THE IOWA TESTS
Analysis of Science Materials
(9th Grade)
Provided by Home Ed (Home Educators of Greater Little Rock)
This test provides information about students' abilities to interpret and evaluate information in the sciences, to recognize basic principles of scientific inquiry and measurement, and to analyze experimental procedures. The questions relate to physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, health and medicine, and astronomy. Most of the questions are based on reading materials that students encounter in textbooks, reference materials, and periodicals. Many of the passages provide descriptions of actual experiments and their results. Recall of specific information plays a limited role. Instead, the questions require students to think critically about diverse kinds of scientific information; to differentiate among hypotheses, facts, assumptions, data, and conclusions; to make inferences and predictions; to evaluate evidence; to see implications; and to generalize experimental results to related situations.