Third grade science in the shares of Tennessee's TCAP blueprint: matter and forces, Earth and space, living things.
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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Tennessee Department of Education. Bank checked October 13, 2026.
The real test: TCAP science, grade 3
Time limit
60 minutes
Subparts
One, of 60 minutes.
How it is given
On paper, in a consumable test booklet. Students write every answer in the booklet.
Items
30 to 31 in all. 25 to 26 of them count; the rest are field test items.
Calculator
Not allowed.
Categories
Physical Sciences 31 to 40% of items, Earth and Space Sciences 27 to 36%, Life Sciences 23 to 28%. Engineering items (0 to 8%) are reported with one of the thre
Item kinds
Multiple choice with four options, one point each; multiple select with more than four options, two points with partial credit.
A ball rolls off a table and drops to the floor. Which force pulls the ball down without touching it?NASA Space Place, "What Is Gravity?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS2.1
A magnet held under a thin plastic table makes a steel paper clip on top slide along. What does this show?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.3
A student holds a hand near a lamp that is switched on. The bulb glows and the hand feels warm. Which evidence shows that energy is present?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.1
A student sorts metal objects by whether a magnet attracts them. Why does this property help to identify a material?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.3
A team tests two paper bridges three times each. Design A holds 4, 5 and 4 books. Design B holds 8, 9 and 8 books. Which claim does the evidence support?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ETS1.2
Show all 40 questions (35 more)
Physical Sciences, continued
Air is pumped into a bicycle tire. What does the air do inside the tire?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Phases of Matter"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.1
An ice cube melts into a puddle. Which property changed, and which stayed the same?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.3
Cake batter is baked in a hot oven. Why is baking a change that cannot be reversed?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.2
In a flashlight, what carries energy from the battery to the bulb?U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy Kids, "Science of electricity"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.2
Melted candle wax cools and turns hard again. What does this show about melting?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.2
The north pole of one magnet is pushed toward the north pole of another magnet. What happens?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Magnets and electricity"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.3
Students must design a lunch box that keeps food cold for 4 hours and costs less than $10 to make. Which part is a criterion, something the design must do?Cambridge Dictionary, "criterion"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ETS1.1
Three bulbs are wired in a parallel circuit, each on its own branch. One bulb is unscrewed. What happens to the other two?The Physics Classroom, "Two Types of Connections"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.2
Three bulbs are wired in a series circuit, one after another on a single path. One bulb is unscrewed. What happens to the other two?The Physics Classroom, "Two Types of Connections"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS3.2
Which list names only forces that can act on an object without touching it?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS2.1
Which sentence describes a solid?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Phases of Matter"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.PS1.1
Life Sciences 10
A chart shows two life cycles. Salmon: egg, alevin, fry, smolt, adult. Monarch butterfly: egg, larva, pupa, adult. What do the two life cycles share?U.S. Forest Service, "Monarch Butterfly Biology"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS1.1
A honeybee colony has a queen, worker bees and drones. What does this show about how the group is organized?U.S. Forest Service, "Bee Pollination"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS2.1
A newly hatched salmon, called an alevin, has a yolk sac attached to its belly. What is the yolk sac for?National Park Service, Olympic National Park, "The Salmon Life Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS1.2
A pond dries up a little more each year. Which animal is least likely to survive there as the habitat changes?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS4.1
A saguaro cactus has pleats that swell like an accordion after a heavy rain. What does this structure help the cactus do?National Park Service, Saguaro National Park, "Saguaro"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS1.2
A salmon's life cycle begins with eggs laid in the gravel of a stream. Where do the young salmon go as they grow?National Park Service, Olympic National Park, "The Salmon Life Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS1.1
A town turns an empty paved lot into a garden with many kinds of native plants. What is most likely to happen to the biodiversity of the lot?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS4.2
In a monarch butterfly's life cycle, what is the chrysalis?U.S. Forest Service, "Monarch Butterfly Biology"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS1.1
What does the word biodiversity mean?National Park Service, "What is Biodiversity?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS4.2
Wolves live and hunt in packs. What is one benefit of hunting as a group?National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, "Wolf Ecology"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.LS2.1
Earth and Space Sciences 14
A lightning rod is fixed to the roof of a school. Which hazard is it meant to protect the building from?National Weather Service, "Lightning Rods"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS3.1
A river carries sand and soil downstream and drops them at its mouth. Which two spheres are interacting?NASA, My NASA Data, "About the Geosphere"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.1
A small rock from space enters Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burns up as a streak of light. What is the streak called?NASA Science, "Meteors and Meteorites"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS1.1
A student records the afternoon temperature for five days: 61°F, 64°F, 68°F, 71°F and 75°F. What pattern do the data show?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.3
A weather station records an average temperature below 50°F in every month of the year, even its warmest. Which major climate does it have?NOAA JetStream, "Climate Zones"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.4
Engineers must choose one of two flood wall designs for a town. Which information is the best evidence for the choice?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ETS1.2
Jupiter is an outer planet. How is it different from the inner planets?NASA Science, "About the Planets"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS1.1
Rain, sleet, snow and hail are all forms of what?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Precipitation and the Water Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.2
Water in a puddle slowly disappears on a sunny day. Which process moves the water into the air?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Evaporation and the Water Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.2
What supplies the energy that makes water evaporate and keeps the water cycle going?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Water cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.2
Which body is a rocky, airless object that orbits the Sun, most often between Mars and Jupiter?NASA Science, "Asteroids"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS1.1
Which major climate is found near the Equator, where every month is warm?NOAA JetStream, "Climate Zones"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.4
Which of Earth's spheres is its liquid water, such as oceans, rivers and lakes?NASA, My NASA Data, "About the Hydrosphere"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.1
Which tool measures the speed of the wind?National Weather Service Glossary, "Anemometer"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 3, standard 3.ESS2.3
Unofficial practice for Tennessee's third grade science TCAP: 40 questions of our own, written from the state's standards in the shares of its blueprint. None comes from a real test or an item release. Not affiliated with the Tennessee Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What third grade science covers in Tennessee
Physical science is the largest share: particles in solids, liquids and gases, changes that can and cannot be reversed, gravity, magnets and circuits. Earth and space science is next: planets, asteroids and meteors, Earth's spheres, the water cycle, weather data, climates and natural hazards. Life science asks about life cycles, body structures, animal groups, changing habitats and biodiversity. Three questions are on engineering design.
Where each answer comes from
Every question names its Tennessee standard. Where the answer needs a fact the standard does not state, a public page is named beside it: NASA for planets and gravity, the U.S. Geological Survey for the water cycle, the National Park Service for salmon, wolves and cactus.
Third graders write every answer in the test booklet itself, so there is no separate answer sheet to fill in.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the 3rd grade TCAP science test?
Students answer 30 to 31 items. Only 25 to 26 are operational and scored; the others are field test items. This page has 40 questions, so that every standard on the blueprint gets asked.
How long is the 3rd grade science TCAP?
60 minutes, in one subpart. Calculators are not allowed. Grade 3 uses a consumable test booklet, and students place all their answers in it.
What is on the TCAP science test in 3rd grade?
The blueprint lists Physical Sciences at 31 to 40 percent of items, Earth and Space Sciences at 27 to 36 percent and Life Sciences at 23 to 28 percent. Engineering items, at most 8 percent, are reported inside one of those three.
Is this the state's TCAP science practice test for grade 3?
No. It is unofficial. Tennessee's overview says its own test practice is on the TCAP Portal, sorted by content area and grade, and that each has a release guide with the key.