2018 STAAR Grade 8 Science

By Huntsville ISD
Last updated over 2 years ago
42 Questions
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1.

A partial grassland food web is shown.


Which of the following best describes a relationship in this grassland?

SCI.8.11a
2.

Which statement about stars is correct?

SCI.8.8a
3.

For a laboratory investigation some students put a strip of shiny metal into a beaker of blue solution and then stored the beaker on a shelf overnight. The next morning, the students recorded observations about the metal and the solution in the box below.




Based on their observations, can the students correctly conclude that a chemical reaction occurred?

SCI.8.5e
4.

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


SCI.6.9c
5.

To fight a bacterial infection, a patient was given an antibiotic to take for 10 days. After the patient finished taking the antibiotics as directed, almost all the bacteria were killed. After another 10 days, the patient was sick again with the same type of infection.

What most likely happened?

SCI.8.11c
6.

A 1,100 kg car comes uniformly to a stop. If the vehicle is accelerating at - 1.2 m/s2, which force is closest to the net force acting on the vehicle?

SCI.8.6a
7.

The beginning of autumn in North America is in September, but the beginning of autumn in South America is in March. The diagram shows the positions of Earth, the moon, and the sun on one day in September and one day in March.


Why does autumn start in different months of the year in North America and South America?

SCI.8.7a
8.

This drawing shows a human body system.


What is the primary function of this body system?

SCI.7.12b
9.

The diagram of Situation 1 shows one person failing to move a refrigerator up a ramp, while the diagram of Situation 2 shows two people successfully pushing a refrigerator up a ramp.


What comparison can be made about the work done in the two situations?

SCI.7.7a
10.

An ecosystem that is not sustainable can break down when a natural disaster occurs. This can lead to organisms in the ecosystem either leaving the area or dying off.

Increased biodiversity results in a more sustainable ecosystem because —

SCI.7.10b
11.

How many valence electrons are in an atom of each element in Group 15 in the periodic table?

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

SCI.8.5c
12.

The photograph shows mountains in the Andes range in South America.


Which statement describes the geologic process that is most likely responsible for the formation of these mountains?

SCI.8.9b
13.

A group of scientists studied some trees in a pine forest. In the densely forested areas, the trees were within 1 m of each other. The scientists observed that these trees had dead branches near the ground. They measured the height above the ground at which the first living branches were found on different-sized trees in the forest. Then they repeated this procedure on the same kind of trees in an open meadow. This graph summarizes the scientists’ data.


Which inference is best supported by these data?

SCI.8.11b
14.

The picture shows an aerialist walking on a tightrope and holding a balancing bar.


An action–reaction pair of forces exists between —

SCI.8.6c
15.

A student drew atomic models of four elements.


Based on these drawings, which element is the least reactive?

SCI.8.5b
16.

The table lists the distances of some of the nearest stars.


Based on the table, a student used a measuring tape to model the distances between the sun and these nearby stars. The sun was at the starting point. Proxima Centauri was at the 10 m mark.

Which star was closest to the 20 m mark in this model?

SCI.8.8d
17.

Lions and cheetahs prey on wildebeests that graze in the grasslands of the African savanna. What likely effect would increased rainfall over several rainy seasons have on the populations of wildebeests, lions, and cheetahs?

SCI.8.11c
18.

Which statement accurately describes the atoms of a specific element?

SCI.8.5a
19.

A student notices that the moon is full one evening. Which sequence of moon phases will the student observe over the next eight days?

SCI.8.7b
20.

Which statement does NOT correctly compare silicon with another element?

SCI.6.6a
21.

A marble is given potential energy by being placed at Location W. When the marble is released, it rolls down the track.


At which location does the marble have maximum kinetic energy?

SCI.6.8a
22.

Which chemical reaction involves the fewest oxygen atoms?

SCI.8.5d
23.

A student models convection currents in a laboratory activity.


How are the convection currents in the student’s model different from the convection currents in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans?

SCI.8.10a
24.

Darwin’s finches are a group of seed-eating bird species found on the Galápagos Islands. Nest flies are a type of insect that has become a threat to the finches. The diagram shows the life cycle of the nest fly.


Based on the life-cycle information, which statement best describes the relationship between the nest fly larvae and the young birds?

SCI.8.11a
25.

Sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, is a very stable, nonflammable gas at room temperature. It is used in many electronic products because it is a good electrical insulator.

Which statement describes the composition of sulfur hexafluoride?

SCI.6.5c
26.

Four boxes are sliding with constant speed before each box experiences an unbalanced force of 8 N.

Which box would experience the greatest acceleration when the unbalanced force is applied?

SCI.8.6c
27.

A mid-ocean ridge is located at the boundary of two tectonic plates. Which diagram correctly models the relative plate motion on each side of a mid-ocean ridge?

SCI.8.9b
28.

As part of an investigation, students combined substances in a beaker to observe chemical reactions. They performed two procedures. They measured the mass of each substance before and after each reaction. The table shows their observations.


Assuming the students did not make any careless errors, what likely explains these changes in mass?

SCI.8.5e
29.

The house sparrow was first introduced to New York in 1851. It is now distributed across most of North America. As the species expanded its range, it began to live in environments that were different from its original habitat. The birds now vary in size, depending on their geographic location. The map shows the distribution of house sparrows by size.


What is the most likely explanation for the body-size distribution of house sparrows shown on the map?

SCI.8.11c
A student shows a model of Earth and the moon to a class.

30.

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

SCI.8.7b
31.

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

Which table was completed correctly?

SCI.8.5c
32.

A block is pulled 0.90 m to the right in 2.5 s.


What is the block’s average speed to the nearest hundredth of a m/s?

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

SCI.6.8c
33.

This topographic map represents the elevation of an area 100 years ago. At that time the highest point had an elevation of 214 m. The highest point has since eroded a total of 7 m.


Which profile most likely represents the landscape today?

SCI.8.9c
34.

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

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

SCI.8.11d
35.

Most stars in the universe fit into one of the four areas on this Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.


Which area of the diagram represents the white dwarfs?

SCI.8.8a
36.

Both the esophagus and the small intestine are involved in the digestion of food. The esophagus squeezes food into the stomach by wave-like muscle contractions. Peptidase enzymes in the small intestine break food molecules into smaller molecules.

Which statement best describes changes to food during digestion?

SCI.7.6b
37.

A physics teacher performed a demonstration for a science class by pulling a crate across the floor and measuring the force with a spring scale. While she pulled, a student measured the acceleration of the crate with a handheld electronic device. The results of three 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?

SCI.8.6a
38.

Wheat was one of the first plant crops that humans domesticated. In the process of domestication, the wild form of wheat was eventually changed into a form more suited to human agricultural practice.

Early farmers most likely used seeds only from wheat plants with —

SCI.7.11c
39.

An energy pyramid is shown.


Which sentence best describes how energy flows through this pyramid?

SCI.7.5c
Students slid a small wood block along a flat tabletop for a distance of 1.6 m. The data show the motion of the block of wood.

40.

Which graph displays the motion of the wood block?

SCI.6.8d
41.

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

SCI.6.11b
42.

Whitetip reef sharks spend most of the day lying on the ocean floor. While remaining still, these sharks pump water across their gills.

The movement of water across their gills is necessary for —

SCI.8.11b