The new Regents Examination in Life Science: Biology was first given in June 2025, and the last Living Environment exam was given in June 2026. In 2027 there is only the new exam.
First Life Science: Biology exam
June 2025
Last Living Environment exam
June 2026
Standards
New York State P-12 Science Learning Standards
Before the exam
The required Investigations
What the new exam looks like
45 to 55 one-credit questions in 9 to 11 clusters, each built on a phenomenon.
About 60% multiple choice and 40% constructed response.
Seven topics, from Structure and Function to Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science.
Using older study materials
The old and new exams ran side by side for a while because the new science standards differ from the earlier ones. Living Environment books still help with many core ideas, but practice for this exam should follow the new clusters and topics.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
The pigment gene in five plants
Plant
Change from the typical gene
Region of the change
Enzyme made
Flower color
1
none
none
works
purple
2
one base
coding
one amino acid different, does not work
white
3
one base
non-coding
unchanged, works
purple
4
one base
coding
unchanged amino acids, works
purple
5
three bases missing
coding
one amino acid missing, does not work
white
Flower color in a plant depends on an enzyme that makes purple pigment. A lab compared the enzyme's gene in plants 2 to 5 with the gene in plant 1, a typical purple plant (table). Which claim is best supported by the data?
Question 2
Base differences from species W in a 150-base gene section
Species
Bases that differ from species W
P
31
Q
4
R
18
S
12
Biologists sequenced the same 150-base section of one gene in lizard species W and in four other lizard species (a hypothetical study). The table shows how many bases in each species differ from species W. Which statement is best supported by the data?