A metal sample has a mass of 54 grams. Lowered into a graduated cylinder, it raises the water level from 30 mL to 50 mL. What is its density?Worked arithmetic. The skill is listed in the NES General Science (311) framework: "Apply basic mathematical procedures in analyzing and representing data and solving problems in the sciences", competency 0001
A news story reports a surprising health claim from a study. Which fact about the study best shows that other scientists have checked its quality?Understanding Science (University of California Museum of Paleontology), "Scrutinizing science: Peer review". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0003
A student tests how water temperature changes the time a sugar cube takes to dissolve. Why does she use the same amount of water and the same size of cube in every trial?Wikipedia, "Scientific control". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0001
Chlorofluorocarbons were widely used in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol sprays. Which agreement covers them because of their effect on the ozone layer?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Basic Ozone Layer Science". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0003
Show all 48 questions (44 more)
Nature of science, continued
How do today's nuclear power plants turn the heat of fission into electricity?U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, "DOE Explains...Nuclear Fission". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0003
In 1912 Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents move. Which observation was part of the basis of his theory of continental drift?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Historical perspective". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0002
In Rutherford's experiments, a few alpha particles fired at thin metal foil bounced back at large angles. Which model of the atom did he build to explain this?Wikipedia, "Rutherford scattering experiments". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0002
Under the OSHA laboratory standard, what is a Chemical Hygiene Plan?OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.1450, Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories, paragraph (b). Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0001
Which two scientists usually get the credit for developing cell theory?Wikipedia, "Cell theory". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0002
Physical science 18
A 12-volt battery is connected across a 4-ohm resistor. How much current flows through the resistor?Wikipedia, "Ohm's law". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0009
A beam of light passes from air into a block of glass and changes direction at the surface. What is this change of direction called?NASA Science, Tour of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, "Wave Behaviors". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0008
A jar of muddy water is left on a shelf, and by morning the particles have sunk to the bottom. A jar of milk left beside it stays evenly cloudy. How are the two mixtures classified?Wikipedia, "Suspension (chemistry)". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0004
A light bulb turns only part of the electrical energy it uses into light. Since energy is not destroyed, what becomes of the rest?U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Explained, "Laws of energy". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0006
A net force of 15 newtons acts on a 6-kilogram cart. What is the acceleration of the cart?NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, "Newton's Laws of Motion". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0007
A pot of ice and water is heated on a stove. While the ice is melting, a thermometer in the pot holds steady at 0 °C. Where is the added energy going?Wikipedia, "Latent heat". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0006
A reversible reaction is at equilibrium. More of one reactant is added to the container. According to Le Chatelier's principle, how does the equilibrium respond?Wikipedia, "Le Chatelier's principle". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0005
A sample holds 80 grams of a radioactive isotope that has a half-life of 10 years. How much of the isotope is left after 30 years?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Radioactive Decay". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0004
A sealed syringe holds a gas at constant temperature. The plunger is pushed in until the gas takes up half its first volume. What happens to the pressure of the gas?NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, "Boyle's Law". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0004
A student standing on a skateboard throws a heavy ball forward and rolls backward. Which law of motion explains the backward push on the student?NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, "Newton's Laws of Motion". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0007
A worker pushes down on a lever 2.0 meters from the fulcrum. The load sits 0.5 meters from the fulcrum on the other side. What is the mechanical advantage of the lever?Wikipedia, "Mechanical advantage". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0007
An ambulance drives away from a person standing on the sidewalk. Compared with the sound the siren gives off, how does the siren sound to that person?Wikipedia, "Doppler effect". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0008
How much heat does it take to warm 100 grams of water from 20 °C to 30 °C? Use 4.18 J/(g·°C) as the specific heat of water.Worked arithmetic. The skill is listed in the NES General Science (311) framework: "Demonstrate knowledge of the laws of thermodynamics and the principles of calorimetry, including solving basic calorimetry problems", competency 0006
Most electricity is made by generators based on a discovery that Michael Faraday made in 1831. On which relationship do those generators depend?U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Explained, "How electricity is generated". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0009
Sodium, a metal, reacts with chlorine, a nonmetal, to form table salt. How does the bond between them form?Wikipedia, "Ionic bonding". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0005
Three bulbs are wired in series to one battery. What is true of the current in the bulbs?Wikipedia, "Series and parallel circuits". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0009
To explain the photoelectric effect in 1905, Albert Einstein proposed that light consists of what?Wikipedia, "Photoelectric effect". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0008
When iron rusts, each iron atom gives up electrons. What is this loss of electrons called?Wikipedia, "Redox". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0005
Life science 12
A mutation arises in one skin cell of an adult. Can it be passed on to that person's children?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Mutation". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0012
A red blood cell is placed in pure water. Which way does water move across its membrane, and why?Wikipedia, "Osmosis". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0010
