Free · No sign-up · Year 5 · Science · Physical science

Free Year 5 Physical science Quiz — 10 Questions, Instant Results

10 questions on physical science, pitched at Year 5, marked instantly with an explanation for every item. The set is chosen from 21 curriculum-aligned questions on this topic, one slice of the 3,261 free practice questions on this site, and you can get a fresh set with one click.

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✅ Victorian Curriculum aligned⚡ Instant marking + explanations📚 3,261 free practice questions

Free practice quizzesYear 5 Science quiz › Physical science

What Year 5 students need to know about physical science

A short orientation first. Year 5 physical science covers light: how it travels in straight lines from a source, reflection, refraction and shadows.

Our tutors wrote and checked these questions against the Victorian Curriculum, which is why the wording and the difficulty match what a Year 5 student meets at school.

The usual physical science errors at Year 5

If your child gets a question wrong here, it is worth checking whether one of these is behind it. They are the physical science misconceptions RHZ tutors correct most often with Year 5 students:

Spotting which one applies is the useful part; the fix is usually quick once the misunderstanding is out in the open.

How to practise physical science at home

Practice works when it is short, regular and specific. For physical science, our tutors suggest:

  1. Test which objects a magnet attracts.
  2. Build a simple circuit with a battery, bulb and wires.
  3. Feel how heat moves along a metal spoon in hot water.

Between Years 3 and 6, ask your child to predict, test and explain. The vocabulary comes from using it, so encourage the proper terms.

About the questions on this page

The 10 questions are drawn from 21 eligible items on physical science in our Year 5 science bank, all at the easy and at-level tiers. The selection is fixed for this address so a shared link shows the same quiz; press New set of questions or add ?seed= to the address for a different mix. Options are shuffled, no two questions share a stem, and the answer key is fetched from our server only after you submit, so it is not hidden in the page.

A single-topic quiz is more precise than a mixed one: if the score here is low, the gap is in physical science, not somewhere in Year 5 science generally. It is still short, though, and it cannot show how a student copes with the stretch and challenge questions that decide a top result. That is what the free Skills Check adds.

The quiz: 10 questions

Choose one answer for each question, then press Mark my answers. Set 30291 · New set of questions →

Question 1
Physical science

A student rolls a ball along a flat surface. The ball gradually slows down and stops, even though no one touches it after it is released. Her teacher asks her to explain using the idea of forces. Which explanation is correct?

Question 2
Physical science

Which travels faster?

Question 3
Physical science

Electricity flows easily through a…

Question 4
Physical science

Sound is made when objects…

Question 5
Physical science

Why do we hear thunder AFTER we see lightning?

Question 6
Physical science

What force pulls objects towards the ground?

Question 7
Physical science

When you pluck a guitar string, why does it make a sound?

Question 8
Physical science

Two children slide down a slide. One wears smooth pants, the other wears grippy shorts. Who slides faster?

Question 9
Physical science

Which object will a magnet attract?

Question 10
Physical science

A push or a pull is called a…

How to read a score out of 10

9 or 10 out of 10
The easy and at-level content is secure. The useful question now is how far above the year level the student can go, which a ten-item quiz cannot show. The free Skills Check adds stretch and challenge questions on every topic so you can see the ceiling as well as the floor.
7 or 8 out of 10
Solid, with one or two specific gaps. Look at which topic the incorrect answers came from (the results panel names the weakest topic) and spend a week on that topic before re-testing with a different seed.
5 or 6 out of 10
Some core ideas are shaky. The pattern matters more than the score: two misses in the same topic is a gap; misses scattered across topics usually means reading the question too fast. Either way, the Skills Check will tell you which.
4 or fewer out of 10
Foundations from an earlier year are probably missing, which is common and fixable. Try the quiz one year level down to confirm, then talk to a tutor about a short catch-up plan rather than more of the same practice.

What to do with the result

1. Want the full picture?

The free Skills Check takes about 15 minutes, covers every Year 5 topic including stretch and challenge questions, and sends a same-day topic-by-topic report. A tutor calls to walk you through it, no obligation.

Start the free Skills Check →

2. Printable practice with answers

Our Year 5 practice papers are full-length, curriculum-aligned and come with worked answers, so a student can practise on paper the way the real test is sat.

Browse practice papers →

3. Tutoring in Melbourne's west or online

Small groups from $25 an hour and 1:1 from $35 an hour at our Truganina centre, or online anywhere in Australia. Same tutors, same Skills Check, same progress notes either way.

See Science tutoring → All tutoring →

Questions? Call 03 9509 3293 or book a free consultation. RHZ Tutoring, 17/47 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Year 5 physical science quiz free?

Yes, completely: no sign-up, no email, no payment, and you can take it as many times as you like. It is one of 3,261 free practice questions RHZ Tutoring publishes across Prep to Year 12. Press New set of questions, or add ?seed= to the address, for a different selection from the same topic.

Why only 10 questions on one topic?

Because a single-topic set is the most precise free check available: if the score is low, the gap is in physical science and nowhere else. There are 21 eligible questions on this topic in our Year 5 Science bank, so several different sets are available before any repeat.

Where do the physical science questions come from?

From RHZ Tutoring's own Year 5 Science question bank, written to the Victorian Curriculum, checked by a tutor and passed through an automated quality gate. The same bank feeds our tutoring sessions and the free Skills Check. The questions on this page sit at the easy and at-level tiers.

What should I do if the score is low?

Read the explanation for each incorrect answer first; most gaps in physical science are one of the misconceptions listed on this page. Then try a second set a few days later. If it is still low, the free Skills Check will show whether the gap is confined to this topic, and a tutor can build a short catch-up plan.

Is there a mixed Year 5 Science quiz?

Yes. The Year 5 Science quiz spreads ten questions across every topic for the year, and the hub lists topic quizzes for every year level from Prep to Year 12.

Other Science topics for Year 5

Mixed Year 5 Science quiz (all topics) →

Physical science in other year levels

Prep Physical science · Year 1 Physical science · Year 2 Physical science · Year 3 Physical science · Year 4 Physical science · Year 6 Physical science

All 3,261 free practice questions, Prep to Year 12 →