CLASS 8

ABOUT THIS PRACTICE TEST

This Practice Test has 15 questions. It has been designed to give you an idea of
the main IBT assessment.

ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

Each question has four options. Choose the BEST answer from the four options
A, B, C or D.
You will find the key to the answers on the last page of this booklet.

EQUIPMENT ALLOWED IN THIS PRACTICE TEST

You may use a pencil for this Practice Test. You may NOT use a dictionary.

ESTIMATED TIME FOR THIS PRACTICE TEST

You should be able to complete this Practice Test in approximately 30 minutes.
 1 After playing football Dawoud found his shirt was wet from sweating (perspiring).

What is the main reason why people sweat?

A it helps keep their bodies cool

B so they will be thirsty and drink more
C it gets rid of extra water from their bodies
D it gets rid of extra salt from their bodies

2 The diagram shows the different layers of rocks in a cliff.

Which type of rock is most resistant to weathering?

A B C D

Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research 2 Class 8 Science Practice Test
 3 Many years ago, sailors on long journeys became sick with the disease scurvy.
Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C.

What could the sailors have eaten to prevent them from getting scurvy?

A eggs
B milk
C oranges
D red meat

4 All matter is made up of small particles. When substances are heated their
particles start to move apart.

Which of the following would have their particles furthest apart?

A ice
B liquid water
C water vapour
D melting ice

5 A lit candle on a cork was floated in a tub of water and a glass jar was
placed upside-down on it. The drawings below show the setup for the
experiment and the result of the experiment.

Setup Result

What could be concluded from this result?

A the most important gas in air is oxygen

B the burning candle went out because the wick ran out
C the burning candle went out because it got wet
D the burning candle changed the volume of the air in the jar

Class 8 Science Practice Test 3 Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research
 6 Scientists think that temperatures on Earth are increasing.
This is called the “Greenhouse Effect”.

Which gas contributes most to the increasing temperature on Earth?

A carbon dioxide
B oxygen
C nitrogen
D helium

7 Farida made a graph of the time it took her to walk to the shop.
800
distance (metres)

600

400

200

0
0 5 10 15
time (minutes)

Her sister, Heena, walks more quickly than Farida.

Which graph best shows the time it would take Heena to walk to the shop?

800 800
distance (metre)

distance (metre)

600 600

400 400

200 200

0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
time (minutes) time (minutes)

A B

800 800
distance (metre)

distance (metre)

600 600

400 400

200 200

0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
time (minutes) time (minutes)

C D

Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research 4 Class 8 Science Practice Test
 8 The characteristics a person has are inherited from their parents.
These characteristics are passed on in units called genes.

Which of the following statements about genes is true for humans?

A A female child gets more genes from her mother than her father.
B Older children get more genes from their parents than younger children.
C Children get half their genes from their mother and half from their father.
D The number of genes passed on from each parent varies randomly for each child.

9
Snake

Bird Frog

Grasshopper
Caterpillar

Grass means “is eaten by”

What do the birds in this food web feed on?

A snakes
B caterpillars and grass
C snakes and grasshoppers
D grasshoppers and caterpillars

Class 8 Science Practice Test 5 Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research
 10 Varsha tied a plastic bag around a bunch of leaves on a tree. The next day there
was water inside the bag. She thought that the water came out of the leaves.

What would be the best thing to do to help Varsha see if she is correct?

A Tie bags around two bunches of leaves on the tree.

B Tie a bag around a small branch with the leaves removed.
C Don’t water the plant for two days then repeat the experiment.
D Tie bags around two bunches of leaves and put them in a dark cupboard.

11 A battery directly changes chemical energy into

A light energy.
B sound energy.
C electrical energy.
D movement energy.

Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research 6 Class 8 Science Practice Test
 12 Razak’s class set up the following experiment to see what seeds need to start
growing (to germinate).

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

• two seeds • two seeds • two seeds • two seeds

• sunlight • sunlight • dark cupboard • dark cupboard
• watered regularly • never watered • watered regularly • never watered

Result:
The class came up with Result: Result:
four questions they thought Result:
they could answer from
the seeds the seeds the seeds the seeds
thestarted
results of their experiment.
to grow did not start started to grow did not start
to grow to grow
1. Do seeds need water to start growing?
2. How many seeds need to be planted in order for germination to occur?
3. Is sunlight needed for seeds to germinate?
4. How much soil do seeds need to start growing?

Which of these questions can the experiment answer?

A 1 only
B 1 and 3 only
C 2 and 3 only
D 1, 3 and 4 only

13 What are the products of reaction when an acid reacts with a base?

acid + base = ?

A a gas and water

B a base and water
C a salt and water
D an acid and water

Class 8 Science Practice Test 7 Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research
 14 Druv was playing a game with 2 marbles which were the same size but different
colours. He noticed that when he rolled a marble and it hit a second stationary
one, the first marble would stop and the second would begin moving.

He drew three diagrams to show what happened.

Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Diagram 3

If the grey marble was much bigger, predict what would happen.

A Both marbles would move to the left.

B The marbles would stick together and slide along as one.
C The dark marble would bounce back and the grey marble would move slowly.
D The marbles would both move to the right but the dark one would move faster

15 Druv’s observations best demonstrate that

A energy can change from one type to another.

B objects can only have one type of energy at a time.
C energy can be transferred from one object to another.
D dark coloured objects have more energy than light coloured objects.

Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research 8 Class 8 Science Practice Test
 Answer Key

1. A

2. A

3. C

4. C

5. D

6. A

7. B

8. C

9. D

10. B

11. C

12. B

13. C

14. C

15. C

Class 8 Science Practice Test 9 Copyright © 2012 Australian Council for Educational Research