Welcome to Eighth Grade Science!

What should students expect from Eighth Grade Science at STEAM?

Science Class Looks Like: Interactive Notebooks- they remain in the room and we use them daily. We make models, experiment, discuss, explain, compose scientific arguments and design solutions to real world problems in thoughtful project work.

Science Class Sounds Like: Student Discussions of big ideas where we listen to each other and share our thinking with evidence and reasoning. Students will be collaboratively solving real world problems using Project Based Learning to ask questions, investigate, design solutions, and share ideas.

Science Class Feels Like: High School Preparation and increased self-management. Instructors give the structures; you construct the learning.

We have six units (slideshows are linked when possible):

Unit 1: Particles: Looking at Vaping and Opioid Addiction on a molecular level to inform a political platform.

Unit 2: Chemical Reactions: Using chemical reactions to warm up or cool down. Making a gift: hand warmers, ice packs, bath bombs etc.

Unit 3: Forces and Interactions: How can we model a political movement in a Rube Goldberg Machine/roller coaster?

Unit 4: Energy Flow: How can we use solar, wind and human power to charge our cell phones and devices?

Unit 5: Waves: How does sound work? Expressions of sound in art-a composition, a poem, a painting. Explaining Light in a short story.

Unit 6: Magnetism Carnival- Creating carnival games to teach the third graders about magnets.

Here are some fun resources to check out:

• Physics.org
• Physicsworld.com
• https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
• https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Newtons-Laws