Carlton

8TH GRADE SCIENCE MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE

TOPICS COVERED• Science Skills

• Data analysis

• Prefixes/word parts

• Biodiversity

• Landforms

• Earth History terms

BIOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF __________ AND GEOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF ___________.

LIFE, EARTH

THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS HOW INCREASING THE WATER TEMPERATURES AFFECT THE ANNUAL NUMBER OF EGGS

ONE TYPE OF FISH PRODUCES.

WHICH STATEMENT PREDICTS THE EFFECT WARMER WATER TEMPERATURES WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE ON

THIS TYPE OF FISH?

THE FISH POPULATION WOULD DECLINE OVER TIME.

WHY IS HUMAN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT OFTEN MORE DRAMATIC THAN THE IMPACT OF MOST OTHER LIVING

THINGS?

BECAUSE OF HUMANS’ ABILITY TO ALTER THE ENVIRONMENT

BASE YOUR ANSWER TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTION ON THE PASSAGE BELOW.

AFTER THE ASWAN HIGH DAM WAS BUILT ON THE NILE

RIVER, THE RATE OF PARASITIC BLOOD-FLUKE INFECTION DOUBLED IN THE HUMAN POPULATION NEAR THE DAM. AS A RESULT OF BUILDING THE DAM, THE FLOW OF THE NILE

RIVER CHANGED. THIS CHANGED THE HABITAT, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INCREASE IN ITS POPULATION OF A CERTAIN AQUATIC SNAIL. THE SNAILS, WHICH WERE

INFECTED, RELEASED LARVAE OF THE FLUKE. THESE LARVAE THEN INFECTED HUMANS.

THIS SITUATION BEST ILLUSTRATES WHAT?

THE INFLUENCE OF HUMANS ON A NATURAL SYSTEM CAN HAVE UNPREDICTABLE NEGATIVE

IMPACTS.

SOME DATA CONCERNING BIRD SPECIES ARE SHOWN IN THE CHART BELOW. WHICH STATEMENT IS A VALID INFERENCE BASED ON INFORMATION IN THE

CHART?

THERE ARE CONDITIONS IN COSTA RICA THAT ACCOUNT FOR GREATER BIODIVERSITY THERE.

A HURRICANE SWEEPS ACROSS A SMALL CARIBBEAN ISLAND, KILLING 50% OF THE HERBIVORE (PLANT EATERS) SPECIES ON THE ISLAND.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS THE MOST IMMEDIATE RESULT?

A REDUCTION IN BIODIVERSITY

THE FOLLOWING DIAGRAM SHOWS A FOOD WEB FOR A FOREST ECOSYSTEM.

A VIRUS REDUCED THE NUMBER OF RABBITS IN THE ECOSYSTEM.

WHICH STATEMENT DESCRIBES THE MOST LIKELY IMPACT OF THIS DISRUPTION TO THE ECOSYSTEM?

THE LEAFY WEEDS POPULATION WILL INCREASE DUE TO REDUCED FEEDING PRESSURE FROM THE REDUCED

NUMBERS OF RABBITS.

BROWN TREE SNAKES WERE ACCIDENTALLY CARRIED TO THE ISLAND OF GUAM IN THE CARGO BAYS OF MILITARY PLANES AFTER

WORLD WAR II. BROWN TREE SNAKES PREY UPON BIRDS. THERE ARE NO NATURAL

PREDATORS OF BROWN TREE SNAKES ON GUAM.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOST LIKELY HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF THE CHANGE

TO THE ECOSYSTEM?

IT LED TO A SHIFT IN BIRD POPULATIONS. MANY BIRD POPULATIONS DISAPPEARED.

WATER HYACINTH PLANTS ARE CLASSIFIED AS AN INVASIVE SPECIES IN MOST STATES. THE PLANTS GROW ON TOP OF WATER AND FORM THICK MATS, QUICKLY COVERING THE

SURFACE OF PONDS AND RIVERS.WHICH STATEMENT BEST PREDICTS THE EFFECT OF INTRODUCING HYACINTH PLANTS TO

AN ECOSYSTEM?

PLANT SPECIES THAT LIVE UNDER THE WATER WILL HAVE LESS AVAILABLE SUNLIGHT.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF BIOTIC FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT THE STABILITY OF AN ECOSYSTEM?

NUMBER OF PREDATORS, NUMBER OF DECOMPOSERS, AND SUPPLY OF ALGAE

(OR ANY LIST OF ONLY BIOTIC FACTORS – NO ABIOTIC FACTORS SHOULD BE IN THE LIST)

WHICH HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS PROBABLY CONTRIBUTED MOST TO THE ACIDIFICATION OF LAKES IN THE US?

BURNING FOSSIL FUEL THAT PRODUCE AIR POLLUTANTS

WHAT RESULTS FROM CUTTING DOWN A RAIN FOREST AND PLANTING AGRICULTURAL CROPS, SUCH AS COFFEE PLANTS?

