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Eighth grade science is an integrated science course where students study physical science, life science, and Earth and Space science. These topics build up on the student's understanding of the world around them from sixth and seventh grade science to examine complex topics such as the expanding universe, biogeological processes such as the rock cycle and plate tectonics, and the impacts of these processes to ecosystem change and species within those ecosystems.
Eighth grade builds upon the physical science concepts taught in prior years further to develop an understanding of motion and their relationship to energy and matter. Physical forces integrate through Earth and space science (e.g., plate tectonics, rock cycle), driving long term geological changes that impact ecosystems and their inhabitants.
The understanding of heredity in seventh grade allows students to make connections through natural selection, driven by the physical forces of earth systems in eighth grade. Eighth grade utilizes understandings from ecosystems and heredity to examine changes in an ecosystem and species over time as it relates to physical forces that drive Earth's systems. Students examine how living things have changed over time and the evidence that scientists base their claims on.
For Earth and Space Sciences, eighth grade students apply understanding of forces and motion to an examination of our own planetary processes and those of other celestial objects.
Units of Study
Units of Study
Beginning of the Year - Graphing and Data
Unit 1: How Have Living Things Changed Over Time?
Unit 2: How Has the Earth Changed Over Time?
Unit 3: What is Earth's Place in the Universe?
Unit 4: What Determines How Objects Move and Interact on Earth?
Unit 5: How Can Objects Cause Change in Other Objects When They Don't Touch?
8th grade science at CMS is an integrated science class. The themes for science in eighth grade are how forces and motion drive objects in our solar systems (ESS1), move lithospheric plates (ESS2), and how nature’s driving forces of geology (ESS2) impact ecosystems via environmental selection for a species (LS4). This content utilizes core ideas from sixth and seventh grade; for example, using a hereditary approach in seventh grade to examine natural selection in eighth grade. Tennessee's state mathematics standards are integrated into the science standards, specifically forces and motion (8.PS2). Special attention is given to science literacy through the use of the science and engineering practices. Students are often required to gather information from reliable sources to construct evidenced-based arguments (e.g., 8.ESS2).
Tennessee State Science Standards
Tennessee State Science Standards
Overview: Different areas of science and their components are mixed heterogeneously throughout the middle school grades. The theme for seventh grade science is how matter and reactions are the basis for life science, particularly the molecules that make up life such as DNA and proteins, and their relation to cells, organs, organ systems, organisms and heredity; and the conservation of matter by examining carbon and oxygen cycling through photosynthesis and aerobic cellular respiration. In addition, earth and space science standards are addressed from a perspective of matter and their reactions including atmospheric composition, combustion, and climate change.
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES
The eight Science and Engineering Practices reflect the types of engagement a scientist or engineer encounters as part of their work and should be incorporated in a grade-appropriate manner in all grade.
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) to determine what is known, what has yet to be satisfactorily explained, and what problems need to be solved.
Developing and using models to develop explanations for phenomena, to go beyond the observable and make predictions or to test designs
Planning and carrying out controlled investigations to collect data that is used to test existing theories and explanations, revise and develop new theories and explanations, or assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and durability of designs under various conditions
Analyzing and interpreting data with appropriate data presentation (graph, tables, statistics, etc.), identifying sources of error and the degree of certainty. Data analysis is used to derive meaning and evaluate solutions.
Using mathematics and computational thinking as tools to represent variables and their relationships in models, simulations, and data analysis in order to make and test predictions.
Constructing explanations and designing solutions to explain phenomena or solve problems.
Engaging in argument from evidence to identify strengths and weaknesses in a line of reasoning, to identify best explanations, to resolve problems, and to identify best solutions.
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information from scientific texts in order to derive meaning, evaluate validity, and integrate information.
SCIENCE CROSS CUTTING CONCEPTS
The seven Crosscutting Concepts reflect conceptual understandings that transcend any particular discipline, yet permeate into mastery-level understanding of any given discipline.
Pattern observation and explanation
Cause and effect relationships can be explained through a mechanism
Scale, proportion, and quantity that integrate measurement, appreciation of scale in natural events, and precision of language
Systems and system models with defined boundaries that can be investigated and characterized by the next three concepts
Energy and matter conservation through transformations that flow or cycle into, out of, or within a system
Structure and function of systems and their parts
Stability and change of systems
Quarter 1
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
Quarter 4
8.LS4: Biological Change: Unity and Diversity
1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change in life forms throughout Earth’s history.
2. Construct an explanation addressing similarities and differences of the anatomical structures and genetic information between extinct and extant organisms using evidence of common ancestry and patterns between taxa.
3. Analyze evidence from geology, paleontology, and comparative anatomy to support that specific phenotypes within a population can increase the probability of survival of that species and lead to adaptation.
4. Develop a scientific explanation of how natural selection plays a role in determining the survival of a species in a changing environment.
5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the technologies that have changed the way humans use artificial selection to influence the inheritance of desired traits in other organisms.
8.ESS2: Earth’s Systems
1. Analyze and interpret data to support the assertion that rapid or gradual geographic changes lead to drastic population changes and extinction events.
2. Evaluate data collected from seismographs to create a model of Earth’s structure.
3. Describe the relationship between the processes and forces that create igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
4. Gather and evaluate evidence that energy from the earth’s interior drives convection cycles within the asthenosphere which creates changes within the lithosphere including plate movements, plate boundaries, and sea-floor spreading.
5. Construct a scientific explanation using data that explains the gradual process of plate tectonics accounting for A) the distribution of fossils on different continents, B) the occurrence of earthquakes, and C) continental and ocean floor features (including mountains, volcanoes, faults, and trenches).
8.ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
1. Interpret data to explain that earth’s mineral, fossil fuel, and groundwater resources are unevenly distributed as a result of geologic processes.
2. Collect data, map, and describe patterns in the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes related to tectonic plate boundaries, interactions, and hotspots.
8.ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe
1. Research, analyze, and communicate that the universe began with a period of rapid expansion using evidence from the motion of galaxies and composition of stars.
2. Explain the role of gravity in the formation of our sun and planets. Extend this explanation to address gravity’s effect on the motion of celestial objects in our solar system and Earth’s ocean tides.
8.ETS1: Engineering Design
2. Research and communicate information to describe how data from technologies (telescopes, spectroscopes, satellites, and space probes) provide information about objects in the solar system and universe.
8.PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
3. Create a demonstration of an object in motion and describe the position, force, and direction of the object.
4. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
5. Evaluate and interpret that for every force exerted on an object there is an equal force exerted in the opposite direction.
8.PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
1. Develop and use models to represent the basic properties of waves including frequency, amplitude, wavelength, and speed.
2. Compare and contrast mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves based on refraction, reflection, transmission, absorption, and their behavior through a vacuum and/or various media.
3. Evaluate the role that waves play in different communication systems.
8.PS2: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
1. Design and conduct investigations depicting the relationship between magnetism and electricity in electromagnets, generators, and electrical motors, emphasizing the factors that increase or diminish the electric current and the magnetic field strength.
2. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
8.ETS1: Engineering Design
1. Develop a model to generate data for ongoing testing and modification of an electromagnet, a generator, and a motor such that an optimal design can be achieved.
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