Grade 3 Science SOL Practice Test — Set 2 of 6
Set 2 of 6 — 50 more free Grade 3 Science SOL practice questions from official VDOE released tests.
1. Which kind of precipitation can be seen on a July day in Virginia?
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Answer: F — Rain
2. Which of these changes the most as a balloon is being blown up?
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Answer: B — The volume of air in the balloon
3. Which is a life need of a third-grade child?
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Answer: F — Food
4. Water and wind can break rock into small pieces. What happens to these small pieces when they break away?
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Answer: B — They become part of the soil.
5. Turning off lights when you leave a room is a way to —
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Answer: G — save energy
6. Why are decomposers important in any environment?
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Answer: C — They help to break down dead organisms.
7. Three plants have been growing on the same sunny windowsill for six weeks. One plant is tall and healthy, one is medium-sized, and one is small and wilted. What may have caused the difference in appearance?
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Answer: D — Different amounts of water
8. These animals can be grouped together because they all —
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Answer: D — have feathers
9. A container holds water with oil floating on top. The following objects are placed in the container: a paper clip, a marble, an ice cube, and a balloon. Which of these is floating on water but sinking in oil?
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Answer: H — The ice cube
10. Wind has shaped rock and sand in the desert into smooth, curved forms. What kind of weather condition probably created these forms in the desert?
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Answer: D — Wind
11. Which of the following ways to travel pollutes the air the least?
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Answer: F — Riding a bike
12. Two pictures show the same tree at different times of the year. The first picture shows green leaves on the tree. The second picture shows the leaves changing color and falling. These pictures show the seasons changing from —
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Answer: B — summer to fall
13. Which of these is not a natural resource?
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Answer: F — Plastic
14. As a baby, which animal looks most different from its parent?
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Answer: D — A caterpillar
15. Four cloths are shown drying. One cloth is thin and spread out, one is thick and folded, one is thick and spread out, and one is thin and folded. Which cloth will most likely dry first?
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Answer: D — Thin and spread out
16. Which of these can move a nail lying on a table without touching the nail?
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Answer: F — A magnet
17. Settlers built homes made of logs. Which type of natural resource area had to be readily available for settlers to build this type of home?
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Answer: B — Forests
18. A glass of hot water has water drops on the inside edge of the glass. Where did the water come from?
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Answer: J — It condensed from the rising steam.
19. Some of the stages in the development of a dandelion are listed below, but they are out of order. Stages described: • A seed with a white, fluffy top that can be carried by wind • A small green plant with leaves close to the ground • A yellow dandelion flower • A round white seed head after flowering What is the correct order of development from first to last?
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Answer: A — Seed with fluffy top → small green plant → yellow flower → round white seed head
20. Which of these best shows wheels and axles being used?
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Answer: B — A doorknob turning to open a door
21. Water trapped inside cracks of rocks may freeze during the winter. When water freezes, it expands. This can cause —
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Answer: G — rocks to break apart
22. A thermometer is marked in degrees Celsius with labeled points at –40, –30, –20, –10, 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40. The liquid inside the thermometer stops exactly at 0°C. What is the temperature of the air around the thermometer?
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Answer: F — 0°C
23. Which object will be attracted to a magnet?
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Answer: F — An iron nail
24. A student asked classmates to name their favorite color. The results are listed below: John – Red Mark – Blue Mai – Blue Jose – Green Jerome – Purple Lacrisha – Purple Jonathan – Red Sidney – Red Bernard – Purple Which graph correctly represents this data? Counts: • Red: 3 students • Blue: 2 students • Green: 1 student • Purple: 3 students
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Answer: A — A bar graph showing Red = 3, Blue = 2, Green = 1, Purple = 3
25. The weather is part of the daily news. Tracking the weather is most important for people who —
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Answer: H — plant crops
26. An eyedropper has measurement marks labeled 1 mL, 2 mL, 3 mL, and 4 mL. The water level is exactly at the 2 mL mark. What is the volume of water in the eyedropper?
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Answer: A — 2.0 milliliters
27. A stick of clay is cut into several smaller pieces. No material is added or removed. Which of these is the only thing that changes?
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Answer: H — Its shape
28. Many plants wilt in the summertime because they do not have enough —
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Answer: B — water
29. Perfume is sprayed into the air. You can smell it but not see it because —
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Answer: J — the droplets are too small to see
30. Which of these shows a rock with a mass of 10 grams?
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Answer: C — One rock with a mass of 10 g
31. Which of these is a natural part of soil?
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Answer: H — silt
32. Two different shadow shapes are shown on a wall. One shadow is circular, and one is rectangular. Which object could make both shadows when turned in different positions?
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Answer: A — A rectangular box
33. Which of these shows food-storing behavior?
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Answer: J — A squirrel burying nuts
34. Which of these will most likely float on water?
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Answer: B — A block of pine wood
35. Which pair of animals shows mimicry, where one animal looks like another for protection?
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Answer: G — Monarch butterfly and viceroy butterfly
36. Which of these is a natural resource?
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Answer: A — coal
37. A repeating pattern of colored blocks is shown as: Blue, Green, Red, Blue, Green, Red, Blue, Green,? Which color completes the pattern?
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Answer: H — Red
38. Which of the following objects can increase in volume?
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Answer: A — Air
39. An animal has hooves, lives on land with few trees, and runs fast over grasslands. Which type of habitat is this animal best suited for?
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Answer: G — Open plains
40. Which of these can a tree live without?
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Answer: C — birds
41. Roberto found a young plant with two small leaves and a thin green stem. Which of the following could later develop from that young plant?
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Answer: A — A flowering plant
42. A food chain is described as: Leaf → Caterpillar → Frog → Snake Which organism is the producer?
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Answer: J — leaf
43. Sugar will dissolve most easily in which beaker of water?
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Answer: J — Water at 60°C
44. Which of these is a nonliving thing that mice need to live?
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Answer: A — water
45. Several ring magnets are placed on a pencil so that they push away from each other and do not touch. What can be understood about these magnets?
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Answer: H — The same poles of the magnets are facing each other.
46. The roots of a desert plant are close to the surface of the ground. This helps the plant —
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Answer: D — take in rainwater quickly
47. Raccoons eat fish, berries, nuts, and green plants. The raccoon is —
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Answer: G — an omnivore
48. Which tool is used to measure air temperature?
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Answer: A — A thermometer
49. Which of these animals belongs in a group that has six legs and only two wings?
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Answer: G — Fly
50. How do frogs survive the cold winter?
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Answer: D — They hibernate.
Grade 3 Science SOL practice test — FAQ
Are these Grade 3 Science SOL practice questions free?
Yes — this Grade 3 Science SOL practice test is completely free with no signup. Answer each question to check it instantly, or open "Show answer" to review.
How many Grade 3 Science SOL practice questions are there?
Across all sets, there are 267 Grade 3 Science practice questions drawn from official Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests. This set has 50.
Are these real Virginia SOL questions?
The questions are adapted from official VDOE released SOL tests for Grade 3 Science. SOL Prep is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Virginia Department of Education.
Practice items adapted from Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests. Practice items are provided for study purposes and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Virginia Department of Education.