End-of-Year Assessment...parasite infected the cells of female butterflies. The parasite was passed to offspring through the females’ eggs and killed the male butterfly embryos

End-of-Year Assessment Grade 8 Science

EOY Grade 8 Science Page 1 / 39

Congratulations! You worked hard to learn many new things this school year. Taking this Grade 8 Science test is a great way to show your family and school what you learned. It is okay if you do not know all the answers. Just try your best. You are amazing! You are taking this test so adults can learn more about how to help you.

You can ask an adult for help if you do not understand the directions. Make sure you have the reference material. It might help you with this test. You can also use scratch paper and basic, scientific, and graphing calculators for this test.

If you do not know the answer to a question, choose the answer you think might be correct. You must answer the questions on your own.

You are now ready to start. Take your time and remember that trying your best is what is important. You’re awesome, and you’ll do great!


EOY Grade 8 Science Student Class Date

1. Which statement about stars is correct?

A. Star formation begins in a nebula.

B. White dwarfs become main-sequence stars when they gain mass.

C. Supergiants are stars that can absorb black holes.

D. Main-sequence stars are formed by comets.


2. Students were asked to identify the location of elements in the periodic tablebased on clues printed on game cards.

Element I

• Shiny black solid• Metalloid• 3 valence

electrons• 2 energy levels

Element III

• Colorless gas• Nonmetal• 8 valence


Element II

• Steel-gray solid• Brittle metalloid• 5 valence


Element IV

• Silvery-white solid• Soft metal• 2 valence


Based on the data, which periodic table shows the correct location of the four elements?

A. B.

C. D.


3. The table shows the chemical formulas for four substances.

Substance Chemical Formula 1 C2H6O 2 C8H18 3 CH3CH2Br 4 C4H10O

Which substances have the same number of carbon atoms?

A. Substances 1 and 2

B. Substances 2, 3, and 4

C. Substances 2 and 3 only

D. Substances 1 and 3


4. Which statement describes the energy changes that occur when water in a tea kettle isheated on a stove that uses natural gas?

A. Some of the chemical energy in the natural gas transforms into thermalenergy, which heats the water. Then some of the thermal energy changesinto sound energy when the water forms steam and the steam leaves thekettle.

B. Some of the thermal energy in the natural gas transforms into soundenergy when the water becomes hot. Then some of the sound energychanges into light energy when the kettle becomes warm.

C. Some of the electrical energy in the natural gas transforms into thermalenergy, which causes the water to form steam. Then some of the thermalenergy changes into sound energy and light energy when the steam leavesthe kettle.

D. Some of the light energy in the natural gas transforms into chemical energyin the water. Then some of the chemical energy changes into kinetic energywhen steam leaves the kettle and into sound energy when the water boils.


5. A group of students prepared a table listing the types of reproduction thatoccur in several organisms.

Organism Type of Reproduction Amoebas Asexual reproduction Yeasts Both sexual and asexual reproduction Cats Sexual reproduction Hydras Both sexual and asexual reproduction Frogs Sexual reproduction Ferns Both sexual and asexual reproduction

Based on this information, which of the organisms can produce offspring that are genetically identical to the parent organism?

A. Ferns only

B. Amoebas and yeasts only

C. Cats, hydras, frogs, and ferns only

D. Amoebas, yeasts, hydras, and ferns only

6. Primary succession occurs when pioneer species move into an area that has no plants.Which organisms are common pioneer species?

A. Conifer trees and tall grasses with roots that loosen the soil.

B. Mosses and lichens that can grow on rocky surfaces.

C. Grasses and weeds that arrive as seeds carried by the wind and then germinate in richsoil.

D. Vines and shrubs that help prevent the erosion of shallow soil.


7. A partial mountain forest food web is shown.

Which statement does NOT describe a relationship shown in the food web?

A. Elk are prey for mountain lions.

B. Mice are herbivores that consume grasses and are preyed on by snakes.

C. Owls prey on rabbits and frogs.

D. Rabbits consume shrubs and are parasites of grasses.


8. A mother and daughter press their hands together and then push apart while ice skating.

Immediately after they push away from each other, how does the motion of the mother and daughter change?

A. The mother moves forward, and the daughter moves backward with a greateracceleration.

B. Both move forward, but the mother moves with a greater acceleration.

C. The mother moves backward, and the daughter moves forward with a greateracceleration.

D. Both move backward, but the daughter moves with a greater acceleration.


9. A bicycle rider is traveling up a hill. When the rider reaches the top of the hill, she stops torest. Then she travels down the hill. The diagram shows the rider in the three differentpositions.

Which of these correctly describes the potential energy and the kinetic energy of the bicycle rider?

