8th Grade Science Curriculum
8th Grade Science - Essential Questions
Nature of Science
What is the nature of science?
What is scientific inquiry?
Earth and Space Science
Where is the Earth in the universe and how is Earth related to other objects in the universe?
What are the reasons for the season on Earth?
How does gravity influence the shape and the motion of objects in the solar system?
What are characteristics of oceans, and why are oceans important?
What are the causes and effects of the changing ocean floor?
How do ocean currents affect weather and climate?
How does global climate change affect marine ecosystems?
What processes change the Earth’s surfaces?
What causes the tectonic plates to move?
What is the difference between physical and chemical weathering on Earth’s surface?
What are the small-scale and large-scale rock cycles?
How do scientists describe and predict weather?
What drives weather patterns?
What is the difference between weather and climate?
What is climate and how does it impact life on Earth?
How can human activities affect climate?
Life Science
Why do living things reproduce?
How do environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction?
How are traits passed from parents to offspring?
How do species adapt to new environments over time?
How do species adapt to changing environments over time?
Physical Science
What is matter, and how does it change?
What gives a substance its unique identity?
What are the differences between elements, compounds, and mixtures?
What happens to a substance when it undergoes a chemical reaction?
What happens to a substance when it undergoes a physical change?
What is the Law of Conservation Mass?
In what ways do forces affect an object’s motion?