STAAR Science Grade 8 2016 (tagged to 2021 standards)
Quiz by Grade 8 Science - Texas Education Agency
Grade 8 STAAR Test (Adopted 2021)
Science (2021)
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
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Measures 30 skills from
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- Q 1/54Score 0A partial marine food web is shown. Green crabs carry a parasitic worm that can infect organisms that prey on the crabs. Which organism is most likely to be infected by this parasite?29Blue musselsMarsh periwinklesGullsBarnacles
54 questions
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- Q1A partial marine food web is shown. Green crabs carry a parasitic worm that can infect organisms that prey on the crabs. Which organism is most likely to be infected by this parasite?Blue musselsMarsh periwinklesGullsBarnacles60s6.12(A)
- Q2With the use of the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists recently discovered a giant runaway star. It is 90 times larger than the sun and is very hot and blue-white in color. Why does the sun appear to be brighter than this runaway star when viewed from Earth?The sun is a different color than the runaway star.The sun is closer to Earth than the runaway star.The sun is older than the runaway star.The sun is made of different elements than the runaway star.60s8.9(B)
- Q3Some students are using samples of different substances for a lab investigation. They plan to observe the physical properties of each substance and record their observations in a table like the one below. Which of the substances observed are elements?
and
andandand60s6.6(E) - Q4Two students are working together to build a birdhouse. Student 1 applies a force of 10 N to a wooden board in order to slide it across the table to Student 2. If the force of friction resisting the student’s push is 4 N, what is the net force acting on the board?4 N10 N6 N14 N60s8.7(A)
- Q5Both primary and secondary succession begin with pioneer species that —invade the area so that new organisms cannot be establishedmodify the area and allow larger and more complex organisms to appearuse up all the existing resources and prevent establishment of non-native organismschange the area and make it safer from predatory organisms60s8.12(B)
- Q6
Element R and Element Q have the same number of valence electrons. These elements both have similar chemical behavior, but Element R has fewer energy levels than Element Q.
Which statement best describes the positions of the two elements in the periodic table?
The two elements are in the same period, with Element R the first element in the period and Element Q the last element.The two elements are side by side in the same period, with Element Q to the left of Element RThe two elements are in the same group, with Element R just above Element Q.The two elements are in the same group, with Element Q at the top of the group and Element R at the bottom.60sC.5(A) - Q7The San Andreas fault is a transform fault. The map below shows a student’s approximation of where the fault line crosses through the United States. Students were asked to make maps predicting which way land would most likely move over thousands of years. Which map best predicts the likely movement of land along the fault line over thousands of years?#texas/6aa7ae5c-5775-40a6-9f3c-597e8e2975db/D.png#texas/6aa7ae5c-5775-40a6-9f3c-597e8e2975db/B.png#texas/6aa7ae5c-5775-40a6-9f3c-597e8e2975db/A.png#texas/6aa7ae5c-5775-40a6-9f3c-597e8e2975db/C.png60s7.KS(10)
- Q8The white-tailed ptarmigan lives at high elevations on mountains that receive a lot of snow in the winter. During the summer, the ptarmigans’ feathers are mottled brown. The birds lose the brown feathers and grow a new set of white feathers during the winter. Scientists are concerned that rising global temperatures will affect the white-tailed ptarmigan. If global climate change leads to the elimination of snow in the habitat of white-tailed ptarmigans, which adaptation is most likely to occur over many generations?Birds with brown feathers will be easier to see on the ground in the winter. Over time this could lead to white-tailed ptarmigans that have brown feathers throughout the year.Birds with white feathers in areas without winter snow will be easier for predators to find. Over time this could lead to white-tailed ptarmigans that have brown feathers throughout the year.Birds with white feathers will be easier to see on the ground in the summer. Over time this could lead to white-tailed ptarmigans that have white feathers throughout the year.Birds with brown feathers in areas without winter snow will be easier for predators to find. Over time this could lead to white-tailed ptarmigans that have white feathers throughout the year.60s7.11(B)
- Q9Which of these changes would likely occur if the rate of Earth’s rotation on its axis increased?The length of a day would be longer.The length of the seasons would be shorter.The length of the seasons would be longer.The length of a day would be shorter.60s6.9(A)
- Q10The graph below shows the motion of a ball rolling on a straight track. What was the ball’s average speed during the time represented in the graph?0.2 m/s5.0 m/s0.5 m/s10.0 m/s60s7.7(A)
- Q11
Lake Victoria in East Africa is home to many species of fish called cichlids. In 1954 the predatory Nile perch was introduced to Lake Victoria. The Nile perch became the dominant fish species in the lake by the mid-1980s. The number of cichlid species in the lake decreased as the Nile perch population increased. The perch preyed heavily on cichlid species that fed on algae and debris on the bottom of the lake. Algae in the lake increased, and oxygen levels decreased. The surface area of the gills of some cichlid species has increased in just over 20 years.
Which statement explains the increase in gill surface area seen in some of Lake Victoria’s cichlids?
Increased gill surface area has allowed the cichlids to change their diet and avoid competing with the Nile perch.Increased gill surface area has allowed the cichlids to be camouflaged and avoid being eaten by the Nile perch.Increased gill surface area has allowed the cichlids to better absorb the limited oxygen in the water.Increased gill surface area has allowed the cichlids to leave Lake Victoria and establish populations in nearby bodies of water.60s7.13(D) - Q1260s8.6(E)
- Q13In July 1994 the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with the planet Jupiter, as scientists had predicted. To be able to accurately predict when a comet will collide with a planet, it is essential to understand —the attraction of opposite poles of a magnet to each otherthe composition of a planet’s atmospherethe formation of cometsthe gravitational attraction that exists between all bodies60s7.9(B)
- Q14A group of students prepared a table listing the types of reproduction that occur in several organisms. Based on this information, which of the organisms can produce offspring that are genetically identical to the parent organism?Cats, hydras, frogs, and ferns onlyAmoebas and yeasts onlyFerns onlyAmoebas, yeasts, hydras, and ferns only60s7.13(C)
- Q15The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shows how the sun is classified among the 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 main-sequence star in spectral class K or Ma supergiant in spectral class Ka white dwarf in spectral class Ba main-sequence star in spectral class B60s8.9(A)
