GACE® Geography (6–12) (720)
Practice Test
Comprehensive preparation for prospective Georgia geography teachers in grades 6–12. Three testlets: 239 Physical and Environmental Geography (40 questions, 60 min), 240 Cultural and Political Geography (30 questions, 45 min), and 241 Population and Economic Geography (30 questions, 45 min). Taken together in 2 hours 30 minutes for $169, or individually at $56.50 each. Administered by Evaluation Systems of Pearson for GaPSC. Passing score: 220.
Start Practicing Free
No credit card. 10 questions/day free forever.
Get Free Access →See Premium PlansThree testlets — take together or separately. Testlet 239, 240, and 241 can each be scheduled individually for $56.50, or taken in a single 2h 30min appointment for $169. If you fail only one testlet, you retake and pay for that testlet alone. Register through your GaPSC MyPSC account at gace.es.pearson.com.
Source: Testlet codes, question counts, timing, and fees verified directly from the official GACE Geography test page at gace.es.pearson.com/test/720. Content objectives drawn from the GACE Geography Assessment Study Companion (ETS for GaPSC, December 2023). The GACE program transitioned to Evaluation Systems of Pearson on July 1, 2025. Verify current requirements at gapsc.georgia.gov.
Geography (6–12) (720): Test at a Glance
Key facts confirmed from official GACE/GaPSC documentation. The GACE program transitioned from ETS to Evaluation Systems of Pearson on July 1, 2025.
About the GACE Geography (6–12) (720)
What the 720 tests, who takes it, and how the three-testlet structure works in practice.
The GACE Geography (6–12) (720) measures the professional knowledge of prospective teachers of Geography for grades 6–12 in Georgia. It is administered by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) through Evaluation Systems of Pearson, which replaced ETS as the GACE test provider effective July 1, 2025.
The exam is divided into three testlets: Testlet 239 Physical and Environmental Geography (40 questions, 60 min, $56.50), Testlet 240 Cultural and Political Geography (30 questions, 45 min, $56.50), and Testlet 241 Population and Economic Geography (30 questions, 45 min, $56.50). All three can be taken in a single 2-hour-30-minute appointment for $169, or individually for $56.50 each. If you fail only one testlet, you retake and pay for that testlet alone.
Testlet 239 is the largest at 40 questions and 60 minutes, covering geographic tools (maps, GIS, remote sensing), physical systems (weather, climate, landforms, biomes), and environment-society relationships (resources, hazards, climate change). Testlets 240 and 241 cover the human dimensions of geography — culture, language, religion, political geography, population dynamics, agriculture, and economic development — with Georgia-specific geography woven throughout all three testlets.
The passing score is 220 on a scaled score range of 100–300. There is no penalty for wrong answers — always answer every question. Registration is through the GaPSC MyPSC account at gace.es.pearson.com — not through ETS or praxis.ets.org.
Three Testlets at a Glance
Each testlet is a standalone assessment. Take all three in one 2h 30min session for $169, or individually for $56.50 each.
Official Exam Blueprint: 3 Testlets
Testlet codes, question counts, and fees from gace.es.pearson.com/test/720. Content objectives from the GACE Geography Assessment Study Companion.
Physical geography: weather factors and extreme events; climate zones (tropical A, dry B, temperate C, continental D, polar E, highland) and their controls — latitude, altitude, proximity to water, ocean currents, prevailing winds, continentality; the Gulf Stream warming Great Britain; the Alpine corridor enabling marine climate in Germany and Poland; the hydrologic cycle; tectonic processes (convergent: subduction → volcanic arcs and trenches; continent-continent: mountain building; divergent: rift valleys and mid-ocean ridges; transform: earthquakes); the Pacific Ring of Fire — Chile, Japan, Philippines, and New Zealand are in it; Brazil, Australia, and India are not; major landform types and geomorphic processes; Earth’s biomes and climatic controls; ecoregions of the United States.
Environment and society: human modifications of the environment; limitations of the physical landscape on settlement and how technology overcomes them; renewable vs. nonrenewable resources; alternative energy; population-resource relationships; climatic and seismic hazards and their geographic distribution; groundwater depletion (Ogallala Aquifer) and pollution; global climate change and its geographic consequences; Georgia: five physiographic regions (Appalachian Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Coastal Plain), Fall Line, Eastern Continental Divide, Tri-State Water Wars (ACF basin), Okefenokee Swamp, barrier islands (Golden Isles).
Political geography:the state and sovereignty; boundary types — physical (rivers, mountain crests), cultural (language/religion), geometric (straight-line — common in Africa and the American West); antecedent, subsequent, and superimposed boundaries; colonialism’s geographic legacy; boundary disputes and geopolitical conflicts; supranational organizations (UN, NATO, EU, ASEAN, African Union); centripetal forces (national unity) vs. centrifugal forces (separatism, inequality); world regions — major and minor regions and their cultural/political characteristics; Georgia cultural geography: gentrification of Savannah’s historic district, Georgia’s demographic patterns, major cities and their geographic significance.
Agricultural geography: origin and diffusion of agriculture; subsistence types — slash-and-burn (swidden) in the Amazon Basin, nomadic herding, intensive subsistence rice farming; commercial agriculture — Mediterranean (vineyards/orchards), Swiss Alps (dairy), Argentine Pampas (ranching/feedlots, all commercial); von Thünen’s agricultural land use model; the Green Revolution; industrialization of agriculture.
