Global Indian International School, Dubai.

Academic year 2023 - 24

Half Yearly Examination – September 2023

SUBJECT: SCIENCE
Grade: 8 Max. Marks:80
Date: 22/09/2023 Time:3 hours
Name of the Student:……………………………………………………………………………
(This question paper consists of 9 pages)
General instructions
1) There are 39 questions in this question paper.
2) SECTION A consists of 20 multiple-choice questions carrying 1 mark each.
3) SECTION B consists of 6 very short answer questions carrying 2 marks each.
4) SECTION C consists of 7 short answer questions carrying 3 marks each.
5) SECTION D consists of 3 long answer questions carrying 5 marks each.
6) SECTION E consists of 3 case- based questions carrying 4 marks each.

Knowledge/Understanding Application Analysis Evaluation

Max. Marks :23 Max. Marks : 24 Max. Marks : 19 Max. Marks : 14
Marks Obtained : Marks Obtained : Marks Obtained : Marks Obtained :
Total Marks Obtained : /80

Remarks by teacher:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…

Next step by student:

………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………..………………………………………………….……………

Signature of parent: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

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 SECTION A

Select and write one most appropriate option out of the four options given for each of the
questions 1 to 10. [20×1=20]

1 Astronauts wear special suits while floating in space due to

a. Liquid pressure. b. Atmospheric pressure. c. Gaseous pressure
2 Which of the following is the purest form of carbon?
a. Coal gas
b. Coal tar
c. Coke

3 Bi- products of coal and their characteristics are listed below. Choose the correct option.
a. AP,
A. Coal P.Black, thick liquid with unpleasant smell
B. Coal tar Q. Formed as a result of carbonisation
C. Coal gas R. Tough, porous black susbstance
D. Coke S. It was used for street lighting for the first time in London
BQ,CR, DS
b. AQ, BR,CP, DS
c. AP, BQ,CS, DR
d. AS,BQ,CR, DP
4 A group of similar cells combine to form
a. Tissue. c. organelles
b. organ. d. Organisms

5 A farmer was turning the soil in the field constantly to loosen it. What is the likely reason
for this agricultural practice?
a. This prevents growth of weeds in the soil.
b. This increases the amount of soil in the field.
c. This allows penetration of roots in soil easily.
d. This allows water to stay in soil for longer duration.

6 Which of the following is used as an industrial fuel?

a. Coal gas
b. Nitrogen gas
c. Carbon dioxide gas
d. All the above

7 A student setup an experiment to study the growth of plants using three different soil
types.

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 The student plants a bean seed in each of the three pots. After 2 months, the student
observes the growth of the plants as shown.

What can be concluded from this experiment?

a. Earthworm increases the fertility of the soil

b. Compact soil increases the amount of nutrients in the soil
c. Earthworms restrict the growth of the plant by consuming them
d. Loosed soil with no earthworm allows maximum growth of the plant

8 Rinza studies the following four situations involving various forces. Which of these
situation is an example of contact force?
a. A satellite orbiting the Earth. c. A leaf falling from tree.
b. A magnet attracting paper clips. d. A man hitting a cricket ball with a bat

9 LPG is the abbreviation of ________.

a. Liquified petroleum gas
b. Low petroleum gas
c. Liquid pressure gas
d. None of the above

10 A group of students went on two school trips to a field in the same year. They observed,
different crops on each trip as shown.
Field Trip Season Crops
1. June Soyabean, Groundnut
2. November Mustard, pea

Why did they observe different crops?

a. Soyabean and groundnut are kharif crops which are sown in rainy season while
mustard and pea are rabi crops that are sown in winter season.
b. Soyabean and groundnut are kharif crops which are sown in winter season while
mustard and pea are rabi crops that are sown in rainy season.
c. Soyabean and groundnut are rabi crops which are sown in rainy season while
mustard and pea are kharif crops that are sown in winter season.
d. Soyabean and groundnut are rabi crops which are sown in winter season while
mustard and pea are kharif crops that are sown in rainy season.

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11 Find out whether friction is useful or not in the following situations.
a. To apply car brake
b. To ride bike

12 Which of the following is obtained from coal tar ?

a. Petrol
b. Coke
c. Air
d. Naphthalene balls

13 Why does CNG considered to be a better fuel than petrol?

14 P, Q, R and S are four solid objects having the same mass.

Which object is exerting the least pressure on the table?

15 You are provided with three watch glasses containing milk, petrol and mustard oil,
respectively. Suppose you bring a burning candle near these materials one by one, which
material(s) will catch fire instantly and why?

For question numbers 16 to 20, two statements are given- one labelled Assertion
(A) and the other labelled Reason (R). Select the correct answer to these questions
from the codes (a), (b), (c) and (d) as given below:

a. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of the assertion.
b. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of the.
assertion.
c. A is true, but R is false.
d. A is false, but R is true.

16 Assertion (A): A moving toy car stops after a little distance.

Reason (R) : Frictional force acts in the direction of motion of the car.
17 Assertion (A): Coal, petroleum and natural gas can be prepared in the laboratory from
dead organisms.

Reason (R) : They cannot be prepared in laboratory as their formation is a very slow
process and conditions for their formation cannot be created in the laboratory.

18 Assertion (A) : Cells are functional units of life.

Reason (R) : A single cell has the ability to form a whole organism.

19 Assertion (A) : Before storing the harvested grains are properly dried in the sun to
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 reduce the moisture in them. This prevents the attack by insect pests, bacteria and fungi.

Reason (R) :Harvested grains have more moisture. If freshly harvested grains (seeds)
are stored without drying, they may get spoilt or attacked by organisms, making them unfit
for use or for germination.

