The 2002 Series GED Science Test, using the National Science Education Standards framework, asks candidates to select the best way to set up an experiment, interpret others' results, analyze experimental flaws, apply scientific conclusions to their personal lives, and use the work of renowned scientists to explain everyday global scientific issues. The questions on the 2002 GED Science Test are still multiple-choice. The 2002 Series GED Science Test has been revised in several major areas but has not eliminated subject matter covered in the 1988 series.

What Are the New Additions?
One dimension of the 2002 Series GED Science Test incorpor-ates the National Science Education Content (NSEC) Standards of physical science, life science, and earth and space science (National Research Council). The content area of earth science has been expanded to include space science due to an increased focus on space science in grades 9–12. The test groups physics and chemistry into the content area of physical sciences in accordance with the NSEC Standards approach to these subjects.

A second dimension of the 2002 Series GED Science Test includes the NSEC Standards of Unifying Concepts and Processes, Science as Inquiry, Science and Technology, Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, and History and Nature of Science. The areas of comprehension, application, analysis, and evaluation used in the 1988 series of GED Tests have been integrated with the NSEC Standards. The 2002 Series GED Science Test contains an increased focus in environmental and health topics (e.g., recycling, heredity, prevention of disease, pollution, and climate), and an increased emphasis on science relevant to everyday life.

The 2002 Series GED Science Test has increased the number of single questions and decreased the number of passage sets, permitting a wider coverage of science topics. Half (50 percent) of the new GED Science Test questions are conceptual understanding questions; the remaining 50 percent are problem-solving questions. Test questions with graphic content have increased from 30 percent to 50 percent. If you have a specific question about the GED Tests that is not answered on the Web site, please e-mail: ged@acenche.edu