This book holds four flashcard decks: 140 cards written to the 45 New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards the Grade 5 ELS test draws on. Every card is a new item, not a reprint of the Smart Stars practice-test book. Read the front, answer in your head, then turn the page to flip it. The Grade 5 test is not a test of Grade 5 science: it assesses grades 3, 4, and 5 together, and on released forms grade 3 standards appear about as often as grade 5. (The real test is 34 to 41 one-credit questions in 7 to 9 clusters, in one untimed sitting of about 90 minutes. Physical Sciences is the largest reported area at 34 to 40 percent, Earth and Space Sciences 27 to 33, Life Sciences 23 to 30; the cards follow the same split: 56, 44, and 40.)
What’s inside
- Four color-coded decks of 35 cards each: Like Test Day (test-style questions), Key Concepts (one science idea per card), Vocabulary (the terms the test uses), and Trouble Spots (the ideas elementary science most often confuses)
- Like Test Day cards written the way the test asks them: four-choice multiple choice and multi-select with the count stated, with the drawings and tables the screen version carries
- A drawing on every card: 140 figures, each computed from that card’s own numbers
- Key Concepts cards that ask your child to explain an idea, then show the principle and one worked example
- Vocabulary cards that define each term in the language the test uses
- Trouble Spots cards whose wrong choices are the mix-ups students make
- The answer on the very next page: the correct answer, a worked explanation in plain language, and a Tip that names the mistake behind the wrong choices
- The New York standard each card tests, printed on the back word for word, with its reporting area and grade
- Each deck in its own color on every page; the amber box is always a Tip
- A letter to families on how the test is built, scored, and reported, with test-taking tips
- A Study Reference printing every standard the cards are written to, grouped by grade
- A Quick Answer Key for the two question decks
Topics covered
- Balanced and unbalanced forces, and patterns in motion that predict what comes next
- Energy transfer by sound, light, heat, and electric current
- Collisions, waves, and how light lets us see an object
- Matter and its particles, and the conservation of weight through a change
- Identifying materials by their properties; mixtures against new substances
- Gravity, and where the energy in food comes from
- Weather against climate, and reading a season’s worth of data
- Rock layers, fossils, weathering, and erosion
- Natural resources, natural hazards, and engineered solutions
- The Sun’s brightness against other stars, shadows, and Earth’s spheres
- Where Earth’s water is, and community decisions made with science
- Life cycles, inherited traits, adaptation, and survival structures
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Written by experienced educators working from New York’s own educator guide and released forms
- Every card names its standard and its grade, so study time goes to what a student is actually missing
- All 140 cards are original items, never repeated from the practice-test book
How to use this book
Work through one deck in order the first time; after that, jump to any deck from the table of contents. Answer before turning the page, then read the back even when you were right. Start with Like Test Day and Vocabulary, and save Trouble Spots for last. Ten to fifteen cards a day over several weeks beats one long sitting.
The four decks
- Like Test Day (35 cards): Each card is a test-style question written to the Grade 5 Elementary-level Science Test (ELS).
- Key Concepts (35 cards): Each card asks you to explain one science idea from the Grade 5 ELS test.
- Vocabulary (35 cards): Each card shows one science term that appears on the Grade 5 ELS test.
- Trouble Spots (35 cards): Each card is a test-style question built around an idea that elementary science commonly confuses students on.
How the cards work
Read the front of a card, answer it in your head, then turn the page to flip it. The answer card shows the correct answer, a worked explanation, a Tip naming the mistake behind the wrong choices, and the exact New York standard the card tests.
Color code. Each deck has its own color on every card, so you always know which deck you are in. The amber box is always a Tip.
The real ELS test assesses grades 3, 4, and 5 together, not just Grade 5. These 140 cards spread across all three grades the way a real form does.
Pair it with the practice tests
New York NYSTP Grade 5 Science Practice Tests
Work through full-length practice tests in the same test format, then use these cards to review what each test turns up.
