🦉
Fred
Hi! I'm Fred the Owl, your science coach. This is an Iowa / ITBS-style Grade 4 Science practice — energy, waves, Earth's changing surface, and structures of living things. Pick an answer to see the science behind it.
Font: Speed:
Iowa Assessments · ITBS · Science · Grade 4

Science — Grade 4

FlyingMinds Iowa Test Prep — original, advanced practice built by FlyingMinds to help you become a critical thinker and pass the test
Grade 4EnergyWavesEarth ScienceLiving Things
📋 Test Overview
Test
Iowa / ITBS-style Science practice
Grade level
Grade 4
Length
practice + challenge + 4 explain prompts — more practice than Testing Mom's Grade 4 Science
Topics
Energy (potential, kinetic, transfer, electricity) · waves (light & sound) · Earth's systems (weathering, erosion, rock layers, fossils, resources) · structures of living things · science practices
How it's upgraded
Reviewed first; evidence-based reasoning; Fred explains the science on every answer
Standards
NGSS 4-PS3, 4-PS4, 4-ESS, 4-LS1 · Iowa Science
⭐ 0 / 62 stars · ✍️ 0 / 4 explanations
📖 Learn 🎯 Practice 🏆 Challenge ✍️ Explain
Before you start: Grade 4 science explores energy, waves, Earth's changing surface, and how living things are built to survive.
📌 FlyingMinds rule: Use evidence to explain WHY, and test ideas fairly.

⚡ Energy

Energy causes change. Potential = stored (position); kinetic = motion. Energy changes form: a battery's chemical energy → light; motion → sound in a crash. Friction makes heat.

🌊 Waves: light & sound

Sound comes from vibrations and needs a material to travel through; bigger vibrations = louder. Light travels much faster than sound, reflects off mirrors, and lets us see.

🏔️ Earth's systems

Weathering breaks rock down; erosion carries it away; deposition drops it. Lower rock layers are older. Fossils are evidence of ancient life. Earthquakes and volcanoes change Earth quickly.

🌿 Structures of living things

Plants and animals have external and internal structures (roots, spines, gills, heart, brain) that help them survive, get food, sense the world, and respond.

🔬 Working like a scientist

A fair test changes one thing and keeps the rest the same. Use the right tools (thermometer for temperature) and use evidence to explain.

🔮 WARM-UP · NOT SCORED
🦉 Fred asks: Give one example of stored energy changing into motion.
Starter: __________ has stored energy that becomes motion when __________ .

🎯 Practice score: 0 / 50

🟢 Part A — Energy

Energy is the ability to cause change. It can move, be stored, and change form.

4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
1. A roller-coaster car at the top of a hill has stored energy because of its position. This is —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
2. As the roller coaster races DOWN the hill, its energy changes mostly to —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
3. Faster-moving objects have MORE —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
4. When two cars collide, energy is transferred and you often hear a crash. The crash is —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
5. Which is a source of LIGHT energy?
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
6. In a flashlight, a battery's stored chemical energy changes into —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
7. Rubbing two sticks together quickly can produce heat because of —
4-PS3 · EnergyENERGY
8. Which uses ELECTRICAL energy to work?

🔵 Part B — Waves: light & sound

Waves carry energy. Sound and light travel as waves and can carry information.

4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
9. Sound is made when something —
4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
10. A guitar string plucked HARDER makes a LOUDER sound. Loudness depends on the wave's —
4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
11. You see lightning before you hear thunder because —
4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
12. Which lets you SEE objects in a dark room?
4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
13. A mirror works by ___ light.
4-PS4 · WavesWAVES
14. Sound waves need a ___ to travel through, like air or water.

🟡 Part C — Earth's systems & changes

Earth's surface changes slowly (weathering, erosion) and quickly (earthquakes, volcanoes).

