Iowa practice, Grade 8

Free printable Iowa practice test for Grade 8

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Scholar Tests · Set 1

Iowa practice test, Grade 8

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Reading

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 13 minutes.

  1. The Night Before Regionals

    CHARACTERS: JADA and MATEO, seventh graders and co-captains of the Westfield Middle School robotics team

    (The robotics lab, late afternoon, the day before the regional competition. A robot sits on the workbench, its lifting arm hanging loose. MATEO is alone. He spots a cracked plastic gear on the floor, picks it up, studies it, and slides it into his pocket just as JADA rushes in with a sketchbook.)

    JADA: I was up half the night drawing, and I've figured it out. We rebuild the whole arm, longer this time, so it can reach the top shelf and score double.

    MATEO: Jada, the competition is tomorrow morning, and we've never once tested a longer arm.

    JADA: Then we test it tonight. Every other team will play it safe, which is exactly why we shouldn't.

    MATEO: Or we fix the arm we have, since it worked perfectly all season. Something small probably just slipped.

    JADA: "Probably." (She flips the sketchbook open to a drawing.) It fell apart in the middle of your practice run, Mateo, in front of the whole team, so that's not small. Judges remember teams that take risks.

    MATEO: Judges remember robots that move. If a new arm jams on the field, we score zero.

    JADA: You always say that. You said it about the new wheels in October, and the wheels turned out to be the best thing we built all year.

    MATEO: (His hand goes to his pocket and stays there.) This is different.

    JADA: How?

    (A long pause. MATEO looks at the robot, then at the floor.)

    MATEO: It just is.

    JADA: (closing the sketchbook) That's not a reason. Give me a real one in the next ten minutes, or I start taking the old arm apart.

    (She crosses to the workbench and begins loosening bolts. MATEO pulls the gear out of his pocket, turns it over in his fingers, and opens his mouth to speak. Then he closes it and puts the gear away. The lights fade.)

    1.

    How do Jada's and Mateo's points of view about the broken arm differ?

    1. ABoth want a longer arm, but they disagree about when to build it.
    2. BJada sees a chance to take a bold risk, while Mateo wants to repair the design they trust.
    3. CJada wants to drop out of the competition, while Mateo wants to enter it.
    4. DJada wants to keep the old arm, while Mateo has drawn a new design.
  2. 2.

    Why does Mateo most likely refuse to explain why "This is different"?

    1. AShowing the gear might mean admitting the arm broke during his own run.
    2. BHe has not looked at the robot since practice.
    3. CHe has forgotten why the arm stopped working.
    4. DHe thinks the judges are listening at the door.

  3. Make a Red Cabbage Color Indicator

    Is lemon juice an acid or a base? What about baking soda? Chemists answer questions like these using the pH scale, which runs from 0 to 14: a substance with a pH below 7 is acidic, a substance with a pH above 7 is basic, and pure water, at 7, is neutral. A red cabbage indicator lets you test kitchen liquids yourself.

    Materials
    half a head of red cabbage
    a knife and a cutting board
    a pot, a strainer, and a large bowl
    4 cups of water
    4 clear plastic cups and a sheet of white paper
    white vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda
    safety goggles

    Steps

    1. With an adult's help, chop the cabbage into small pieces and place them in the pot with the water.

    2. Have an adult boil the water, then simmer it for about ten minutes, until it turns deep purple.

    3. After the liquid has cooled completely, pour it through the strainer into the bowl and discard the cooked cabbage.

    4. Pour about half an inch of the purple liquid into each cup, and set the cups on the white paper.

    5. Leave the first cup as it is. Add a spoonful of vinegar to the second cup, a spoonful of lemon juice to the third, and a spoonful of baking soda dissolved in a little water to the fourth.

