Give your fifth grader the confidence to succeed on New York's Grade 5 Elementary-level Science Test.
This book contains five full-length practice tests — 175 questions total — aligned to the New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards and designed to match the format, difficulty, and content of the real Grade 5 science test. Every test follows the shape of the state’s own released form: seven question clusters and 35 questions, with every question worth one credit, as on test day.
Take a look inside
Every question on the real test belongs to a cluster: a short science story with a title, a few paragraphs of setup, and tables, graphs, and models that arrive one at a time between the questions. This book is built the same way, and because New York’s own guide says New York phenomena are emphasized, the stories are set in real New York places — lake-effect snow over the Tug Hill Plateau, Niagara Falls moving upstream, fireflies in a Long Island meadow, eels in the Hudson.
The Grade 5 science test is not a test of Grade 5 science alone. It assesses the standards for grades 3, 4, and 5 together, and on the state’s released forms grade 3 standards appear about as often as grade 5 standards. A child who reviews only this year’s science has prepared for about a third of the test. Every test here spreads its questions across all three grades, the way a real form does.
On test day: New York’s Grade 5 science test is untimed and given in one sitting, with the state planning on about 90 minutes, and a four-function calculator is provided.
What’s inside
- 5 complete 35-question practice tests (175 questions total), each built as seven clusters the way a real form is built
- Questions drawn across grades 3, 4, and 5 — the whole band the test assesses — not grade 5 content alone
- Every question style on the real test, rendered for paper: multiple choice, written responses, complete-the-model, select-two, check-mark tables, and draw-the-graph questions
- Detailed answer explanations for every question — the reasoning, an exemplary response for every written question, and a tip, check, or big idea
- 35 different New York science stories across the five tests — no repeats
- A parent letter on the test’s shape, scoring, and four performance levels; test-taking tips for a cluster-style test; a Grade 5 Science Study Reference covering all three grades; and a quick answer key
Topics covered
- Balanced and unbalanced forces, and patterns in motion that predict what happens next
- Magnets and electromagnets, static electricity, and gravity’s pull toward the center of Earth
- Speed and energy, collisions, sound and light waves, and how a device converts energy
- Particles too small to see, conservation of matter, and evidence that a new substance formed
- Plant and animal structures, senses and responses, and inherited traits shaped by the environment
- Fossils and rock layers as evidence of a changing New York
- Food webs, decomposers, and where a plant’s material really comes from
- Weather and climate, the water cycle, Earth’s water, and the erosion that moves Niagara Falls
- Patterns in the day and night sky — the sun, the stars, and shadows
- Natural hazards from ice storms to earthquakes, and testing whether a design really reduces damage
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Written by experienced educators who study New York’s official educator guide, scoring materials, and released forms
- Explanations teach the “why,” not just the “what,” so students learn from every mistake
- Built to the grades 3–5 band the test actually assesses — the thing families are most often surprised by
Pair it with the flashcards
Smart Stars New York NYSTP Grade 5 Science Flashcards: Four Decks, 140 Cards
140 cards in four decks: Like Test Day, Key Concepts, Vocabulary, and Trouble Spots. Short review sessions between practice tests, on a phone, a tablet, or a Kindle.
