8th+Benchmark+Study+Guide

How can we distinguish elements from compounds? How do rock candy and rock salt illustrate the characteristics of liquids, solids, and solutions? How can understanding the properties of pure substances and mixtures be used to address practical problems? How can you tell if a substance is an electrical conductor? Why do onions make you cry, why do lemons taste sour, why do sliced apples turn brown after sitting in bowl for awhile? What happens to matter when it undergoes changes? How are chemical and physical changes alike and different? Why does matter undergo physical and chemical changes? How does the amount of matter compare before and after it undergoes a physical or chemical change? How does energy travel from the Sun to the Earth? How can we use radiation, conduction, and convection to transfer heat efficiently during cooking? How are wind and ocean currents created? How is energy transferred to my home? How do stereo speakers work? How can a roller coaster move along its track without an engine pushing or pulling on it? Where do toys/machines get their energy and what do they do with it? How are electric circuits wired? How is electricity produced and used? How are insulators and conductors used in the movement of charges? How is static electricity different from “regular” electricity? Why do batteries “die”? Do larger batteries produce more current? How is energy transferred to my home? Scientists tell us that energy can’t be created or destroyed. If this is true, where does it come from when we notice it and where does it go to when we don’t see any evidence of it? What’s the easiest or best way to describe or illustrate the kind of energy present in a magnet? If you met someone who had never seen or heard a speaker and had no idea of what energy is, how would you explain the way it works? Where do we see waves or examples of wavelike motion? What are the similarities and differences between electromagnetic and mechanical waves? Why do objects partially submerged in water appear broken or bent? How do light and sound transfer energy from one place to another? How do musical instruments make sounds of different pitch and intensity? What is the best way to decide which sounds are music or noise? What is the best way to describe the relationship between pitch and amplitude? Which way of producing sound--analog or digital--produces the best listening quality? Why are some seats at a concert more expensive than others? How might this affect the enjoyment you get from the concert? What is the best way to describe the relationship between pitch and amplitude? How do musical instruments make sounds of different pitch and intensity?
 * How do atoms and molecules differ? How can we distinguish elements from other elements?What is the role of protons in the identity of elements? ||
 * What is the significance of the Law of Conservation of Matter? ||