Overview
Embedded Files
In 8th grade, students build on what they’ve learned in earlier years to think more deeply about how and why things happen in the natural world. They begin to understand that many causes of everyday events, such as weather, seasons, or changes in materials, aren’t always visible but can be explained through science. Students explore topics such as what causes the seasons and tides, how plate movement shapes our planet, how the atmosphere and oceans interact to create weather and climate, how traits are passed from parents to offspring through genetics, and how atoms and molecules combine to form different substances that can change through physical or chemical processes. By the end of the year, students will be able to analyze evidence, recognize patterns, and make predictions about scientific events even when the causes can’t be directly seen. This ability to think abstractly and connect ideas is an essential step toward success in high school science and beyond.
Unit 1: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Learning Targets
Motion is described as an object’s position over time.
When two moving objects interact, their motion is affected by equal and opposite forces.
Essential Questions
Why is it important to understand the relationship between forces, energy, and matter?
Questions to Ask at Home
Have you ever observed an unbalanced force change an object’s position? (For example, what happens during a game of tug-of-war?)
How do unbalanced forces affect the direction and speed of a soccer ball during a soccer game?
Unit 2: Matter and Its Interactions
Learning Targets
Different fundamental particles (atoms), which are organized in the Periodic Table, may combine in definite proportions to form molecules and all the matter in the universe.
When atoms and molecules combine in chemical reactions, they form substances with new physical and chemical properties.
Changes in energy cause changes in the motion of particles. Temperature can be one of the indicators of particle changes.
During a physical or chemical change, matter cannot be created nor destroyed, but can be converted from one form to another.
The pattern of the seasons is due to Earth’s tilt, which causes the change in intensity of the sunlight during different times of the year.
The ocean tides are caused by gravity.
Gravity is the reason the planets, the moon, and asteroids orbit the sun.
Essential Questions
Why should we understand how matter changes over time?
How does a change in matter impact your life?
Learning Targets
Look for similar substances around the house that look the same but are actually different.
What types of tests could you run to identify each substance?
How can the chemical formula help you construct a 3-D model of the molecule?
To help your child learn more about chemical formulas and equations, work with him or her to explain how equations are similar to a recipe used in cooking.
Unit 3: Earth's Place in the Universe
Learning Targets
The pattern of the seasons is due to Earth’s tilt, which causes changes in sunlight intensity throughout the year.
The ocean tides are caused by gravity.
Gravity is the reason the planets, the moon, and asteroids orbit the sun.
Essential Questions
How does/can gravity influence the universe and its occupants?
How does Earth’s position in the solar system affect different phenomena on Earth?
Questions to Ask at Home
If Earth’s axis weren’t tilted, what would change?
When are the spring tides during this month?
When are the neap tides?
How do these tidal patterns relate to the positions of the Moon and the Sun relative to Earth?
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