A crate rests on a smooth floor. One student pushes it to the right with 30 newtons while another pushes it to the left with 30 newtons. What happens to the crate?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); NASA Glenn Research Center, Newton's Laws of Motion
A moving bumper car hits a parked bumper car. During the hit, the moving car pushes on the parked car with a force of 400 newtons toward the east. What force does the parked car put on the moving car?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); NASA Glenn Research Center, Newton's Laws of Motion
A ring magnet is dropped down a pencil onto a second ring magnet, with like poles facing. The top ring stops and floats above the bottom ring without touching it. What is this evidence of?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.f (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Magnets and electricity
Show all 42 questions (39 more)
Forces and Interactions, continued
A student pulls a 2-kilogram cart with a force of 6 newtons, then pulls a 4-kilogram cart with the same force. How does the motion of the second cart change, compared with the first?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
A student tests how many steel washers a magnet can hold through sheets of cardboard: 9 washers through 1 sheet, 5 through 2 sheets and 2 through 3 sheets. Which question do these data answer?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.d (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); the answer is read from the data in the question
A student wants evidence of how the force on a cart affects the change in its motion. What should stay the same in every trial?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); the answer is read from the indicator itself
A team tests three bumper designs by rolling the same cart into a wall at the same speed. The force on the cart is 90 newtons with design A, 60 with design B and 75 with design C. The goal is the smallest force. What should the team do next?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); the answer is read from the data in the question
Two ice skaters stand still, face each other and push off. Skater A has more mass than skater B. How do the forces on the two skaters compare during the push?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
Which statement about gravity is supported by evidence?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.1.1.e (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Forces and Interactions); NASA Space Place, What Is Gravity?
Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation 6
A student's model of a wave on a rope gives the energy for each amplitude: 1 centimeter, 3 units; 2 centimeters, 12 units; 3 centimeters, 27 units. What energy does the model give for 4 centimeters?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); the answer is read from the data in the question
An alarm clock rings inside a sealed jar. As the air is pumped out, the ringing fades away, but the clock can still be seen. What does this show?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); NASA Science, Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave
On a calm morning the smooth surface of a lake shows a clear picture of the trees on its shore. What is light doing at the surface to make the picture?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); NASA Science, Wave Behaviors
On a hot, sunny day a black asphalt road is much hotter than the light concrete sidewalk beside it. Why?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); NASA Science, Wave Behaviors
Two sound waves have the same frequency. Wave X has twice the amplitude of wave Y. How does X sound, compared with Y?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); National Park Service, Understanding Sound
Which is an advantage of sending information as a digital signal?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.2.2.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
Energy 5
A bicycle speeds up from 4 meters per second to 8 meters per second. What happens to its kinetic energy?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.4.3.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Energy); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
A chain pulls a roller coaster car from the bottom of the first hill to the top, and then the car rolls down. Where is the most energy stored in the system of the car and Earth?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.4.3.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Energy); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
A graph plots the kinetic energy of one cart against its speed. The points are (1 m/s, 2 J), (2 m/s, 8 J) and (3 m/s, 18 J). What does the graph show?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.4.3.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Energy); the answer is read from the data in the question
Two carts roll at the same speed. Cart A has a mass of 2 kilograms and cart B has a mass of 6 kilograms. How do their kinetic energies compare?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.4.3.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Energy); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 5, Physical Sciences
Which rock, together with Earth, stores the most gravitational potential energy?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.4.3.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Energy); U.S. Energy Information Administration, Forms of energy
Heredity 5
A gene chiefly controls the making of what, which in turn affects the traits of an organism?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.9.4.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Heredity); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 6, Life Sciences
A mutation changes a gene in a mouse, but the protein the gene makes works exactly as before. What kind of effect does the mutation have on the mouse?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.9.4.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Heredity); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 6, Life Sciences
A mutation gives one plant in a dry field leaves that lose less water, and the plant makes more seeds than its neighbors. For a plant in that field, what kind of effect does the mutation have?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.9.4.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Heredity); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 6, Life Sciences
Each fall a farmer saves seed only from the corn plants with the largest ears and plants that seed the next spring, year after year. What is this practice called?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.9.4.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Heredity); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 6, Life Sciences
