Grade 8 Science Alabama Standards

Plan and carry out investigations to support the claim that pure substances can be described and defined by their properties, including solubility, electrical conductivity, and density.

Develop and use models to illustrate how individual external forces affect the motion of objects.

Use models to demonstrate each of Newton’s laws of motion and explain the effect of net force on objects.

Use mathematical representations to explain how the sum of external forces on an object and the object’s mass affect its acceleration.

Use a model to identify factors affecting the strength of noncontact forces, including magnetic, gravitational, and electrical forces, and demonstrate that fields exist even though the objects are not in contact.

Design and construct an electromagnet and modify the design to change its strength.

Analyze graphical displays of data to describe the relationship of mass and velocity of an object to its kinetic energy (KE).

Use models to construct an explanation of how a system of objects may contain varying amounts of potential energy, including gravitational, elastic, and chemical.

Use models to construct an explanation of how energy is transformed but still conserved.

Develop and use a model to construct an explanation of how electrical energy is transferred and transformed.

Use models of mechanical and electromagnetic waves to qualitatively describe the relationships among wave properties, including amplitude, wavelength, and frequency.

Use models to compare and contrast light and sound wave behaviors, including reflection, refraction, diffraction, and speed, as waves propagate and interact with matter.

Construct an argument from evidence that digital and analog signals encode and transmit information differently.

Develop and manipulate models to explain changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added to or removed from a system.

Justify a claim, based on evidence from investigations, that pure substances differ from mixtures, including solutions.

Obtain and communicate information from the periodic table, including atomic number, number of electrons and neutrons, average atomic mass, groups, and periods, to illustrate the structure and composition of atoms of different elements.

Analyze and interpret data to differentiate among elements based on their properties and classify the elements as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids.

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information from the periodic table to make predictions about the reactivity of the main group elements.

Use valence electron configuration to model ionic and covalent bonds.

Observe and analyze data regarding characteristic properties of substances before and after they are combined to determine whether a chemical reaction has occurred.

Analyze data from an investigation to determine whether thermal energy is released or absorbed in a chemical reaction.

Design and test a device that can release or absorb thermal energy by chemical reactions.

Engage in an argument from evidence to support the claim that matter is conserved in a chemical reaction.

Use a model to verify that atoms of reactants are conserved as products in a chemical reaction.

Use data from an investigation to identify factors that affect acceleration.

Structure and Properties

Energy

Systems and System Models

Structure and Function

Structure and Function

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Forces and Motion

Structure and Properties

Chemical Reactions

Patterns

Structure and Properties

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Structure and Function

Wave Properties

Energy and Matter

Matter and Its Interactions

Types of Energy

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Cause and Effect

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Stability and Change

Energy

Structure and Properties

Energy and Matter

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Information Transfer

Matter and Its Interactions

Structure and Properties

Structure and Properties

Conservation of Energy

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Identify and compare the properties (e.g., solubility, density, color, texture, state of matter) of pure substances (e.g., tin, diamond, water, baking soda).

Recognize that an object at rest remains at rest if not acted on by an outside force.

Describe the motion of two colliding objects before and after the collision.

Investigate the effect of distance on the magnetic force of two magnets.

Investigate the effect of increasing the number of wire turns in the electromagnet on its strength to pick up items.

Make observations about energy transfers in common everyday occurrences (e.g., bowling ball hitting pins, brakes being applied to a bicycle or car).

Use a model to investigate ways to change the properties of a simple wave (frequency, amplitude, wavelength).

Investigate how light and sound waves travel through a variety of media.

Recognize that common communication devices use electromagnetic waves to transmit information and that these electromagnetic waves are invisible to the human eye.

Identify what happens to the state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Differentiate between pure substances and mixtures.

Recognize that a change has occurred during a chemical reaction (e.g., burning sugar, burning steel wool, rust, effervescent tablets).

Identify factors that affect acceleration of an object.

Patterns: Macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure. Patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships can provide information about natural and human-designed systems. Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. Graphs, charts, and images can be used to identify patterns in data.

Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction: Relationships can be classified as causal or correlational, and correlation does not necessarily imply causation. Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can be described only by using probability.

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. The observed function of natural and designed systems may change with scale. Proportional relationships among different types of quantities (e.g., speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) provide information about the magnitude of properties and processes. Scientific relationships can be represented through the use of algebraic expressions and equations. Phenomena that can be observed at one scale may not be observable at another scale.

Systems and System Models: Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and may be part of larger complex systems. Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions (such as inputs, processes and outputs) and energy, matter, and information flow within systems. Models are limited in that they represent only certain aspects of the system under study.

Energy and Matter: Flows, Cycles, and Conservation: Matter is conserved because atoms are conserved in physical and chemical processes. Within a natural or designed system, the transfer of energy drives the motion and/or cycling of matter. Energy may take different forms (e.g., energy in fields, thermal energy, energy of motion). The transfer of energy can be tracked as energy flows through a designed or natural system.

Structure and Function: Complex and microscopic structures and systems can be visualized, modeled, and used to describe how their function depends on the shapes, composition, and relationships among its parts; therefore, complex natural and designed structures and systems can be analyzed to determine how they function. Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account the properties of different materials and how materials can be shaped and used.

Stability and Change: Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and processes at different scales, including the atomic scale. Small changes in one part of a system might cause large changes in another part. Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time. Systems in a dynamic equilibrium are stable due to a balance of feedback mechanisms.

Asking Questions and Defining Problems: Specifying relationships between variables, clarifying arguments, and models

Developing and Using Models: Developing, utilizing, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and to design systems.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations: Designing and conducting investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and employing basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking: Identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions: Constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Engaging in Argument from Evidence: Constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information: Evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.

Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs)

Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)