MS-ESS2-2 | Earth's Dynamic Surface · NYS standard · Grade 8 test questions
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying temporal and spatial scales.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on how processes change Earth’s surface at temporal and spatial scales that can be large (such as slow plate motions or the uplift of large mountain ranges) or small (such as rapid landslides or microscopic geochemical reactions), and how many geoscience processes (such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and meteor impacts) usually behave gradually but are punctuated by catastrophic events. Examples of geoscience processes could include surface weathering and deposition by the movements of water, ice, and wind. Emphasis is on geoscience processes that shape local geographic features, where appropriate.
Grade 8 Science Test Questions
Released New York State Grade 8 science test questions that assess MS-ESS2-2 are listed here by test and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.
Vocabulary
Terms from the Middle School Science Glossary that come from this standard or from the released Grade 8 Science Test questions that assess it.
- catastrophic event
- deposition
- Earth's surface
- Earth's systems
- earthquake
- erosion
- evidence
- explanation
- geochemical reaction
- geoscience process
- groundwater
- landform
- landslide
- meteor impact
- mountain range
- plate motion
- rate of change
- spatial scale
- surface feature
- surface weathering
- temporal scale
- underground formation
- uplift
- volcano
- water
- weathering
- wind
- bedrock – Sample
- cross-section – Sample
- elevation – Sample
- escarpment – Spring 2026
- geologic time – Spring 2026
- interbedded – Spring 2026
- limestone – Sample
- marine fossil – Sample
- model – Spring 2026
- particle – Spring 2026
- rock – Sample
- rock formation – Sample
- rock layer – Spring 2026, Sample
- sandstone – Sample
- scale – Spring 2026
- sediment – Sample
- sedimentary rock – Sample
- shale – Sample
- siltstone – Sample
- tilt – Sample
Performance Level Descriptions
Every Grade 8 Science Test question on MS-ESS2-2 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.
Resources
Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of MS-ESS2-2.
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NGSS Dimensions
Performance expectation MS-ESS2-2 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
- Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
- Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past.
- ESS2.A: Earth's Materials and Systems
- The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future.
- ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
- Water’s movements – both on the land and underground – cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations.
- Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
- Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small.