A cliff shows four rock layers that have never been overturned. Which layer is the oldest?U.S. Geological Survey, "Geologic Time: Relative Time Scale"; framework standard 6.MS-ESS1-4
At which seafloor structure does ocean floor sink back into Earth's interior?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ESS2-1
During which phase of the Moon can a lunar eclipse happen?NASA Science, "Eclipses and the Moon"; framework standard 6.MS-ESS1-1a
The Milky Way holds many solar systems, and Earth's is one. What is the Milky Way?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ESS1-5(MA)
What can happen to local weather when two different air masses collide?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ESS2-5
What happens during a solar eclipse?NASA Science, "Eclipses and the Moon"; framework standard 6.MS-ESS1-1a
When the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun, what season is it in the Northern Hemisphere?NASA Space Place, "What Causes the Seasons?"; framework standard 8.MS-ESS1-1b
Where are metal ores generally found?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ESS3-1
Which human activity is one cause of the warming of the globe over the last hundred years?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ESS3-5
Which observation shows that Earth's plates have traveled a long way?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ESS2-3
Which two things drive the cycling of water through Earth's hydrosphere?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ESS2-4
Show all 44 questions (33 more)
Life Science 11
A farmer breeds only the cows that give the most milk, generation after generation. What is this an example of?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-LS4-5
A mutation changes the hair color of an animal and has no effect on its survival. What kind of change to the trait is this?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-LS3-1
Fish of one kind grow larger in a large pond than in a small pond. What kind of factor explains the difference?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-LS1-5
How do bright flowers raise a plant's chance of reproducing?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-LS1-4
In one kind of plant, the allele for tall stems (T) is dominant over the allele for short stems (t). Two Tt plants are crossed. What is the chance that an offspring is short?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-LS3-4(MA)
In the food chain grass → grasshopper → frog → hawk, which organism is the secondary consumer?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-LS2-3
The respiratory system takes in oxygen from the environment. Which system delivers that oxygen to the body's cells?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-LS1-3
Scientists find fossilized tracks of several animals that moved side by side. What can tracks like these show?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-LS4-1
Which is an advantage of asexual reproduction?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-LS3-2
Which part of a plant cell produces sugar and oxygen through photosynthesis?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-LS1-2
Which statement is true of every organism, whether it has one cell or many?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-LS1-1
Physical Science 11
A chemical reaction absorbs thermal energy from its surroundings, and the beaker feels cold. What kind of reaction is it?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS1-6
Block A has a mass of 40 g and a volume of 10 cm³. Block B has a mass of 40 g and a volume of 20 cm³. How does the density of A compare with the density of B?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS1-7(MA)
Digitized signals are sent as wave pulses. What do the pulses represent?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS4-3
Skater A pushes skater B with a force of 30 newtons. What force does skater B exert on skater A?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Newton's Laws of Motion"; framework standard 8.MS-PS2-1
Thermal energy is removed from a gas until it becomes a liquid. What happens to the kinetic energy of its particles?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-PS1-4
Thermal energy moves out of hotter regions and into colder ones in three ways. Which list names them?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-PS3-6(MA)
Two clear liquids are mixed. A solid forms that has a different melting point and odor than either liquid. What do these data show?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-PS1-2
Two waves travel along the same rope. Wave A has a larger amplitude than wave B. What does this tell you?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS4-1
Which of these is a type of potential energy?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-PS3-7(MA)
Why can sound not travel through empty space?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS4-2
Why do you not notice a gravitational pull between two pencils on a desk?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-PS2-4
Technology/Engineering 11
A design brief says a footbridge must cost less than $5,000. What is the cost limit called?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ETS1-1
A heating system measures the result of its own output, the room temperature, and uses it to adjust the furnace. What is this returned information called?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ETS3-5(MA)
A scaled drawing uses the scale 1 cm = 2 m. A wall is 7.5 cm long on the drawing. How long is the real wall?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ETS1-5(MA)
A sheet of aluminum is cut into strips. What happens to the composition of the material?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ETS2-4(MA)
A team tests a model boat, changes the hull and tests it again, many times over. Why?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ETS1-4
The frame of a bicycle holds all of its other parts in place. Which subsystem is the frame part of?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ETS3-3(MA)
In a communication system, which component turns the coded signal back into a message a person can understand?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ETS3-1(MA)
On a factory line, workers bolt the wheels, seat and handlebars onto a bicycle frame. Which basic manufacturing process is this?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 8.MS-ETS2-5(MA)
Students build a working model of their solution so that they can test it. What is the model called?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 7.MS-ETS1-7(MA)
Which of these is a fastener?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ETS2-3(MA)
Which property tells how well a material carries an electric current?2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework, standard 6.MS-ETS2-1(MA)
Forty-four unofficial questions for the grade 8 MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering test, each written for this page from the 2016 Massachusetts framework. This site is not affiliated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Read the full guide
What the grade 8 science MCAS covers
The test design gives four reporting categories a quarter of the points each: Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science and Technology/Engineering. The test is built on the standards of grades 6, 7 and 8, not grade 8 alone, so it reaches back to cells, waves and rock layers from grade 6 and to ecosystems, energy and communication systems from grade 7.
How the answers are checked
Under an answer is the code of the framework standard it practices, for example 8.MS-PS2-1 for Newton's third law, and the fact comes from that standard or its clarification statement. Five answers on eclipses, seasons, rock layers and forces were also read on pages of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, named with the answer.
A quarter of the points are Technology/Engineering: design constraints, materials, manufacturing and communication systems. Do not leave that topic for last.
Questions and answers
How long is the grade 8 science MCAS?
Two sessions with 41 scored questions worth 54 points in all. 35 are selected-response questions worth one or two points, and 6 are constructed-response questions worth two or three. Each form also carries seven matrix questions that do not count.
Is there a science MCAS grade 8 study guide?
The closest thing the state publishes is the list of standards the test is built on: grades 6 to 8 in the 2016 Science and Technology/Engineering framework. Every question here names its standard, so missed answers point to what to review.
How are grade 8 science MCAS results reported?
As one of four achievement levels: Not Meeting, Partially Meeting, Meeting or Exceeding Expectations. The descriptors for grade 8 science and technology/engineering say what a student at each of the top three levels can do. A percent on practice questions is not a level.
Is this grade 8 science MCAS practice test made of released questions?
No. The 44 questions were written for this page from the standards, without reading the state's released items. DESE posts its own released questions and practice tests, and the box below the questions links to them.