8th- Fourth 9 weeks
8th- Fourth 9 weeks
This curriculum map is a constantly monitored and edited document by building specific administration and teachers. Changes may occur throughout the school year to stay updated with state requirements. Any questions regarding content should be directed towards the teacher of your child’s class or content area.
How does water influence weather, circulate in the oceans and shape Earth’s surface? What factors interact and influence weather?
The roles of water in Earth’s surface processes
a. Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land.
b. The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns.
c. Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity.
d. Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents.
e. Water’s movements – both on the land and underground – cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations.
2. Weather and climate
a. Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.
b. Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically.
c. The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.
How do human activities affect Earth systems? How do we know our global climate is changing?
3. Human impact on Earth systems
a. Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things.
b. Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise.
4. Global climate change
a. Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming.) Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.
MS-ESS2-4: I can describe the water cycle. I can explain the role of the energy from the sun and the force of gravity in the water cycle.
MS-ESS2-5: I can describe how the movement of air masses from region to region causes weather. I can describe how sudden weather can occur when different air masses collide.
MS-ESS2-6: I can use a model to demonstrate how the heating and rotation of Earth contribute to patterns that determine climates in different areas. I can describe the Coriolis effect.
MS-ESS3-3: I can describe the impact that humans have on the environment. I can brainstorm ways that humans can limit water usage, land usage, and pollution. I can determine if these solutions are reasonable.
MS-ESS3-4: I can talk about the ways that the increases in human population and use of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
MS-ESS3-5: I can discuss the different factors that have caused a rise in global temperatures over the past century.
https://media.doe.in.gov/standards/indiana-academic-standards-grade-8-science.pdf
MS-ESS2-4 Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
MS-ESS2-6 Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over time.