Name a greenhouse gas.

Argon, a gas that does not react

Nitrogen, which makes up most of the air

Oxygen, which makes up about 21 percent of air

Differences in traits among individuals of the same species

Changes an individual makes during its life

The number of animals in an area

Differences between two species that live in the same place

What happens when two like poles of magnets are brought close together?

They spin around one another without touching

They lose their magnetism for a short time

They attract each other and stick together

What is kinetic energy?

The energy an object has because it is moving

The energy of an object at rest

The energy stored in a stretched spring or rubber band

A repeating disturbance that transfers energy

A moving piece of matter carried along from place to place

What does the greenhouse effect do?

Warms Earth as gases absorb heat and send some back

Cools Earth by blocking sunlight before it can arrive

Pushes heat from the surface out into space

Makes plants grow only inside glass buildings

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8th grade science practice questions, with answers

Written by Dr. Evan J. Hasson, DC — a dad of three who built this curriculum for his own kids.

50 questions with the answers, free to print and free to photocopy for your own students. Drawn across every topic in the grade rather than one — life science, earth science, physical science and engineering design.

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Science — Grade 8

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NameDateScore / 50

1. Who proposed the idea of continental drift in 1912?
1. A. Alfred Wegener ← Answer
2. B. Isaac Newton
3. C. Marie Curie
4. D. Charles Darwin
2. Name a greenhouse gas.
1. A. Argon, a gas that does not react
2. B. Nitrogen, which makes up most of the air
3. C. Carbon dioxide ← Answer
4. D. Oxygen, which makes up about 21 percent of air
3. How many parents are needed for asexual reproduction?
1. A. None
2. B. Two
3. C. Three
4. D. One ← Answer
4. What is variation?
1. A. Differences in traits among individuals of the same species ← Answer
2. B. Changes an individual makes during its life
3. C. The number of animals in an area
4. D. Differences between two species that live in the same place
5. What is a force?
1. A. A type of energy only
2. B. A push or pull ← Answer
3. C. A kind of speed
4. D. A measure of mass
6. What happens when two like poles of magnets are brought close together?
1. A. They spin around one another without touching
2. B. They lose their magnetism for a short time
3. C. They attract each other and stick together
4. D. They repel each other ← Answer
7. What is kinetic energy?
1. A. The energy of an object at rest
2. B. The energy stored in a stretched spring or rubber band
3. C. The energy an object has because it is moving ← Answer
4. D. The energy from the Sun only
8. What is a wave?
1. A. A repeating disturbance that transfers energy ← Answer
2. B. A type of solid
3. C. A moving piece of matter carried along from place to place
4. D. A kind of force only
9. What was the name of the supercontinent that later broke apart?
1. A. Panthalassa
2. B. Atlantis
3. C. Gondwana Sea
4. D. Pangaea ← Answer
10. What does the greenhouse effect do?
1. A. Cools Earth by blocking sunlight before it can arrive
2. B. Pushes heat from the surface out into space
3. C. Makes plants grow only inside glass buildings
4. D. Warms Earth as gases absorb heat and send some back ← Answer
11. How many parents are involved in sexual reproduction?
1. A. Two ← Answer
2. B. Three
3. C. Four
4. D. One
12. What is an adaptation?
1. A. A trait that only appears in adults
2. B. An inherited trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce ← Answer
3. C. A change an animal makes on purpose
4. D. A habit learned from parents
13. What unit is force measured in?
1. A. Meters (m)
2. B. Newtons (N) ← Answer
3. C. Joules (J)
4. D. Kilograms (kg)
14. What happens when a north pole and a south pole are brought close together?
1. A. They cancel each other and stop working
2. B. They repel each other and move apart
3. C. They attract each other ← Answer
15. What is the unit of energy?
1. A. The kilogram (kg)
2. B. The newton (N)
3. C. The meter (m)
4. D. The joule (J) ← Answer
16. What do waves transfer from place to place?
1. A. Color
2. B. Mass
3. C. Matter
4. D. Energy ← Answer
17. Which two continents have coastlines that fit together especially well?
1. A. South America and Africa ← Answer
2. B. Asia and Australia
3. C. North America and Antarctica
18. What happens when fossil fuels are burned?
1. A. They make pure oxygen and nothing else
2. B. They release carbon dioxide ← Answer
3. C. They absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they burn
19. Which type of reproduction produces offspring identical to the parent?
1. A. Sexual reproduction
2. B. Asexual reproduction ← Answer
3. C. Both always produce different offspring
20. What is natural selection?
1. A. Animals choosing their own traits
2. B. Humans choosing which animals mate
3. C. Helpful traits help individuals survive and reproduce, so they spread ← Answer
21. What unit is mass measured in?
1. A. Kilograms or grams ← Answer
2. B. Newtons, the unit used for pushes and pulls
3. C. Meters per second
22. Do two objects with the same kind of electric charge attract or repel?
1. A. They repel ← Answer
2. B. They stick together with no force at all
3. C. They attract
4. D. They only repel when they touch
23. What does mass measure?
1. A. How fast an object moves along a path
2. B. How far an object travels
3. C. The amount of matter in an object ← Answer
24. What is the highest point of a wave called?
1. A. The trough
2. B. The amplitude
3. C. The crest ← Answer
25. What does continental drift mean?
1. A. Continents sink into the mantle a little each year
2. B. Continents slowly move across Earth's surface ← Answer
3. C. Continents float on top of the ocean water like rafts
