A class must design a water filter that costs under $15 and uses only materials in the room. In engineering design, what are the price cap and the materials limit?ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0002, and Wikipedia, Engineering design process
A cube 1 cm on a side is scaled up to 2 cm on a side. What happens to its surface area and its volume?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Square–cube law. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0003
A sealed glass jar holds soil, moss and air on a sunny sill. Light and heat pass through the glass, and no matter gets in or out. Which kind of system is the jar?Wikipedia, Thermodynamic system. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0003
A team builds a rough working model of its hand-crank flashlight to try out before the final build. What is such an early model called?Wikipedia, Prototype. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0002
Show all 44 questions (40 more)
Practices and crosscutting concepts, continued
Before a lab with copper(II) sulfate, a teacher wants the compound's hazards and safe handling set out in one document. Which should she read?Wikipedia, Safety data sheet. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0001
Students plot mass against volume for four pieces of one metal: 10 cm³ and 27 g, 20 cm³ and 54 g, 30 cm³ and 81 g, 40 cm³ and 108 g. What does the slope of the line give?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Density. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0001
Three bridge designs are scored 1 to 5 on strength (weight 3), cost (weight 2) and build time (weight 1). A scores 5, 2, 3. B scores 4, 4, 3. C scores 3, 4, 5. Which has the highest weighted total?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Decision-matrix method. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0002
When a runner's body warms past its normal temperature, sweating cools it back down; when it cools too far, shivering warms it. Which idea about stability and change does this show?Wikipedia, Negative feedback. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0003
Which standards does the Illinois Administrative Code apply to science teaching in the state's public schools?23 Illinois Administrative Code 1, Appendix D. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0001
Physical science 11
A 2 kg book is lifted 5 m onto a shelf. With g taken as 9.8 m/s², how much gravitational potential energy does it gain?Worked from the numbers in the question. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0006
A 2 kg cart rolling at 3 m/s strikes a 1 kg cart at rest, and the two stick together. With friction ignored, how fast do they move just afterward?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Momentum. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0005
A bicycle speeds up from 2 m/s to 10 m/s in 4 s along a straight path. What is its average acceleration?Worked from the numbers in the question. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0005
A cart's speed doubles while its mass stays the same. What happens to its kinetic energy?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Kinetic energy. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0006
A coin on the floor of a fountain seems nearer the surface than it is, because light from it changes direction on leaving the water. What is this change of direction called?Wikipedia, Refraction. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0007
A spark from a campfire is far hotter than a mug of cocoa, yet the spark barely warms the hand it lands on while the cocoa can scald. Which statement explains this?Wikipedia, Temperature. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0006
A tuning fork vibrates at 440 Hz, and in the air of the room its sound has a wavelength of 0.78 m. What is the speed of the sound?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Wavelength. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0007
Dry ice left on a lab bench shrinks away and leaves no puddle. Which change of state is taking place?Wikipedia, Sublimation (phase transition). Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0004
In a sealed flask, 4 g of hydrogen reacts completely with 32 g of oxygen. What mass of water forms?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Conservation of mass. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0004
In isotope notation, uranium-235 is written with the mass number 235 above the atomic number 92. How many neutrons does one atom of it hold?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Isotope. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0004
Students wind insulated wire around an iron nail and connect a battery. Which change makes the electromagnet pick up more paper clips?Wikipedia, Electromagnet. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0005
Life science 11
A hydra grows a small outgrowth that breaks away as a new animal with the same genes as its parent. Which kind of reproduction is this?Wikipedia, Budding. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0010
A lung is built of several kinds of tissue working together. Which level of biological organization is a lung?Wikipedia, Biological organisation. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0008
A trait is X-linked recessive. A mother who carries one copy and a father without the trait have a son. What is the chance that he shows the trait?Wikipedia, X-linked recessive inheritance. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0010
A whale's flipper, a bat's wing and a human arm share one arrangement of bones. What does this homology point to?Wikipedia, Homology (biology). Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0011
All the frogs, dragonflies, cattails and algae living in one pond together make up which level of ecological organization?Wikipedia, Community (ecology). Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0009
During translation a ribosome decodes one codon after another along a strand of messenger RNA. What does it link together as it goes?Wikipedia, Ribosome. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0008
Food chains seldom run past four or five trophic levels. Which fact about energy explains the limit?Wikipedia, Ecological pyramid. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0009
For many generations, farmers saved seed only from the corn plants with the largest ears. Which process changed the crop?Wikipedia, Selective breeding. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0011
In guinea pigs, black fur (B) is dominant over brown (b). A Bb female is mated with a bb male. What fraction of the pups is expected to be brown?Worked from the numbers in the question. Wikipedia, Punnett square. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0010
