A class sends the same message 20 times through a noisy wire: 10 times as an analog signal and 10 times as a digitized signal. The analog message arrives changed 6 times and the digitized message once. Which claim does this evidence support?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS4.3
A crate is pushed to the right with a force of 60 newtons. Friction pushes on it to the left with 25 newtons. What is the net force on the crate?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Newton's Laws of Motion"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.5
A magnet pulls a steel paper clip toward it from 1 centimeter away. From 10 centimeters away, the same paper clip does not move. What does this show about the magnetic field?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.1
A net force of 10 newtons acts on a cart with a mass of 2 kilograms. What is the acceleration of the cart?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Newton's Laws of Motion"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.5
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Physical Sciences, continued
A passenger sits in a seat on a moving bus. A person standing on the sidewalk sees the passenger moving. How does the passenger appear to a friend in the next seat?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.4
A rower's oar pushes backward on the water with a force of 150 newtons. What force does the water put on the oar?NASA Glenn Research Center, "Newton's Laws of Motion"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.6
A straw in a glass of water looks bent where it enters the water. Which wave behavior causes this?NASA Science, "Wave Behaviors"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS4.2
A student runs an electromagnet on 1, 2 and then 3 batteries. More batteries give more current. The electromagnet lifts 4, then 9, then 13 paper clips. What do these data show?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.2
A train moves forward at 20 meters per second. A girl walks toward the front of the train at 2 meters per second. How fast is she moving for an observer standing beside the track?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.4
An atom has 6 protons and 6 electrons. What is its overall electric charge?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "The science of electricity"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS1.1
Four pairs of objects are each the same distance apart. Which pair pulls on each other with the greatest gravitational force?NASA Space Place, "What Is Gravity?"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.3
In a model of an atom, where is the positive charge found?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "The science of electricity"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS1.1
On a sunny day, black pavement gets much hotter than a light-colored concrete sidewalk next to it. Why?NASA Science, "Wave Behaviors"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS4.2
Two charged balloons hang a fixed distance apart. More charge is added to each balloon. What happens to the electric force between them?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.1
Two sound waves have the same frequency. The second has a greater amplitude. How does the second sound differ from the first?National Park Service, "Understanding Sound"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS4.1
What does an electric generator do?U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Magnets and electricity"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS2.2
What is the wavelength of a wave?NASA Science, "Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS4.1
What process in the core of a star like the sun releases the energy that makes it shine?NASA Science, "Stars"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS1.2
Where were the carbon and oxygen atoms in the universe formed?NASA Science, "Stars"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.PS1.2
Life Sciences 10
A cliff shows layers of sedimentary rock that have never been disturbed. Where are the oldest fossils?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Rocks and Layers"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.1
A long drought leaves an island with mostly large, hard seeds. Birds with deeper beaks can crack them and raise more young. Many generations later, most birds on the island have deep beaks. What process explains the change?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Evolution"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.4
The fossil Archaeopteryx has the skeleton of a reptile, with teeth, clawed fingers and a long bony tail, but it was covered with feathers. What does this fossil support?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.2
Fossil clams are collected from a stack of rock layers. From the oldest layer to the youngest, the rear end of the shell becomes more rounded, step by step. What does this pattern show?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.2
How does genetic engineering differ from the older practice of breeding only the plants or animals that have a desired trait?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Genetic Engineering"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.5
In a population of beetles living on dark tree bark, some are green and some are brown. Birds spot the green beetles more easily. Which beetles are more likely to survive and reproduce?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Evolution"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.3
The same kinds of fossils are found in rock layers at two places hundreds of miles apart. What can scientists conclude about the two layers?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.1
Scientists add a gene from one species to the DNA of a crop plant so that the plant has a desired trait. What is this technology called?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Genetic Engineering"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.5
What does the fossil record show about most of the species found as fossils?U.S. Geological Survey, Fossils, Rocks, and Time, "Fossil Succession"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.1
What first produces new genetic variation in a population?National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary, "Evolution"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.LS4.3
Earth and Space Sciences 11
Deep ocean trenches are the deepest parts of the sea floor. What creates them?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.4
Identical fossil species are found along the coasts of South America and Africa, which the Atlantic Ocean now separates. What did Alfred Wegener conclude from this?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Historical perspective"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.4
On a world map of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, where do the vast majority occur?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Hotspots"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS3.1
Rock layers show that a shallow sea covered a region for millions of years. Higher layers show the land rising and the sea draining away. Fossils of many sea animals stop at that level. Which conclusion do these data support?Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.1
Scientists sample rock from the crest of a mid-ocean ridge and from the sea floor far to either side of it. How do the ages of the rocks compare?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Developing the theory"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.3
Seismographs show that S waves from earthquakes do not travel through Earth's outer core. What does this tell scientists about the outer core?U.S. Geological Survey, "The Interior of the Earth"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.2
Telescopes detect a faint glow of microwaves coming from every direction in space. What is this glow?NASA Science, "Universe: Overview"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS1.1
What are the two main sources of the heat inside Earth?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Some unanswered questions"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.2
What is the Ring of Fire?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Ring of Fire"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS3.1
Which describes a convection cell in Earth's mantle?U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Some unanswered questions"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS2.3
Which elements formed in the first minutes after the big bang?NASA Science, "Universe: Overview"; Tennessee Academic Standards for Science, grade 8, standard 8.ESS1.1
A full-length, unofficial practice test for eighth grade TCAP science in Tennessee. Its 40 questions were written for this site from the state's standards, and none is a TCAP item. Not affiliated with the Tennessee Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What a TN TCAP practice test for 8th grade science covers
Nearly half of the test is physical science: atoms and nuclear fusion, electric and magnetic forces, gravity, Newton's laws and waves. Earth and space science is about a quarter: the big bang, Earth's interior, plate tectonics, and where earthquakes and volcanoes strike. Life science is the rest: the fossil record, common ancestry, natural selection and genetic technology.
Where the answers come from
Each question names its Tennessee standard, such as 8.PS2.5. Where an answer needs a fact from outside the standard, it rests on a named public page: NASA for stars, gravity and waves, the U.S. Geological Survey for fossils and plate tectonics, the Energy Information Administration for atoms and generators.
For a force question, find the net force first: forces in opposite directions subtract.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the 8th grade science TCAP?
The test has 48 to 49 items, and 39 to 40 of them count toward the score. The others are field test items. This page has 40 questions.
How long is the 8th grade TCAP science test?
Ninety minutes: two subparts of 45 minutes each, taken online, the state's assessment overview for grades 6 to 8 says.
Can you use a calculator on the 8th grade science TCAP?
Yes. The state's overview for the grades 6 to 8 science tests says calculators are allowed.
Are these real TCAP science questions?
No. The real test also has clusters of questions on one phenomenon and items with more than one right answer.