A bell rings inside a sealed jar. As the air is pumped out of the jar, the ringing fades until it cannot be heard. Why?Answer: A sound wave needs a medium to travel through. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS4-2, core idea PS4.A, Wave Properties
A hand warmer gets hot after the chemicals inside it are mixed. What does this show about the chemical reaction?Answer: It releases energy. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS1-6, core idea PS1.B, Chemical Reactions
A loaded wagon and an empty wagon roll at the same speed. The loaded wagon has three times the mass of the empty one. How do their kinetic energies compare?Answer: The loaded wagon has three times the kinetic energy. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS3-1, core idea PS3.A, Definitions of Energy
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Physical Science, continued
A player kicks a light beach ball and then a heavy medicine ball with the same force. Which statement is correct?Answer: The beach ball's motion changes more because it has less mass. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS2-2, core idea PS2.A, Forces and Motion
A roller coaster cart is pulled from the bottom of a hill to the top. Why does the potential energy stored in the system of the cart and Earth change?Answer: Stored energy depends on the relative positions of the objects. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS3-2, core idea PS3.A, Definitions of Energy
A rower pushes the end of an oar against a dock, and the boat glides away. How does the force of the oar on the dock compare with the force of the dock on the oar?Answer: Equal in strength and opposite in direction. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS2-1, core idea PS2.A, Forces and Motion
A simple wave repeats in a regular pattern. Which three properties does that pattern have?Answer: Wavelength, frequency and amplitude. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS4-1, core idea PS4.A, Wave Properties
A student pours one clear solution into another. A yellow solid settles out, and it melts and dissolves differently from either starting substance. What happened?Answer: A chemical reaction formed a new substance. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS1-2, core idea PS1.B, Chemical Reactions
A student wants to raise the temperature of a sample by 10 degrees. What does the amount of energy that must be transferred depend on?Answer: The kind of matter, the sample's size and the environment. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS3-4, core idea PS3.B, Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
A tray of liquid water sits in a freezer until it turns to ice. What happens to the water molecules?Answer: They stay closely spaced and vibrate in fixed positions. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS1-4, core idea PS1.A, Structure and Properties of Matter
In a closed jar, 16 grams of one substance react completely with 23 grams of another, and nothing escapes. What is the mass of the products?Answer: 39 grams. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS1-5, core idea PS1.B, Chemical Reactions
Iron filings sprinkled near a magnet line up in curved rows without touching the magnet. What is this evidence of?Answer: A magnetic field that extends through the space around the magnet. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS2-5, core idea PS2.B, Types of Interactions
Table salt forms crystals. Which describes how a solid such as a crystal is built?Answer: An extended structure with repeating subunits. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS1-1, core idea PS1.A, Structure and Properties of Matter
Two objects of any mass are placed near each other. Which statement about the gravitational forces between objects is correct?Answer: They always attract, and are very small unless a mass is large. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS2-4, core idea PS2.B, Types of Interactions
What does the size of the electric force between two charged objects depend on?Answer: The amount of charge on each and the distance between them. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-PS2-3, core idea PS2.B, Types of Interactions
Life Science 15
A cell takes in water and sugar and lets wastes out, while other materials are kept from passing. Which part of the cell does this?Answer: The cell membrane. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-2, core idea LS1.A, Structure and Function
A deer population on an island grows for years, then stops growing when plants become scarce. What does this show?Answer: Population growth is limited by access to resources. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS2-1, core idea LS2.A, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
A mutation changes a gene on a chromosome. What can be the result?Answer: A changed protein, with a harmful, beneficial or neutral effect. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS3-1, core idea LS3.A, Inheritance of Traits
A new potato plant sprouts from a piece of a potato, so it has only one parent. How does its genetic information compare with the parent plant's?Answer: It is identical to the parent's. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS3-2, core idea LS3.B, Variation of Traits
A person touches a hot pan and pulls the hand away. How does the information travel?Answer: Sense receptors send signals to the brain along nerve cells. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-8, core idea LS1.D, Information Processing
A scientist compares how two species develop before birth. The earliest stages look much alike, though the adult animals do not. What can this comparison reveal?Answer: Relationships that the fully formed anatomy does not show. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS4-3, core idea LS4.A, Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
Bees feed on a flower's nectar, and in doing so help the plant reproduce. What kind of interaction is this?Answer: Mutually beneficial. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS2-2, core idea LS2.A, Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
In photosynthesis, what do plants make with the energy from light?Answer: Sugars from carbon dioxide and water, releasing oxygen. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-6, core idea LS1.C, Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
What does the biodiversity of an ecosystem describe?Answer: The range of species living in it. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS2-5, core idea LS2.C, Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
What happens to the atoms of which an ecosystem's organisms are made?Answer: They cycle over and over between living and nonliving parts. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS2-3, core idea LS2.B, Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
What happens when plants and animals carry out cellular respiration?Answer: Carbon-containing molecules react with oxygen and release stored energy. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-7, core idea PS3.D, Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