    6. Stir each cup, and record the color you observe.

    What Happened? Red cabbage contains natural pigments called anthocyanins, whose molecules change shape slightly depending on how acidic or basic their surroundings are. Because each shape absorbs light differently, each one displays a different color. In acids such as vinegar and lemon juice, the indicator turns pink or red, while in a base such as baking soda solution, it turns blue or green. The untouched purple cup shows the color of a nearly neutral liquid.

    Safety Note: Wear goggles, and never taste or drink your samples. Never test bleach, drain cleaner, or other strong cleaners.

    3.

    What should you do right before you pour the purple liquid into the clear cups?

    1. AStir each cup and record the color that you observe.
    2. BSet the four cups on the sheet of white paper.
    3. CAdd a spoonful of white vinegar to the second cup.
    4. DStrain out the cabbage once the liquid has cooled.
  4. 4.

    Why does the procedure have you leave the first cup as it is?

    1. ATo show what happens when cabbage juice is heated
    2. BTo save extra indicator for a second test later
    3. CTo keep the experiment safe for younger children
    4. DTo give a color to compare the other cups against
  5. 5.

    How does the section titled "What Happened?" help the reader?

    1. AIt explains the science behind the color changes.
    2. BIt gives the exact pH number of every liquid tested.
    3. CIt lists what to gather before starting.
    4. DIt warns which chemicals are unsafe to test.

  6. Sunday Night, Monday Morning

    Each Sunday night I call across the sea to where my grandmother's new day has begun. She asks the things she always asks of me: Am I eating? Am I warm? Is school still fun? I answer fast, one eye upon my screen, and half-hear stories I have heard before: the mango tree, the hen, the old machine that stitched her first school dress beside the door. Last week she asked me twice if I'd been fed, then laughed and blamed the hour and the line; and in that pause I heard what she had said beneath the words each Sunday, every time. So now I set my screen aside to tell her what I ate, then ask, "And are you well?"

    6.

    Which statement best expresses the theme of the sonnet?

    1. AYoung people today care more about screens than about family.
    2. BLong-distance phone calls are a poor way for families to stay close.
    3. CSimple, repeated questions can carry a love that is easy to overlook.
    4. DGrandparents should try not to repeat the same old stories.
  7. 7.

    How do the last two lines relate to the rest of the sonnet?

    1. AThey describe the speaker's hurry, which continues to the end of the poem.
    2. BThey introduce a new person who joins the phone call.
    3. CThey show how the speaker acts after the realization in the third stanza.
    4. DThey explain why the phone line was poor that week.
  8. 8.

    How does the speaker's view of the grandmother's questions change during the poem?

    1. AThey seem like a chore at first, but later they sound like love.
    2. BThey seem like a pleasure at first, but later they grow tiresome.
    3. CThey seem confusing at first, but later they start to sound funny.
    4. DThey seem rude at first, but later the speaker asks her to stop.

  9. Two Accounts of the Great Chicago Fire

    Text 1: The Cow That Burned Chicago

    On the night of October 8, 1871, Catherine O'Leary went out to the barn behind her small house on DeKoven Street to milk her cow. She set a kerosene lantern down in the straw. The cow, restless at the late hour, kicked over the lantern, and the dry straw burst into flames. Within minutes the barn was burning, and a strong wind carried sparks to the sheds and houses nearby, nearly all of them built of wood. For more than a day, the fire raced across Chicago. When it was finally over, about 300 people were dead and about 100,000 had lost their homes. All of it began with one cow and one careless kick.

    Text 2: What Really Started the Fire?

    Historians agree that the Great Chicago Fire began on the evening of October 8, 1871, in or near the barn behind the O'Leary home. What they cannot agree on is the cause, because no one has ever proved the story about the cow.

    Weeks after the fire, city officials held an inquiry and questioned dozens of witnesses. Catherine O'Leary told them she had been in bed when the fire started. In the end, the officials could not say how it began.

    The cow story first spread through the newspapers. In 1893, a reporter named Michael Ahern admitted that he and other reporters had made it up because it made a lively story. By then, many people had already blamed Mrs. O'Leary for the disaster, partly because she was a poor Irish immigrant, and the story followed her for the rest of her life.

