Give your fifth grader the confidence to succeed on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Grade 5 Science assessment.
This book contains five full-length practice tests — 200 questions total — aligned to the 2018 Science Standards of Learning and built to match the format, difficulty, and content of the real Grade 5 Science SOL exam.
- Length: a real SOL form shows a student 50 questions, but only 40 count.
- Field-test items: the other ten are field-test questions tried out for future exams; they look exactly like the rest and there is no way to tell them apart.
- Each practice test here: 40 questions — the number that actually counts — and every one is a scored-style question with a full explanation.
One thing about this test surprises families more than any other: the Grade 5 Science SOL covers Grade 4 science as well as Grade 5. Two of the four reporting categories come wholly or mostly from the Grade 4 standards. A student who studies only this year’s work has prepared for about half the test, so this book covers both years.
What’s inside
- 5 complete 40-question practice tests (200 questions total)
- The four reporting categories in equal quarters — 10 questions each, exactly as Virginia builds the test: Force, Motion, Energy, and Matter; Electricity, Sound, and Light; Living Systems and Ecosystem Interactions; and Earth/Space Systems and Earth Resources
- 75 original diagrams, tables, graphs, and models — circuits, food webs, the rock cycle, forces, moon phases, watersheds — drawn from the numbers, not decorative
- Detailed answer explanations for every question — not just the correct letter, but step-by-step reasoning that builds real understanding
- A parent letter with test-taking tips, plus a Grade 5 Science Study Reference for studying — Virginia publishes no reference sheet for this test, and the book says so plainly
- A quick-reference answer key for all five tests for fast scoring
Topics covered
- Energy forms and transformations, and the devices that convert one form to another
- Speed, motion patterns, balanced and unbalanced forces, collisions, and friction
- Electricity, conductors and insulators, circuits, static electricity, and the magnetic field a current creates
- Sound and light as waves, amplitude and wavelength, and reflection
- Properties of matter, particle models, conservation of matter, and changes of state
- Plants building material from air and water; plant and animal structures
- Populations, ecosystems, food webs, habitats, and classification keys
- Weather data, seasonal patterns, and comparing climates across regions
- Earth’s motions, moon phases, tides, the seasons, and the solar system’s scale
- The ocean floor, ocean water, and Virginia’s watersheds and natural resources
- Earth’s internal energy, moving plates, the rock cycle, weathering, and erosion
- Rock layers and fossils as a record of how Earth has changed
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Written by experienced educators who study Virginia’s official SOL blueprints, curriculum framework, and released item samplers
- Every question mirrors what students will see on test day — no surprises in format, content, or rigor
- Explanations teach the “why,” not just the “what,” so students learn from every mistake
- Item types and contexts varied across the five tests — every question feels fresh
- Built to the two-grade span the blueprint requires, so a student is not blindsided by the Grade 4 half of the test
Pair it with the flashcards
Smart Stars Virginia SOL 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.
