8th grade SSA Review Assessment 1. Maria and Lauren want to learn about how fast a rose bush grows. They choose plants of equal height and each student takes one bush home. They grow their plant inside and to give it 25 mL of water every other day. After one month, the girls noticed different results. What should the girls have done differently to insure their methods were similar? 2. Javier and Jessica are measuring the water temperature of a stream. Javier records the water temperature as 56°. Jessica tests the water at the same location, but finds that the water temperature is 13°. What is the most likely cause of the different results? 3. Earth’s spheres interact in many ways. Which of the following is the BEST example of the hydrosphere and atmosphere interacting? 4. The cryosphere and biosphere are two components of Earth’s systems. What is one way that the cryosphere and biosphere interact?
37. Which best explains the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific law? 38. Scientists in all branches of science have developed scientific theories. Which of the following statements is true about all scientific theories? 39. Consider the following hypothesis: “The time it takes for sugar to dissolve in water depends on the temperature of the water.” Which of the following is the test (independent) variable for an experiment that would be designed based on the hypothesis? 40. Kaylee reads an article that states that the frequency of chirping by crickets is related to the temperature of their environment. She wants to conduct an experiment to see if this is true. Kaylee states this hypothesis: Crickets chirp more frequently when the temperature of their environment increases. What is the outcome (dependent) variable in Kaylee’s experiment? 41. Much of the world’s tropical rain forests have disappeared due to human activities. By the end of the 1990s, only about 5 percent of India’s original forests were still standing. Which of the following is a potential effect of this deforestation?
51. Kareem told his friend about the beautiful rainbow he saw just after a rainstorm. Kareem then explained to his friend how a rainbow forms. What was Kareem’s explanation? 52. Light that is reflected off of objects can be detected by our eyes. This is why you can see your image in a mirror. Why can’t you see your image reflected off of a wall? 53. The following equation illustrates the chemical reaction that occurs in a plant. water + carbon dioxide + light energy = sugar + oxygen Based on the law of conservation of energy, what happened to the light energy in the reaction? 54. Katrina replaced the batteries in her camera with rechargeable ones. Later as she was recharging the batteries, Katrina told her mother “I am creating energy so that I can use these batteries again!” What was Katrina actually doing? 55. Melinda was heating a pot of water on the stove. She had 1.0 L of water at 90 °C, and she added 1.0 L of water at 10 °C from the tap. What was the temperature of the water once it was mixed together
59. Every organism requires a set of instructions that specifies its traits. This information is carried within the cells of the organism. Which of the following best describes hereditary information in eukaryotic cells? 60. Some organisms reproduce sexually and have two parents. How does the genetic information of a new organism produced through sexual reproduction compare to the genetic information of its parents? 61. This pedigree chart shows how a trait is passed on in a family. Based on this chart, which two individuals have “the trait”? 62. For a particular trait, B is dominant to b. Which of the following genetic crosses would be expected to result in 50% of the offspring showing the phenotype of the dominant allele and 50% showing the phenotype of the recessive allele?