    In 1997, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution officially clearing Mrs. O'Leary and her cow.

    9.

    How does Text 2 make Text 1 less reliable?

    1. AIt shows that the fire started in a different city.
    2. BIt reveals that a reporter admitted making up the cow story.
    3. CIt gives a much lower count of the people who died.
    4. DIt explains that the barn was built of brick.
  10. 10.

    According to Text 2, what did Catherine O'Leary tell the officials who looked into the fire?

    1. AShe had been in bed when it started.
    2. BShe had watched it start from her window.
    3. CShe had left a lantern in the barn.
    4. DHer cow had kicked over a lantern.

Written Expression

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 8 minutes.

  1. 1.

    Schools should keep teaching cursive because students need it to read historical documents.

    Which piece of evidence best supports this claim?

    1. AThe original Declaration of Independence is written in cursive, and so are many letters from early American history.
    2. BBald eagles often add to the same nest year after year.
    3. CThe National Archives offers typed copies of the Declaration of Independence that anyone can read online.
    4. DIn cursive, the letters of a word are joined in one flowing line.
  2. 2.

    If Maya studies tonight, she could earn an A on the quiz.

    What is the mood of the verb in this sentence?

    1. Aconditional
    2. Bindicative
    3. Cimperative
    4. Dinterrogative
  3. 3.

    According to the schedule, the Lees and ______ will bring the drinks and paper plates for the picnic.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Aour
    2. Bus
    3. Cwe
    4. Dourselves
  4. 4.

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    1. Arepatition
    2. Brepitition
    3. Crepetion
    4. Drepetition
  5. 5.

    Which sentence is a compound sentence?

    1. AIf the pond freezes solid this weekend, we will go ice skating, and Dad will make hot chocolate for everyone.
    2. BThe red fox in the meadow behind our house hunts for mice and voles in the tall grass at dusk.
    3. CThe students who finished the reading early helped the younger kids at the library with their book reports.
    4. DMei finished her math homework in the cafeteria before lunch, and her friend Omar helped her check the last three problems.
  6. 6.

    A student is quoting this sentence from a history article about the Oregon Trail:
    "Most travelers on the Oregon Trail, which ran about two thousand miles, did not ride in their wagons but walked beside them."

    Which shortened quotation uses an ellipsis correctly to show that words were left out?

    1. AMost travelers on the Oregon Trail, which ran about two thousand miles, did ... ride in their wagons but walked beside them.
    2. BMost travelers on the Oregon Trail did not ride in their wagons but walked beside them.
    3. CMost travelers on the Oregon Trail ... did not ride in their wagons but walked beside them.
    4. DMost travelers on the Oregon Trail, which ran about two thousand miles, did not ride in their wagons ... but walked beside them.
  7. 7.

    Paintings and photographs helped turn Yellowstone into the first national park in the United States. In 1871, the painter Thomas Moran and the photographer William Henry Jackson joined a government trip to record the region's wonders. As a result, members of Congress could see those wonders without traveling there. According to the National Park Service, Moran's paintings and Jackson's photographs helped persuade Congress to create Yellowstone National Park in 1872. ______

    Which sentence would be the best concluding sentence for this paragraph?

    1. AIn this way, a painter and a photographer helped protect one of the nation's greatest natural treasures.
    2. BMy uncle drives a snowplow for the city during the long Minnesota winters.
    3. COur cafeteria started serving a new vegetable soup on cold Mondays this month.
    4. DEarly reports of Yellowstone's boiling springs and spouting geysers were often dismissed in the East as tall tales.
  8. 8.

    Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?

    1. AThe Appalachian trail passes through fourteen states between Georgia and Maine.
    2. BThe Appalachian Trail passes through fourteen states between georgia and Maine.
    3. CThe Appalachian Trail passes through fourteen states between Georgia and Maine.
    4. Dthe Appalachian Trail passes through fourteen states between Georgia and Maine.
  9. 9.

