This subtest focuses on the essential content knowledge needed for teaching elementary science.The 47 selected-response questions measure two kinds of content knowledge.

The first kind is the content knowledge needed to do the work of the student curriculum, such as analyzing and interpreting data. Approximately 20 percent of the questions measure this kind of content knowledge. The second kind is the specialized content knowledge needed to teach the student curriculum; this is the knowledge a teacher would use, for instance, when choosing the most appropriate resources to help students explain an observation.

This specialized content knowledge is not knowledge that students are expected to learn, nor is it general knowledge of classroom-management strategies or learning theory; it is content knowledge specialized to the work of teaching elementary science. Approximately 80 percent of the questions measure this kind of content knowledge. Each question focuses on a specific performance expectation that describes using a science practice to engage in a science concept. Questions that measure specialized content knowledge also incorporate a particular task of teaching; these questions are intended to measure the specialized content knowledge needed to carry out the task effectively.