Which technology changes the traits of a crop by altering its DNA directly, for example by putting in a gene from a different species?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.9.4.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Heredity); National Human Genome Research Institute, Genetic Engineering
Natural Selection and Adaptations 7
A fossil animal has teeth, clawed fingers and a long bony tail like a reptile, but it was covered with feathers. What do scientists infer from a fossil like this?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Fossil Succession
In layers of sedimentary rock that have not been disturbed, fossils of fish are found in deeper layers than any fossil of a mammal. What does this pattern show?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Fossil Succession
Most fossils are the remains of kinds of organisms that no longer live anywhere on Earth. What does this tell scientists?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Fossil Succession
Scientists count 100 moths in the same woods three times. In year 1, 20 are dark. In year 10, 45 are dark. In year 20, 70 are dark. By how many percentage points did the share of dark moths rise from year 1 to year 20?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.d (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); the answer is read from the data in the question
Scientists find many matching structures in the bones of a living animal and the bones of a fossil animal. What can the similarities and differences be used to infer?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); National Research Council, A Framework for K-12 Science Education (2012), chapter 6, Life Sciences
Some plants in a dry valley have deeper roots than others, a trait passed from parent to offspring. After years of drought, more of the deep-rooted plants live to make seeds. Why does the next generation have more deep-rooted plants?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); University of California Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution: Natural selection
Which must be true of a population for natural selection to change it?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.10.5.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Natural Selection and Adaptations); University of California Museum of Paleontology, Understanding Evolution: Natural selection
Space Systems 6
A data table gives the diameters of two planets: Earth, 12,756 kilometers, and Jupiter, 142,984 kilometers. About how many times as wide as Earth is Jupiter?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.c (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, Planetary Fact Sheet
A total solar eclipse is predicted for a day next year. Which phase will the Moon be in on that day?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Science, Eclipses and the Moon
During a lunar eclipse the full Moon grows dim. Which shadow is falling on it, and where is the body that casts it?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Science, Eclipses and the Moon
The Moon is a thin crescent one night and a full circle on a night later in the same month. What changed?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Science, Moon Phases
The Moon keeps circling Earth, and Earth keeps circling the Sun. Which force holds both in their orbits?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.b (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Space Place, What Is Gravity?
When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, what season is it in the Southern Hemisphere, and why?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.11.6.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, Space Systems); NASA Space Place, What Causes the Seasons?
History of Earth 4
A road cut near the Niobrara River shows four layers of sedimentary rock that have not been disturbed, numbered 1 at the bottom to 4 at the top. Which layer formed first?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.14.7.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, History of Earth); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Rocks and Layers
Geologists use some fossils, called index fossils, to tell the ages of rocks. What do these fossils have in common?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.14.7.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, History of Earth); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Fossil Succession
How long is the history of Earth that the geologic time scale organizes, as Nebraska's standard states it?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.14.7.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, History of Earth); the answer is read from the indicator itself
The same kind of index fossil is found in a rock layer in Nebraska and in a rock layer in Wyoming. What can geologists conclude about the two layers?Nebraska's College and Career Ready Standards for Science (2024), indicator SC.8.14.7.a (NSCAS Science General Assessment Blueprint, History of Earth); U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time: Fossil Succession
Nebraska's grade 8 science test is called NSCAS Science today, not NeSA. This unofficial practice has 42 questions of our own on the seven topics of the state blueprint. Not affiliated with the Nebraska Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What the Nebraska grade 8 science test covers
The state blueprint weights three domains. Physical sciences is 27 to 60 percent of the scored items: forces and interactions, waves and electromagnetic radiation, and energy. Life sciences is 17 to 33 percent: heredity, and natural selection and adaptations. Earth and space sciences is 14 to 27 percent: space systems and the history of Earth. This page has 20, 12 and 10 questions on them, and each of the 21 grade 8 indicators has at least one.
Where each answer can be checked
Under each answer is its indicator, such as SC.8.4.3.a, and the public page the fact was read on, among them pages of NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Research Council's science framework.
The real test sets its items in tasks about a phenomenon, so read the data in a question before the choices.
Questions and answers
Is the NeSA science test still given in grade 8?
No. Nebraska's grade 8 science test is now NSCAS Science. The state's general tests in grades 3 to 8 all carry the NSCAS name; a 2018 release of the department says NSCAS replaced the NeSA math exam that spring.
How many questions are on the Nebraska grade 8 science test?
30 to 36 scored items in 4 to 6 tasks, by the state's science blueprint: 10 to 18 on physical sciences, 6 to 10 on life sciences and 5 to 8 on Earth and space sciences.
How is NSCAS science scored?
With a scale score from 3000 to 3250 and one of three achievement levels: Developing, On Track or Advanced. The parents' guide says science has no reporting categories, so there is one score, not one for each topic.
Which grades take the NSCAS science test?
Grades 5 and 8, in the spring. English language arts and mathematics are tested in every grade from 3 to 8.