• 48 questions

OAE Middle Grades Science Practice Test

Unofficial practice for Ohio's OAE Middle Grades Science assessment (029), the content test for the grades 4–9 science license.

Through which of these can sound not travel?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

Print covers the next 48 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.

Exam mode: 48 questions, 69 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Ohio State Board of Education or Evaluation Systems, Pearson. Bank checked October 12, 2026.

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All 48 questions

Domain I: Nature of science 9

  • A class tests three brands of paper towel by pouring 50 mL of water on a sheet of each and weighing what is soaked up. In this test, what is the 50 mL of water? Wikipedia, "Control variable". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0001
  • A news story reports that towns with more firefighters at a fire have greater fire damage and concludes that firefighters cause the damage. What is wrong with the conclusion? Wikipedia, "Correlation does not imply causation". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0003
  • A teacher must dilute concentrated sulfuric acid for a lab. Which procedure is the safe one? Wikipedia, "Sulfuric acid". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0001
  • Alfred Wegener proposed in 1912 that the continents had once been joined and had drifted apart. Why did most geologists of his time reject the idea? Wikipedia, "Continental drift". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0002
  • In science, which statement best describes a theory, such as the cell theory? Wikipedia, "Scientific theory". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0002
Show all 48 questions (43 more)

Domain I: Nature of science, continued

  • Three students use the same thermometer to measure the boiling point of pure water at sea level, which is 100 °C. They read 96.1 °C, 96.0 °C and 96.1 °C. How should the thermometer be described? Wikipedia, "Accuracy and precision". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0001
  • Which international agreement of 1987 phased out the production of chlorofluorocarbons after scientists linked them to damage in the upper atmosphere? Wikipedia, "Montreal Protocol". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0003
  • Whose experiments with boiled broth in flasks, in the late 1850s, are widely held to have settled the question of spontaneous generation? Wikipedia, "Spontaneous generation". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0002
  • Why does a claim printed in a peer-reviewed journal deserve more trust than the same claim in an advertisement? Wikipedia, "Peer review". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0003

Domain II: Physical science 15

  • A 60 kg sled is pushed across level ice and speeds up at 1.5 m/s². What net force acts on the sled? Wikipedia, "Newton's laws of motion". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0007
  • A beaker of ice is heated steadily. The thermometer stays at 0 °C until the last ice is gone and only then begins to rise. Where did the added energy go while the reading stood still? Wikipedia, "Latent heat". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0005
  • A block lowered into a full tank pushes out water that weighs 2 N. What is the buoyant force on the block? Wikipedia, "Archimedes' principle". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0007
  • A pendulum bob is lifted and let go. Ignoring friction, how does its kinetic energy at the lowest point compare with the potential energy it lost on the way down? Wikipedia, "Conservation of energy". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0006
  • A sample of a radioactive isotope falls from 80 g to 10 g in 36 hours. What half-life does the isotope have? Wikipedia, "Half-life". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0004
  • A satellite in the near-vacuum of orbit has to get rid of waste heat from its electronics. Which process can carry that heat away into space? Wikipedia, "Heat transfer". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0006
  • A student stirs salt into water until it disappears, then boils the water away and finds the salt left in the pan. What kind of change was the dissolving? Wikipedia, "Physical change". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0005
  • A student who weighs 500 N climbs a staircase 3 m high in 5 s. What power does the student develop against gravity? Wikipedia, "Power (physics)". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0007
  • The scattering experiments of 1906 to 1913 showed that every atom has a nucleus. What did the experimenters fire at a thin metal foil? Wikipedia, "Rutherford scattering experiments". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0004
  • Sunlight enters a raindrop, bends, bounces off the back of the drop and bends again as it leaves, spread into colors. Which set of processes makes the rainbow? Wikipedia, "Rainbow". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0008
  • Three bulbs are wired one after another in a single loop with a battery. The filament of the middle bulb breaks. What happens to the other two? Wikipedia, "Series and parallel circuits". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0006
  • Through which of these can sound not travel? Wikipedia, "Sound". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0008
  • When the equation for burning methane, CH4 + O2 → CO2 + H2O, is balanced with the smallest whole numbers, how many molecules of water form for each molecule of methane burned? Wikipedia, "Chemical equation". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0005
  • Which part of the electromagnetic spectrum has wavelengths just longer than those of red light? Wikipedia, "Infrared". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0008
  • Why do the elements of one group of the periodic table tend to react in similar ways? Wikipedia, "Group (periodic table)". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0004