What is an organism that consists of one single cell called?Answer: Unicellular. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-1, core idea LS1.A, Structure and Function
What is the fossil record?Answer: The collection of fossils placed in chronological order. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS4-1, core idea LS4.A, Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
Which list is in order from the smallest part of a multicellular body to the largest?Answer: Cells, tissues, organs, body systems. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS1-3, core idea LS1.A, Structure and Function
Year after year a gardener saves seeds only from the tomato plants that bear the largest fruit, and plants them. What is this practice called?Answer: Artificial selection. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-LS4-5, core idea LS4.B, Natural Selection
Earth Science 15
A data table lists two moons: Moon X is 3,000 kilometers across and Moon Y is 1,500 kilometers across. In a scale drawing, Moon Y is 2 centimeters wide. How wide should Moon X be?Answer: 4 centimeters. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS1-3, core idea ESS1.B, Earth and the Solar System
A forecast gives a 70 percent chance of rain instead of saying it will rain for certain. Why is weather forecast this way?Answer: The patterns of moving air and water are too complex for certainty. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-5, core idea ESS2.D, Weather and Climate
A model of Earth and the sun is used to explain the seasons. What causes them?Answer: The tilt of Earth's axis relative to its orbit. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS1-1, core idea ESS1.B, Earth and the Solar System
A town tests the water in a stream every month below a new parking lot, to see whether runoff is changing it. What is the town doing?Answer: Monitoring one way humans affect the environment. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS3-3, core idea ESS3.C, Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases. This is a major factor in which change on Earth?Answer: Earth's mean surface temperature rising today. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS3-5, core idea ESS3.D, Global Climate Change
Energy flows and matter cycles through Earth's systems. Where does that energy come from?Answer: The sun and Earth's own hot interior. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-1, core idea ESS2.A, Earth's Materials and Systems
How can scientists forecast where a natural hazard such as a volcanic eruption is likely in the future?Answer: By mapping the history of hazards in a region. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS3-2, core idea ESS3.B, Natural Hazards
How do scientists organize the 4.6-billion-year history of Earth?Answer: With the geologic time scale, read from rock strata. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS1-4, core idea ESS1.C, The History of Planet Earth
In a model of the solar system, what keeps the planets, their moons and the asteroids in orbit around the sun?Answer: The sun's gravitational pull. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS1-2, core idea ESS1.B, Earth and the Solar System
What sets the worldwide pattern of linked ocean currents in motion?Answer: Differences in density caused by temperature and salinity. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-6, core idea ESS2.C, The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
What typically happens as the human population and each person's use of natural resources both increase?Answer: Negative impacts on Earth typically increase. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS3-4, core idea ESS3.C, Human Impacts on Earth Systems
Where do tectonic processes generate new sea floor, and where do they destroy old sea floor?Answer: New sea floor forms at ridges; old sea floor is destroyed at trenches. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-3, core idea ESS1.C, The History of Planet Earth
Which list names only processes by which water cycles among land, ocean and atmosphere?Answer: Evaporation, condensation, precipitation and transpiration. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-4, core idea ESS2.C, The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
Which process changes the land's surface and also creates underground formations?Answer: The movement of water on the land and underground. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS2-2, core idea ESS2.C, The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
Why are minerals, fresh water and other resources spread unevenly around the planet?Answer: Because of past geologic processes. Source: Oregon Department of Education, Item Specifications, 6-8th Grade OSAS Science Test, 2022 Oregon Science Standards (NGSS), performance expectation MS-ESS3-1, core idea ESS3.A, Natural Resources
An unofficial study guide for Oregon's 8th grade science test, in the form of practice questions. The test is the OSAS Science Summative Test today; OAKS was the older name. Every question is ours. Not affiliated with the Oregon Department of Education.
Read the full guide
Study guide: what 8th grade science draws on
The grade 8 test is built from the middle school standards, and the blueprint weights three areas alike. Physical science: atoms and reactions, forces, fields, kinetic and potential energy, waves. Life science: cells, body systems, photosynthesis and respiration, ecosystems, genes and mutations, the fossil record and selection. Earth science: seasons, gravity and the solar system, geologic time, plate motion, the water cycle, weather and climate, resources and human impact.
Reading an answer
Each answer gives the core idea in the words of the state's item specifications and the performance expectation, such as MS-ESS2-4. A missed question shows which idea to reread.
Real items often open with a phenomenon and its data; say what the data show before recalling a fact.
Questions and answers
Is the Oregon OAKS science test still given in 8th grade?
Eighth graders now take the OSAS Science Summative Test, which Oregon first gave in 2018-19 to measure the Next Generation Science Standards. OAKS named the state's earlier tests. These questions follow the test given today.
How many questions are on the 8th grade OSAS science test?
Five cluster items and 13 stand-alone items count toward the score, the blueprint says. A test also carries field-test items: one extra cluster or five extra stand-alone items.
Is the Oregon 8th grade science test timed?
No. It is a computer adaptive test with no time limit. The state estimates about 75 to 85 minutes for most students in grade 8, and a started test expires after 20 calendar days.
What is a passing score on the Oregon 8th grade science test?
There is no pass or fail. Scores fall in four levels: in grade 8, Level 2 begins at 3433, Level 3 at 3460 and Level 4 at 3507. The state counts Level 3 or higher as proficient.
Does Oregon publish a study guide for the 8th grade science test?
The department publishes the blueprint, the item specifications for grades 6 to 8 and sample tests on osasportal.org. The specifications list, standard by standard, what may be asked; this page is written from them.