Iowa Assessments Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: C

The frog's body never drops below freezing.: Paragraph 3 says ice forms as the temperature drops below freezing, so the frog does get that cold.

No ice can form anywhere inside the frog.: Ice does form — between the cells and in the body cavity.

The frog lives because the ice stays outside its cells.: Correct. Paragraph 2 says ice is deadly because it damages cells; paragraph 3 says the wood frog keeps ice out of its cells. Together they explain its survival — Key Ideas: Connect or extend ideas.

The sugar melts the ice as fast as it forms.: Misreads the antifreeze comparison: sugar lowers the freezing point inside the cells; it does not melt the ice outside them.

Connect the problem (paragraph 2: ice damages cells) to the solution (paragraph 3: ice is kept outside the cells); a conclusion must be supported by both.

Answer: C

Older ways of doing things are always better than new ones.: Too extreme: both Delia and her uncle call it a good bridge, and she says she will be glad to use it.

Young people should learn the family trade before it disappears.: Delia steers once, but the story never suggests she should become a ferry pilot.

Progress can bring real benefits and still cost something worth remembering.: Correct. Delia will be "glad" to use the good bridge, yet she sees that some things — the riders, the stories, the mornings with her uncle — cannot cross with it — Key Ideas: Identify central ideas and their support.

Hard work is more satisfying than speed and convenience.: The ferry is slow, but the story is about the people and memories it carries, not about hard work.

A theme must fit the whole story, including the ending; Delia's last paragraph holds both her gladness about the bridge and what she has learned.

Answer: D

After sentence 1: Sentence 1 mentions only the 5:00 closing; no new hours have been proposed for "those hours" to refer to.

After sentence 4: It would interrupt the point about computers and printers in sentences 4 and 5.

After sentence 6: Sentence 6 shows why students need the library, not how extra hours could be staffed.

After sentence 9: Correct. "Those hours" refers to the evening hours proposed in sentence 9, and the volunteers answer the cost worry in sentence 8 — Planning & Organization: Order of ideas.

A sentence that refers back ("those hours") must come after the sentence that introduces what it refers to.

Answer: B

Before the hike, Ms. Delgado checked: The comma correctly ends the introductory phrase.

the weather, the forecast called for rain,: Correct. Two complete sentences are joined with only a comma (a comma splice). Corrected line: "the weather; the forecast called for rain," — Sentence Structure: Complete sentences.

so she packed ponchos for the whole group.: The comma before so correctly joins the final clause.

No mistakes: There is a mistake: the second line contains a comma splice.

Two independent clauses need a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a conjunction such as and, but or so.

Answer: D

1. Set up the proportion: $\frac{\text{height}}{\text{shadow}}$: $\frac{6}{4}=\frac{h}{18}$.
2. $4h=6\times 18=108$.
3. $h=108÷4=27$ ft.

12 ft: Inverts the ratio, using $\frac{4}{6}$ of 18 instead of $\frac{6}{4}$ of 18.

20 ft: Adds the difference between the pole and its shadow (2 ft) to 18; similar figures scale by multiplying, not adding.

24 ft: Adds the pole's height to the tree's shadow (18 + 6) instead of setting up a proportion.

27 ft: Correct. Corresponding sides are proportional: $\frac{6}{4}=\frac{h}{18}$, so $h=18\times 1.5=27$ — Geometry: similar figures.

In similar triangles, corresponding sides have the same ratio, so set up height-to-shadow ratios and solve the proportion.

Answer: B

1. At 0 hours the cost is $10 (the fixed fee).
2. Each hour adds 16 − 10 = $6.
3. Cost = 10 + 6h; for h = 7: 10 + 42 = $52.

$42: Uses only the hourly rate (6 × 7) and leaves out the $10 starting fee shown at 0 hours.

$52: Correct. The cost starts at $10 and rises $6 per hour, so the cost is 10 + 6 × 7 = $52 — Algebraic Patterns & Connections: functional relationships.

$59.50: Treats the cost as proportional ($34 for 4 hours, so $8.50 per hour); the graph does not pass through (0, 0).

$70: Uses the $10 starting fee as the hourly rate.

A linear relationship with a starting value is not proportional: use cost = starting value + rate × hours, not a ratio.

Answer: B

1. P(first blue) = $\frac{5}{12}$.
2. After one blue is removed: 4 blue of 11 marbles, so P(second blue) = $\frac{4}{11}$.
3. P(both blue) = $\frac{5}{12}\cdot \frac{4}{11}=\frac{20}{132}=\frac{5}{33}$.

$\frac{5}{36}$: Removes the first blue marble from the count of blue marbles but keeps 12 as the total for the second draw: $\frac{5}{12}\cdot \frac{4}{12}$.

$\frac{5}{33}$: Correct. $\frac{5}{12}\cdot \frac{4}{11}=\frac{20}{132}=\frac{5}{33}$, because both the blue count and the total drop by 1 after the first draw — Data Analysis, Probability, & Statistics: probability.

$\frac{25}{144}$: Treats the draws as if the first marble were put back: $\frac{5}{12}\cdot \frac{5}{12}$.

$\frac{103}{132}$: Adds the two probabilities ($\frac{5}{12}+\frac{4}{11}=\frac{103}{132}$) instead of multiplying them; one event followed by another calls for multiplying.