Which two substances does a leaf take in as the raw materials of photosynthesis?Wikipedia, Photosynthesis. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0008
Yeast cells in a flask of sugar water multiply fast at first, then hold at a steady number as food and space run short. What is the largest population the flask can sustain called?Wikipedia, Carrying capacity. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0009
Earth and space science 8
A geologist reading a road cut takes each undeformed layer to be younger than the one beneath it. Which principle is she applying?Wikipedia, Law of superposition. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0013
A star chart lists a nearby star at 4.2 light-years. What does a light-year measure?Wikipedia, Light-year. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0012
Earth comes closest to the Sun in early January. Why is it winter in Illinois then?Wikipedia, Earth's orbit. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0012
Fossils of Mesosaurus, a small reptile, turn up in southern Africa and in eastern South America and nowhere else. Which idea did this pattern help to support?Wikipedia, Mesosaurus. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0013
In which phase does the Moon lie between Earth and the Sun, with its lit side facing away from us?Wikipedia, Lunar phase. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0012
Slightly acidic water seeps into limestone, widens the cracks and in time opens caves and sinkholes. What is a landscape shaped this way called?Wikipedia, Karst. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0013
Which earthquake zone, named for a Missouri town, reaches into southern Illinois?Wikipedia, New Madrid seismic zone. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0014
Which of these energy resources is nonrenewable?Wikipedia, Non-renewable resource. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0014
Disciplinary literacy in science 5
A lab conclusion claims that salt lowers the freezing point of water. By the writing standard for arguments in science, what must support the claim?Common Core State Standards, writing in science and technical subjects, WHST.6-8.1b. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0018
A web page reads, "Tardigrades can survive in a vacuum. Perhaps they first reached Earth from another planet." By standard RST.6-8.8, how should a reader class the second sentence?Common Core State Standards, literacy in science and technical subjects, RST.6-8.8. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0017
Before a unit on deep ocean currents, a teacher has students split "thermohaline" into its two parts to predict what drives the circulation. What do the parts refer to?Wikipedia, Thermohaline circulation. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0016
Illinois rules adopt the Common Core literacy standards for science classes. Which code marks the reading standards for science and technical subjects in grades 6 to 8?23 Illinois Administrative Code 1, Appendix D. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0015
Students compare a paragraph on the rock cycle with the flowchart printed beside it and find an arrow the paragraph never mentions. Which skill from the science literacy standards are they using?Common Core State Standards, literacy in science and technical subjects, RST.6-8.7. Written to the ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203) test framework, objective 0017
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test design and framework of field 203, Middle Grades (5–8) Science, in the study guide on the Illinois Licensure Testing System website (https://www.il.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IL_SG_OBJ_203.htm, copyright 2016 Pearson Education, Inc.; test page https://www.il.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/IL203_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-13): 100 multiple-choice questions, 80 scorable and 20 not, in 3 hours 15 minutes, passing score 240; Scientific and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts (objectives 0001 to 0003, 19%), Physical Science (0004 to 0007, 25%), Life Science (0008 to 0011, 25%), Earth and Space Science (0012 to 0014, 19%) and Disciplinary Literacy in Science (0015 to 0018, 12%). The bank holds 44: 9, 11, 11, 8 and 5. Eleven answers are worked from the numbers in the question and can be worked again; every other fact was read on the public page named under its question: the named Wikipedia articles, 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1, Appendix D on the Illinois General Assembly's website and the Common Core literacy standards for science and technical subjects, grades 6 to 8, on thecorestandards.org. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
Forty-four questions of our own make up this free ILTS Middle Grades Science practice test, written to field 203. The page is unofficial; neither the Illinois State Board of Education nor Pearson has any part in it.
Read the full guide
ILTS Middle Grades (5–8) Science (203): the five subareas
By the framework on the ILTS site, read October 13, 2026: Scientific and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts 19%, Physical Science 25%, Life Science 25%, Earth and Space Science 19%, and Disciplinary Literacy in Science 12%. The five subareas get 9, 11, 11, 8 and 5 questions in this bank. Against the clock, 40 questions in 78 minutes is the real pace.
Numbers, engineering and reading
Eleven questions are worked from numbers: a slope that gives a density, a weighted design matrix, momentum, kinetic and potential energy, a wave's speed, a cross of two guinea pigs. Objective 0002 is engineering design. The last subarea is not science content: it asks how students read, write and learn the vocabulary of science.
Questions and answers
What is the ILTS 203 practice test?
A practice test for Middle Grades (5–8) Science: that is the field numbered 203 on the ILTS test list as it stood on October 13, 2026. Every explanation here names the framework objective and the public page behind the answer.
Can you use a calculator on the ILTS Middle Grades Science 203 test?
The test page says the test comes with an on-screen scientific calculator, and a constants and formulas page with it. The arithmetic here is small enough to do by hand.
How long is the ILTS Middle Grades Science test?
Testing time is 3 hours 15 minutes for 100 multiple-choice questions on a computer, and the whole appointment is 3 hours 30 minutes. Only 80 of the questions count toward the score, by the framework.
What score passes the ILTS Middle Grades Science test?
It is 240 on both the test page and the framework. No published table converts right answers to that score, so this page stops at a count.