What Ponder’s built-in practice covers in Year 8, set by set, with the content descriptions each set is tagged with.
In Year 8, Ponder has 20 practice sets: 7 in maths (linear expressions and equations; rates, circles and composite areas; index laws and rational numbers; and more), 5 in English (imagery, sentence patterns and tone; semicolons, dashes, clauses and cohesion; evaluating sources and claims; and more) and 4 in science (energy, matter and rocks; body systems and physical or chemical change; cells; and more), plus HASS, wellbeing and study skills. Sets are tagged with Australian Curriculum v9.0 content descriptions, and every question has hints that guide rather than give the answer.
Free check: see what is going well in Year 8 maths or English, and what to practise next →
Expand, factorise and solve linear equations and inequalities.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to expand, factorise and simplify linear expressions, and solve linear equations and inequalities.
AC9M8A01create, expand, factorise, rearrange and simplify linear expressions, applying the associative, commutative, identity, distributive and inverse propertiesAC9M8A02graph linear relations on the Cartesian plane using digital tools where appropriate; solve linear equations and one-variable inequalities using graphical and algebraic techniques; verify solutions by substitutionExpand 3(2x − 5).
Road trips, best buys, bike wheels and L-shaped lawns.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to work with rates such as speed and best buys, and find the circumference and area of circles and composite shapes.
AC9M8M01solve problems involving the area and perimeter of irregular and composite shapes using appropriate unitsAC9M8M03solve problems involving the circumference and area of a circle using formulas and appropriate unitsAC9M8M05recognise and use rates to solve problems involving the comparison of 2 related quantities of different units of measureA car travels 240 km in 3 hours. What is its average speed in km/h?
Multiply and divide powers, meet the zero index and sort rational from irrational.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to use the index laws, including the zero index, and tell rational and irrational numbers apart.
AC9M8N01recognise irrational numbers in applied contexts, including square roots andAC9M8N02establish and apply the exponent laws with positive integer exponents and the zero-exponent, using exponent notation with numbersAC9M8N03recognise terminating and recurring decimals, using digital tools as appropriateWrite 3⁴ × 3⁵ as a single power of 3.
Rain in Hobart, cricket and soccer, and fair surveys: combine events and sample well.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to use two-way tables and Venn diagrams to work out probabilities, and explain what makes a fair sample.
AC9M8P01recognise that complementary events have a combined probability of one; use this relationship to calculate probabilities in applied contextsAC9M8P02determine all possible combinations for 2 events, using two-way tables, tree diagrams and Venn diagrams, and use these to determine probabilities of specific outcomes in practical situationsAC9M8ST01investigate techniques for data collection including census, sampling, experiment and observation, and explain the practicalities and implications of obtaining data through these techniquesAC9M8ST02analyse and report on the distribution of data from primary and secondary sources using random and non-random sampling techniques to select and study samplesThe probability that it rains in Hobart tomorrow is 0.35. What is the probability that it does not rain?
Temperatures below zero, number lines, and adding, subtracting and multiplying integers.
For parents: Across Years 6 to 8, your child learns to place negative numbers on a number line, and add, subtract and multiply positive and negative numbers.
AC9M6N01recognise situations, including financial contexts, that use integers; locate and represent integers on a number line and as coordinates on the Cartesian planeAC9M7N07compare, order and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of integersAC9M8N04use the 4 operations with integers and with rational numbers, choosing and using efficient strategies and digital tools where appropriateWhich number is the smallest?
Choices: −2 · 0 · −8 · 3
Pronumerals, writing and substituting into expressions, and solving simple equations.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 9, your child learns to use letters for unknown numbers, substitute into expressions, and solve simple equations.
AC9M7A01recognise and use variables to represent everyday formulas algebraically and substitute values into formulas to determine an unknownAC9M7A03solve one-variable linear equations with natural number solutions; verify the solution by substitutionAC9M8A01create, expand, factorise, rearrange and simplify linear expressions, applying the associative, commutative, identity, distributive and inverse propertiesWhich expression means “5 more than a number n”?
Choices: 5n · n + 5 · n − 5 · 5 − n
Discounts, class surveys and percentage increase, in dollars and cents.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 10, your child learns to work out discounts, percentage increases and decreases, and compare amounts as percentages.
AC9M7N06use the 4 operations with positive rational numbers including fractions, decimals and percentages to solve problems using efficient calculation strategiesAC9M7N09use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems, involving rational numbers and percentages, including financial contexts; formulate problems, choosing representations and efficient calculation strategies, using digital tools as appropriate; interpret and communicate solutions in terms of the situation, justifying choices made about the representationAC9M8N05use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving rational numbers and percentages, including financial contexts; formulate problems, choosing efficient calculation strategies and using digital tools where appropriate; interpret and communicate solutions in terms of the situation, reviewing the appropriateness of the modelWhat is 25% of $80?