For "without replacement," multiply the probabilities and reduce both the favorable count and the total for the second draw.

Answer: C

W, X, Y, Z, I: Puts the intrusion last, but the erosion surface beneath Z cuts across the top of I, so I formed and was worn down before Z was deposited.

I, W, X, Y, Z: Treats I as oldest because it reaches the bottom; rock that cuts across layers is younger than the layers it cuts.

W, X, Y, I, Z: Correct. Lower layers are older (W, X, Y); I cuts through W, X, and Y, so it is younger than they are; the erosion surface cuts off the top of I, and Z was laid down on that surface, so Z is youngest — Earth & Space Science: Structure of Earth.

Z, I, Y, X, W: This is the correct sequence written from youngest to oldest, the reverse of what the question asks.

In undisturbed layers, lower layers are older; an intrusion is younger than the layers it cuts, and an erosion surface that cuts across it shows the layers above formed later still.

Answer: D

1. Temperature drops: none 28°C, foil 25°C, newspaper 19°C, wool 13°C.
2. The smallest drop means the slowest heat transfer to the room.
3. Wool had the smallest drop.

Wool produces heat, so the water in the wool cup stayed warmest.: Wool does not produce heat; it slows the transfer of heat away from the water. All the cups cooled.

Aluminum foil keeps water hot because it reflects heat back inside.: The foil cup was only 3°C warmer than the unwrapped cup, and the data do not test reflection at all.

Every wrapping slowed the cooling of the water by the same amount.: The wrappings kept the water 3°C, 9°C, and 15°C warmer than no wrapping — not the same amount.

Of the materials tested, wool slowed heat loss from the water the most.: Correct. The wool cup dropped only 13°C (80 to 67), the least of all cups, so wool was the best insulator tested — Physical Science: Forms of & changes in energy.

An insulator slows heat transfer; it does not add heat. Base a conclusion only on the materials that were actually tested.

Answer: A

Congress overrides the veto with a two-thirds vote: Correct. By overriding the President's veto, Congress (the legislative branch) limits the executive branch's power to block a law — Civics & Government: checks and balances.

The President vetoes the bill that Congress has passed: A veto is the executive branch checking the legislative branch — the reverse of what the question asks.

Both houses of Congress pass the bill: Passing a bill is Congress making law, not limiting another branch.

The bill becomes a law without the signature: This is the result of the override, not the action that checks the President.

Checks and balances let each branch limit the others: the President can veto a bill, and Congress can override a veto by a two-thirds vote of each house.

Answer: D

question: The opposite: questioning casts doubt; corroborating removes it.

record: Writing an account down does not confirm it.

repeat: Repeating the same story is not new evidence that it is true.

confirm: Correct. To corroborate is to support a statement with more evidence, confirming it — Vocabulary: Verbs.

Corroborate = confirm with additional evidence.

Answer: B

necessary: necessary is spelled right: one c, double s.

ocassion: Correct — this word is misspelled. The right spelling is occasion: double c, single s — Spelling: Consonants.

embarrass: embarrass is spelled right: double r and double s.

committee: committee is spelled right: double m, double t, double e.

No mistakes: There is a mistake: ocassion should be occasion.

In occasion the c is doubled and the s is not; words such as necessary and embarrass double different letters, so check each word separately.

Answer: C

For my book report, I chose: book report is a common noun phrase and stays lowercase.

a mystery by Ellen Kirby called: The author's name is correctly capitalized; mystery is a common noun.

the secret of the hollow oak.: Correct. In a title, capitalize the first word, the last word and every important word; short words such as of and the in the middle stay lowercase. Corrected line: "The Secret of the Hollow Oak." — Capitalization: Titles of literary works.

No mistakes: There is a mistake: the title of the book must be capitalized.

Title rule: capitalize the first and last words and all important words; leave short articles and prepositions lowercase unless they come first.

Answer: C

The girls' soccer team won its: girls' is the correct plural possessive, and its (no apostrophe) is the correct possessive pronoun.

third game in a row, and the: The comma before and correctly joins two complete sentences.

players parents cheered from the stands.: Correct. The parents belong to the players, so a plural possessive is needed. Corrected line: "players' parents cheered from the stands." — Punctuation: Apostrophes.

No mistakes: There is a mistake: players needs an apostrophe to show possession.

For a plural noun ending in s, show possession by adding only an apostrophe (players'); its never takes one.

Answer: D

1. Write 6 as 6/1 and multiply numerators: 6 × 7 = 42.
2. The denominator stays 8: 42/8.
3. Simplify: 42/8 = 21/4 = 5 1/4.
4. 5 1/4 is not among choices A–C, so mark N.

$\frac{7}{8}$: Multiplies both the numerator and the denominator by 6: 42/48 = 7/8.

$6\frac{6}{7}$: Divides instead of multiplying: 6 ÷ 7/8 = 48/7 = 6 6/7.

$6\frac{7}{8}$: Adds 6 and 7/8 instead of multiplying.

N (Not given): Correct. 6 × 7/8 = 42/8 = 5 1/4, which is not among A–C, so the answer is N — Compute with Fractions.

Multiplying a fraction by a whole number multiplies only the numerator; a product of 6 and a number less than 1 must be less than 6.