MS-PS3-1 | Kinetic Energy · NYS standard · Grade 8 test questions
Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on descriptive relationships between kinetic energy and mass separately from kinetic energy and speed. Examples could include riding a bicycle at different speeds, rolling different sizes of rocks downhill, and getting hit by a wiffle ball versus a tennis ball.
Assessment boundary: Assessment could include both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of kinetic energy.
Grade 8 Science Test Questions
Released New York State Grade 8 science test questions that assess MS-PS3-1 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.
- data
- descriptive relationship
- graph
- graphical display
- kinetic energy
- mass
- motion energy
- proportional
- qualitative
- quantitative
- speed
- data table – Spring 2025, Spring 2024
- dependent variable – Spring 2025, Spring 2024
- drop height – Spring 2025
- energy – Spring 2024
- experiment – Spring 2025
- formula – Spring 2025, Spring 2024
- friction – Spring 2024
- independent variable – Spring 2024
- investigation – Spring 2025
- material – Spring 2025
- variable – Spring 2025, Spring 2024
- kinetic energy equation (KE = ½mv²) – implied by "proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed" and "quantitative evaluations of kinetic energy"
Performance Level Descriptions
Every Grade 8 Science Test question on MS-PS3-1 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-PS3-1.
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NGSS Dimensions
Performance expectation MS-PS3-1 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
- Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.
- PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
- Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.
- Scale, Proportion and Quantity
- Proportional relationships (e.g., speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes.