A crane lifts a steel beam from the ground to the top of a building. What happens to the energy stored in the system of the beam and Earth as the beam is raised?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS3-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS3.A, endpoint for grade 8
A model of a solid shows the same small unit repeated again and again in every direction. What kind of structure does the model show?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
A model shows the substances going into a chemical reaction. Together they hold 6 carbon atoms and 12 oxygen atoms. What must a correct model of the products show?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-5; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS1.B, endpoint for grade 8
Show all 42 questions (39 more)
Physical Science, continued
A piece of solid candle wax is warmed until it turns to liquid. Which change belongs in a particle model of the wax?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-4; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
A sample of water vapor is cooled and its temperature drops. What does the lower temperature tell you about its particles?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-4; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS3.A, endpoint for grade 8
A sealed flask holds 25 grams of one substance and 15 grams of another. They react completely and form a liquid and a gas. What is the mass of what is in the flask afterward?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-5; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS1.B, endpoint for grade 8
A water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Which description fits a model of this molecule?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS1-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
In a tug-of-war, one team pulls the rope east with 250 newtons and the other pulls west with 220 newtons. What is the sum of the forces on the rope, and what happens to its motion?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS2-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS2.A, endpoint for grade 8
The same force pushes a 2-kilogram cart and a 6-kilogram cart for one second. Which cart's motion changes more?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS2-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS2.A, endpoint for grade 8
Students must design a bumper that protects a cart when it hits a wall. Which statement is a constraint of the design problem?Wyoming Department of Education, Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS2-1
Students plan to test whether the type of matter affects how much a sample's temperature changes when energy is transferred to it. What should they keep the same for every sample?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS3-4; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS3.B, endpoint for grade 8
Two beakers hold 100 grams and 300 grams of water at the same starting temperature. Identical heaters run in both for two minutes. Which beaker shows the greater rise in temperature?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS3-4; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS3.B, endpoint for grade 8
Two ice skaters stand facing each other. The first skater pushes the second with a force of 80 newtons. What force does the second skater exert on the first?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS2-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS2.A, endpoint for grade 8
Two magnets sit on a table. Which change alters the amount of potential energy stored in the system of the two magnets?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS3-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea PS3.A, endpoint for grade 8
Two sound waves have the same frequency. Wave A has half the amplitude of wave B. How do the two waves compare?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-PS4-1; the fact is on Understanding Sound, National Park Service
Life Science 15
A bacterium reproduces asexually by dividing into two cells. How does the genetic information of each new cell compare with that of the original cell?Wyoming Department of Education, Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS3-2
A grasshopper eats a blade of wheat. How did the energy now in the grasshopper's food get into the wheat?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-6; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS1.C, endpoint for grade 8
A model of a cell shows a thin layer around the whole cell that lets some substances pass and stops others. Which structure is this layer?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
A model of photosynthesis shows light shining on a leaf, two arrows going into the leaf and sugar forming inside it. What should the two arrows be labeled?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-6; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS1.C, endpoint for grade 8
A mutation changes one gene on a chromosome. How can that change affect the organism?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS3-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS3.A, endpoint for grade 8
A puppy has a mother and a father. What share of the puppy's genes came from its mother?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS3-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS3.B, endpoint for grade 8
A student claims, "Every mutation harms the organism that has it." Which statement corrects the claim?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS3-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS3.B, endpoint for grade 8
A student labels a cell model. Which structures should carry the label "makes most of the chemical energy for the cell's reactions"?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-2; the fact is on Mitochondria, National Human Genome Research Institute glossary
A town depends on a river wetland that filters its water and is home to many species. Which plan best maintains both biodiversity and that ecosystem service?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS2-5; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS4.D, endpoint for grade 8
During a race, a runner's breathing rate and heart rate both rise while the leg muscles work harder. What does this best support?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-3; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
The heart is built of muscle tissue, and muscle tissue is built of muscle cells. Which statement describes how a body is organized?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS1-3; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS1.A, endpoint for grade 8
In a beetle population of 200, 40 beetles are green. Many generations later the population is 300, and 150 are green. How did the share of green beetles change, and what does that suggest?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS4-6; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS4.B, endpoint for grade 8
