A child on a swing goes forward, back, forward, back. If the pattern keeps going, which way will the swing move next?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-2
A class tests how the number of rubber bands changes how far a toy car is launched. What must stay the same in every trial to make the test fair?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-1
A marble is let go at the rim of a big bowl. It rolls down, up the other side and back again. Each time it climbs a little less high. Where will the marble end up?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-2
A wagon sits still on the sidewalk. Ben pulls the handle and the wagon starts to roll. Why did the wagon start to move?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-1
Ava rubs a plastic comb with a wool cloth. She holds the comb over tiny bits of paper, and the bits jump up to the comb before it touches them. What kind of force pulls the paper?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-3
Show all 45 questions (40 more)
Investigate, continued
Jon times a see-saw as it goes down and back up. He measures 2 seconds, 2 seconds and 2 seconds. What is the best prediction for the next time?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-2
Lena is designing a magnetic latch. She may spend only 2 dollars and has one hour to build it. What are the 2 dollars and the one hour?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-4
One magnet picks up 5 paper clips. Two magnets held together pick up 11. Which question does this test answer?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-3
Tom holds two bar magnets end to end and they pull together. He turns one magnet around. Now they push apart. What did Tom change?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-3
Two teams pull on a rope in a tug of war. Both teams pull just as hard, in opposite directions. What happens to the rope?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-1
Two toy trains keep bumping into each other. Dan wants a way to keep them from touching. Which idea uses magnets to solve the problem?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-4
Which of these is a design problem that can be solved with magnets?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-PS2-4
Evaluate 21
A canal lets salt water flow into a freshwater marsh in Louisiana, and the marsh plants are dying. Which solution would best help the freshwater plants?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-4
A class in a Louisiana town records rain for one year: 14 inches in winter, 15 in spring, 18 in summer and 11 in fall. If the pattern holds, which season should they expect to be the wettest next year?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-1
A flock of small birds flies in a tight group when a hawk comes near. How does staying together help the birds?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS2-1
A fossil of a fern that grows in warm, wet places is found in rock in a cold, icy land. What does the fossil suggest?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-1
A fossil shows an animal with fins and gills. Where did the animal most likely live?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-1
A pictograph shows rainy days. Each raindrop stands for 2 rainy days. April has 4 raindrops. How many rainy days did April have?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-1
A plant has a thick stem that stores water and it needs very little rain. In which habitat would it survive well?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-3
A pond holds fish that can breathe only in water, frogs that can live on land or in water, and turtles that can walk to a new pond. The pond dries up. Which animals cannot survive there at all?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-3
A student watches a group of animals. A few stand guard and call out when danger comes near. The rest eat. What does this show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS2-1
A town where tornadoes strike wants to keep people safe. Which solution would reduce the harm a tornado does to people?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS3-1
A wolf hunting alone catches a deer 1 time in 10 tries. A pack of wolves catches a deer 4 times in 10 tries. What do the numbers show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS2-1
An animal has thick white fur and a layer of fat under its skin. Which claim does this evidence support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-3
Lily makes a bar graph of the heights of sunflowers grown from the seeds of one flower. The bars are all different heights. What is the word for these differences?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-1
The number of deer in a parish is falling because too many are hunted each year. Which solution fits the problem?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-4
On a plot where the crop is changed each year, the harvest stays high. On a plot with the same crop every year, the harvest drops. Which claim do the results support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-4
Scientists dig up the bones of a kind of animal that no longer lives anywhere on Earth. What is that kind of animal called?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-1
Ten plants grow from the seeds of one parent plant. Every plant has leaves shaped like the parent's leaves. The leaves are from 6 to 9 centimeters long. What do the data show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-1
Two model roofs are tested with a strong fan. Roof A loses 6 of its 20 shingles. Roof B loses 1 of its 20 shingles. Which claim do the results support?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS3-1
Which design helps protect a tall building from lightning?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS3-1
Which is the best way to show the average high temperature of each month so the pattern is easy to see?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-1
Which trait did a young oak tree inherit from its parent trees?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-1
Reason Scientifically 9
A chick hatches from an egg. An oak sprouts from an acorn. Which stage of a life cycle do both of these show?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS1-1
A model of a flowering plant's life cycle shows a seed, then a seedling, then an adult plant with flowers. What comes next in the model?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS1-1
A pet dog is given too much food and gets little exercise. It becomes overweight. What caused this trait?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-2
A pet parrot says the word hello because its owner taught it. What kind of trait is this?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-2
A student watches birds of one kind. The males with the brightest feathers are chosen as mates most often. What advantage do bright feathers give these males?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-2
Green beetles and a few brown beetles of the same kind live on green leaves. Birds eat more of the brown beetles. Why do the green beetles survive more often?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-2
Some rose bushes of one kind have bigger thorns than others. Deer eat the bushes with small thorns more often. What is likely to happen?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS4-2
Two plants of the same kind are grown. One sits in a sunny window and is dark green and tall. The other sits in a dark closet and is pale and thin. What best explains the difference?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS3-2
Why is reproduction a part of every kind of organism's life cycle?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-LS1-1
Overall score only: climates 3
A book says that place A gets 80 inches of rain a year and is warm all year. A website says that place B gets 5 inches of rain a year and has hot days. Which describes the climate of place B?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-2
A student wants to compare the climates of two cities on different continents. Which information is best to combine?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-2
It rains on Monday, and Sam says the climate of his town is rainy. What is wrong with what Sam says?Louisiana Student Standards for Science (2017), performance expectation 3-ESS2-2
Unofficial science practice for Louisiana third graders getting ready for LEAP. All 45 questions were written for this page from the state's grade 3 standards, and none comes from a state test. Not affiliated with the Louisiana Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What grade 3 science covers on LEAP
Four standards are about pushes, pulls, patterns of motion and magnets. Eight are about life: life cycles, animal groups, traits passed from parents, traits shaped by surroundings, fossils, and which plants and animals can live where. Three are about weather, climate and storm hazards. Every one of the fifteen has three questions in this set.
The category on each question
The state's guide says which standards feed each part of the LEAP science score. The motion and magnet standards are Investigate. Most of the life and weather standards are Evaluate. Life cycles, traits from the environment and survival advantages are Reason Scientifically. The climate standard is scored in the total only, so its three questions are grouped apart.
Many grade 3 questions give two numbers to compare, such as 6 lost shingles against 1. Find both numbers before reading the choices.
Questions and answers
Do 3rd graders take a LEAP science test?
Yes. In 2026-2027 grade 3 has a LEAP science test of its own. The state's guide says that school year is the last for it: afterward grade 3 takes none, and from 2028-2029 the grade 4 test reaches back to kindergarten.
How long is the grade 3 LEAP science test?
140 minutes, split into two sessions of 70 minutes. Students answer six item sets and twelve standalone items worth 50 points, plus a few field-test questions that do not count.
Can grade 3 take the LEAP science test on paper?
A district may choose paper for grade 3. The 2027 paper schedule puts both science sessions on Monday, April 12. Computer testing runs from April 1 to May 12, 2027.
Where is the state's own grade 3 science practice test?
On the Louisiana Department of Education's practice tests page. The state's practice test adds a task with a long written answer, which the real grade 3 test does not have. This page is separate and unofficial.