    Members of the school board, our district should install solar panels on the roofs of its schools. According to the US Department of Energy, the cost of installing solar panels has fallen sharply since 2010. Electricity from the sun would lower the district's energy bills and free up money for teachers, books, and equipment. Some board members argue that the panels would cost too much to install in the first place. However, the savings on monthly electric bills would gradually pay back the cost of the panels. Solar panels would be a smart, money-saving investment for our district, and I urge the board to approve them.

    Who is the writer most likely writing this paragraph for?

    1. Athe members of the school board
    2. Bthe crew of a fishing boat
    3. Ca class of first graders
    4. Dthe fans at a professional baseball game
  10. 10.

    Sacramento is the capital of California. Sacramento sits where two rivers meet.

    Which sentence best combines the two sentences without changing what they mean?

    1. ASacramento, the capital of California sits where two rivers meet.
    2. BSacramento is the capital of California, it sits where two rivers meet.
    3. CSacramento, the capital of California, sits where two rivers meet.
    4. DSacramento, the capital of California, sit where two rivers meet.

Mathematics

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 8 minutes.

  1. 1.

    The school cafeteria wants to know which new lunch to add to the menu. Which sample is most likely to represent all the students in the school?

    1. A50 students picked at random from the school's list of students
    2. B50 students on the football team
    3. CThe 50 students who buy a cafeteria lunch every day
    4. DThe first 50 students in the lunch line on Monday
  2. 2.

    Which inequality is the solution of 9x − 1 > 44?

    1. Ax < 5
    2. Bx > −5
    3. Cx > 5
    4. Dx > 43/9
  3. 3.

    The numbers of sixth, seventh and eighth graders in a club are in the ratio 1:4:3. There are 88 students in the club. How many sixth graders are in the club?

    1. A33
    2. B44
    3. C1
    4. D11
  4. 4.

    A garden is a rectangle 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a half circle added along one 4-foot side. Use 3.14 for π. What is the area of the garden?

    1. A36.56 square feet
    2. B30.28 square feet
    3. C49.12 square feet
    4. D24 square feet
  5. 5.

    There are 9 people at a meeting. Each person shakes hands with every other person once. How many handshakes are there in all?

    1. A18
    2. B36
    3. C81
    4. D72
  6. 6.

    When 2/21 is written as a decimal, what is the 41st digit after the decimal point?

    1. A2
    2. B3
    3. C8
    4. D0
  7. 7.

    About 5 × 10⁹ is a large lake's volume, in gallons, and about 1 × 10⁶ is a swimming pool's volume, in gallons. About how many times as large is the first number as the second?

    1. A5,000
    2. B500
    3. C50,000
    4. D4,000
  8. 8.

    Triangle ABC is dilated by a scale factor of 2 with the origin as the center. Which statement about its image, triangle A′B′C′, is true?

    1. AIts angles match triangle ABC's, but it is not similar to it.
    2. BIt is similar to triangle ABC, but not congruent.
    3. CIt is congruent to triangle ABC.
    4. DIts sides are the same lengths as triangle ABC's, but its angles are different.
  9. 9.

    After a 25% increase, a music lesson costs $200. What did it cost before the increase?

    1. A$175
    2. B$150
    3. C$250
    4. D$160
  10. 10.

    The formula P = 2l + 2w gives the perimeter of a rectangle. A garden has a perimeter of 62 feet and a length of 20 feet. What is its width, in feet?

    1. A22
    2. B15.5
    3. C21
    4. D11

Vocabulary

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 5 minutes.

  1. 1.

    har·bor
    1. n. a sheltered area of water where ships dock
    2. v. hide or protect someone
    3. v. hold a feeling or thought for a long time

    It is against the law to harbor someone the police are looking for.

    Use the entry. Which part of speech is harbor in the sentence?