A. When the rider is at the top of the hill, her potential energy is the greatest, and herkinetic energy is the least.

B. As the rider moves up the hill, her kinetic energy increases, and her potential energydecreases.

C. When the rider goes down the hill, her potential energy increases, and her kineticenergy decreases.

D. As the rider reaches the bottom of the hill, her kinetic energy and her potential energydecrease.


10. How many valence electrons are in an atom of each element in Group 15 in the periodictable?

Record your answer and fill in the bubbles on your answer document. Be sure to use the correct place value.

11. A teacher asks students to make a model of a transform plate boundary. The students useblocks to represent tectonic plates and slide the blocks past each other in the directions ofthe arrows as shown.

Which event can the students best demonstrate with their model?

A. An earthquake

B. A volcanic eruption

C. Formation of a rift valley

D. Building up of a mountain


12. This drawing shows a human body system.

What is the primary function of this body system?

A. The protection of vital organs from injury

B. The chemical breakdown of food into smaller pieces

C. The transport of nutrients, water, and oxygen to body cells

D. The production of hormones that regulate growth and metabolism


13. Which statement correctly describes the location and charge of the electrons inan atom?

A. The electrons are inside the nucleus and have no charge.

B. The electrons are outside the nucleus and have no charge.

C. The electrons are inside the nucleus and have a negative charge.

D. The electrons are outside the nucleus and have a negative charge.

14. Wild hogs introduced to Texas from Europe became feral after the hogs escaped from theranches where they lived. Feral hogs are omnivores that feed on native plants, crops, andsmall animals. Feral hogs can damage an ecosystem by rooting through the soil to look forfood and trampling small plants.

Which types of native organisms do feral hogs most likely compete with for food sources?

A. Carnivores and producers

B. Herbivores and carnivores

C. Producers and decomposers

D. Decomposers and herbivores


15. A scientist performs tests on a sample of an element. The element is a shiny solid thatconducts electricity and heat. The scientist is able to bend and flatten the sample whenpressure is applied to it.

Based on this information, the element could NOT be a member of which group on the periodic table?

A. Group 2

B. Group 8

C. Group 12

D. Group 18


16. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shows how the sun is classified amongthe stars.

A star that is several thousand times brighter than the sun with a temperature lower than 4,000 K would be classified as —

A. a main-sequence star in spectral class B

B. a supergiant in spectral class K

C. a main-sequence star in spectral class K or M

D. a white dwarf in spectral class B


17. The unusual strength of a glue makes it able to hold a heavy object, or load, asshown in the diagram below.

If the load exerts a strong downward force, the glue —

A. destroys the force

B. exerts a stronger downward force

C. causes the load to accelerate upward

D. exerts an upward force that is equal to the downward force


18. This satellite photograph shows an area in Alaska after a fire occurred.

Which statement best describes the most likely effect the fire had on the river in the 12 months after it occurred?

A. Less sediment flowed into the river because the fire heated up the soil andmade it drier.

B. The amount of vegetation increased and less sediment flowed into the riverbecause the fire produced ash that mixed with the soil.

C. More sediment flowed into the river because the fire destroyed most of thevegetation holding the sediment in place.

D. More sediment flowed into the river because the fire disrupted animalhabitats and caused animals to leave the area.


19. The weather map shows air pressures in millibars.

Which set of conditions best describes the weather at the area of lowest air pressure?

A. Bright sun with no wind

B. Partly cloudy with no wind

C. Mostly sunny with light winds

D. Overcast skies with strong winds


20. What is the difference between the number of electrons in an atom ofselenium, Se, and the number of electrons in an atom of aluminum, Al?

Record your answer and fill in the bubbles on your answer document. Be sureto use the correct place value.


21. A few years ago the population of male blue moon butterflies on the island ofSamoa declined. One hypothesis for the decline of the male butterflies is that aparasite infected the cells of female butterflies. The parasite was passed tooffspring through the females’ eggs and killed the male butterfly embryos. Atone point during the decline, nearly all the butterflies in the population werefemales, but after five years the number of males in the population increasedsignificantly.

Which explanation most likely accounts for the increase in the number of male butterflies in the five years after the initial parasite problem?

A. Male butterflies in the population that survived were able to prey on theparasites living in the females’ egg cells.

B. Female butterflies in the population that survived had a genetic adaptationthat allowed them to transform into male butterflies.

C. Male butterflies in the population that survived had a gene that made themresistant to the parasite, and they passed the gene on to their offspring.

D. Female butterflies in the population that survived were able to protect themale eggs from the parasite and provide extra care for the male offspring.


22. A compound secreted by honeybees to paralyze intruders in their hive is known as 2-heptanone. The formula for this compound is shown.

CH3C4H8COCH3

How many atoms of each element are in one molecule of 2-heptanone?

