Reference tables

Two editions. The 2024 edition of the Reference Tables was used for the June 2025 through August 2026 Regents examinations, and the past questions on this site were written for it. The 2026 Revised edition applies from the January 2027 exam onward, so a student preparing for January 2027 or later should practise with the 2026 Revised edition.

The reference tables are published by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). This site does not copy them: each page below says where a table is in each edition, what changed, and which past questions use it. Open the tables themselves on the NYSED website:

2024 edition on the NYSED website (used for the June 2025 through August 2026 Regents examinations)
2026 Revised edition on the NYSED website (used for the January 2027 Regents examination onward)

Choose a table

All differences between the two editions

The contents page lists 22 entries in 2024 and 23 in 2026 (one more table, Locations of Selected Hotspots). Both editions run to 20 PDF pages.
Added in 2026: 'Locations of Selected Hotspots' (page 12, a map of named hotspots with approximate plate boundaries).
Moved: 'Geologically Important Radioactive Elements Used for Radiometric Dating' is on page 15 in 2024 (rotated page) and page 12 in 2026 (upright, with isotope symbols added).
Pages shifted by one because of that move: Global Tectonic Activity page 12 to 13, Model of Bowen's Reaction Series and Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks page 13 to 14, Rock Cycle Infographic page 14 to 15. Pages 1 to 11 and 16 to 20 keep the same tables in the same order.
Renamed: 'Portion of Electromagnetic Spectrum Related to Earth and Space Sciences' became 'Generalized Portion of Electromagnetic Spectrum Related to Earth and Space Sciences'.
Renamed: 'Cross Section Model of Earth's Surface and Interior' became 'Generalized Cross Section Model of Earth's Surface and Interior'. The 2026 contents gives its primary performance expectation as HS-ESS2-1 (2024: HS-ESS2-3).
Renamed on the page: 'Model of Earth's Interior Structure' is printed 'Generalized Model of Earth's Interior Structure' on 2026 page 11, although the 2026 contents still lists the old title.
Mohs Hardness Scale, page 16: the 2024 tools column has streak plate at 6, glass plate at 5.5, steel nail at 4.5 and copper penny at 3.5; 2026 has steel nail at 6.5, glass plate at 5.5 and copper penny at 3.5 (streak plate removed), and hardness numbers are written as 10.0, 9.0 and so on.
Mineral Identification Flowchart: 'Hornblende' became 'Amphibole (Hornblende)', 'Augite' became 'Pyroxene (Augite)', 'Muscovite' and 'Biotite' became 'Muscovite Mica' and 'Biotite Mica'; Talc moved from page 16 (no cleavage branch) to page 17 (one-direction cleavage branch). Amphibole now states 'Hardness 5-6' (the 2024 Hornblende box gave none).
Solar System Objects Data Table: several values changed (for example Sun rotation 27 d to 25.4 d, Earth axial tilt 23.49 to 23.44, Pluto rotation 6 d 9 h to 6.4 d, Eris values now marked approximate, Moon distance from Earth 0.385 to 0.384).
Radiometric dating table: Rubidium-87 half-life 48.8 billion to 49.7 billion years; Uranium-235 half-life 713 million to 703 million years; Samarium-147 datable materials now add lunar fragments and meteorites; column headings reworded ('Materials That Can be Dated', 'Approximate Half-life').
H-R Diagram redrawn: stars drawn as separate shaded balls with a key (supergiants, white dwarfs, main sequence, giants); the temperature axis is replaced by an 'Approximate Surface Temperature Range (K) of Stars' table by spectral class.
Geologic History of New York State: 2026 adds 'Grenville orogeny' and 'First sponges .89' to the Precambrian events, shows era boundary dates on the Precambrian column, and the page 7 heading is now 'Time Distribution of Fossils and Index Fossils' with two index symbols for the mammoth and giant beaver. Event wording uses 'Proto-North America' in 2026.
Energy and Mineral Resources of New York State: key wording changed ('Bluestone producing area' to 'Bluestone'; 'Carbonate rock' and 'Cement' entries merged into 'Cement producing area'; 'Slate producing area' to 'Slate'); the 2026 map adds iron (Fe) near Rochester and nickel (Ni) near Old Forge.
Global Tectonic Activity: redrawn with a latitude and longitude grid, the Somalia and Australian plates, a source credit, and some spreading rates changed (for example 15.3 to 15.1 and 7.4 to 7.5 cm per year).
Model of Generalized Planetary Wind Belts in the Troposphere: 2026 adds the subtropical jet streams, the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, 15 and 45 degree latitude lines, the abbreviation ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) and a note that patterns shift seasonally; the 'Polar easterlies' label is not shown.
Earth's interior pages: 2026 adds rock type notes (basaltic, granitic) and labels for lithosphere, asthenosphere and the 2900 km depth.
Model of Bowen's Reaction Series and Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks: same layout; 2026 changes the melting-begins temperature label from 700 to 1200 degrees C to 650 to 1400 degrees C and adds 'Pyroxene (Augite)' and 'Amphibole (Hornblende)' labels.
Rock Cycle Infographic redrawn with new labels (for example Evaporation, Precipitation, Marsh, Contact Metamorphism, Increasing heat and pressure); the 2024 water circle with 'Mineral precipitates' is gone.
Unchanged as far as the images show: Generalized Nucleosynthesis in a Massive Star, Emission Spectra of Some Elements from Stars, Life Cycles of Stars Model, Generalized Surface Bedrock Geology of New York State, Key to Weather Map Symbols, Cross Section Model of Earth's Lower Atmosphere, Surface Ocean Currents Model.
Not checked: every numeric value in the Solar System table, every spreading rate, every locality marker and every box of the mineral flowchart, because the comparison was by eye on page images.