Scientists place fossils in order by the age of the rock layers they came from. What does this ordered collection, the fossil record, document?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS4-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS4.A, endpoint for grade 8
What role do decomposers play in the cycling of matter in an ecosystem?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS2-3; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS2.B, endpoint for grade 8
Which statement correctly compares matter and energy in an ecosystem?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-LS2-3; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea LS2.B, endpoint for grade 8
Earth and Space Science 12
A model of the solar system shows each planet on a curved path around the Sun. What keeps a planet on that path?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS1-2; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea ESS1.B, endpoint for grade 8
A student cuts the continents out of a paper map and slides South America up against Africa. What does the student see, and what idea did that once support?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-3; the fact is on This Dynamic Earth: Historical Perspective, U.S. Geological Survey
A student models eclipses with a lamp for the Sun, a large ball for Earth and a small ball for the Moon. Where does the small ball go to model a lunar eclipse?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS1-1; the fact is on Types of Solar Eclipses, NASA Science
A town wants to monitor how fertilizer washing off fields affects a nearby river. Which plan is a method of monitoring that impact?Wyoming Department of Education, Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS3-3
A water cycle model has one arrow for water rising from the ocean as vapor and one arrow for rain falling. What drives each arrow?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-4; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea ESS2.C, endpoint for grade 8
Many people think summer comes when Earth is closest to the Sun. What really causes summer in Wyoming?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS1-1; the fact is on What Causes the Seasons?, NASA Space Place
Rock melts, cools into new rock, wears down into sediment and is buried again. Which two sources of energy drive this cycling of Earth's materials?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-1; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea ESS2.A, endpoint for grade 8
Scientists measured the ages of rocks on the ocean floor on both sides of a mid-ocean ridge. What pattern did they find?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-3; the fact is on This Dynamic Earth: Developing the Theory, U.S. Geological Survey
The Sun always lights half of the Moon. Why does the Moon show phases to an observer on Earth?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS1-1; the fact is on Moon Phases, NASA Science
The Sun heats the ground and air near the equator more than the rest of the planet. What does the heated air there do?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-6; the fact is on Global Atmospheric Circulations, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Which part of the water cycle is driven mainly by gravity?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-4; the fact is on The Water Cycle, U.S. Geological Survey Water Science School
Which statement describes the ocean's part in Earth's climate?Wyoming Science Content and Performance Standards (2023), standard MS-ESS2-6; the fact is in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), core idea ESS2.D, endpoint for grade 8
How this list was compiled: Outline: 2026+ Science Summative Assessment Blueprint (approved September 19, 2024), Wyoming Department of Education, https://resources.edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2026-Science-Summative-Assessment-Blueprint.pdf, linked from the department's WY-TOPP page, https://edu.wyoming.gov/transparency/assessment/wy-topp/, read 2026-10-13: the grade 8 share of each domain and the 24 standards the blueprint lists. Standards: 2023 Science Wyoming Content and Performance Standards, https://edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Science-Ch.-10-WYCPS.pdf, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the standard it practices. The science fact behind an answer is in the grade 8 endpoint of the matching core idea of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012), chapters 5 to 7, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/13165/chapter/9, which the Wyoming standards name as their basis, or on a page of NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Park Service or the National Human Genome Research Institute named under the answer. All read 2026-10-13. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a WY-TOPP or PAWS test, a training test of the state or another practice test. No training test item was read.
How it works
Unofficial practice for grade 8 science on WY-TOPP, the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress: 42 questions written for this site from the state's 2026 blueprint. None is a state test item. Not affiliated with the Wyoming Department of Education.
Read the full guide
What the Wyoming 8th grade science test covers
Wyoming's blueprint lists 24 standards in three domains, and this review has a question on each. Physical Science: atoms and molecules, changes of state, conservation of mass, Newton's third law, forces and mass, potential energy, temperature and waves. Life Science: cells, body systems, photosynthesis, matter and energy in ecosystems, biodiversity, mutations, reproduction, fossils and natural selection. Earth and Space Science: Moon phases, eclipses, seasons, gravity, Earth's materials, plate motion, the water cycle, climate patterns and human impact.
The blueprint in use since school year 2025-26 follows the 2023 Wyoming science standards. Older review sheets may cover topics it leaves out.
Questions and answers
Is PAWS still the Wyoming state test?
No. PAWS, the Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, was the earlier state test. The Wyoming Department of Education gave WY-TOPP in its place for the first time in the 2017-18 school year, so 8th grade science review now follows the WY-TOPP blueprint.
What is a proficient score on 8th grade WY-TOPP science?
By the state's posted ranges, a grade 8 science scale score of 804 to 828 is Proficient and 829 or more is Advanced. Basic is 777 to 803. A percent right here is not a scale score.
Is the WY-TOPP science test taken on a computer?
Yes. The state describes WY-TOPP as administered online and computer adaptive. It also offers public training tests for practice with the platform and its tools; none of those items is used here.