Science
What the domain tests
The Science domain emphasizes inquiry, not memorized facts. Questions ask you to identify process skills, select developmentally appropriate investigations, recognize children’s misconceptions, and connect science to literacy, math, and health.
Core concepts
- Process skills include observing, comparing, classifying, measuring, predicting, inferring, communicating, and recording.
- Inquiry cycle: question, prediction, plan, investigation, evidence, explanation, and communication.
- Life science: needs of living things, life cycles, habitats, and inherited traits.
- Physical science: properties of matter, motion, forces, light, sound, and heat.
- Earth science: weather, seasons, rocks and soil, water, and day/night.
- Safety and ethics: supervise tools, model handwashing, avoid tasting unknown materials, and use nonhazardous supplies.
Worked example
Children predict whether a cork, coin, and crayon will sink or float, then test them in water and record results on a class chart. The reasoning: prediction is not guessing; it is a claim based on prior experience, and the chart preserves evidence for comparison. The teacher asks, “What pattern do you notice?” rather than announcing “cork floats.” When a child says the coin sank “because it is heavy,” the teacher offers a smaller and larger coin to test the weight idea, and later introduces material and shape. The assessment target is whether the child can use evidence, not whether the prediction was right.
Traps
A teacher demonstration with no child prediction or recording is not inquiry. Avoid explaining buoyancy through “weight” alone; a large heavy object can float and a small heavy one can sink. Do not correct a misconception by repeating the right answer-design a discrepant event. Keep activities safe: no tasting, no open flames, and no unsupervised water play.