Economic geography:primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary sectors; GDP per capita, HDI, GNI; Rostow’s stages; world-systems theory (core, semi-periphery, periphery); globalization; deindustrialization and the Rust Belt; resource export dependency (Venezuela/petroleum, Ivory Coast/cacao, Guatemala/coffee); world and U.S. regions; Georgia: Metro Atlanta as a logistics and financial hub, Coastal Plain agriculture, ACF basin water resource economics.
High-Priority Topics by Testlet
The most consistently tested concepts at the depth appropriate for a beginning Georgia secondary geography teacher.
Physical and Environmental Geography — Top Topics
40q · 60 minCultural and Political Geography — Top Topics
30q · 45 minPopulation and Economic Geography — Top Topics
30q · 45 minRegistration, Test Day & Scoring
Register through gace.es.pearson.com via your GaPSC MyPSC account. Not through ETS or praxis.ets.org.
Registration & Fees
Scoring
Test Day
Standards Alignment
Who Needs the GACE Geography (6–12) (720)?
Certification requirements for Georgia geography teachers.
Georgia Requirement: The GACE Geography (6–12) (720) is required for candidates seeking a Georgia teaching certificate in Geography at the 6th–12th grade level. All three testlets (239, 240, and 241) must be passed to earn the full certification.
Registration: Candidates in a GaPSC-approved prep program need provider approval first. Post-program candidates register through their GaPSC MyPSC account at mypsc.gapsc.georgia.gov, then schedule at gace.es.pearson.com. The GACE transitioned from ETS to Evaluation Systems of Pearson on July 1, 2025.
No penalty for wrong answers. If you fail one testlet, retake only that testlet ($56.50). Always verify requirements at gapsc.georgia.gov.
How to Prepare for the GACE Geography (6–12) (720)
Strategies for a 100-question, three-testlet assessment covering the full breadth of secondary geography.
- Testlet 239 is the largest (40 questions, 60 minutes) and warrants the most preparation time of the three. It spans geographic tools, physical geography, and environment-society relationships — the widest content range of any single testlet. Prioritize map type selection and climate controls, which are the two most frequently tested topic clusters within Testlet 239.
- For Testlet 239 map skills: master which map type best displays which data type. Choropleth = shading by area (election results, GDP per capita); isoline = equal-value lines (isobars for pressure, isotherms for temperature); dot-density = dots per unit; flow maps = movement. Know the Mercator projection distorts area at high latitudes but preserves direction — and that only a globe is accurate in all four geographic properties.
- For Testlet 240 (Cultural and Political Geography), the four diffusion types and three region types are the two highest-yield clusters. Know hierarchical (city to city, top-down), contagious (wave-like outward), relocation (with migrating people), and stimulus (adapted locally) diffusion with real examples. Know that a functional region is defined by activity around a node (airline hub), while a perceptual region is defined by subjective cultural identity (“the South”).
- For Testlet 241 (Population and Economic Geography), master the demographic transition model deeply enough to apply it to unfamiliar countries. Practice reading population pyramids and linking their shape to a DTM stage. For agriculture, drill the subsistence vs. commercial distinction: Amazon Basin slash-and-burn = subsistence; Swiss Alps dairy, Argentine Pampas ranching, Mediterranean vineyards = commercial. The von Thünen model predicts intensity decreases with distance from market.
- Georgia-specific content spans all three testlets and is unique to the GACE. Know Georgia’s five physiographic regions in sequence NW to SE; the Fall Line and its historic mill cities; the Eastern Continental Divide; the Tri-State Water Wars (ACF basin dispute between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida); and the gentrification of Savannah’s historic district. Official Study Companion Practice Questions 25 (Eastern Continental Divide) and 26 (Savannah gentrification) both test Georgia content directly.
- Download the free official GACE Geography Assessment Study Companion from gace.es.pearson.com and work through all 26 practice questions with their rationales. The Study Companion is the closest publicly available representation of real exam content. The answer rationales explain the geographic reasoning that the exam rewards — studying them is often more valuable than simply checking whether your answer was right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers sourced from the official GACE Geography test page at gace.es.pearson.com/test/720 and the GACE Geography Assessment Study Companion.
How many questions are on the GACE Geography (6–12) (720)?
How much does the GACE Geography (720) cost?
Can I take individual testlets separately?
What are the three testlets and what does each cover?
240 — Cultural and Political Geography (30q, 45 min): language, religion, ethnicity, cultural diffusion, cultural landscapes, political geography, boundaries, world regions, Georgia cultural geography.
241 — Population and Economic Geography (30q, 45 min): demographic transition model, migration, agriculture, economic development, globalization, world regions, Georgia population and economic geography.
What is the passing score for the GACE Geography (720)?
Where do I register for the GACE Geography (720)?
Does the GACE Geography (720) include Georgia-specific content?
Ready to Start Practicing?
Adaptive practice questions covering all three testlets — Physical and Environmental Geography (239), Cultural and Political Geography (240), and Population and Economic Geography (241) — aligned to the official GACE 720 blueprint. Testlet-level analytics so you know exactly where to focus.
Get Free Access — No Credit Card Needed