NES ELEMENTARY EDUCATION SUBTEST 2
STUDY GUIDE 2026 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Carbon-based biochemistry. Answer: Living organisms are
characterized by a common carbon-based biochemistry. Without this
chemical element, life as we know it would not be possible.
⩥ Homeostasis. Answer: All living organisms exhibit the ability to
maintain a state of internal balance. For example, if the environmental
temperature increases, the human body begins to perspire, and the
cooling effect of evaporation decreases the surface temperature of the
skin. Likewise, a disruption in any system will set off a diverse set of
control mechanisms that return the organism to a state of internal
balance.
⩥ Response to stimuli. Answer: All living organisms respond to the
environment. Their response can take many forms, from contractions of
unicellular organisms when touched to complex reactions involving the
senses of higher animals.
⩥ Adaptation. Answer: refers to a change in the structure or function of
an organism that makes it better suited for its habitat
,⩥ Reproduction. Answer: All living things have the ability to produce
new organisms, using either sexual (from two parents) or asexual (from
a single parent) strategies. Reproduction can be the division of one cell
to form two new cells.
⩥ Energy. Answer: Every living thing needs energy that they produce or
acquire in order to exist, grow, and reproduce. Some organisms (called
autotrophic organisms) are capable of harnessing energy from sunlight
and using it to produce glucose, the main source of energy for the
organism. Others (called heterotrophic organisms) capture energy by
eating plants or other animals.
⩥ Metabolism. Answer: refers to the chemical reactions in the body's
cells that convert fuel from food into the energy needed to do everything
from moving to thinking to growing. Excretion is the process of
eliminating waste products of metabolism. It is an essential process in all
forms of life. In single-celled organisms, waste products are discharged
directly through the surface of the cell. In plants, waste is minimal and is
eliminated primarily by diffusion to the outside environment. Animals
have specific organs of excretion.
⩥ Respiration Answer: the process that transports oxygen from air to the
cells and carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. Cellular respiration is
the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy within a
cell.
,⩥ Cells Answer: are the basic unit of structure and function in living
things.
Cells may be specialized to fulfill specific functions within the
organism. In animals, for example, red blood cells carry oxygen to the
rest of the body, while nerve cells transmit electrical impulses that carry
information from one part of the body to another.
Animal and plant cells contain smaller structures, called organelles,
which are specialized to fulfill specific functions within the cell.
Mitochondria, for example, break down glucose to provide energy to the
cell. Bacterial cells lack most of these organelles.
Animal and plant cells differ in several important respects. For example,
all cells are surrounded by a permeable membrane, but plant cells are
surrounded by a rigid cell wall, while animal cells are not. Plant cells
also contain chloroplasts, an organelle which produces glucose through
the process of photosynthesis.
⩥ Tissues Answer: are made up of cells that are similar in structure and
function and which work together to perform a specific activity.
Examples: blood, nerve, and bone.
Humans have four basic types connective, epithelial, muscle, and nerve.
⩥ Organs Answer: are made up of tissues that work together to perform
a specific activity.
, Examples of organs include heart, brain, and skin.
⩥ Organ Systems Answer: are groups of two or more organs that work
together to perform a specific function for the organism.
Examples include circulatory system, nervous system, and skeletal
system.
The human body has 11 ______ _______—circulatory, digestive,
endocrine, excretory, immune, integumentary, muscular, nervous,
reproductive, respiratory, and skeletal.
⩥ Organisms Answer: are individual living things that can carry out all
basic life processes. Organisms take in materials, release energy from
food, release wastes, grow, respond to the environment, and reproduce.
Organisms may be made up of organ systems or may consist of a single
cell, as in bacteria or protists.
Examples include bacteria, amoebas, mushrooms, sunflowers, and
humans.
