Living Environment vs Biology: Are They the Same?
Yes — Living Environment is New York's biology course and Regents exam. The content is high school biology; "Living Environment" is simply the New York name. Here is exactly how the two line up, what makes the Living Environment exam specific to New York, and the new Life Science: Biology Regents now replacing it.
Is Living Environment the same as biology?
Essentially, yes. Living Environment is the name New York gives its introductory high school biology course and its matching Regents exam. It covers the same core biology you would see in any "Biology I" class — cells and biochemistry, genetics and DNA, evolution and natural selection, ecology and energy flow, human body systems, reproduction and development, and homeostasis.
If you have taken a course simply called "Biology" in another state, Living Environment is that course, framed to New York's standards. New York is even dropping the "Living Environment" name in favor of Life Science: Biology for the new exam — an explicit acknowledgment that the subject is biology.
What makes the Living Environment exam specific to New York
The biology is standard; a few requirements around it are not:
- Four required State labs. To be eligible to sit the exam, students must complete four specific laboratory investigations: Diffusion Through a Membrane, Making Connections, The Beaks of Finches, and Relationships and Biodiversity. Questions on the exam draw directly from these.
- A lab-time requirement. New York requires roughly 1,200 minutes of hands-on laboratory work with satisfactory written lab reports before a student may take the exam.
- An inquiry and data-analysis emphasis. A large share of the exam tests reading graphs and tables, interpreting experiments, and designing controlled investigations — not just recall.
Living Environment exam format and scoring
The exam mixes multiple-choice with short and extended constructed-response questions, including questions tied to the required labs and to data sets. Like every Regents, it is graded on a curve: your raw credits are converted to a scaled score, and 65 is passing. Practice with the key terms and diagrams and the one-page review sheet, and check your raw-to-scaled conversion with the score calculator.
The new Life Science: Biology Regents
New York is replacing the legacy Living Environment exam with a new Life Science: Biology Regents aligned to the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS). The new exam debuted in June 2025, and the old Living Environment exam had its last administration in June 2026. The new version leans harder on real-world phenomena and three-dimensional science tasks, but the underlying biology — genetics, evolution, ecology, cells — is the same body of knowledge. See what's changing with the Regents.
How to study, whichever name it carries
The fastest preparation is real past questions plus the four labs. Work through past Living Environment exams with worked solutions, drill weak topics like genetics and ecology, and read the explanation every time you miss one — the exam reuses the same ideas year after year.
Frequently asked questions
Is Living Environment the same as biology?
Yes. Living Environment is New York's name for its introductory high school biology course and Regents exam. It covers the same core biology — cells, genetics, evolution, ecology, and human body systems. New York is renaming the exam Life Science: Biology.
Is Living Environment harder than a regular biology class?
It covers the same core biology, but the New York exam adds four required State labs and a strong data-analysis and experimental-design emphasis. The passing bar is a scaled score of 65, set by a curve each administration.
Is the Living Environment Regents still given?
The legacy Living Environment exam had its last administration in June 2026. It is replaced by the new Life Science: Biology Regents, which debuted in June 2025.
What are the four required Living Environment labs?
Diffusion Through a Membrane, Making Connections, The Beaks of Finches, and Relationships and Biodiversity. Students must complete these to be eligible to take the exam, and the exam draws questions from them.
What is a passing score on the Living Environment Regents?
A scaled score of 65. Your raw credits are converted to a scaled score with a curve that changes each administration, so the raw credits needed for a 65 vary by exam.