About 66 million years ago, three quarters of Earth's plant and animal species died out. What is generally thought to have caused this mass extinction?Wikipedia, "Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0012
Air breathed in travels down the airways to the alveoli of the lungs. What surrounds each alveolus so that gases can pass between air and blood?National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, "How the Lungs Work: The Respiratory System". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0011
For a certain gene, allele B is dominant over allele b. A Bb parent is crossed with a BB parent. What share of the offspring is expected to show the recessive trait?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Dominant". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0012
How does a prion differ from a virus, a bacterium and a fungus?Wikipedia, "Prion". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0011
In which organ of the human digestive system are most of the nutrients in food absorbed?National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, "Your Digestive System & How it Works". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0011
Two species of Paramecium are grown in one flask on the same limited food supply, and one species dies out. Which principle does this result illustrate?Wikipedia, "Competitive exclusion principle". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0013
What gives rough endoplasmic reticulum its rough appearance?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Endoplasmic Reticulum (Rough)". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0010
When decomposers break down dead plants, dead animals and wastes, what do they release back into the ecosystem?Wikipedia, "Trophic level". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0013
Which description fits the cell membrane?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Cell Membrane". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0010
Which of these biomes gets the least rain, about 250 millimeters (10 inches) a year?NASA Earth Observatory, Mission: Biomes, "Desert". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0013
Earth and space science 9
A long ridge of unsorted rock debris marks the farthest point that an ice-age glacier reached. What is this landform called?Wikipedia, "Moraine". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0014
Almost all weather occurs in the troposphere. How does temperature change with height in that layer?NOAA JetStream, "Layers of the Atmosphere". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0015
In the hydrologic cycle, what is transpiration?NOAA JetStream, "The Hydrologic Cycle". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0015
Limestone buried deep in the crust is changed by high temperature and pressure into marble. Which class of rock is the marble?National Park Service, Geology, "Metamorphic Rocks". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0014
Long, narrow barrier islands line much of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. How do they form?NOAA National Ocean Service, Ocean Facts, "What is a barrier island?". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0015
The Moon's gravitational pull makes the oceans bulge, and the bulges are high tides. Where on Earth are the two bulges?NASA Science, Moon, "Tides". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0016
The San Andreas fault zone slices through two thirds of the length of California. Which kind of plate boundary is it?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0014
When the South Pole is tilted toward the Sun, which season is it in the Northern Hemisphere?NASA Space Place, "What Causes the Seasons?". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0016
Which process in the core of a main sequence star releases the energy that keeps the star from collapsing under gravity?NASA Science, Universe, "Stars". Outline: NES General Science (311) framework, competency 0016
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test framework for NES General Science, test 311, read 2026-10-09 on the National Evaluation Series site (https://www.nestest.com/static/docs/NES_Framework_311.pdf; test page https://www.nestest.com/test/311): Nature of Science (competencies 0001 to 0003, 19%), Physical Science (0004 to 0009, 37%), Life Science (0010 to 0013, 25%) and Earth and Space Science (0014 to 0016, 19%). The bank holds 3 questions for each of the 16 competencies. Every fact was read on 2026-10-09 in the public page the question names: NASA (Glenn Research Center, NASA Science, Space Place, Earth Observatory), NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, EPA, the Energy Information Administration, the Department of Energy, OSHA (29 CFR 1910.1450), the NHGRI Talking Glossary, NIDDK, NHLBI, Understanding Science (University of California Museum of Paleontology) and Wikipedia. Two questions are arithmetic worked in their explanations. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
These NES General Science for teachers practice test questions are our own: 48 in all, three for each competency of test 311. They are unofficial, and this site is not affiliated with Pearson, owner of the National Evaluation Series.
Read the full guide
Study guide: the four domains
On the framework read October 9, 2026, physical science is the largest part of NES General Science (311) at 37%. Life science is 25%, and the nature of science and Earth and space science are 19% each.
What this sample practice test holds
Eighteen physical science questions, twelve on life science, nine on Earth and space, and nine on how science works. Several are calculations: density, half-life, heat, force, levers and circuits.
Where the answers come from
Each explanation names the public page its fact was read in: NASA, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, EPA, the Energy Information Administration, NIH institutes, or the named Wikipedia article.
Physical science is the largest domain, with six of the 16 competencies, so chemistry and physics deserve the most time.
The real test supplies an on-screen calculator, a sheet of constants and formulas, and a periodic table, so practice using them.
Questions and answers
Are these NES General Science practice test questions from the real exam?
No. Each of the 48 was written here, to one competency of the 311 framework, from a NASA, NOAA or other public page that the explanation names. We did not use real test items, the study guide's samples or the paid practice test.
How many questions are on the NES General Science test?
150 multiple-choice questions on test 311. You get 3 hours for them, and the appointment is booked for 3 hours and 15 minutes because a tutorial and nondisclosure agreement come first.
What is the passing score for NES General Science?
Arizona and Washington have passing scores linked from the test page, which gives 220 as the national benchmark on the scaled score. Your state may differ. Nothing here converts a number of right answers into that scale.
Is NES General Science 318 the same test as 311?
No. General Science 318 is a separate entry on the test list, with 100 multiple-choice questions against the 150 of test 311. The bank on this page is spread by the 311 weights, so check your state's required code.