Subtest II: Science and Social Studies
ORELA Elementary Education Subtest II samples science and social studies knowledge and the inquiry practices used in elementary classrooms. Items may ask you to interpret a simple experiment, read a map, analyze a source, or explain a civics or economics concept with grade-appropriate accuracy.
Science
- Scientific inquiry starts with a testable question. The independent variable is changed; the dependent variable is measured; constants are held the same.
- Physical science: matter, energy, forces, and simple machines. Life science: cells, ecosystems, food webs, heredity, and adaptation. Earth/space: rocks, water cycle, weather, seasons, and solar system.
- Adaptations are inherited traits that improve survival in a specific environment; avoid teleological language such as 'the plant wanted light.'
Social studies
- History: distinguish primary from secondary sources; sequence events; identify cause and effect; recognize perspective and bias.
- Geography: use scale, latitude/longitude, and thematic maps; explain human-environment interaction.
- Civics: Constitution, separation of powers, federalism, rights and responsibilities.
- Economics: scarcity forces choices; opportunity cost is the next-best alternative given up, not always money.
Worked example
A map scale reads 1 cm = 25 km. Two towns are 6.4 cm apart on the map. Set up the proportion 1/25 = 6.4/x; cross-multiply to get x = 160 km. The scale is a ratio, not an additive rule, so adding 25 km to 6.4 would be wrong.
Traps
- Swapping independent and dependent variables in an experiment.
- Using map scale in the reverse direction or adding instead of multiplying.
- Assuming correlation proves causation.
- Judging historical actors only by present-day norms (presentism).
- Confusing opportunity cost with the price paid.