A cell divides by mitosis. How do the genomes of the two daughter cells compare?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Mitosis"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2A.2
A chromosome is a threadlike structure made of protein and a single molecule of what?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Chromosome"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2A.1
A river changes course and splits one population of beetles into two groups that can no longer breed with each other. For which process is this a common beginning?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Causes of speciation"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.4B.3
Bacteria may divide several times in an hour. Which advantage of asexual reproduction does this show?LibreTexts Biology, Introductory Biology (CK-12), 2.36 "Asexual vs. Sexual Reproduction"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2A.5
During meiosis, paired chromosomes, one from each parent, exchange pieces of DNA. What is this exchange called?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Crossing Over"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2A.3
Show all 40 questions (35 more)
Life Science, continued
Farmers let only the plants and animals with the traits they want reproduce. What is this process called?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Artificial selection"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2B.4
For natural selection to change a population, a trait must vary and must affect survival or reproduction. What else must be true of the trait?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Natural selection"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.4A.2
The four limbs of birds, bats, mice and crocodiles were inherited from one common ancestor that had four limbs. What do biologists call a shared feature like this?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Homologies and analogies"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.4B.4
In a population of moths, wing color is inherited. Birds catch the pale moths more often than the dark ones. What is expected over many generations?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Natural selection"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.4B.1
Most genes hold the instructions for making which kind of molecule?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Gene"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2C.1
One cell goes through meiosis. What does it produce?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Meiosis"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2A.4
Suppose that in one kind of plant the allele for striped leaves (T) is dominant over the allele for plain leaves (t). A Tt plant is crossed with a tt plant. What fraction of the offspring is expected to have plain leaves?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Dominant Traits and Alleles"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2B.3
Which naturalist gave the world the idea of natural selection in his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species?National Geographic Education, "Natural Selection"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.4A.1
Which organism did Gregor Mendel use in the experiments that set out the basic patterns of heredity?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Mendelian Inheritance"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2B.2
Which statement about the effects of mutations is correct?UC Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "The effects of mutations"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective L.8.2C.2
Physical Science 7
A guitar string is plucked harder, so it vibrates with a greater amplitude. How does the sound wave change?The Physics Classroom, "Intensity and the Decibel Scale"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.4
A leaf looks green in sunlight. What does the leaf do to the light that reaches it?NASA Science, "Wave Behaviors"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.6
A sound wave's frequency increases. How does the sound change for a listener?The Physics Classroom, "Pitch and Frequency"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.4
A vibrating tuning fork is held over a tube. The air in the tube begins vibrating at its natural frequency, and the sound gets loud. What is this called?The Physics Classroom, "Resonance"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.5
Light from the Sun crosses the vacuum of space, but sound cannot. Why?NASA Science, "Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.1
Light passes from air into water and changes direction. What is this behavior called?NASA Science, "Wave Behaviors"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.3
One way to capture the energy of ocean waves is to focus them into a narrow channel. What do the waves then do to generate electricity?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Hydropower explained: Wave power"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective P.8.6.2
Earth and Space Science 18
A fossil has teeth and a long bony tail like a reptile and feathers like a bird. What do scientists conclude from a fossil like this?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.7.3
At which kind of plate boundary do plates pull apart while magma from the mantle makes new crust?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.5
Can scientists predict the date, place and size of a major earthquake?U.S. Geological Survey, "Can you predict earthquakes?"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9B.2
Gravel, sand and mud settle in layers, bury dead plants and animals, and harden over time. What kind of rock forms?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Rocks and Layers"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.7.2
The Himalayas were pushed up where the Indian and Eurasian Plates did what?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.5
Hot rock in the mantle slowly rises, spreads out and sinks again in a circular pattern, like thick soup heated in a pot. What is this motion called?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Some unanswered questions"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.1