A. 4 carbon atoms, 11 hydrogen atoms, and 1 oxygen atom

B. 7 carbon atoms, 14 hydrogen atoms, and 1 oxygen atom

C. 7 carbon atoms, 11 hydrogen atoms, and 8 oxygen atoms

D. 6 carbon atoms, 14 hydrogen atoms, and 3 oxygen atoms


23. The satellite image below shows a portion of the Namib Desert in Africa. This isan ancient, sandy desert with dunes that can be up to 305 m tall. The NamibDesert extends inland from the Atlantic Ocean between 80 km and 200 km andreceives only 5 mm to 76 mm of rain each year.

A satellite picture of this same area taken weeks before shows that the shape and location of some sand dunes have changed. Which of these most likely caused the changes in the dunes?

A. Ocean waves

B. Flowing rivers

C. Blowing wind

D. Crustal uplift Science


24. Which statement does NOT correctly compare silicon with another element?

A. Silicon is a better conductor of electricity than sulfur.

B. Silicon conducts electricity as well as copper does.

C. Silicon is a solid at room temperature, but argon is a gas.

D. Silicon is less malleable than silver.


25. The mass of an unidentified rock is 15.5 grams. Students determine the volume of the rockby placing the rock in a cylinder with water. The students calculate the density of the rock.They determine the identity of the rock based on the density ranges in the table.

The students most likely have which type of rock?

A. Coal

B. Dolomite

C. Peridotite

D. Sandstone


26. The organism in the photo is a daphnia, or water flea. Daphnia are tiny aquaticorganisms that live in most freshwater habitats. Adults range from less than1 to 5 mm in length. They are good swimmers and eat mostly algae. Daphniabecome mature at 5 to 10 days, and an adult female can produce up to100 eggs every 3 or 4 days during its 2-month life span. When harmful algaerapidly increase in the daphnia’s environment, daphnia can develop adaptations to tolerate the negative effects of the algae within 10 years.

What characteristic of the daphnia allows the population to adapt to environmental change?

A. Its small size

B. Its short generation time

C. Its freshwater environment

D. Its herbivorous diet


27. A chemist made the table below to record some atomic properties offour elements.

Properties of Elements

Element Number of Protons Number of Neutrons

Total Number of Electrons

Number of Electrons in Outer Shell

B 5 5 5 3 F 9 10 9 7 Si 14 14 14 4 Ga 31 39 31 3

Based on the information in the table, which conclusion about the chemical reactivity of these elements is valid?

A. Boron is the most reactive because it has the most protons.

B. Fluorine is the most reactive because it has 7 electrons in the outer shell.

C. Silicon is the most reactive because it has an equal number of protons andneutrons.

D. Gallium is the most reactive because it has many more neutrons thanprotons.


28. The map shows some of Earth’s plate tectonic boundaries.

Based on the map, volcanic activity would most likely be found at —

A. Location W

B. Location X

C. Location Y

D. Location Z


29. A teacher rubbed a match against a piece of sandpaper. The match started toburn. Which statement best describes the energy changes that occurred?

A. The chemical energy stored in the match changed to thermal energy andlight energy.

B. The thermal energy stored in the match changed to light energy andchemical energy.

C. The light energy and thermal energy stored in the match changed tomechanical energy.

D. The light energy and thermal energy stored in the match changed tochemical energy.


30. A student shows a model of Earth and the moon to a class.

Which picture shows how the moon appears from Earth when it is in the position shown in this model?

A. C.

B. D.


31. Black walnut trees produce a nontoxic chemical that becomes highly toxic when it is exposed to air or soil. How does this chemical help black walnut treescompete with plants growing nearby?

A. By attracting herbivores to the other plants

B. By suppressing the growth of the other plants

C. By increasing the photosynthesis rates in the other plants

D. By limiting the amount of water available to the other plants


32. Four students were asked to complete a table for a science assignment. Each studentselected one chemical element from each of four groups in the periodic table and thenclassified each element as a metal, a nonmetal, or a metalloid.

Which table was completed correctly?

A. Information AboutSome Chemical Elements

Group Symbol Classification 13 B Metalloid 15 N Metal 2 Ra Nonmetal 18 He Metal

B. Information AboutSome Chemical Elements

Group Symbol Classification 17 I Nonmetal 2 Ca Metal 1 Rb Metal 15 As Metalloid

C. Information AboutSome Chemical Elements

Group Symbol Classification 10 Ni Nonmetal 14 C Metalloid 2 Mg Metal 6 Pb Metal

D. Information AboutSome Chemical Elements

Group Symbol Classification 11 Cu Metal 15 Sb Metal 16 S Metalloid 2 Ne Nonmetal


33.Which of the following is most likely to cause a change in the genetic traits inan isolated population of a ground-dwelling lizard species?

