Grade 5 science in the three equal domains of NJSLA-Science, the test that replaced NJ ASK.
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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the New Jersey Department of Education. Bank checked October 13, 2026.
The real test: NJSLA-Science in grade 5
Who takes it
Students in grade 5. The science test is also given in grades 8 and 11.
Units and time
4 units of 45 minutes each, 180 minutes in all.
Blueprint
The same number of items is targeted for physical science, life science and Earth and space science. In each, the items are shared among three groups of practic
Item types
Multiple choice with four answer choices, technology-enhanced items and typed constructed responses, in clusters of 2 to 5 items about one phenomenon.
Format
A fixed-form test. Each item is based on one core idea, one science and engineering practice and one crosscutting concept.
Scores
Four performance levels: Below Proficient, Near Proficient, Proficient and Advanced Proficiency.
A drawing of Earth shows four people: one at the North Pole, one at the South Pole and two on the equator. Each lets go of a rock. Which describes how the four rocks fall?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A marble rolls into a wooden block. A slow marble pushes the block 2 centimeters. The same marble rolling fast pushes the block 9 centimeters. What do the data support?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 4, 4-PS3-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
A model shows arrows from the sun to grass, from grass to a rabbit and from the rabbit to a fox. What does the model show about the energy the fox uses to run?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS3-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Show all 42 questions (39 more)
Physical science, continued
A shallow dish of salt water sits on a sunny windowsill. Days later the dish is dry, and white crystals cover the bottom. What does this show?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student wants to find out whether two rocks are the same mineral. Which observation helps most?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-3, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student wants to learn whether mixing baking soda with different liquids forms a new substance. Which plan is a fair test?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-4, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student waves a sheet of cardboard above a pile of paper scraps. The scraps slide across the table, though the cardboard never touches them. Which model explains this?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student weighs 200 grams of water and 25 grams of salt, then stirs the salt into the water until it dissolves. What does the salt water weigh?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A table gives test results. Material 1: pulled by a magnet, conducts electricity. Material 2: not pulled by a magnet, conducts electricity. Material 3: not pulled by a magnet, does not conduct electricity. An unknown object conducts electricity and is not pulled by a magnet. Which material is it most likely made of?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-3, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A tablet fizzes in a sealed jar of water. The jar weighs 250 grams before and 250 grams after. The test is repeated in an open jar, which weighs 250 grams before and 248 grams after. What explains the open jar?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
An ice cube in a sealed bag weighs 40 grams. The ice melts. Which result is evidence that matter is conserved?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Dried beans and rice are stirred together in a bowl. A student then picks every bean back out, unchanged. What does this show?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS1-4, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Two teams pull a rope in opposite directions with equal strength, and the rope does not move. One more student joins the team on the left. What happens?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-PS2-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
Which observation best supports the argument that Earth pulls objects down?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Life science 14
A desert plant has sharp spines and a thick stem that holds water. How do these structures help the plant?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 4, 4-LS1-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
A model has arrows from air and water to an oak tree, from the oak tree to a caterpillar and from the caterpillar to a bird. What must be added to show matter going back to the soil?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student draws the life cycle of a flowering plant and the life cycle of a frog. The stages look very different. What do the two life cycles have in common?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-LS1-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
A water plant from another region is put into a pond. In two years it covers the surface, and the plants that grew there before get too little light. What does this show?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Fossils of tropical plants are found in rock in the cold Arctic. What do the fossils suggest?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-LS4-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
From which two materials do plants chiefly get the matter they need to grow?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS1-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
In a field of dry tan grass, a scientist tracks 50 tan mice and 50 white mice. Hawks catch 8 of the tan mice and 31 of the white mice. What explains the result?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-LS4-2, with its core idea and clarification statement
In a meadow food web, grasshoppers and mice eat grass, frogs eat grasshoppers, and hawks eat frogs and mice. A disease kills most of the grass. What does the model predict?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
In a model of a forest, animals breathe out gas and leave solid and liquid waste. Where does the model show this waste matter going?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Tam claims that a plant is built mostly out of the soil it grows in. A bean plant grows in a pot until it weighs 80 grams. The dry soil weighed 500 grams at the start and 498 grams at the end. Which evidence argues against Tam?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS1-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Two brown dogs have four puppies. All four have brown fur, and each has a white patch of a different size. Which statement do these observations support?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-LS3-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
