Year 8 Science Exam Revision Notes

You should turn these notes in to your own resources as part of your revision.

Try making cue cards or a mind map.

Biology
Cell Structure

Specialised Cells:
Root hair cell Palisade cell (in leaf)

Large surface area (long Vacuole- filled with sap,

and thin), absorb lots of support cell
water & minerals
Lots of chloroplasts for
No chloroplasts photosynthesis
(underground, no light,
no photosynthesis)

Photosynthesis To increase photosynthesis: increase light levels, carbon

dioxide, water and temperature (but not too hot!).

Glucose (sugar) is a source of energy, also converted in to carbohydrate (starch).

Starch test: orange iodine turns blue/ black.

Respiration

When exercising:

Cells require more glucose & oxygen to be able to carry out more respiration & release more energy.

Cells produce more waste products (carbon dioxide & water) which need to be removed more quickly.

Heart pumps faster to move blood round body more quickly and therefore deliver oxygen & glucose more quickly
and remove carbon dioxide & water more quickly.

Genetics

Some factors are inherited (eye colour,

hair colour)

Some factors are acquired (language

spoken)

Some factors are affected by both (body

mass)

Twins:

Identical twins Non-identical twins Reproduction:

Sexual reproduction- produces

variation in offspring by
combining genes from two
gametes (egg and sperm in
humans) from two parents.

Asexual reproduction-
produces clones with same
chromosomes as parent.
One egg, one sperm, splits Two eggs, two sperm.

Evolution

1. There is variation within a population.

2. Some individuals are more suited to their environment.
3. They survive
4. They reproduce, and pass on the successful characteristics in their genes

Reasons for extinction:

Environment change, new predators, new diseases, new competitors, single catastrophic event (e.g. meteor).
Chemistry
GROUPS
Periodic Table
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0
First produced by

Dmitri Mendeleev.

Groups have similar properties

e.g. Group 1 react with water.

Group 1: reactivity increases down group

Group 7: reactivity decreases down group

Group 0: unreactive

Metals: on left

Non-metals: on right

Properties of Materials

Natural= found in nature. Wood, Leather, silk, oil, iron.

Synthetic= man-made. Plastics, nylon, Kevlar, glass, paper, ceramics

Describe a material using these words: hard/ soft; smooth/ rough; opaque/ translucent/ transparent.

Metals:

Conductor of heat and electricity, lustrous (shiny when polished or cut), malleable (can be hammered into sheets),
sonorous (ring like a bell when hit), ductile (can be drawn in to wires), found in ores (rocks which contain enough
metal to be worthwhile extracting).

Alloys:

Mixtures of two or more metals which are stronger than pure metals because the metal particles cannot move over
each other (the metal is not malleable). They can also be less reactive.

Steel- alloy of iron and carbon Pure iron- element

Reactivity:

More reactive metals can displace less reactive metals

e.g. magnesium oxide + sodium  sodium oxide + magnesium

e.g. magnesium oxide + zinc  no reaction

e.g. iron + copper sulfate 

iron sulfate + copper

Carbon can also be used in displacement

reactions (blast furnace):

iron oxide (from iron ore) + carbon (from

coke)  iron + carbon dioxide

Reactions with water:

Group 1 metal + water  metal hydroxide (alkali) + hydrogen e.g. lithium + water  lithium hydroxide + hydrogen

Metal oxide + water  metal hydroxide (alkali) e.g. magnesium oxide + water  magnesium hydroxide

Non-metal oxide + water  acid e.g. sulphur dioxide + water  sulphuric acid

Reactions producing water:

Metal carbonate + acid  salt + carbon dioxide + water effervesce (fizz) due to gas produced

pH scale & testing with Universal Indicator:

Colour: red green blue

pH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Strong acid Neutral Strong alkali

Definitions

Atom: individual piece of matter e.g. argon, Ar

Molecule: two or more atoms bonded together. (Can be same or different types) e.g. water, H2O

Element: only one type of atom (a pre substance) (can be individual atoms or molecules) e.g. oxygen, O2

Compound: two or more different types of atom chemically bonded e.g. water, H2O.

Mixture: two or more different types of atom/ molecule not chemically bonded e.g. air

Types of Reaction

In a chemical reaction first bonds are broken and then new bonds are made.

Exothermic: reaction gives out more heat energy than it takes in.

Endothermic: reaction takes in more heat energy than it gives out.

Physics
Weight & Gravity

Mass: amount of matter in an object. Measured in kg.

Weight: force of gravity acting on the mass. Measured in N.

Gravitational field strength: how strong gravity is on a planet. Measured in N/kg or m/s2.

To use a formula triangle, cover over the part you are trying to work out.

This will leave with either:

Mass = weight / gravitational field strength

Weight = mass x gravitational field strength

Gravitational field strength = weight / mass

Speed
d Speed (m/s) = distance (m) / time (s)

Distance (m) = speed (m/s) x time (s)

s x t
Time (s) = distance (m) / speed (m/s)

The Solar System

Orbits:

Day: time taken for Earth to spin once on its axis (24 hours)

Year: time taken for Earth to orbit the Sun once (365 days)

Seasons:
Earth’s axis is tilted at 23.5° so amount of sunlight hitting each hemisphere depends on whether the hemisphere is
tilted towards the Sun at that time of year.

During our Summer (June-August)

the northern hemisphere is tilted
towards the Sun so receives more
daylight hours and is warmer. During our
Winter
(December-
February) the
northern
hemisphere is
tilted away
Australia from the Sun so
(southern receives less
hemisphere) Australia (southern direct sunlight
is tilted away hemisphere) is
and is colder.
from the Sun tilted towards the
and is cooler. Sun and is hotter)
Waves
Peak or crest

Colour

Three primary colours of light: red, green & blue A surface reflects its own colour & absorbs the others.

Red + green = yellow A secondary colour absorbs both its primary colours and

Green + blue = cyan reflects the others.

Blue + red = magenta

Refraction

Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to entering a medium (material) of a different density.

If the medium is higher density the wave A prism refracts white light and splits it into its component colours.

will bend towards the normal.

Lenses

Converging lens Diverging lens

The Human Eye

Cornea: Refracts light.

Iris: Coloured part made of muscle – controls amount of light going into the eye.

Lens: Focuses light on the retina.

Pupil: Light enters the eye here. Made bigger or smaller by the iris.

Optic nerve: Carries electrical impulses to the brain.

Retina: Contains cells which are light sensitive.