• 44 questions

Kentucky KSA Grade 7 Science Practice Test

Forty-four questions in the four domains of Kentucky's science blueprint, weighted the way grade 7 is.

A gray powder has a density of 7.9 grams per cubic centimeter and is pulled by a magnet. After it is heated with a yellow powder, the black solid that forms has a density of 4.8 grams per cubic centimeter and is not pulled by a magnet. What do the data show?

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

The real test: KSA science, grade 7

Questions
34 to 35 in one part, on four test forms, set to 15 to 17 passages (2025-26 chart).
Time
90 minutes on the state's 2025-26 items and times chart.
Question types
Multiple choice (1 point), multiple select, technology enhanced and short answer (2 points each) and extended response (4 points).
Domains
Physical science 35 to 50 percent, life science 15 to 30, Earth and space science 20 to 30, engineering design 5 to 15.
Standards
The Kentucky Academic Standards for Science. The grade 7 descriptors measure the core ideas of grades 5 to 7.
Scores
A scale score and one of four performance levels: Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, Distinguished.

Checked October 13, 2026 against the Kentucky Summative Assessment page, the 2025-2026 Testing Items and Times Chart, the Science Assessment Blueprint and the grade 7 performance level descriptors, Kentucky Department of Education. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

The state's Kentucky Summative Assessment page

Next step KSA math, grade 7More grade 7 science questions

All 44 questions

Physical Science 19

  • A 10-kilogram cart is at rest. One student pushes it east with a force of 30 newtons while another pushes it west with a force of 30 newtons. What happens to the cart? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS2-2
  • A 20-gram whiffle ball and a 60-gram tennis ball are thrown at the same speed. A data table gives the whiffle ball 1 joule of kinetic energy and the tennis ball 3 joules. What relationship do the data show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS3-1
  • A ball rolls across a carpet, slows down and stops. The carpet along its path is slightly warmer afterward. Which argument does this evidence support? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS3-5
  • A bar magnet lies under a sheet of paper. Iron filings sprinkled on the paper line up in curved lines around the magnet without touching it. What does this show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS2-5
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Physical Science, continued

  • A dish of clear salt water is left in the sun. The water evaporates, and white crystals are left in the dish. Which model explains where the crystals came from? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 5-PS1-1
  • A fiber optic cable carries a video call across the country. In what form does the cable carry the digital information? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS4-3
  • A flashlight shines on a clear window, a mirror and a black cloth. Which model matches what happens to most of the light? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS4-2
  • A gray powder has a density of 7.9 grams per cubic centimeter and is pulled by a magnet. After it is heated with a yellow powder, the black solid that forms has a density of 4.8 grams per cubic centimeter and is not pulled by a magnet. What do the data show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS1-2
  • A model of a chemical reaction shows the starting molecules holding 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. The reaction takes place in a closed container. How many atoms in all are in the molecules that form? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS1-5
  • A model shows the particles of a solid vibrating in place. Thermal energy is added until the solid melts. How should the model change? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-PS1-4
  • A model shows the same book on a shelf 2 meters above the floor and then on a shelf 1 meter above the floor. In which position does the Earth-book system store more potential energy? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS3-2
  • A sealed bag holding 85 grams of popcorn kernels is heated until the kernels pop. The bag stays sealed. What is the mass of the bag's contents afterward? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 5-PS1-2
  • A student builds a hand warmer that releases thermal energy when two substances react. In the first test it warms by only 3 degrees Celsius. Which change is a reasonable modification to test next? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS1-6
  • A student builds a simple electric motor. With one magnet under the coil it spins 4 times a second. With two magnets it spins 7 times a second, and with three it spins 9 times. Which question do these data answer? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS2-3
  • A team must design a lunch box that keeps a frozen juice pop cold until noon. Which design best minimizes the transfer of thermal energy? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS3-3
  • Samples of 100 grams and 200 grams of water start at 20 degrees Celsius. Each is heated on an identical burner for the same time. The 100-gram sample reaches 60 degrees. What should the 200-gram sample do? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS3-4
  • Two bumper cars collide. During the collision car A pushes on car B with a force of 400 newtons. What force does car B exert on car A at that moment? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-PS2-1
  • Two waves travel along the same rope. Wave A has an amplitude of 2 centimeters and wave B has an amplitude of 4 centimeters. Which statement is supported? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-PS4-1
  • You feel Earth's gravity pull on you, but you do not feel a pull toward a classmate standing next to you. Why? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-PS2-4

Life Science 10

  • A green plant in sunlight takes in carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil. What does it make from them? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-LS1-6
  • A model of a pond ecosystem tracks matter and energy. Which statement should the model show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-LS2-3
  • A student builds a model of a cell. A zip bag with tiny holes holds everything in and lets only some things pass in and out. Which part of a cell does the bag stand for? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-LS1-2
  • A student hears the lunch bell and stands up. Which sequence describes what happened? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-LS1-8
  • A willow cutting is grown in a jar of water with no soil. In two months it gains 40 grams. Which claim does this support? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 5-LS1-1
  • Bees feed on the nectar of clover flowers and carry pollen from flower to flower, which lets the clover make seeds. What kind of interaction is this? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-LS2-2
  • During a run, a student's breathing rate and heart rate both rise. Which argument does this evidence support? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-LS1-3
  • In a lake, the water plants that minnows feed on and hide in die off. A count of 400 minnows falls to 150 the next year. What do the data provide evidence for? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-LS2-1
  • Inside an organism, food is broken down and rearranged through chemical reactions. What are two results of these reactions? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-LS1-7
  • Under a microscope a student sees that a pond organism is a single cell, a sliver of onion skin is many box-shaped cells and a drop of yeast is many separate single cells. Which conclusion do the observations support? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 7-LS1-1

