8th Grade Science

Course Description:

8th grade science builds on the experiences, concepts and skills students were developing in 6th and 7th grade. Students will have the opportunity to explore aspects of each of the scientific domains: Life, Earth and Space, and Physical Science. Each unit within the domains begins by posing a phenomena which will guide student learning. Specific areas of study include: Contact Forces, Sound Waves, Magnetic Fields, Earth, Moon and Sun, Natural Selection, and Evolutionary History. Additionally, students will develop their skills in the science and engineering practices which include analyzing data, developing models, carrying out investigations, engaging in arguments from evidence, constructing explanations, and evaluating information.

Essential Learning Goals:

Students will deepen their understanding of core science concepts specific to the unit of study.

• Contact Forces: This unit develops science ideas around forces, motion, and energy, like when objects collide. Students will apply these science ideas in an engineering task to design a way to protect an object of their choice. Together, they then refine their ideas. For example, students will critique each other’s design solutions, identify trade-offs, and evaluate competing designs to prevent damage from collisions.

• Sound Waves: This unit builds on science ideas about how sound is produced and how it interacts with materials. Within this unit, students visibly see windows shaking after a truck plays music. Students examine patterns of different cause and effect relationships about sound. These patterns help students to better characterize sound (loudness, pitch, etc.) in order to develop their models of sound. Students refine these models through class discussions and arguments while deepening their explanations of how sound travels from the car to the windows. Using computer simulations and conducting investigations, students gather evidence and refine their models to best explain the shaking windows event.

• Magnetic Fields: Students will demonstrate their understanding that a magnetic force can act at a distance to make objects move and that in a system of magnets, there is a repelling force between like poles and an attracting force between opposite poles and the force is stronger closer to a magnet. Additionally, moving a magnet against a stronger magnetic force transfers energy to the magnetic field. 

• Earth, Moon and Sun: Students will demonstrate their understanding that the sun illuminates the lunar surface and the moon’s orbit around the Earth is responsible for the phases of the moon.

• Natural Selection: Students will demonstrate their understanding of how adaptive traits become more common in a population overtime because organisms with those traits live longer and pass the traits onto offspring and that mutations can introduce new traits into a population.

• Evolutionary History: Students will demonstrate their understanding of how organisms with a shared evolutionary history will often have similar body structures and If organisms diverged recently, they tend to have more body structures in common than those that diverged longer ago.

• Students will demonstrate and develop their skills in the science Practices including but not limited to Constructing Arguments from Evidence and Explanations, Analyzing and Interpreting Data, Developing Models and Planning and Conducting Investigations.

Major Assessments and Success Criteria:

• Each unit includes an assessment system that offers many opportunities for different types of assessments throughout the lessons, including pre-assessment, formative assessment, summative assessment, and student self assessment. Formative assessments are embedded throughout the unit. Summative assessments are in the middle and at the end of each unit. 

• During the unit progression, students have numerous opportunities to receive feedback on their progress towards developing their skills in the science practices.

Key Course Learning Experiences:

Each unit of study poses a scientific phenomena. Through their exploration of articles, hands-on modeling activities, peer collaboration, virtual simulations, videos, etc., students deepen their understanding of core science principles necessary to explain the phenomena.