4. D. Continents change their shape a little every day
26. Which of these is a fossil fuel?
1. A. Wind
2. B. Sunlight
3. C. Coal ← Answer
4. D. Water
27. Which type of reproduction produces genetic variation in offspring?
1. A. Asexual reproduction
2. B. Cell division only
3. C. Photosynthesis
4. D. Sexual reproduction ← Answer
28. What is a population?
1. A. All the animals living in the whole world at once
2. B. All the members of one species living in one area ← Answer
3. C. One single animal
4. D. A group of different species
29. What is net force?
1. A. The force of gravity only
2. B. The total of all forces on an object, including direction ← Answer
3. C. The weakest force
4. D. The largest single force
30. Do objects with opposite electric charges attract or repel?
1. A. They ignore each other completely
2. B. They only attract if they are metal
3. C. They attract ← Answer
4. D. They repel
31. What does speed measure?
1. A. How much energy it stores
2. B. How heavy it feels
3. C. How far an object travels in a certain time ← Answer
4. D. How much matter it has
32. What is the lowest point of a wave called?
1. A. The amplitude
2. B. The crest
3. C. The frequency
4. D. The trough ← Answer
33. What is a fossil?
1. A. A bone from an animal that died only last year
2. B. A rock that formed from cooled lava on a volcano
3. C. The preserved remains or traces of an ancient living thing ← Answer
4. D. A mineral that grows only deep underground
34. What is weather?
1. A. The temperature of the whole planet
2. B. The average pattern over many years
3. C. The path of the Sun
4. D. Short-term conditions in one place ← Answer
35. What is a gene?
1. A. A section of DNA that carries instructions for a trait ← Answer
2. B. A tiny animal cell that carries the traits of a species
3. C. A measuring grid
4. D. A kind of plant
36. What is a predator?
1. A. An animal that hunts and eats other animals ← Answer
2. B. An animal that is hunted
3. C. An animal that lives alone
4. D. An animal that eats only plants and never eats meat
37. What is the net force when 8 N pushes left and 8 N pushes right?
1. A. 16 N
2. B. 1 N
3. C. 8 N
4. D. 0 N ← Answer
38. What is the strongest part of a bar magnet called?
1. A. A coil
2. B. A pole ← Answer
3. C. A core
39. Which has more kinetic energy at the same speed: a 1 kg ball or a 5 kg ball?
1. A. Neither has any
2. B. Both the same
3. C. The 1 kg ball
4. D. The 5 kg ball ← Answer
40. What does amplitude measure?
1. A. The number of waves per second
2. B. The speed of the wave
3. C. The height from the resting position to the crest ← Answer
4. D. The distance from crest to crest
41. What is a mid-ocean ridge?
1. A. A mountain range found on the surface of a continent
2. B. An underwater mountain chain where new seafloor forms ← Answer
3. C. A deep trench where old seafloor sinks back into Earth
42. What is climate?
1. A. The long-term average pattern of weather ← Answer
2. B. Today's weather in one city and nothing more
3. C. The wind and rain during one storm last week
43. What is an allele?
1. A. A type of cell found in a plant leaf
2. B. A different version of a gene ← Answer
3. C. A kind of rock
44. What is a generation?
1. A. One step in a family line, such as parents and then their offspring ← Answer
2. B. Every animal alive at once
3. C. One season of the year
45. What are balanced forces?
1. A. Forces in the same direction
2. B. Forces that add up to a bigger push on the object
3. C. Forces that cancel out so net force is zero ← Answer
46. What is the space around a magnet where its force can be felt called?
1. A. A battery circuit
2. B. A coil of wire
3. C. A magnetic field ← Answer
4. D. An electric charge
47. Which has more kinetic energy, the same ball moving fast or slowly?
1. A. Moving slowly
2. B. Moving fast ← Answer
3. C. Both the same
48. What is wavelength?
1. A. The number of waves per second
2. B. The distance from one crest to the next ← Answer
3. C. The height of the wave above the rest line
49. What is seafloor spreading?
1. A. Continents slowly getting taller over many years
2. B. The ocean floor sinking down along a coastline for miles
3. C. New crust forms at ridges and moves away on both sides ← Answer
4. D. Waves spreading sand out evenly across a beach
50. What is global temperature?
1. A. The average temperature of Earth's surface over a year ← Answer
2. B. The temperature in one city on a single day
3. C. The temperature of the water on the ocean floor
4. D. The highest temperature recorded anywhere that year

UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · free to print and photocopy for your own studentsScience — Grade 8

UpOnly Learning · uponlylearning.com · Science Grade 8

From the workbook

A real page of Science · Grade 8

The Puzzle of Moving Continents

The student will analyze evidence from fossils, rock types, continental shapes and seafloor features to explain past plate motions. · 40 min

Warm-up — say this

“A scientist named Alfred Wegener noticed the same thing over 100 years ago. Let's look at the evidence he and later scientists found.”

Worked example

Why is finding Mesosaurus fossils in both Africa and South America strong evidence that the continents were joined?

Answer: Mesosaurus was a small freshwater reptile that could not swim across a salty ocean. It is best explained if the two continents were connected when it lived.

A mistake students make

Continents float on the ocean water.

How the book fixes it

Continents are part of solid rock plates that include the seafloor. The plates move slowly over a hot, slowly flowing layer of solid rock in the mantle, not on water.

Note to the parent

Check for food allergies before the frosting model; two pieces of cardboard on a layer of toothpaste or modeling clay work just as well.

That is one topic of many. The free questions above check a skill; this is the part that teaches it.

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