Give your fifth grader the confidence to succeed on the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS), the science test of the Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP).
This book contains five full-length practice tests — 165 questions total — aligned to Washington’s 2013 K–12 Science Learning Standards. The fact that surprises Washington families most is the one this book is built around: the Grade 5 WCAS is not a test of Grade 5 science alone. It draws on the standards for grades 3, 4 and 5 together — 45 performance expectations, of which only 13 belong to grade 5. A student who reviews only this year’s science has prepared for less than a third of the test. Every explanation here names the grade whose standard the question tests.
What’s inside
- 5 complete 33-question practice tests (165 questions total), each worth 35 points
- The shape of the real WCAS: five item clusters of five questions built on a staged scenario, plus eight standalone items
- Scored to Washington’s own blueprint on every test — 14 points Physical Science, 10 Life Science, 11 Earth and Space Science
- All 45 performance expectations covered, none used only once
- Multiple-choice, multi-select, grid and ordering items, and 2-point written responses
- 10 written responses, each with a full-credit and a partial-credit sample answer and a scorer’s note
- Washington’s 2-point scoring rubric printed in the book, before the Quick Answer Key
- Detailed explanations for every question — not just the correct letter, but step-by-step reasoning
- Every answer labeled with its standard, reporting category, grade and skill
- Engineering design handled the way Washington handles it: bundled into a cluster, scored into its host domain
- 28 drawings and 26 data tables, so students read figures the way the real test asks them to
- Scenarios set in real Washington places — Puget Sound and Deception Pass, the Elwha River, Lake Chelan, the Skagit at Mount Vernon, the Palouse, Willapa Bay, Spokane and the Cascades
- A parent letter with test-taking tips, plus a Grade 5 Science Study Reference covering all three years
- A quick-reference answer key for all five tests
Topics covered
- Weather patterns and climate, the Sun and other stars, daylight and shadows
- Rock layers and fossils, weathering and erosion, and reading maps
- Earth’s four interacting systems, where Earth’s water is, and protecting resources
- Life cycles, group behavior, habitats, and variation and survival
- Inherited traits and traits shaped by the environment
- Structures plants and animals use to survive; senses and the brain
- How plants build themselves from air and water; matter moving through ecosystems
- Balanced and unbalanced forces, patterns of motion, and gravity
- Speed and energy, collisions, and devices that change energy from one form to another
- Energy moving as sound, light and heat; waves and how we see
- Particles too small to see, weight before and after a change, and identifying materials
- Defining a problem, comparing designs, and improving a prototype through fair tests
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Written by educators who study Washington’s official WCAS item specifications and blueprint
- 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
- Built across grades 3, 4 and 5 — the span the real Grade 5 WCAS actually draws from
How to use this book
Take one test at a time in a quiet space, in about 90 minutes, as on test day. Washington gives no reference sheet during the Grade 5 science test, so use the Study Reference before a sitting rather than during one. Score with the quick answer key, then review every explanation, even for questions answered correctly. Space the five tests over several weeks.
Pair it with the flashcards
Smart Stars Washington WCAS 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.