A DECREASE IN BIODIVERSITY

IF THE AMOUNT OF CARBON DIOXIDE (RAW MATERIAL) IN THE ATMOSPHERE WERE TO DECREASE, WHICH

ORGANISM IN THE DIAGRAM WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE?

WHEAT, INDIAN GRASS, OR CORN (ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES CARBON DIOXIDE – ANY

PLANT)

WHAT IS A WATERSHED?

THE LAND AREA THAT DRAINS INTO A BODY OF WATER

HOW WOULD A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF BEES THAT POLLINATE OUR FLOWERS AFFECT THE ECOSYSTEM?

THE ECOSYSTEM WOULD BECOME LESS HEALTHY.

A PLANT OR DISEASE THAT SPREADS QUICKLY AND CAN BE HARMFUL IS SAID TO BE

INVASIVE

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AN ECOSYSTEM, YOU COULD ANALYZE A _____ ______ THAT SHOWS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN

PRODUCERS, CONSUMERS, AND DECOMPOSERS.

FOOD WEB

WHICH TWO COUNTRIES HAVE THE CLOSEST POPULATIONS?

Brazil

Indonesia

U.S.

India

China

-1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15

MOST POPULATED COUNTRIESPopulation (in Hundred Millions)

INDONESIA AND BRAZIL

ACCORDING TO THIS GRAPH, FOR EVERY 24 HOURS, ABOUT HOW MANY HOURS ARE SPENT SOCIALIZING AND WATCHING

TV?

WATCHING TV

13%

SOCIALIZING

13%

SCHOOL

25%

SLEEPING

33%

HOMEWORK

8%

EATING

8%

How Students Spend Their Time

6

WHAT DOES THE SCALE ON THE LEFT BEGINNING WITH 0 AND ENDING WITH 7 REPRESENT?

SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

CANDY SALES - COSMETOLOGY CLUBBY THE CASE

NUMBER OF CASES OF CANDY SOLD

A ___________ IS ANY FACTOR THAT CAN CHANGE IN AN EXPERIMENT.

VARIABLE

WHEN ONE EVENT CAUSES ANOTHER EVENT TO OCCUR, SCIENTISTS CAN LINK THE EVENTS

TOGETHER BY _________.

RELATING CAUSE AND EFFECT

IDENTIFYING SIMILARITIES OR COMMON CHARACTERISTICS IS ______________.

COMPARING

THE AMOUNT OF MATTER IN AN OBJECT IS ITS ________________.

MASS

________________ IS WHEN YOU USE ONE OR MORE OF YOUR SENSES TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORLD.

OBSERVING

MASS PER UNIT VOLUME IS ___________.

DENSITY

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN CREATING A GRAPH IN SCIENCE?

NEATNESS, LABELS, TITLES, ACCURACY

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDARD UNITS OF MEASUREMENT AND

INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS (METRIC)?

KNOW THE BASIC UNITS OF MEASURE IN EACH (FOR EXAMPLE – INCHES, FEET,

YARDS, MILES, POUNDS, OUNCES, ETC. ARE STANDARD AND METERS, GRAMS, LITERS

ARE METRIC)

THE VARIABLE CHANGED BY THE EXPERIMENTER IS CALLED THE

___________.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

IN AN EXPERIMENT, THE FACTOR THAT WE MEASURE (IN RESPONSE TO A CHANGE) IS

CALLED THE _______________.

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

ALL THE THINGS IN AN EXPERIMENT THAT MUST BE THE SAME TO MAKE IT FAIR ARE

CALLED _________________________.

CONTROLLED VARIABLES OR CONTROLS

IN SCIENCE, AN EDUCATED GUESS IS CALLED A/AN

HYPOTHESIS

THE FACTS OR FIGURES COLLECTED IN AN EXPERIMENT FROM WHICH A CONCLUSION CAN BE DRAWN IS THE _______________.

DATA

THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS USED BY SCIENTISTS TO ANSWER A QUESTION OR SOLVE A PROBLEM IS THE _____________.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A ____________ IS USED TO RECORD YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN AN ORDERLY WAY.

DATA TABLE

THE AMOUNT OF SPACE TAKEN UP IS ________.

VOLUME

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE OBSERVATIONS…

QUALITATIVE OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE WITH THE 5 SENSES; QUANTITATIVE

OBSERVATIONS ARE MADE USING NUMBERS.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPARING AND CONTRASTING….

COMPARING – IDENTIFYING SIMILARITIESCONTRASTING – IDENTIFYING

DIFFERENCES

A __________ IS AN EXPLANATION BACKED BY RESULTS FROM REPEATED TESTS,

EXPERIMENTS, OR OBSERVATIONS.

THEORY