A bacterial cell is 2.5 × 10^-6 meters long. What is its length in micrometers?National Institute of Standards and Technology, "Metric (SI) Prefixes". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0001
A forensic lab compares DNA from a crime scene with a suspect's DNA to see whether the two match. What is this laboratory technique called?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "DNA Fingerprinting". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0003
A headline reads "Coffee drinkers live longer, so coffee extends life." The study behind it only recorded people's habits. What is the main flaw in the headline?Wikipedia, "Correlation does not imply causation". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0003
A high school class cultures a well-characterized microbe that does not cause disease in healthy people. Which biosafety level fits this work?Wikipedia, "Biosafety level", Levels. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0001
A student tests how light intensity changes the rate at which pondweed gives off oxygen bubbles. Which is the dependent variable?Wikipedia, "Dependent and independent variables". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0001
Show all 60 questions (55 more)
Domain I: Nature of science, continued
"All swans are white" counts as a scientific statement because one observation of a black swan could contradict it. What is this property of scientific claims called?Wikipedia, "Falsifiability". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0002
Before joining a medical study, volunteers are told its risks and choose freely whether to take part. Which principle of the Belmont Report does informed consent apply?Wikipedia, "Belmont Report". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0003
Editing genes in human embryos raises an ethical concern that editing a patient's body cells does not. What is that concern?National Human Genome Research Institute, "What are the Ethical Concerns of Genome Editing?". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0003
In a trial of a new allergy drug, neither the volunteers nor the researchers who examine them know who received the drug and who received a placebo. What is this design called?Wikipedia, "Blinded experiment". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0001
In cellular respiration, the atoms in the carbon dioxide and water produced equal the atoms in the glucose and oxygen used. Which principle, shared by chemistry and biology, does this show?Wikipedia, "Conservation of mass". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0002
Louis Pasteur boiled broth in flasks whose long, bent necks let air in but kept falling particles out. The broth stayed free of growth. Which idea did this result count against?Wikipedia, "Spontaneous generation", Pasteur and Tyndall. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0002
Meselson and Stahl grew bacteria in heavy nitrogen, then moved them to light nitrogen. After one round of replication all of the DNA had an intermediate density. Which model of DNA replication did this support?Wikipedia, "Meselson–Stahl experiment". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0002
Domain II: Biochemistry and cell biology 8
A large lake warms and cools far more slowly than the air above it. Which property of water explains this?USGS Water Science School, "Specific Heat Capacity and Water". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0004
An enzyme heated far above its usual working temperature loses its folded shape and stops working, although its chain of amino acids is intact. What is this change called?Wikipedia, "Denaturation (biochemistry)". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0004
During a hard sprint, muscle cells run short of oxygen. Into which compound do they convert pyruvate?Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0005
During which stage of mitosis do the sister chromatids separate and move toward opposite poles of the cell?Wikipedia, "Anaphase". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0005
The sodium-potassium pump in the membrane of an animal cell uses one molecule of ATP in each cycle. What does it move in that cycle?Wikipedia, "Sodium–potassium pump". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0005
Sucrose is split into glucose and fructose when a molecule of water is added across the bond that joins them. What kind of reaction is this?Wikipedia, "Hydrolysis". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0004
Which level of protein structure is the order of amino acids along the polypeptide chain?Wikipedia, "Protein structure", Primary structure. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0004
Why do the leaves of most plants look green?Wikipedia, "Chlorophyll". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0005
Domain III: Genetics and evolution 16
A pair of homologous chromosomes fails to separate during meiosis, and a gamete receives an extra chromosome. What is this failure called?Wikipedia, "Nondisjunction". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0007
A plant produces offspring with extra whole sets of chromosomes. They grow beside the parent population but cannot interbreed with it. Which kind of speciation is this?Wikipedia, "Polyploidy". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0008
A red-flowered snapdragon is crossed with a white-flowered one, and all of the offspring have pink flowers. Which pattern of inheritance is this?Wikipedia, "Dominance (genetics)". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0007
A researcher needs to cut DNA at one specific base sequence to make fragments with known ends. Which tool does this?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Restriction Enzyme". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0006
