New York Regents Life Science: Biology: complete guide to the new NYSSLS exam, the four disciplinary core ideas, the science practices and the lab requirement

The New York Regents Life Science: Biology examination is the high school biology test administered by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). It is the NYSSLS-aligned replacement for the Living Environment Regents, first administered operationally in June 2025. This page is the index: it explains the transition, the three-dimensional design of the new exam, the cluster format, the laboratory requirement, and how to study each content domain. The content is organized into six modules built around the four NYSSLS life science disciplinary core ideas.

From Living Environment to Life Science: Biology

For many years the high school biology Regents in New York was the Living Environment exam, organized into Parts A to D with about 85 questions, where Part D was a set of questions built on four required state laboratory activities. New York has now moved its science standards to the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS), adopted in 2016 and based on the framework behind the Next Generation Science Standards. The Living Environment exam is being retired and replaced by the Regents Examination in Life Science: Biology.

The key difference is three-dimensional learning. The new exam does not test content in isolation. Every question is written so that it draws on three dimensions at once:

• a Disciplinary Core Idea (DCI), the biology content itself;
• a Science and Engineering Practice (SEP), what scientists actually do (model, investigate, analyze data, argue from evidence);
• a Crosscutting Concept (CCC), a big idea that runs across all the sciences (patterns, cause and effect, structure and function, stability and change).

So where the old exam might have asked you to recall what a mitochondrion does, the new exam is more likely to give you data or a model and ask you to construct an explanation or argue a claim using that content.

Exam format

The Regents Examination in Life Science: Biology is a single session of about three hours. It has 45 to 55 questions organized into 9 to 11 question clusters.

• Clusters. Each cluster opens with a short introduction and shared stimuli: a reading passage, a data table, a graph, a diagram, a photograph, or the description of an investigation. Several questions then refer to those stimuli. This is the biggest change from the Parts A to D structure.
• Question types. A mix of multiple-choice (four options, one correct) and constructed-response (written answers). About 60 percent of the points are multiple-choice and about 40 percent are constructed-response.
• Scoring. Multiple-choice questions are worth 1 point. Constructed-response questions are worth 1, 2, or 3 points and are marked with analytic rubrics. The full exam has a maximum raw score of about 85 points, which is then converted to the reported 0 to 100 scale (65 is the passing score).

Constructed-response questions typically ask you to interpret data or a model, construct an explanation supported by evidence from the stimulus, make and justify a claim, or evaluate the design of an investigation.

The four disciplinary core ideas

The NYSSLS life science standards group the content into four disciplinary core ideas. This library mirrors them in six modules.

LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Cell structure and function, the chemistry of life and biological molecules, the cell membrane and transport, enzymes and metabolism, photosynthesis and cellular respiration, homeostasis and feedback, and the human body systems that maintain dynamic equilibrium. This is covered across Module 1, Module 2, and Module 4.

LS2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Ecosystem structure, energy flow and matter cycling, population dynamics and carrying capacity, ecological relationships and succession, and human impact on ecosystems and the biosphere. This is Module 6.

LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

DNA structure and replication, protein synthesis, mitosis and meiosis, patterns of inheritance, and mutation and biotechnology. This is Module 3.

LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Natural selection and adaptation, evidence for evolution, common ancestry and phylogeny, speciation and extinction, and biodiversity. This is Module 5.

The laboratory requirement

To be admitted to the Regents Examination in Life Science: Biology, a student must complete a minimum of 1200 minutes of hands-on laboratory experience during the course, with satisfactory written laboratory reports kept on file by the school. A student who has not met this requirement may not sit the exam. This rule carries over unchanged from Living Environment.

There is no separate Part D performance test on the new exam. Instead, laboratory and investigation skills are assessed throughout the clusters: identifying independent and dependent variables and controls, reading data tables and graphs, choosing appropriate procedures, and evaluating or improving an experimental design. The four laboratory activities that defined the old Part D (Diffusion Through a Membrane, Making Connections, The Beaks of Finches, and Relationships and Biodiversity) remain excellent practice for the kinds of investigations the clusters draw on.

The eight science and engineering practices

1. Asking questions and defining problems
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

The seven crosscutting concepts

1. Patterns
2. Cause and effect: mechanism and explanation
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity
4. Systems and system models
5. Energy and matter: flows, cycles, and conservation
6. Structure and function
7. Stability and change

How to study Life Science: Biology

1. Learn the content, then learn to use it. Master the biology, but practice applying it: every cluster gives you a stimulus and asks you to do something with it.
2. Drill the practices. Get comfortable reading graphs and data tables, identifying variables and controls, building and interpreting models, and writing a claim supported by evidence and reasoning.
3. Use the crosscutting concepts as a lens. Whenever you study a process, ask how it shows structure and function, cause and effect, energy and matter, or stability and change. These are the angles the questions take.
4. Practice constructed responses. A 2 or 3 point item needs a complete answer: state the claim, give the evidence from the stimulus, and explain the reasoning. Partial answers earn partial marks.
5. Meet the lab requirement and learn from the labs. The required laboratory experiences are where the investigation skills are built. Know how each one works.

The modules, topic by topic

Each topic has a NYSSLS-level answer page with worked exam questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive guide and a quiz. Browse the set at /ny-regents/biology/syllabus.

Module 1: Cells, biochemistry and transport

chemistry of life and biological molecules, cell structure and function, the cell membrane and transport, homeostasis and feedback, levels of biological organization, the required laboratory experiences.

Module 2: Energy, photosynthesis and respiration

enzymes and metabolism, ATP and cellular energy, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, the cycling of energy and matter in cells.

Module 3: Genetics and molecular genetics

DNA structure and replication, protein synthesis and gene expression, mitosis and the cell cycle, meiosis and sexual reproduction, patterns of inheritance, mutations and biotechnology.

Module 4: Reproduction, development and human systems

reproduction and human development, cell differentiation and gene expression, the nervous and endocrine systems, transport, gas exchange and nutrition, the immune system and disease.

Module 5: Evolution and biodiversity

natural selection and adaptation, evidence for evolution, common ancestry and phylogeny, speciation and extinction, biodiversity and its value.

Module 6: Ecology and human impact

ecosystem structure and organization, energy flow and matter cycling, population dynamics and carrying capacity, ecological relationships and succession, human impact on ecosystems.

For the official guidance

NYSED publishes the Life Science: Biology assessment page, the Educator Guide, sample question clusters, performance level descriptions, and released exams. Always study from the current NYSED materials, because the cluster style and the three-dimensional design are specific to this exam.