Two seedlings of the same kind of tall plant are grown side by side. One gets plenty of water and grows tall. The other gets very little water and stays short. What explains the difference?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 3, 3-LS3-2, with its core idea and clarification statement
What do animals get from the food they eat?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-PS3-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Which pond is the best example of a healthy ecosystem?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-LS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Earth and space science 14
A canyon has many different rock layers in its walls and a river at the bottom. What explanation does this pattern support?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, grade 4, 4-ESS1-1, with its core idea and clarification statement
A class measures the shadow of a fence post on a sunny day. At 10 a.m. it is 90 centimeters long and points northwest. At noon it is 50 centimeters long and points north. At 2 p.m. it is 90 centimeters long and points northeast. Which pattern do the data show?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A group of stars is easy to find on winter evenings. On summer evenings it is not in the night sky at all. What explains this pattern?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A model shows the ocean beside a coast. Which effect of the ocean belongs in the model?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A science club finds that fertilizer washes from lawns into the town's stream when it rains. Which action by the town deals with the cause the club found?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS3-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student draws a bar graph of the amount of water in four places: the ocean, glaciers, groundwater, and lakes and rivers. Which bar is shortest?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
A student models day and night with a lamp for the sun and a globe for Earth. What must the student do with the globe?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Over many years, wind blows sand against a desert rock and wears a hole through it. Which two of Earth's systems are interacting?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
The roots of plants hold the soil of a riverbank in place. Which two of Earth's systems are interacting?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Star A and star B give off the same amount of light. Seen from Earth, star A looks much brighter than star B. What explains this?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS1-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Where is most of Earth's fresh water?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Which of these is part of the hydrosphere?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-1, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Which statement about the water on Earth is true?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS2-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
Why does the direction of a fence post's shadow change from morning to afternoon?New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (2026), grade 5, 5-ESS1-2, with the core idea and clarification statement printed with it in the 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document
How this list was compiled: Outline: NJSLA-Science Overview Presentation, blueprint of targeted items (New Jersey Department of Education), https://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/adaptive/docs/NJSLA-S%20Overview%20Presentation.pdf, linked from the department's NJSLA-S page, https://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/adaptive/, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the performance expectation it practices: the grade 5 expectations in the 2026 New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, https://www.nj.gov/education/standards/science/2026/kto5/5.shtml, read 2026-10-13, and the grades 3 and 4 expectations in the department's 2020 NJSLS-Science K-12 document, https://www.nj.gov/education/standards/science/Docs/NJSLS-Science_K-12.pdf, read 2026-10-13. The science fact in an answer is one stated in that performance expectation or in the disciplinary core ideas and clarification statements printed with it in the K-12 document, or is read from the data in the question. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from an NJSLA-Science or NJ ASK test, a released or sample item, or another practice test. No released or sample item was read.
How it works
New Jersey no longer gives the NJ ASK in science. Fifth graders now take the NJSLA-Science, and these 42 questions follow its blueprint. Unofficial, and not affiliated with the New Jersey Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What grade 5 NJSLA-Science covers
Each of the blueprint's three domains has 14 questions. Physical science: particles too small to see, weight that is conserved, identifying materials, new substances, gravity. Life science: where plant matter comes from, food webs and decomposers, inherited traits, fossils. Earth and space science: star brightness, shadows, day and night, Earth's four systems, where the water is. Nine questions reach back to grades 3 and 4, because the state's overview says the test measures the grade band.
NJSLA test practice for 5th grade science: data first
The state says the NJ ASK emphasized memorizing content and the NJSLA-Science asks students to apply it. So many questions here give a table, a model or a fair test to judge.
When a question describes a model with arrows, say what each arrow carries, matter or energy, before reading the choices.
Questions and answers
Did the NJSLA-Science replace the NJ ASK science test?
Yes. The New Jersey Department of Education calls the NJ ASK the prior assessment. Its science test for grades 5, 8 and 11 is the NJSLA-Science, field tested in 2018 and first given as an operational test in 2019.
How long is the 5th grade NJSLA science test?
Four units of 45 minutes each, 180 minutes of testing in all, according to the state's unit testing times. Grade 8 has the same four units, and grade 11 has four units of 60 minutes.
What is on the NJSLA science test in 5th grade?
Physical science, life science and Earth and space science, with the same number of items targeted for each. Items come in clusters of 2 to 5 about one phenomenon: multiple choice, technology-enhanced items and typed responses.
How is the 5th grade NJSLA science test scored?
In four performance levels: Below Proficient, Near Proficient, Proficient and Advanced Proficiency. Multiple-choice and technology-enhanced items are scored by computer and typed responses by human scorers. A percent on this page is not a performance level.