Identical fossil species are found on the facing coasts of South America and Africa, which an ocean now separates. What did Alfred Wegener conclude from this?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Historical perspective"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.3
In a stack of sedimentary rock layers that has not been disturbed, which layer is the oldest?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Rocks and Layers"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.7.1
It has not rained for weeks, yet a river still flows. Where does much of its water come from?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Rivers Contain Groundwater"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.7
Most volcanoes give warnings before they erupt. What does rising magma usually cause that instruments can detect?U.S. Geological Survey, "How can we tell when a volcano will erupt?"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9B.2
The sea floor at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge spreads at about 2.5 centimeters per year. At that rate, how far does it spread in one million years?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.4
Soil forms when tiny bits of weathered minerals are mixed with what?National Geographic Education, "Weathering"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9A.6
Some fossils come from living things that existed for a short, well-known span of time. What are these fossils, used to tell the ages of rocks, called?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.7.1
Sunlight shines through the windows of a building and warms the rooms inside. What is this called?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Solar thermal collectors"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.10.4
What caused the mass extinction that ended the age of the dinosaurs?National Geographic Education, "Extinction"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.7.4
Which is a disadvantage of wind turbines?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Wind energy and the environment"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.10.3
Which of these is a nonrenewable energy source?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Sources of energy"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.10.1
Which sources give forecasters key data on a hurricane that may threaten land?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Hurricane forecasting"; Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science (2026), grade 8, objective E.8.9B.2
How this list was compiled: Outline: Science, Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) Blueprints, Office of Student Assessment, Mississippi Department of Education, August 2026, https://mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2026/08/Science_MAAP_Blueprints_rebrand_august2026.pdf, linked from Science Resources, https://mdek12.org/studentassessment/science-resources/, read 2026-10-10. Each question names the grade 8 objective it practices in the 2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science, the standards document the blueprint names, https://mdek12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2026/07/2026-MS-CCRS-Science_SBE-Approved-07.23.2026_3.pdf, read 2026-10-10. Each science fact was read on the public page named with its question (the National Human Genome Research Institute, the UC Museum of Paleontology, National Geographic Education, LibreTexts, NASA, The Physics Classroom, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), all read 2026-10-10. The sample items the department posts were not read. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a MAAP test, a sample or released item of the department, or another practice test.
How it works
Unofficial practice for the grade 8 science test of MAAP, the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program. The 40 questions were written for this site from the state science standards; none is a sample or released item. Not affiliated with the Mississippi Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What the Mississippi 8th grade science test covers
The state blueprint has three reporting categories. Earth and Space Science is 26 to 50 percent of the points: rock layers and fossils, plate tectonics, soil, groundwater, natural hazards and energy resources. Life Science is 26 to 44 percent: genes and chromosomes, mitosis and meiosis, Punnett squares, mutations and natural selection. Physical Science is 12 to 20 percent, all of it waves: sound, light, reflection, refraction and resonance.
A source under every answer
Each question lists its objective in the state standards, such as L.8.2B.3, and the public page its fact was read on: the National Human Genome Research Institute for genetics, the U.S. Geological Survey for rocks, plates and hazards, NASA for light.
Life science and Earth science together are at least 80 percent of the points. Start with heredity and plate tectonics.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the Mississippi 8th grade science test?
50 items in one session of 180 minutes: 40 operational items worth 45 points and 10 field test items. This page has 40 questions, all multiple choice.
Is this the Mississippi Department of Education 8th grade science practice test?
No. It is unofficial practice, and its questions are our own. The department posts four sets of grade 8 sample items with answer keys, dated 2019-2020 to 2022-2023, on its Science Resources page, linked in the box under the questions.
Is there a Mississippi 8th grade science practice test online?
Yes. The 40 questions on this page are answered in the browser, with no download and no sign-up. The department's own sample items are PDF files.
How is the Mississippi 8th grade science test scored?
Each student receives one of five performance levels: Minimal, Basic, Passing, Proficient or Advanced. The levels are set on a scale score, so a percent on this page is practice only.
Which grades take the MS state science test?
The MAAP science blueprint covers three tests: grade 5 science, grade 8 science and the end-of-course Biology test.