In the balanced equation 2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O, how many hydrogen atoms are on each side of the arrow?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective PS.8.1.5
On the periodic table, elements in the same vertical column are in the same group. What is usually true of elements in one group?Los Alamos National Laboratory, Periodic Table of Elements, "About the Periodic Table"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.3
Salt water can be separated by letting the water evaporate. In the blend, the salt and the water each keep their own identity. How is salt water classified?LibreTexts Chemistry, Introductory Chemistry, 3.4 "Classifying Matter According to Its Composition"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.1
Two colorless solutions are mixed. A yellow solid forms and settles to the bottom of the beaker. Which evidence of a chemical change is this?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective PS.8.1.4
Show all 44 questions (40 more)
Physical Science, continued
Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. It can be broken down into those simpler substances, but only by a chemical change. How is water classified?LibreTexts Chemistry, Introductory Chemistry, 3.4 "Classifying Matter According to Its Composition"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.1
Which of these is a chemical change?LibreTexts Chemistry, Introductory Chemistry, 3.6 "Changes in Matter: Physical and Chemical Changes"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.4
Which particle of an atom has a negative charge and is found around the nucleus, not inside it?U.S. Department of Energy, "DOE Explains...Electrons"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.2
Which statement compares the particles of an atom correctly?U.S. Department of Energy, "DOE Explains...Neutrons" and "DOE Explains...Electrons"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective PS.8.1.2
Life Science 16
A bee drinks nectar from a flower and carries the flower's pollen to other flowers. Both living things benefit. What is this relationship called?NOAA Ocean Exploration, "What is symbiosis?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.2
A county usually has about 5 cases of a disease each month. One month it has 60. Which word names this sudden rise above what is normally expected in that area?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Lesson 1, Section 11; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.1.2
A tick feeds on the blood of a deer. The tick is fed, and the deer is harmed. What is this relationship called?NOAA Ocean Exploration, "What is symbiosis?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.2
A two-year drought dries up most of the water holes on a grassland. What will most likely happen to the antelope population there?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective LS.8.2.1
An epidemic spreads over several countries and continents and affects a large number of people. What is it now called?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Lesson 1, Section 11; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.1.2
Antibiotics are medicines that fight which kind of infection?MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine, "Antibiotics"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.1.1
Bluebirds nest only in holes in trees. A forest has plenty of insects for them to eat but only 20 nest holes. What limits the number of bluebird pairs that can raise young there?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective LS.8.2.1
The front legs of cats and dogs have matching parts. Biologists call a feature that two kinds of living things share in this way a homology. What does a homology suggest?University of California Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Homologies"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.3.1
In a food web diagram, an arrow points from a grasshopper to a frog. What does the arrow show?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Aquatic food webs"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.4
On dark tree bark, birds find and eat light-colored moths more easily than dark ones. Wing color is passed from parent moths to their young. Over many generations, what will most likely happen?University of California Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution, "Natural selection"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.3.2
What do decomposers such as bacteria and fungi do in an ecosystem?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Aquatic food webs"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.2
Where does a green plant get the food it uses for energy and for building new leaves and stems?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Carbon cycle"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.3
Which is needed for natural selection to change a population over time?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective LS.8.3.2
Which process moves carbon from the atmosphere into living things?National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Carbon cycle"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.2.4
Which statement about bacteria is correct?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Bacteria"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.1.1
Why can a virus not make copies of itself on its own?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Virus"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective LS.8.1.1
Earth and Space Science 20
A cliff shows six layers of sedimentary rock that have not been disturbed. Where is the oldest layer?National Park Service, "Geologic Principles: Superposition and Original Horizontality"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.1.1
A dike of igneous rock cuts across several layers of sedimentary rock. What does this show about the ages of the rocks?National Park Service, "Geologic Principles: Cross-cutting Relationships"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.1.2
A family washes a car on the driveway, and the soapy water runs into a storm drain. Why can this matter to people who live far downstream?North Carolina Office of Environmental Education, "River Basin Program"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.2
A stream is tested in January and again in July. If nothing else differs, when can its water hold more dissolved oxygen?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Dissolved Oxygen and Water"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.1
About how much of all the water on Earth is held in the oceans?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "How Much Water is There on Earth?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.2.1
Along some coasts, wind pushes surface water away and deep water rises to take its place. Why are these upwelling areas often good fishing grounds?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is upwelling?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.2.2
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by nearly 50 percent since 1750. What caused the increase?NASA Science, "The Causes of Climate Change"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.4.3
Everyone in North Carolina lives in one of the state's 17 river basins. What is a river basin?North Carolina Office of Environmental Education, "River Basin Program"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.2.1
Three creeks are tested for pH. Creek A reads 4.5, Creek B reads 7.0 and Creek C reads 8.5. Which creek is acidic?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "pH and Water"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.1
Too many nutrients wash into an estuary. What usually follows?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is eutrophication?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.1
Turning off the lights when you leave a room is energy conservation. Which is an example of energy efficiency instead?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Energy efficiency and conservation"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.4.4
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, who sets national health-based standards for drinking water?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Overview of the Safe Drinking Water Act"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.2
What happens to ocean water when it becomes very cold and salty?NOAA National Ocean Service, "What is the global ocean conveyor belt?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.2.2
What makes a fossil useful as an index fossil for telling the age of a rock layer?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.1.1
Where is most of Earth's fresh water found?U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, "Where is Earth's Water?"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.2.1
Which energy source is nonrenewable?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Sources of energy"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.4.1
Which is an environmental consequence of burning coal to make electricity?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Coal and the environment"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.4.2
Which kind of rock forms from particles of older rocks, such as gravel, sand and mud, that were broken apart by water or wind?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Rocks and Layers"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.1.2
Which list names only renewable sources of energy?North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), grade 8, objective ESS.8.4.1
Why do scientists collect the insects, snails and worms that live on a stream bottom to judge the health of the stream?U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Indicators: Benthic Macroinvertebrates"; North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science (2023), objective ESS.8.3.1
Unofficial practice for North Carolina's grade 8 science End-of-Grade (EOG) test. The questions are ours, written from the state's 2023 science standards; none comes from a real test. Not affiliated with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Read the full guide
What the grade 8 science EOG covers
Earth and space science is the largest domain, 42 to 50 percent of the test: rock layers and fossils, where Earth's water is, river basins, ocean currents, water quality and energy resources. Life science is 33 to 41 percent: disease agents, populations, food webs and natural selection. Physical science is 16 to 22 percent: atoms, the periodic table and chemical change.
How the answers are checked
Each question names the objective it practices in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Its fact rests on a public page named under the answer, such as the U.S. Geological Survey for water, NOAA for the ocean and the Energy Information Administration for energy.
The real test supplies a periodic table, so practice reading one instead of memorizing it.
For rock layers, start at the bottom: in undisturbed layers the lowest is the oldest.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the 8th grade science EOG?
52 in all, the state's test specifications say. 44 count toward the score, and the other 8 are field test items. This page has 44 questions, the same number.
How long is the 8th grade science EOG?
The state estimates two hours for most students. Three hours is the most allowed, unless a student has a documented accommodation such as extended time.
Is there an 8th grade science EOG study guide?
The state's test specifications come closest: they list every objective tested and each domain's share. Each question here names its objective, so a missed question points to the part of the standards to review.
Where are the state's NC EOG practice tests for grade 8 science?
The Department of Public Instruction posts a released grade 8 science form with its answer key on its EOG page, linked in the box under the questions. No question on this page is taken from it.