⩥ The chemical formula for photosynthesis is: Answer: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O
→ C6H12O6 + 6 O2
Carbon dioxide + Water + Light energy → Glucose + Oxygen
STUDY GUIDE 2026 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
VERIFIED ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Carbon-based biochemistry. Answer: Living organisms are
characterized by a common carbon-based biochemistry. Without this
chemical element, life as we know it would not be possible.
⩥ Homeostasis. Answer: All living organisms exhibit the ability to
maintain a state of internal balance. For example, if the environmental
temperature increases, the human body begins to perspire, and the
cooling effect of evaporation decreases the surface temperature of the
skin. Likewise, a disruption in any system will set off a diverse set of
control mechanisms that return the organism to a state of internal
balance.
⩥ Response to stimuli. Answer: All living organisms respond to the
environment. Their response can take many forms, from contractions of
unicellular organisms when touched to complex reactions involving the
senses of higher animals.
⩥ Adaptation. Answer: refers to a change in the structure or function of
an organism that makes it better suited for its habitat
,⩥ Reproduction. Answer: All living things have the ability to produce
new organisms, using either sexual (from two parents) or asexual (from
a single parent) strategies. Reproduction can be the division of one cell
to form two new cells.
⩥ Energy. Answer: Every living thing needs energy that they produce or
acquire in order to exist, grow, and reproduce. Some organisms (called
autotrophic organisms) are capable of harnessing energy from sunlight
and using it to produce glucose, the main source of energy for the
organism. Others (called heterotrophic organisms) capture energy by
eating plants or other animals.
⩥ Metabolism. Answer: refers to the chemical reactions in the body's
cells that convert fuel from food into the energy needed to do everything
from moving to thinking to growing. Excretion is the process of
eliminating waste products of metabolism. It is an essential process in all
forms of life. In single-celled organisms, waste products are discharged
directly through the surface of the cell. In plants, waste is minimal and is
eliminated primarily by diffusion to the outside environment. Animals
have specific organs of excretion.
⩥ Respiration Answer: the process that transports oxygen from air to the
cells and carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. Cellular respiration is
the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy within a
cell.
,⩥ Cells Answer: are the basic unit of structure and function in living
things.
Cells may be specialized to fulfill specific functions within the
organism. In animals, for example, red blood cells carry oxygen to the
rest of the body, while nerve cells transmit electrical impulses that carry
information from one part of the body to another.
Animal and plant cells contain smaller structures, called organelles,
which are specialized to fulfill specific functions within the cell.
Mitochondria, for example, break down glucose to provide energy to the
cell. Bacterial cells lack most of these organelles.
Animal and plant cells differ in several important respects. For example,
all cells are surrounded by a permeable membrane, but plant cells are
surrounded by a rigid cell wall, while animal cells are not. Plant cells
also contain chloroplasts, an organelle which produces glucose through
the process of photosynthesis.
⩥ Tissues Answer: are made up of cells that are similar in structure and
function and which work together to perform a specific activity.
Examples: blood, nerve, and bone.
Humans have four basic types connective, epithelial, muscle, and nerve.
⩥ Organs Answer: are made up of tissues that work together to perform
a specific activity.
, Examples of organs include heart, brain, and skin.
⩥ Organ Systems Answer: are groups of two or more organs that work
together to perform a specific function for the organism.
Examples include circulatory system, nervous system, and skeletal
system.
The human body has 11 ______ _______—circulatory, digestive,
endocrine, excretory, immune, integumentary, muscular, nervous,
reproductive, respiratory, and skeletal.
⩥ Organisms Answer: are individual living things that can carry out all
basic life processes. Organisms take in materials, release energy from
food, release wastes, grow, respond to the environment, and reproduce.
Organisms may be made up of organ systems or may consist of a single
cell, as in bacteria or protists.
Examples include bacteria, amoebas, mushrooms, sunflowers, and
humans.
⩥ The chemical formula for photosynthesis is: Answer: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O
→ C6H12O6 + 6 O2
Carbon dioxide + Water + Light energy → Glucose + Oxygen