Feel the heat, then the rain: see how imagery and sentence length shape tone.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to explain how imagery and sentence patterns create tone, and how a text positions the reader.
AC9E8LE05analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effectAC9E8LA02understand how layers of meaning can be created when evaluating by using literary devices such as simile and metaphorAC9E8LE03explain how language and/or images in texts position readers to respond and form viewpointsWhich words best describe the mood of the first two paragraphs?
Choices: Cheerful and busy · Stifling and still · Frightening and violent
Link ideas with semicolons and dashes, tuck in embedded clauses and make paragraphs flow.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to use semicolons and dashes, add information with embedded clauses, and make paragraphs flow.
AC9E8LA09understand and use punctuation conventions including semicolons and dashes to extend ideas and support meaningAC9E8LA05examine a variety of clause structures including embedded clauses that add information and expand ideas in sentencesAC9E8LA04understand how cohesion in texts is improved by strengthening the internal structure of paragraphs with examples, quotations and substantiation of claimsWhich sentence uses a semicolon correctly?
Choices: The storm cut the power; we ate dinner by torchlight. · The storm; cut the power and we ate dinner by torchlight. · Because the storm cut the power; we ate dinner by torchlight.
A drink that makes you smarter? Weigh up who is making the claim and what their evidence is.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to judge who is making a claim and how good the evidence is, and explain how a text is shaped for its audience.
AC9E8LY05use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to interpret and evaluate ideas in textsAC9E8LY03analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a textAC9E8LY04analyse how authors organise ideas to develop and shape meaningWhy should readers be cautious about the study in paragraph 2?
Choices: It was paid for by the company that sells the drink · It was carried out in Perth · It was about exam scores
Spot and use the tools persuasive writers rely on: emotive words, evidence, rhetorical questions and more.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 10, your child learns to spot persuasive techniques such as emotive words, evidence and rhetorical questions, and explain their effect.
AC9E7LY03analyse the ways in which language features shape meaning and vary according to audience and purposeAC9E9LY03analyse and evaluate how language features are used to represent a perspective of an issue, event, situation, individual or groupAC9E10LY03analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly or explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes“Don’t you want a cleaner, safer park for your children?” Which technique is this?
Choices: Statistics · Expert opinion · Rhetorical question · Anecdote
Similes, metaphors, personification and onomatopoeia, and what they add to a text.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 9, your child learns to recognise similes, metaphors, personification and onomatopoeia, and explain what they add to a text.
AC9E8LA02understand how layers of meaning can be created when evaluating by using literary devices such as simile and metaphorAC9E8LE05analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effectAC9E9LA02understand how evaluation can be expressed directly and indirectly using devices such as allusion, evocative vocabulary and metaphor“The classroom was a zoo after lunch.” What kind of figurative language is this?
Choices: Simile · Metaphor · Personification · Onomatopoeia
Kinetic and potential energy, elements and compounds, chemical changes and how Uluru’s rock formed.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to tell kinetic from potential energy, elements from compounds, chemical from physical change, and describe the rock cycle.
AC9S8U04describe the key processes of the rock cycle, including the timescales over which they occur, and examine how the properties of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks reflect their formation and influence their useAC9S8U05classify different types of energy as kinetic or potential and investigate energy transfer and transformations in simple systemsAC9S8U06classify matter as elements, compounds or mixtures and compare different representations of these, including 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional models, symbols for elements and formulas for molecules and compoundsAC9S8U07compare physical and chemical changes and identify indicators of energy change in chemical reactionsA skateboarder waits, not moving, at the top of a half-pipe. Which type of energy does she mainly have?
Choices: Kinetic energy · Gravitational potential energy · Sound energy · Electrical energy
How your organs team up to keep you running, and how to tell a chemical change from a physical one.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to explain how cells, tissues and organs work together, and tell a chemical change from a physical one.
AC9S8U02analyse the relationship between structure and function of cells, tissues and organs in a plant and an animal organ system and explain how these systems enable survival of the individualAC9S8U07compare physical and chemical changes and identify indicators of energy change in chemical reactionsIn the digestive system, where are most nutrients from digested food absorbed into the blood?
Choices: The stomach · The large intestine · The small intestine
The building blocks of life: cell parts, plant and animal cells, and using a microscope.
For parents: Across Years 8 to 10, your child learns to describe the parts of plant and animal cells and what they do, and how cells build tissues and organs.
