Seventh-grade Social Studies focuses on the social, cultural, and technological changes that occurred in Europe, Africa, Asia, Central America, and South America in the years A.D. 500-1789. After reviewing the ancient world and the ways in which archeologists and historians uncover the past, students study the history and geography of great civilizations that were developing concurrently throughout the world during medieval and modern times. They examine the growing economic interaction among civilizations as well as the exchange of ideas, beliefs, technologies, and commodities. They learn about the resulting growth of Enlightenment philosophy and the new examination of the concepts of reason and authority, the natural rights of human beings, the divine right of kings, experimentalism in science, and the dogma of belief. Finally, students assess the political forces encouraged by the Enlightenment, particularly the rise of democratic ideas, and about the continuing influence of these ideas in the world today.

This class is centered on the birth and development of America as a nation through a focus on geography, government, the military, foreign affairs, the economy, and the groups and individuals who helped to form this new nation. The class will begin with Colonial America and the events that lead to revolution and eventual independence from England. Students will examine the United States Constitution and the political debates, as well as the Westward Expansion and the effects it had on Native American populations. We will examine the causes of the American Civil War and the issues surrounding American Reconstruction. In the third trimester, we will work to understand the social and economic factors behind American Industrialization and the major concepts of a democratic government. Assignments in this class will be based on the History-Social Science Content Standards.

8th Grade Science is a year-long, inquiry-oriented and integrated science course for 8th graders. This course builds on the ideas of stability and change introduced at the end of grade seven with the guiding concept that the processes that change Earth’s systems at different spatial scales today also caused changes in the past. Students will develop conceptual understanding and skills related to the following topics: forces and motion, gravity, electricity, magnetism, waves, solar system, eclipses, evolution, fossil record, biodiversity, and engineering as outlined for 8th grade by the California Next Generation Science Standards.

Eight-grade Science has officially rolled out the new integrated course model aligned with NGSS. The idea behind an integrated model in science is to explore phenomena in our daily lives and understand the connected scientific concepts. The integrated model interweaves three disciplines (Earth, Life, and Physical sciences) with engineering components embedded within each segment. There are four segments per grade, focusing on age-appropriate standards. For 8th-grade, those segments are: Motion, Forces, Evolution, and Sustainability.