Domain III: Life science 12

  • A hawkmoth drinks nectar from a flower and leaves dusted with pollen that it carries to the next plant. Why do biologists class pollination as mutualism? Wikipedia, "Mutualism (biology)". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0012
  • A thin layer of clay found around the world in rocks about 66 million years old is rich in a metal that is rare in Earth's crust but common in asteroids. Which metal is it? Wikipedia, "Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0011
  • The body cells of a certain plant have 24 chromosomes. How many chromosomes are in each cell that meiosis produces? Wikipedia, "Meiosis". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0009
  • In pea plants, tall (T) is dominant to short (t). A tall plant of unknown genotype is crossed with a short plant, and about half the offspring are short. What is the genotype of the tall parent? Wikipedia, "Test cross". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0011
  • In photosynthesis, which gas is given off when the plant splits water? Wikipedia, "Photosynthesis". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0009
  • Many similar muscle cells joined together to contract as one make up which level of biological organization? Wikipedia, "Tissue (biology)". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0010
  • The producers in a meadow store 10,000 kJ of energy. By the usual rule of thumb, about how much reaches the animals that eat the plant eaters? Wikipedia, "Ecological pyramid". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0012
  • Two animals are classified in the same order. Which other rank must they also share? Wikipedia, "Taxonomic rank". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0011
  • When body temperature rises, sweat glands release sweat, the skin cools, and the sweating then slows. What kind of control does this show? Wikipedia, "Negative feedback". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0010
  • Which biome has permanently frozen subsoil, a short growing season, and mosses, lichens and low shrubs in place of trees? Wikipedia, "Tundra". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0012
  • Which feature separates a prokaryote from a eukaryote? Wikipedia, "Prokaryote". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0009
  • Which insect passes through a pupa stage between larva and adult? Wikipedia, "Holometabolism". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0010

Domain IV: Earth and space science 12

  • A space probe moves to twice its former distance from the center of a planet. How does the pull of the planet's gravity on the probe change? Wikipedia, "Newton's law of universal gravitation". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0016
  • A weather map shows a line marked with triangles moving toward a town that has had warm, humid air all day. What does the line stand for? Wikipedia, "Cold front". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0015
  • A well must be drilled deep enough to reach ground whose pores are filled with water. What is the top of that saturated zone called? Wikipedia, "Water table". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0014
  • Below a mountain cliff lies a pile of sharp-edged blocks. By day meltwater fills the joints of the cliff, and by night it freezes. Which process broke the blocks loose? Wikipedia, "Weathering". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0013
  • Limestone buried deep in a mountain belt is recrystallized by heat and pressure. Which rock does it become? Wikipedia, "Marble". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0013
  • One side of a mountain range faces away from the prevailing winds and gets far less rain than the other. What is that dry side called? Wikipedia, "Rain shadow". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0015
  • Radio telescopes detect a faint glow of microwaves coming from every direction of the sky. For which theory is this radiation key evidence? Wikipedia, "Cosmic microwave background". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0016
  • Through which process does water that a tree has taken up by its roots return to the air? Wikipedia, "Transpiration". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0014
  • What does the ozone layer of the lower stratosphere do for life at the surface of Earth? Wikipedia, "Ozone layer". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0015
  • What is the name for a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water where a river meets the sea? Wikipedia, "Estuary". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0014
  • What kind of plate boundary runs along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? Wikipedia, "Mid-Atlantic Ridge". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0013
  • With the Sun, Moon and Earth in a line, the Sun's tidal force adds to that of the Moon. What is the tide of greatest range that results called? Wikipedia, "Tide". Written to OAE Middle Grades Science (029) framework, competency 0016

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the assessment framework for Ohio Assessments for Educators field 029, Middle Grades Science, read 2026-10-12 on the program's site (https://www.oh.nesinc.com/CONTENT/STUDYGUIDE/OH_SG_OBJ_029.htm; test page https://www.oh.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/OH029_TestPage.html): 125 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, passing score 220; Nature of Science (competencies 0001 to 0003, 19%), Physical Science (0004 to 0008, 31%), Life Science (0009 to 0012, 25%) and Earth and Space Science (0013 to 0016, 25%). The bank holds 3 questions for each of the 16 competencies. Every fact was read on 2026-10-12 in the Wikipedia article the question names, and every numeric answer was worked a second time. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

Here are 48 questions of our own for a free OAE Middle Grades Science practice test, three per competency of assessment 029. They are unofficial and not affiliated with the Ohio State Board of Education or Evaluation Systems, Pearson.

Read the full guide

What OAE Middle Grades Science (029) covers

The framework at oh.nesinc.com, read October 12, 2026, weighs Nature of Science 19%, Physical Science 31%, Life Science 25%, and Earth and Space Science 25%. The questions follow those shares, with 9, 15, 12 and 12.

Timing

Exam mode runs the 48 questions in 69 minutes, the real test's 1.44 minutes a question.

What the test provides

The test page lists an on-screen scientific calculator, a formulas and constants page, and a periodic table.

Questions and answers

Is this OAE Middle Grades Science practice test free?

Free, with no account. Each explanation names the public article that confirms the fact, and no question is copied from the real assessment or its samples.

How many questions are on OAE Middle Grades Science?

125, every one multiple choice, answered in 3 hours after a 15-minute tutorial. According to the test page, questions still being tried out can appear among them without affecting anyone's score.

What do you need to pass OAE Middle Grades Science?

A scaled score of 220 or more. The scale runs 100 to 300, the minimum is set by the State Board of Education, and the score reflects how many multiple-choice questions were right.

Which license needs OAE Middle Grades Science?

The program's table lists 029 for the Middle Childhood (4–9) Science license, with Assessment of Professional Knowledge: Middle Childhood (002) and Foundations of Reading (190). It also serves the Middle Childhood Generalist: Science (4–6) endorsement.

Can I take the OAE Middle Grades Science test at home?

Yes: the test page allows remote testing with an online proctor, in one-week windows each month, without breaks. A restroom break at a test center comes out of your 3 hours.

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