    1. Aadjective
    2. Bnoun
    3. Cadverb
    4. Dverb
  2. 2.

    Which word means almost the same as house but has a more negative connotation?

    1. Agetup
    2. Bshack
    3. Cfanatic
    4. Dhome
  3. 3.

    Which sentence uses a simile?

    1. ALily tiptoed past the sleeping baby, as quiet as a mouse.
    2. BWe stayed inside because it was pouring rain.
    3. CAsk Ana how to spell it, because she is a walking dictionary.
    4. DThe free game secretly loaded a virus onto the computer.
  4. 4.

    Which word means the opposite of irate?

    1. Acalm
    2. Bfurious
    3. Cornate
    4. Daccurate
  5. 5.

    Everyone joined in on the refrain of the camp song.

    Which meaning of refrain is used in this sentence?

    1. Aa short nap
    2. Bstop yourself from doing something
    3. Ca line or verse repeated in a song or poem
    4. Da kind of rain gear
  6. 6.

    What does the root omni mean in the word omnivore?

    1. Awater
    2. Ball
    3. Cstep or go
    4. Dfollow
  7. 7.

    The intrepid explorers crossed the frozen sea on foot.

    What does the word intrepid mean in this sentence?

    1. Abold and adventurous, not afraid
    2. Blazy and slow
    3. Ctimid and fearful
    4. Drude and mean
  8. 8.

    Which word means "the right to vote"?

    1. Aacceleration
    2. Bsuffrage
    3. Cabolitionist
    4. Dvelocity
  9. 9.

    Cut the superfluous words from your essay so every sentence counts.

    What does the word superfluous mean in this sentence?

    1. Abadly needed
    2. Bvery wet
    3. Cvery hungry
    4. Dmore than what is needed
  10. 10.

    The sled gained momentum as it raced down the steep hill.

    This sentence is from a science book. What does momentum mean?

    1. Athe age of a rock
    2. Bthe force of motion an object has because of its mass and speed
    3. Cthe color of light
    4. Dthe temperature of air

Computation

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 6 minutes.

  1. 1.

    Find the value of x.
    5x + 20 = 2x + 32

    1. A6
    2. B3
    3. C4
    4. D12
  2. 2.

    The formula A = (1/2)bh gives the area of a triangle. Which equation is the formula solved for b?

    1. Ab = 2A ÷ h
    2. Bb = A ÷ h
    3. Cb = 2Ah
    4. Db = A ÷ (2h)
  3. 3.

    Work out 40 ÷ 2.5.

    1. A160
    2. B0.16
    3. C16
    4. D100
  4. 4.

    The formula P = 2l + 2w gives the perimeter of a rectangle. A garden has a perimeter of 30 feet and a length of 11 feet. What is its width, in feet?

    1. A7.5
    2. B4
    3. C9.5
    4. D8
  5. 5.

    √11 is closest to which of these?

    1. A3
    2. B2.5
    3. C2.25
    4. D3.25
  6. 6.

    What is 1.6 × 10⁻⁵ written in standard form?

    1. A160,000
    2. B0.00016
    3. C0.000016
    4. D0.0000016
  7. 7.

    Find the value of x.
    8x − 9 = 6x + 19

    1. A28
    2. B14
    3. C5
    4. D2
  8. 8.

    About 9 × 10⁹ is the population of a large country, and about 1 × 10⁴ is the population of a small town. About how many times as large is the first number as the second?

    1. A800,000
    2. B90,000
    3. C900,000
    4. D9,000,000
  9. 9.

    Which of these is equal to 4⁶?

    1. A4 × 6
    2. B64 × 64
    3. C12 × 12
    4. D64 + 64
  10. 10.

    What is the value of −12 − (−12) × 6?

    1. A60
    2. B0
    3. C6
    4. D84

Written by Scholar Tests in the style of the published Iowa question types. Not a real Iowa test, and a practice score is not a real score.