AC9S8U01recognise cells as the basic units of living things, compare plant and animal cells, and describe the functions of specialised cell structures and organellesAC9S8U02analyse the relationship between structure and function of cells, tissues and organs in a plant and an animal organ system and explain how these systems enable survival of the individualWhich part of a cell controls its activities and holds its DNA?
Choices: Cell membrane · Cytoplasm · Nucleus · Vacuole
Balanced and unbalanced forces, friction, gravity and speed.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 9, your child learns to explain balanced and unbalanced forces, including friction and gravity, and how they change motion.
AC9S7U04investigate and represent balanced and unbalanced forces, including gravitational force, acting on objects, and relate changes in an object’s motion to its mass and the magnitude and direction of forces acting on itA book rests on a table without moving. Which statement about the forces on it is true?
Choices: There are no forces on it · The forces on it are balanced · The pull down is bigger than the push up · Only the table pushes on it
How laws are made, civil and criminal law, how landforms are shaped, and why cities grow.
For parents: By the end of Year 8, your child should be able to explain how laws are made and the difference between criminal and civil law, and how landforms are shaped.
AC9HC8K03the characteristics of laws and how laws are made in Australia through parliaments (statutory law) and through the courts (common law)AC9HC8K04the types of law in Australia, including criminal law and civil law, and the place of First Nations Australian customary lawAC9HG8K01geomorphological processes that produce different landscapes and significant landformsAC9HG8K02the location and distribution of Australia’s distinctive landscapes and significant landformsAC9HG8K06causes of urbanisation and its impacts on places and environments, drawing on a study from a country such as the United States of America, and its implicationsLaws made by parliaments (Acts of Parliament) are called what type of law?
Handle test stress, protect your sleep and know what to do about online bullying.
For parents: Across Years 7 to 10, your child learns to use a few ways to handle stress and protect their sleep, and know what to do about online bullying.
A general-capabilities set (no content-description codes).
Just before a test, your heart is racing and your mind feels jumbled. What is the most helpful thing to do?
Choices: Take a few slow breaths, breathing out for longer than you breathe in · Tell yourself you are going to fail · Skim every page of your notes one last time · Drink an energy drink for a boost
Pick trustworthy sources, search smartly and put ideas in your own words.
For parents: Across Years 5 to 8, your child learns to choose trustworthy sources, search well, and put ideas into their own words.
A general-capabilities set (no content-description codes).
You are researching platypuses. Which source is most likely to be trustworthy?
Choices: A comment on a video from someone with no name · A museum website page written by scientists · An ad for a platypus soft toy · A quiz game with no author or date
Break big tasks into steps, plan your time and keep distractions away.
For parents: Across Years 5 to 8, your child learns to break a big task into steps, plan their time, and keep distractions away.
A general-capabilities set (no content-description codes).
You have a project due in two weeks. What’s the best first step?
Choices: Wait until the night before · Break it into smaller tasks and put them on a plan · Start by decorating the cover · Wait for the teacher to remind you
Each set has a few short questions. Every question follows the same five problem-solving steps, and the three hints line up with the first three steps, so help builds from a nudge to a worked example of a similar problem. The answer is never the first thing a learner sees.
| Step | The learner asks | A grown-up can ask |
|---|---|---|
| Understand | What is the question asking? | What is the question asking you to find? |
| Plan | How could I work it out? | What could you try first? Would a picture help? |
| Try | Have a go. A guess is a good start. | Have a go, and tell me what you’re thinking. |
| Check | Does my answer make sense? | How could you check that? |
| Reflect | What helped me? What would I do next time? | What helped you? What would you do next time? |
After each answer, Ponder explains why it’s right, or what to look at again. At the end of a set it celebrates the strategies the learner used, such as draw a picture, break it into parts and look for a pattern.
Under the Australian Curriculum v9.0, Year 8 maths covers number, algebra, measurement, space, statistics and probability. Ponder’s Year 8 maths sets practise linear expressions and equations, rates, circles and composite areas, index laws and rational numbers, two-way tables, Venn diagrams and sampling and integers and negative numbers. The full list of content descriptions is on the Australian Curriculum website.
Every state and territory teaches Foundation to Year 10 content from the Australian Curriculum, either directly or through its own version built from it (NSW and Victoria publish their own syllabuses). Ponder tags sets with v9.0 codes, so they line up with what is taught in every state, though schools order topics differently.
Yes. Open the Ponder app, choose the learner side, then pick a subject and a set. No account is needed while Ponder is in preview.
Not straight away. Each question has three hints that build from a nudge to a worked example of a similar problem. After an answer, Ponder explains why it’s right or what to look at again.
Content descriptions © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2009 to present, unless otherwise indicated. They were downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed 27 September 2026) and were not modified, except that a few end early where the website shows a fraction or symbol as an image. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Ponder is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACARA.
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