Babies of very low and very high birth weight have survived less often than babies of middle weight. Which mode of natural selection does this illustrate?Wikipedia, "Stabilizing selection". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0008
Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and kale are all cultivars that people bred from one species, Brassica oleracea. Which process produced them?Wikipedia, "Brassica oleracea". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0008
The fossil record of one interval, which began roughly 539 million years ago, holds the first appearances of nearly every animal phylum. What is the interval called?Wikipedia, "Cambrian explosion". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0009
Free oxygen first built up in Earth's atmosphere and shallow seas more than two billion years ago. What is this episode called?Wikipedia, "Great Oxidation Event". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0009
In 1990 Carl Woese and colleagues proposed sorting all cellular life into three domains. Which are they?Wikipedia, "Three-domain system". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0009
In a large population with random mating and no selection, mutation or migration, allele frequencies stay the same from one generation to the next. Which principle states this?Wikipedia, "Hardy–Weinberg principle". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0008
In E. coli the genes of the lac operon are barely transcribed when no lactose is present. What blocks transcription?Wikipedia, "Lac operon". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0006
On the lagging strand, DNA is made in short pieces called Okazaki fragments. Which enzyme links the pieces together?Wikipedia, "Okazaki fragments". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0006
One parent has blood type AB and the other has type O. Which blood types can their children have?Wikipedia, "ABO blood group system", Genetics. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0007
Sickle cell disease is caused by mutations in a gene that encodes which protein?NHGRI Talking Glossary of Genomic and Genetic Terms, "Sickle Cell Disease". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0006
Tiktaalik, a fossil from the late Devonian, was a lobe-finned fish with many features of four-legged animals. What does it document?Wikipedia, "Tiktaalik". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0009
Two pea plants, each heterozygous for two unlinked traits, are crossed. What fraction of the offspring is expected to show the recessive form of both traits?Wikipedia, "Dihybrid cross". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0007
Domain IV: Biological unity and diversity 12
A bacteriophage inserts its DNA into the chromosome of its host, where it is copied each time the host cell divides. What is the inserted viral DNA called?Wikipedia, "Lysogenic cycle". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0010
A desert cactus keeps its stomata shut through the day and opens them at night to take in carbon dioxide. Which adaptation is this?Wikipedia, "Crassulacean acid metabolism". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0011
A freshwater protist keeps taking in water by osmosis. Which organelle collects the water and pumps it back out?Wikipedia, "Contractile vacuole". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0011
Bone is remodeled throughout life. Which cells remove bone tissue, a process that also helps regulate the level of calcium in the blood?Wikipedia, "Osteoclast". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0012
Cells release toxic ammonia when they break down amino acids. Into which compound does the liver convert the ammonia for excretion?Wikipedia, "Urea cycle". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0012
Conifers, cycads and ginkgos belong to a group of seed plants whose seeds are not enclosed in an ovary. What is the group?Wikipedia, "Gymnosperm". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0010
Fungi called mycorrhizae grow in and around the roots of most land plants. What does the plant gain from the partnership?Wikipedia, "Mycorrhiza". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0011
In a Gram stain, some bacteria keep the crystal violet dye and look purple. Which feature of their cells explains this?Wikipedia, "Gram-positive bacteria". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0010
In the gills of a fish, blood flows in the direction opposite to the water passing over them. What is this arrangement called?Wikipedia, "Countercurrent exchange". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0011
In the menstrual cycle, a sharp rise of which hormone triggers ovulation?Wikipedia, "Luteinizing hormone". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0012
Jellyfish, corals and sea anemones have stinging cells and two basic body forms, the swimming medusa and the sessile polyp. To which phylum do they belong?Wikipedia, "Cnidaria". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0010
Worldwide, what is the most common cause of goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland?Wikipedia, "Goitre", Causes. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0012
Domain V: Ecology and environment 12
A honeybee colony has a queen that reproduces and workers that raise her young but do not reproduce. What is this form of social organization called?Wikipedia, "Eusociality". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0013