A. The exposure of an individual lizard in the population to radiation thatcauses a mutation that is not passed on to its offspring

B. An unusually dry summer in the lizard population’s ecosystem

C. The introduction of an invasive predator that preys on the brightest-coloredindividuals in the lizard population

D. A fast-moving wildfire that burns the canopy of the trees in the lizardpopulation’s ecosystem


34. The model shows an area near a lake. Community leaders are planning new laws to helpprotect the lake from pollution. One proposed law will make it illegal to dump trash on theshore of the lake, but the law still allows trash to be placed in the area labeled“Flow-through wetland.”

Which statement about the proposed law is supported by the model?

A. The proposed law will protect the lake because plant roots between the wetland andthe lake will stop pollution from entering the lake.

B. The proposed law will not protect the lake because animals that live in or near the lakewill add pollution to the lake.

C. The proposed law will not protect the lake because groundwater will carry pollutionfrom the wetland directly into the lake.

D. The proposed law will protect the lake because the high elevation of the water table willblock pollution from entering the lake.


35. A student kicks a soccer ball three times. Another student records the distance,the amount of time the ball travels, and the average speed in the table shownbelow.

Soccer Ball Data Kick Distance (m) Time (s) Average Speed (m/s)

1 55 5.0 11 2 50 5.0 10 3 30 ? 15

How many seconds did it take for the ball to travel 30 m during Kick 3?

A. 0.5 s

B. 1.0 s

C. 1.5 s

D. 2.0 s


36. Some areas of an ocean are known as dead zones. These zones form when excessorganic material decomposes. This increased decomposition uses up the oxygen fromthe water.

Which human activity is most affected by the increasing number of dead zones in the ocean?

A. Offshore oil drilling, because water in dead zones is toxic

B. Commercial fishing, because fish cannot survive without oxygen

C. Commercial shipping, because dead zones change the course of oceancurrents

D. Sand mining, because oxygen is not available to form the sands on oceanbeaches

37. Researchers are studying lichens growing on trees in a forest ecosystem. At the beginningof the study, the researchers identified twelve lichen species in the forest. Later, a forestfire happened in the study area. The researchers returned to the area and found onlysix lichen species.

Which inference is best supported from the researchers’ observations?

A. Most lichen species are unaffected by forest fire.

B. The biodiversity in a forest increases after a fire.

C. Certain lichen species are better adapted to survive forest fires than others.

D. Forest fires will permanently remove certain species from the ecosystem.


38. A physics teacher performed a demonstration for a science class by pulling a crate acrossthe floor and measuring the force with a spring scale. While she pulled, a studentmeasured the acceleration of the crate with a handheld electronic device. The results ofthree trials are shown below.

The teacher asked the class to calculate the acceleration of the crate based on the crate’s mass and the force she applied. What conclusion can be made about the difference between the calculated acceleration and the actual acceleration that occurred in the trials?

A. Another force in the direction of the motion produced a lower accelerationthan calculated.

B. An opposing force caused by friction produced a lower acceleration thancalculated.

C. Another force in the direction of the motion produced a higher accelerationthan calculated.

D. An opposing force caused by friction produced a higher acceleration thancalculated.


39. What keeps planets in the solar system from moving in straight lines through the galaxy?

A. Light energy

B. Gravity

C. Inertia

D. Potential energy

40. A pitcher throws a ball toward a player holding a softball bat. The player uses the bat to hitthe ball. The bat applies a 10-newton force to the ball.

Which statement correctly describes the reaction force between the bat and ball?

A. The reaction force is the force that causes the ball to move toward the bat.

B. The reaction force is the force applied to the bat by the player holding the bat.

C. The reaction force is the force that pulls the ball toward the ground.

D. The reaction force is the force of the ball on the bat.


41. NASA’s space shuttle program was active from 1981 until 2011. Thephotograph shows rockets carrying a space shuttle off the launchpad.

How can Newton’s law of action–reaction best be applied to explain the movement of a rocket?

A. As the fuel burns, gases push against the rocket, moving it upward.

B. As the fuel burns, gases move out of the rocket and reduce air resistance.

C. As the fuel burns, the mass of the rocket decreases.

D. As the fuel burns, the rocket moves faster.


42. The model shows Earth in several positions relative to the Sun.

In which position is it winter in North America?

A. Position 1, because North America is perpendicular to the sun.

B. Position 2, because North America is tilted toward the sun

C. Position 3, because North America is parallel to the sun

D. Position 4, because North America is tilted away from the sun

1124900 1 2 3 4 5 A B C D E Printed in the USA ISD33583

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End-of-Year Assessment...parasite infected the cells of female butterflies. The parasite was passed to offspring through the females’ eggs and killed the male butterfly embryos