A student holds a magnet near a steel paper clip and moves it a little closer each time. Which question is the student testing?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-3
A toy boat floats still on a pond. Wind pushes it from the west, and a fan pushes it from the east just as hard. What does the boat do?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-1
Kia wants to find out how the strength of a push changes how far a toy truck rolls. What should she change from one trial to the next?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-1
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Evaluate 5
A class records the high temperature every day in July for four years. Most days were between 90°F and 95°F. Which prediction for next July do the data support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-1
A town beside a river builds a levee, a long bank of earth along the water. Which claim about the levee is correct?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS3-1
Five puppies have the same two parents. Four have brown fur and one has black fur. All five have floppy ears like their mother. What do these observations show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-1
In a honeybee colony some bees gather food, some guard the hive and some care for the young. What does this sharing of jobs show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS2-1
Scientists find fossils of seashells in rock on a dry hilltop far from any ocean. What is the best conclusion?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-1
Reason Scientifically 2
A frog and a sunflower have very different life cycles. Which stages do both of them share?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS1-1
Two bean plants grow from seeds of the same parent plant. One is watered every day and grows tall. The other gets very little water and stays short. What best explains the difference?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-2
A rolling marble hits a marble that is sitting still. Which prediction is most reasonable?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-PS3-3
A student sets a metal spoon in a cup of hot soup. A minute later the handle feels warm. What does this observation show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-PS3-2
Students pour the same amount of water down two trays of the same soil. One tray lies flat and the other is tilted. They measure how much soil washes away. What are they testing?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-ESS2-1
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Evaluate 2
A map marks ten years of earthquakes with dots. Most dots form long bands, and many volcanoes lie along the same bands. What pattern does the map show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-ESS2-2
A rose bush has sharp thorns on its stems and brightly colored petals on its flowers. Which argument do these structures support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-LS1-1
Reason Scientifically 5
A cliff has a rock layer with fern fossils. Above it lies a layer with fossils of sea shells. What happened at this place over time?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-ESS1-1
A cork floats on a pond. A small wave passes under it, and then a much taller wave. How does the cork's motion change?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-PS4-1
A rabbit hears a twig snap and runs to its burrow. Which order describes what happened?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-LS1-2
A student in a lit room sees a red apple on a table. Which path does the light take?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-PS4-2
Two identical balls roll across a floor. Ball A moves fast and Ball B moves slowly. Which statement is supported by this evidence?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 4-PS3-1
A student wants to sort five small objects by whether they conduct electricity. Which observation should she make for each object?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-PS1-3
A tree grows in a pot for five years and gains a great deal of mass. The soil in the pot weighs almost the same as at the start. Where did most of the tree's new matter come from?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-LS1-1
Students stir baking soda into vinegar and see bubbles of gas form. They stir baking soda into water and see no bubbles. Which mixing formed a new substance?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-PS1-4
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Evaluate 5
A graph shows where Earth's water is found. Which statement do such data support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-ESS2-2
A student measures a flagpole's shadow on a sunny day: 4 meters long at 9 a.m., 1 meter at noon and 4 meters at 3 p.m. Which pattern do the data show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-ESS1-2
A student stirs 10 grams of sugar into 100 grams of water until the sugar can no longer be seen. What does the mixture weigh?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-PS1-2
One ball is dropped in Louisiana and another is dropped on the far side of the world. Toward what does each ball fall?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-PS2-1
Why does the Sun look so much brighter than the other stars in the sky?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-ESS1-1
Reason Scientifically 2
A girl eats a sandwich and then runs a race. Where did the energy in her food first come from?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-PS3-1
Leaves fall to the forest floor, and fungi and bacteria break them down. What happens to the matter in the leaves?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 5-LS2-1
A student looks at pond water, a leaf and a grain of salt under a microscope. Which observation is evidence that something is living?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-LS1-1
A student pushes an empty cart and then a cart full of books with the same force. Which result should she expect?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS2-2
A student winds wire around a nail to make an electromagnet. With 10 turns it lifts 4 paper clips, with 20 turns 8 clips, and with 30 turns 12 clips. About how many clips should 40 turns lift?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS2-3
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Evaluate 4
A chart lists four planets by mass and the pull each has on a spacecraft at the same distance. The more massive the planet, the stronger the pull. Which claim do the data support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS2-4
A student shakes a rope harder, so the waves in it are taller, while the wavelength stays the same. What do the taller waves show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS4-1