4-ESS · EarthEARTH
15. Wind and water slowly breaking rock into smaller pieces is —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
16. Moving water carrying away soil and sand is —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
17. Layers of rock can show that the LOWEST layer is usually the —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
18. Fossils found in rock give scientists evidence about —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
19. A sudden shaking of the ground caused by movement deep in the Earth is an —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
20. Which is a quick change to Earth's surface?
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
21. A renewable resource that will not run out is —
4-ESS · EarthEARTH
22. Mountains, rivers, and valleys on a map are examples of Earth's —

🟣 Part D — Structures of living things

Plants and animals have internal and external structures that help them survive, grow, and respond.

4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
23. A cactus's sharp spines help it by —
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
24. Which animal structure helps it SENSE danger from far away?
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
25. A plant's roots help it survive by —
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
26. Animals respond to information from their senses using their —
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
27. A duck's webbed feet are an external structure that help it —
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
28. Which internal structure moves blood through an animal's body?
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
29. Bright flower petals are a structure that helps a plant by —
4-LS1 · StructuresLIVING THINGS
30. A bird's hollow, lightweight bones help it —

⚪ Part E — Mixed science review

A little of everything from Grade 4 science.

Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
31. Which tool measures temperature?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
32. A fair test changes ONE thing and keeps the rest —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
33. Energy from food that lets your body move is —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
34. A solar panel changes sunlight into —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
35. Which list shows rock layers from OLDEST to youngest?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
36. An echo happens when sound waves —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
37. Which best reduces erosion on a bare hillside?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
38. Which structure helps a fish breathe underwater?

🔵 Part F — More science thinking

Apply what you know across energy, Earth, and living things.

Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
39. Which is the BEST conductor of electricity?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
40. A material that does NOT let electricity flow easily is an —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
41. Plants get the energy to make food from —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
42. Which shows energy of MOTION?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
43. Soil is formed over a long time mostly by —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
44. Which natural hazard can be predicted to give people warning time?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
45. Your eyes let you see because they sense —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
46. A thermometer that reads higher means the object has more —
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
47. Which is the FASTEST way information could be sent across a valley at night?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
48. Why do many desert animals come out at night?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
49. Which would reduce wind erosion of a sandy field?
Grade 4 ScienceREVIEW
50. Sound travels FASTEST through —
🏆 Challenge score: 0 / 12
🏆 Challenge round. Reason like a scientist and engineer.
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
51. A ball rolls faster and faster down a ramp. Its kinetic energy is —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
52. You design a test for which ramp is fastest. To be FAIR you should —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
53. A canyon formed over millions of years by a river. This is mostly an example of —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
54. Scientists find ocean-animal fossils on a mountain. This is evidence that —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
55. Why can you hear a friend talking but not see sound waves?
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
56. A plant in a dark closet turns yellow and weak. The BEST explanation is —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
57. To send a message across a dark field at night, which carries information best?
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
58. A bird has a long, thin beak. It most likely uses it to —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
59. Which change to Earth's surface is the FASTEST?
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
60. Coal and oil are NONrenewable because —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
61. A drum makes a louder sound when hit harder because the drum head —
Grade 4 ScienceCHALLENGE
62. Best reason animals have a brain and senses together?
✍️ Write it. Explain your thinking. Fred checks length, key words, and mechanics.
✍️ EXPLAIN #1 · SCORED
🦉 Fred asks: Explain how energy changes form on a roller coaster going down a hill.
Sentence starter: At the top the car has __________, and going down it changes to __________ because __________ .

✍️ EXPLAIN #2 · SCORED
🦉 Fred asks: Explain the difference between weathering and erosion, with an example.
Sentence starter: Weathering is __________, but erosion is __________ because __________ .

✍️ EXPLAIN #3 · SCORED
🦉 Fred asks: Choose an animal structure and explain how it helps the animal survive.
Sentence starter: A __________ has __________, which helps it survive because __________ .

✍️ EXPLAIN #4 · CHALLENGE · SCORED
🦉 Fred asks: Scientists find seashell fossils on a mountain. Explain what this is evidence of and why.
Sentence starter: This is evidence that __________ because __________ .

Scroll to explore the full test
← Back to Fred · All Iowa Tests
✅ Google Classroom opened in a new tab. Sign in, pick "", and click Assign.