil bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate. What is this step of the nitrogen cycle called? Wikipedia, Nitrification (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0010
  • Two meadows each hold the same 10 plant species. In one, each species makes up about a tenth of the plants; in the other, one grass makes up nine tenths. Which measure of biodiversity differs? Wikipedia, Species evenness (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0009
  • Where a river reaches the coast, its fresh water mixes with salt water from the open sea in a partially enclosed, brackish body of water. What is this aquatic system called? Wikipedia, Estuary (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0009
  • Which rock shows the biosphere shaping the lithosphere, since most of its grains are skeletal fragments of corals and other marine organisms that secrete calcium carbonate? Wikipedia, Limestone (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0011

Human-environment interactions 7

  • A farm family signs an agreement with a land trust that restricts development of its fields. The restriction runs with the land, so it binds future owners too. What is this tool called? Wikipedia, Conservation easement (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0013
  • A government caps the total emissions of a pollutant and lets firms buy and sell allowances under the cap. Which market-based policy is this? Wikipedia, Emissions trading (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0013
  • After a fuel spill, engineers add nutrients so that soil microbes break the hydrocarbons down faster. Which cleanup approach is this? Wikipedia, Bioremediation (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0012
  • An electric barrier was built in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Illinois. Which invasive fish is it meant to keep out of Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes? Wikipedia, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0012
  • Oil and gas states such as Oklahoma have recorded a huge number of small earthquakes. Which practice of the industry is the main cause? Wikipedia, Induced seismicity (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0012
  • The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, and a preserve of it lies in Illinois at Midewin. Why does very little of the original prairie remain? Wikipedia, Tallgrass prairie (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0012
  • Who founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and in 2004 became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize? Wikipedia, Wangari Maathai (read 2026-10-16). Outline: ILTS Science: Environmental Science (242) test framework, objective 0013

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test design and framework of Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS) field 242, Science: Environmental Science, as the ILTS site prints them (https://www.il.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IL_SG_OBJ_242.htm and the test page https://www.il.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/IL242_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-16): Science Process Skills, 23%; Disciplinary Core Ideas, 37%; The Biosphere, 24%; Human-Environment Interactions, 16%; 100 multiple-choice questions (80 scorable), 3 hours 15 minutes of testing time, passing score 240. This bank holds 44 questions, spread 10, 16, 11, 7 over those subareas. Every fact was read on 2026-10-16 in the Wikipedia article named under its question; the answers to the questions that ask for a number are worked from the rule quoted from that article and the figures printed in the question. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This ILTS Environmental Science practice test asks 44 questions of our own on field 242, Science: Environmental Science, timed if you like. It is unofficial and has no tie to the Illinois State Board of Education or Pearson.

Read the full guide

What field 242 weighs

By the framework on the ILTS site, read October 16, 2026: science process skills 23%, disciplinary core ideas 37%, the biosphere 24%, human-environment interactions 16%. The 44 questions here fall 10, 16, 11 and 7. Against the clock, 40 of them come up in 78 minutes, which is how fast the real test moves.

What only this science test asks

Objectives 0009 to 0013: ecological systems, the cycling of matter and the flow of energy, the biosphere and the geosphere, human effects on the biosphere, and the laws, economics and people of the environmental movement. Objectives 0001 to 0008 read the same, word for word, in the biology, chemistry, Earth and space science and physics frameworks.

  • Two questions are set in Illinois: the electric carp barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the tallgrass prairie preserved at Midewin.
  • An on-screen scientific calculator and a periodic table come with this test, by its test page.

Questions and answers

Is this ILTS Environmental Science practice test free?

Yes, and there is nothing to sign up for. Each question was written for this page from one objective of the Illinois framework, and each explanation names the public article where its fact can be checked.

What is on the ILTS Environmental Science test?

Thirteen objectives in four subareas: science practices and reading; the core ideas of chemistry, physics, biology, Earth and space science and environmental science; ecology and the cycles of matter and energy; and human effects on the environment, with its law and economics.

How many questions are on the ILTS Environmental Science test?

One hundred multiple-choice questions on a computer, by the test page, with 3 hours 15 minutes to answer them inside a 3 hour 30 minute appointment. The framework scores 80 and leaves 20 unscored.

What is the passing score for ILTS Environmental Science (242)?

240, on a scale from 100 to 300. The score report explanation gives no count of right answers for 240, so a round here ends with a plain count and no pass or fail.

How soon can you retake the ILTS Environmental Science test?

Fourteen days after the last attempt: that is the wait the ILTS retake policy gives for content-area tests.

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