A cook grabs the metal handle of a pan that has sat on a hot burner, and the handle is hot. Which kind of thermal energy transfer heated the handle?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "The Transfer of Heat Energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.PS3.2
A dropped ball bounces a little lower each time until it stops. What happened to its energy?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Laws of energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.PS3.1
A roller coaster car is stopped at the top of the highest hill. Which kind of energy is greatest at that moment?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Forms of energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.PS3.1
A skateboarder starts at the top of a steep ramp and rolls down, going faster and faster with no pushing. What is happening to the energy?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Forms of energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.PS3.1
A student must design a cup that keeps cocoa hot for as long as possible. Which design fits what is known about thermal energy transfer?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "The Transfer of Heat Energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ETS1.2
You stand beside a campfire. The side of your body that faces the fire warms, though the air around you is cool. Which transfer warms you?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "The Transfer of Heat Energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.PS3.2
Show all 40 questions (34 more)
Life Sciences 12
A bee feeds on the nectar of a flower and carries its pollen to other flowers. Both the bee and the plant benefit. What kind of relationship is this?NOAA Ocean Exploration, "What is symbiosis?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.2
A deer herd grows for five years while food is plentiful. After one winter with very little food, the herd shrinks by half. What does this pattern show?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.1
A tick feeds on the blood of a deer, and the deer is harmed. What kind of relationship is this?NOAA Ocean Exploration, "What is symbiosis?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.2
In a food web diagram, one arrow points from grass to a rabbit and another from the rabbit to a fox. What do the arrows show?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Aquatic food webs"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.3
In a grassland, the number of rabbits falls sharply. What is most likely to happen next to the foxes that eat them?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.2
Kudzu is a fast-growing Asian vine found in the southeastern United States, including Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Why can a non-native plant like kudzu out-compete native plants?National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, "Invasive Plants"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.5
The plants and microbes of a wetland break down waste in the water that flows through it. If the wetland is drained, which benefit to people is lost?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS4.1
Scientists find 40 kinds of fish, insects and plants in Stream A and 6 kinds in Stream B. Using biodiversity as a measure of ecosystem health, what can they conclude?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.4
Two kinds of hawk hunt the same mice in one field. What is the interaction between the two kinds of hawk?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.2
Which biome is the coldest and has almost no trees?NASA Earth Observatory, "Biome: Tundra"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.4
Which is a nonliving factor that can limit how many fish live in a pond?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.1
Which organisms form the lowest level, the base, of a food web?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Aquatic food webs"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.LS2.3
Earth and Space Sciences 22
A cold front passes over a town. What is happening to the air masses there?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "Air Masses"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.7
A continental polar air mass moves from Canada into Tennessee in January. Which change in local weather is most likely?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "Air Masses"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.7
A forested watershed is cleared and covered with roads and roofs. What happens to rainwater there?U.S. Geological Survey, "Runoff: Surface and Overland Water Runoff"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.5
A large forest is cut down. What is the most likely effect on transpiration in that area?U.S. Geological Survey, "Evapotranspiration and the Water Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.5
A maritime tropical air mass forms over a warm ocean. What is its air like?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "Air Masses"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.7
A power plant uses heat found inside the earth to make electricity. Which renewable resource is it using?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Geothermal explained"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS3.2
According to NOAA, what would regional temperatures be like if the ocean had no currents?NOAA Ocean Exploration, "How does the ocean affect climate and weather on land?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.3
Besides differences in water density and the tides, what drives ocean currents at or near the surface?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is a current?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.2
Deep ocean currents are called thermohaline currents. Which two properties of water does that name point to?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is the global ocean conveyor belt?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.2
The Gulf Stream carries warm water into cold northern latitudes. What does that warm water do to the atmosphere there?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is the global ocean conveyor belt?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.3
How would Earth's surface be different without its natural greenhouse effect?NASA Science, "What is the greenhouse effect?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.6
Moist air rises over a mountain range and drops its rain on one side. What is the area of reduced precipitation on the far side called?National Weather Service Glossary, "Rain Shadow"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.3
On a sunny day at the coast, air over the land warms and becomes less dense, while air over the water stays cooler and denser. Which way does the breeze near the surface blow?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "The Sea Breeze"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.1
Under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, what is an endangered species?NOAA Fisheries, "Endangered Species Act" (section 3 of the Act); Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS3.3
Water at the bottom of a pot is heated and a steady circulation develops in the liquid. What is this transfer of heat energy in a fluid called?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "The Transfer of Heat Energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.1
What does the force of gravity do in the water cycle?U.S. Geological Survey, "Water cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.4
What is an air mass?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, JetStream, "Air Masses"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.7
What is transpiration?U.S. Geological Survey, "Evapotranspiration and the Water Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.4
Which ocean water is the densest and sinks toward the bottom?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is the global ocean conveyor belt?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.2
Which of these is a greenhouse gas?NASA Science, "What is the greenhouse effect?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.6
Which pair lists one renewable and one nonrenewable energy source?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Sources of energy"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS3.1
Which process changes water vapor in the air into the liquid water of clouds?U.S. Geological Survey, "Condensation and the Water Cycle"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 6, standard 6.ESS2.4
Unofficial practice for the TCAP science test Tennessee gives in sixth grade. The questions are ours, written from the state's standards and blueprint; none comes from a real test. Not affiliated with the Tennessee Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What sixth grade science covers in Tennessee
More than half of the test is Earth and space science: convection in the air and the oceans, the water cycle, greenhouse gases, air masses, and renewable and nonrenewable resources. Life science is about a third: populations, food webs, biomes and invasive species in Tennessee. Physical science is energy and how it is transferred.
How the answers are checked
Each question names the Tennessee standard it practices. Where an answer needs a definition from outside the standard, it rests on a named federal page: NOAA for air masses and ocean currents, the U.S. Geological Survey for the water cycle, NASA for the greenhouse effect.
For a weather question, ask where the air mass formed: over land it is dry, over an ocean it is moist.
Questions and answers
What is on the 6th grade science TCAP?
Three reporting categories. Earth and space sciences make up 51 to 62 percent of items, life sciences 29 to 36 percent and physical sciences 15 to 18 percent. Engineering items, up to 10 percent, are reported with one of the three.
How many questions are on the 6th grade science TCAP?
The test has 48 to 49 items, and 39 to 40 of them count toward the score. The others are field test items. This page has 40 questions, the size of the scored part.
How long is the TCAP science test in 6th grade?
Ninety minutes: two subparts of 45 minutes each, taken online, according to the state's assessment overview for grades 6 to 8.
Can you use a calculator on the TCAP science test?
In grades 6, 7 and 8, yes: the state's overview says calculators are allowed. Its calculator guidance says none is permitted on the science tests in grades 3 to 5.