20 Assertion (A): The relationship between force, pressure, and area is given by P=F/A.
Reason (R): The SI unit of pressure is N/m2 or Pascal (Pa).

SECTION B
Q. No 21 to 28 are very short answer questions. [6×2= 12]

21 a. Why walls of a dam of the dam are made thicker at the bottom ?
b. What can you infer from the given picture ?

22 The size of the cells of an organism has no relation with the size of its body. Do you
agree? Give reason for your answer.
23 In a tug of war, Side A applies 15N force and side B applies 88N force. Which side will the
rope move? What will be the net force acting on the rope?

24 Sowing seeds with seed drill is better than manual broadcasting. Justify.
25 Given below are a set of natural resources:
Air, Petroleum, Sunlight, coal, natural gas and Water
Classify the resources into 2 groups and explain the difference between them.
26 Differentiate between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.(any 2 points each)

SECTION C
Q.no 27 to 33 are short answer questions. [7×3=18]

27 Sameera investigated how a ball travels on a ramp when the table is covered with
different surfaces (wood, cotton cloth and silk cloth). She noted the time taken by the ball
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 to travel on each surface. Her results are mentioned below.

a. From the table given above, on which surface did the ball travel fastest and why ?
b. Explain with one example how friction can be both a positive and a negative part in
our everyday life.

28 Mention the real-life applications of coal tar, coke and coal gas.
29 Which of the following conditions give the most benefits? Why?
a. Farmers use high - quality seeds, do not adopt irrigation or use fertilizers.
b. Farmers use ordinary seeds, adopt irrigation and use fertilizers.
c. Farmers use quality seeds, adopt irrigation, use fertilizers and use crop
protection measures.

30 John experimented to find out how different surfaces (P, Q, R and S) affect the distance a
car travelling at 50 km/h needed to stop once the brakes are applied. The results are
shown below:

Type of surfaces P Q R S
Stopping distance (m) 10 8 3 12

a. Which type of road will provide the most friction for the car to stop? Why ?
b. Name 2 factors on which the magnitude of a frictional force depends ?

31 a. Why are plant and animal specimens usually stained with dyes before observing
them through a microscope? Name one stain used for this purpose. (1)
b. Write short notes on structure and functions of the nucleus. (2)

32 A man carrying a load of 50N in his hand. The area of the palm where the load act is 5m2
a. Determine the pressure acting on the fingers of man.
b. Also, find the pressure acting if the man carrying the same load by keeping it on
the shoulder occupying an area of 50cm2 ?

33 Define Pressure. If an object applies a pressure of 500 Pa on 15 m2 area then calculate

the force exerted by the object.

SECTION D
Q.no 34 to 36 are long answer questions.
[3×5=15]
34 Study the diagram below and answer the following questions.

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 a. Label the structures A and D.
b. What is the function of D?
c. Is this a plant cell or an animal cell? Why?
d. Draw and label 2 extra structures that would
change this cell into
i. a plant cell if it is an animal cell
ii. an animal cell if it is a plant cell.
35 In a game of volleyball, players often push the moving ball to their team mates to make a
winning move. Sometimes the ball is returned to the other side of the court by pushing or
smashing it. In cricket, a batsman plays his or her shot by applying a force on the ball with
the bat.

a. What kind of force is applied by a batsman on a ball while hitting it?

b. Define force and mention its S.I unit.
c. A moving ball comes to rest after travelling some distance. Why?
d. Mention any 4 effects of force acting on any object?

36 a. Tabulate the following situations into rolling and sliding friction.

Pushing a box, ball moving on the ground, skating on road, skating on ice

b. From the following, Which tube will experience the least friction while rolling on a.
surface? Explain your answer.

c. Why rolling friction is less than sliding friction ?

SECTION E

Q.no 37 to 39 are case-study based questions. [3×4=12]

37 If you walk through snow, you usually sink into it. This is because your shoes have a
small surface area. Your weight is only spread out over a small area, so the pressure on
the snow is high. However, you will not sink so far into the snow if you are on skis. This is
because your weight is spread out over a greater surface area, so the pressure on the
snow is low. Sometimes the same force can produce different pressure depending upon
area in which it acts. So pressure is always depending on these two quantities.

a. The ratio of force, acting perpendicular to the area, on which it acts is known as
____________ .
b. In which of the following diagrams, is the athlete exerting the least pressure on the
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 ground? Give reason to support your answer .

c. Why does the school bag have broad shoulder straps?

38 In the light of the availability of various resources in nature, natural resources can be
broadly classified into two kinds- Inexhaustible and Exhaustible resources. Inexhaustible
natural resources are present in unlimited quantities in nature and are not likely to be
exhausted by human activities. Examples are sunlight, and air. Exhaustible resources are
present in limited quantities in nature. They can be exhausted by human activities.
Examples of these resources are forests, wildlife, minerals, coal, petroleum, natural gas
etc. some exhaustible natural resources like coal, petroleum and natural gas. These were
formed from the dead remains of living organisms (fossils). So, these are all known as
fossil fuels.

i.Exhaustible natural resources are:

a. Unlimited in quantity.
b. Not dependent on nature.
c. Limited in quantity.
d. Not exhausted by human activities.

ii. Which of the following is not a natural resource?

a. minerals
b. water
c. soil
d. plastic
iii. Which of the following is an exhaustible natural resource?
a. air
b. sunlight
c. forest
d. wind
iv. Mention any two harmful effects of fossil fuels.

39 a. Rajan felt worried about the condition of water scarcity in his village during the
cropping season. Explain any two modern methods of irrigation to address the
situation.
b. State any two precautions a farmer must take while spraying weedicides in his
field.

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