In a dry year a meadow grows far less grass, and the number of rabbits living there falls. Which explanation fits the data?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-LS2-1
Two rocks roll down a hill at the same speed. Rock A has twice the mass of Rock B. How do their kinetic energies compare?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS3-1
Reason Scientifically 3
A straw in a glass of water looks bent where it meets the water's surface. What happens to the light that makes it look bent?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-PS4-2
Which part of a cell forms its boundary and controls what enters and leaves?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-LS1-2
Why does the Moon seem to change shape over a month?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 6-MS-ESS1-1
A student drops the same hot metal block into 100 grams of water and, in a second trial, into 200 grams of water. Both start at 20°C. What should she expect?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-PS3-4
A weather station records a sharp fall in temperature, a shift in the wind and a line of thunderstorms within one hour. What most likely happened?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-ESS2-5
Which question would best help show whether human activity has added to the rise in global temperatures over the past century?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-ESS3-5
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Evaluate 3
A new kind of fish is released into a lake. Within three years the number of native minnows falls by half. Which claim do the data support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-LS2-4
The lungs take in oxygen, the heart pumps blood, and the blood carries the oxygen to muscle cells. Which argument does this support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-LS1-3
Steel wool is shiny and bends easily. After it burns, a dull, brittle material is left. What do these data show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-PS1-2
Reason Scientifically 4
A model of a chemical reaction shows 4 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms in the starting substances. How many atoms in all must the model show in the products?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-PS1-5
A plant sends out a runner that grows into a new plant, with no second parent. How does the new plant's genetic information compare with the parent's?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-LS3-2
Ice is warmed steadily until it becomes liquid water. What happens to its particles as thermal energy is added?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-PS1-4
Which statement describes photosynthesis?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 7-MS-LS1-6
A student makes a hand warmer that heats up when a salt dissolves in water. It does not get warm enough. Which change tests one factor at a time?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-PS1-6
Students must keep ice frozen in a box during a power outage. They line one box with foam, one with foil and leave one bare. What should they measure to compare the boxes?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-PS3-3
Two trays of the same grass seed get the same light and water. One also gets fertilizer, and its grass grows taller. What does this show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-LS1-5
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Investigate, continued
Why can a hurricane warning be given days ahead, while an earthquake warning cannot?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-ESS3-2
Evaluate 4
A moving cart rolls onto a rough surface and stops. Afterward the wheels and the surface are slightly warmer. Which argument fits the evidence?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-PS3-5
Fossils of the same land animal are found in rocks on two continents that an ocean now separates. The two coastlines also fit together like puzzle pieces. What do these data support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-ESS2-3
In a population of 100 beetles, 20 are dark. Birds eat mostly the light beetles. Years later, 60 of every 100 beetles are dark. Which explanation fits the numbers?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-LS4-6
In rock layers that have not been disturbed, the lowest layers hold only simple organisms. More complex organisms appear only in higher layers. What does this pattern show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-LS4-1
Reason Scientifically 2
A mutation changes a gene. Which statement about its effect is correct?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-LS3-1
Melted rock cools and hardens deep under the ground. Which process forms the new rock?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 8-MS-ESS2-1
Unofficial practice for Louisiana's LEAP 2025 science tests, with ten questions for each grade from 3 to 8. Every question is this site's own and names the Louisiana science standard it practices. Not affiliated with the Louisiana Department of Education.
Read the full guide
Three categories, every grade
LEAP science reports the same three categories in every grade. Investigate is asking questions and planning investigations. Evaluate is reading data and arguing from evidence. Reason Scientifically is using models, building explanations and designing solutions. Each question here sits in the category the state's guide gives its standard.
How the real test differs
The real test builds most questions on a described event, such as water drops forming on the outside of a glass, with tables, graphs or pictures, and adds two-part and written-response items. These questions stand alone and are multiple choice.
Questions and answers
Which grades take the LEAP science test?
In 2026-2027, every grade from 3 to 8, and high school Biology. In 2027-2028, of those grades, only 4 and 7 take one. From 2028-2029 the grade 4 test covers kindergarten to grade 4 and the grade 7 test covers grades 5 to 7.
How long is the LEAP science test?
Grade 3 has two sessions of 70 minutes, and grade 4 has two of 80 minutes. Grades 5 to 8 have three sessions of 65 minutes, 195 minutes in all.
What kinds of questions are on the LEAP science test?
Multiple-choice questions with four options, multiple-select questions, two-part items worth two points and short constructed responses. Grades 5 to 8 add technology-enhanced items and one extended response scored on a 6-point rubric.
Is this the state's LEAP 2025 practice test for science?
No. The state's own science practice tests and answer keys are on its practice tests page, which the button under the questions opens. This page is separate, and every question on it is ours.
Why is it called LEAP 2025?
LEAP 2025 is a name, not a test year. The state's science practice tests and answer keys still carry it, while the science assessment guides of July 2026 say LEAP. This page follows those guides.