A late spring freeze kills the same share of an insect population whether the insects are sparse or crowded. What kind of limiting factor is the freeze?Wikipedia, "Density dependence". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0013
After people exterminated the wolves of a mountain range, deer multiplied and overgrazed the slopes. What is this effect, which passes from a top predator down to plants, called?Wikipedia, "Trophic cascade". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0014
Elephants bear few young, care for each one for years, and live in populations near the carrying capacity of their habitat. Which label fits this life history?Wikipedia, "r/K selection theory". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0013
Ground-level ozone, the main ingredient of smog, is not emitted directly into the air. How does it form?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Ground-level Ozone Basics". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0015
In which biogeochemical cycle does the atmosphere play no significant part, because the element rarely enters a gas phase?Wikipedia, "Phosphorus cycle". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0014
The plants of a meadow fix 20,000 kilojoules per square meter in a year and use 12,000 of it in their own respiration. What is the meadow's net primary production?Wikipedia, "Primary production", Gross primary production and net primary production. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0014
Plastic debris in the ocean breaks into pieces less than five millimeters long, which fish and other animals can swallow. What are these pieces called?NOAA National Ocean Service, Ocean Facts, "What are microplastics?". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0015
Roads and housing split a large forest into small, separate patches. Apart from the loss of area, which change in the patches harms species of the forest interior?Wikipedia, "Habitat fragmentation". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0015
Several species of warbler live in the same trees without one driving out the others, because each uses a different part of the tree. What is this an example of?Wikipedia, "Niche differentiation", Resource partitioning. Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0013
Which biome, made up of coniferous forests of pines, spruces and larches, is the world's largest on land?Wikipedia, "Taiga". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0014
Which greenhouse gas enters the atmosphere through the burning of coal, natural gas and oil and is removed again when plants absorb it?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Overview of Greenhouse Gases". Written to OAE Biology (007) framework, competency 0015
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the assessment framework for Ohio Assessments for Educators field 007, Biology, read 2026-10-09 on the program's site (https://www.oh.nesinc.com/CONTENT/STUDYGUIDE/OH_SG_OBJ_007.htm; test page https://www.oh.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/OH007_TestPage.html): 150 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, passing score 220; Nature of Science (competencies 0001 to 0003, 20%), Biochemistry and Cell Biology (0004 to 0005, 13%), Genetics and Evolution (0006 to 0009, 27%), Biological Unity and Diversity (0010 to 0012, 20%) and Ecology and Environment (0013 to 0015, 20%). The bank holds 4 questions for each of the 15 competencies. Every fact was read on 2026-10-09 in the public page the question names: the NHGRI Talking Glossary and policy pages (genome.gov), NIST, the USGS Water Science School, NOAA, EPA and the named Wikipedia article. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
This free OAE Biology practice test has 60 questions of our own, four for each of the 15 competencies of assessment 007. It is unofficial and not affiliated with the Ohio State Board of Education or Evaluation Systems, Pearson.
Read the full guide
OAE Biology study guide: the five domains
By the framework at oh.nesinc.com, read October 9, 2026, the questions weigh Nature of Science 20%, Biochemistry and Cell Biology 13%, Genetics and Evolution 27%, Biological Unity and Diversity 20%, and Ecology and Environment 20%.
Timing
The real assessment allows 3 hours after a 15-minute tutorial. Exam mode asks all 60 questions here in 72 minutes, the same 1.2 minutes a question.
Test 007 ends in December 2026
The program's site says Biology (007) retires December 20, 2026. A revised Biology (706), sat as three testlets of 50, 38 and 38 questions, is expected from December 21, so check which code your registration carries.
An on-screen scientific calculator is the only reference the test page lists, so practice genetics ratios and unit conversions without a formula sheet.
Questions and answers
Is this OAE Biology practice test free?
Yes, with no sign-up. Every question was written for this site from the published framework and the public page its explanation names. Nothing is taken or reworded from the real assessment, its sample questions or the paid practice assessment.
How many questions are on the OAE Biology test?
150 multiple-choice questions. The test page adds that some questions may be ones under evaluation for future use, which do not affect your score.
What is the passing score for OAE Biology?
220. The State Board of Education sets the minimum, and the total score, on a 100 to 300 scale, comes from the multiple-choice questions answered correctly. No count of right answers here can stand in for it.
Can I take the OAE Biology test at home?
Yes. The test page offers an online proctor in one-week testing windows every month, with no breaks allowed. Test centers take appointments year round, and a restroom break there counts against your testing time.