Earth and Space Science 11

  • A data table lists the diameters of three objects in a solar system: 4,900 kilometers, 12,800 kilometers and 143,000 kilometers. In a scale model where 1 centimeter stands for 1,000 kilometers, how wide is the second object? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS1-3
  • A map of the sea floor shows a long ridge down the middle of an ocean. Rock samples are youngest at the ridge and older and older with distance from it, on both sides. Which explanation do these data support? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-3
  • A student in Lexington graphs which constellations she can see at 9 p.m. Some appear only on winter evenings and others only on summer evenings, and the pattern repeats each year. What does the graph show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 5-ESS1-2
  • A student models the moon's phases with a lamp for the sun, her own head for Earth and a ball for the moon. She holds the ball on the side of her head away from the lamp, and the whole lit half of the ball faces her. Which phase does this show? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS1-1
  • A weather map shows a region of high air pressure over Kentucky and a region of low air pressure to the east. Which way does the air tend to flow? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-5
  • Earth's materials are cycled by melting, crystallization, weathering, deformation and sedimentation. Which two sources supply the energy that drives this cycling? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-1
  • Geoscience processes change Earth's surface over very different lengths of time. Which of these changes the surface rapidly? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-2
  • In a computer model of the solar system, a student switches off the sun's gravitational pull. What happens to the planets in the model? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS1-2
  • Sunlight and gravity both move water through Earth's systems. Which part of the water cycle is driven by gravity? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-4
  • Two cities lie at the same latitude. The one on the ocean coast has milder winters and cooler summers than the one far inland. Which explanation fits? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS2-6
  • Why does Kentucky have summer in July and winter in January? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 6-ESS1-1

Engineering Design 4

  • A bridge must hold at least 15 kilograms and cost no more than 10 dollars. Design A holds 12 kilograms and costs 8 dollars. Design B holds 20 kilograms and costs 15 dollars. Design C holds 18 kilograms and costs 9 dollars. Which design meets the criteria and constraints? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation MS-ETS1-2
  • A class must design a water filter. Which statement is a constraint on the design? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation MS-ETS1-1
  • Students compare three paper airplane designs to see which flies farthest. Which plan is a fair test? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation 3-5-ETS1-3
  • Tests of two kite designs show that one flies the highest and the other is the easiest to steer. What should the team do next? Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), performance expectation MS-ETS1-3

How this list was compiled: Outline: Science Assessment Blueprint, Elementary, Middle and High School (Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Assessment and Accountability, July 2023), https://www.education.ky.gov/AA/Acct/Documents/Science_Assessment_Blueprint_FINAL.pdf, linked from the department's Assessment Blueprints page, https://www.education.ky.gov/AA/Acct/Pages/Blueprint.aspx, read 2026-10-13. The grades the test draws on are those of the department's KSA performance level descriptors for grade 7 (September 2025), https://www.education.ky.gov/AA/Assessments/Documents/KSA_Performance_Level_Descriptor-Grade7_Full_Descriptor.pdf, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the performance expectation it practices in the Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (December 2022), https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Documents/Kentucky_Academic_Standards_for_Science_2022.pdf, read 2026-10-13. The fact in an answer is one the standard's own text gives (its disciplinary core idea or clarification statement) or is worked out from the data in the question. No released or sample item was opened. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Kentucky Summative Assessment, a K-PREP test, a released or sample item or another practice test.

How it works

Unofficial practice for the grade 7 science test of the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA), called K-PREP before. Every question is our own, written from the state's science standards. Not affiliated with the Kentucky Department of Education.

Read the full guide

What the grade 7 science KSA covers

The state's blueprint sets a range for each of four domains in grade 7: physical science 35 to 50 percent, life science 15 to 30, Earth and space science 20 to 30 and engineering design 5 to 15. Its descriptors score a 7th grader on the core ideas of grades 5 to 7, so forces, energy, waves and cells from grade 7 sit beside the solar system, weather and ecosystems from grade 6.

Why Earth science is here

Kentucky's grade 7 standards are all physical and life science. The blueprint's Earth and space questions come from earlier grades: plate motion, the water cycle, seasons and the phases of the moon.

  • Under each answer is the code of its standard, such as 7-PS3-1. The first number is the grade the idea is taught in.

Questions and answers

Is there a KSA science test in 7th grade?

Yes. Kentucky tests science once in each grade band: grade 4, grade 7 and grade 11. Reading and mathematics are tested every year from grade 3 to grade 8.

How many questions are on the grade 7 science KSA?

The state's 2025-26 items and times chart lists 34 to 35 questions in one part, set to 15 to 17 passages. On the four forms, 14 to 18 are multiple choice; the rest are multiple-select, technology-enhanced, short-answer and extended-response questions.

How long is the grade 7 science KSA?

The state's 2025-26 chart lists 90 minutes for grade 7 science, in one part.

How is the grade 7 science KSA scored?

Students receive a scale score and one of four performance levels: Novice, Apprentice, Proficient or Distinguished. The department publishes descriptors of each level for grade 7 science.

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