Eighth Grade Science objectives build upon students’ science understanding from earlier grades and provide deeper understandings in five major content topics: Structure and Properties of Matter; Chemical Reactions; Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms; Natural Selection and Adaptations; and Human Interactions. The objectives blend core ideas with scientific and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts to support students in developing useable knowledge across the science disciplines. There is a focus on several scientific practices which include planning and carrying out investigations; developing and using models; analyzing and interpreting data; using mathematical and computational thinking; obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information; and engaging in argument from evidence. Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science objectives are integrated throughout instruction as students define problems and design solutions related to the course objectives. Students will engage in active inquiries, investigations, and hands-on activities as they develop and demonstrate conceptual understandings and research and laboratory skills described in the objectives. Safety instruction is integrated in all activities, and students will implement safe procedures and practices when manipulating equipment, materials, organisms, and models. All West Virginia teachers are responsible for classroom instruction that integrates content literacy and 21st Century Learning Skills and Technology Tools.

Topic: Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms (Life Sciences Content)

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Students will use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

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Students will construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

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Students will develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of an organism.

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Students will develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

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Students will gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Topic: Natural Selection and Adaptations

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Students will analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.

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Students will apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.

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Students will analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.

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Students will construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.

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Students will use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Topic: Structure and Properties of Matter(Physical Science Content)

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Students will develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

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Students will gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.

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Students will develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Topic: Chemical Reactions

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Students will analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

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Students will develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.

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Students will undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.*

Topic: Human Impacts(Earth and Space Science Content)

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Students will construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

Topic: Engineering Design(Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science)

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Students will define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

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Students will evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

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Students will analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

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Students will develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Grade 6-8: Science (Science Literacy)

Topic: Reading- Key Ideas and Details

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Students will cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

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Students will determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

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Students will follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.

Topic: Reading- Craft and Structure

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Students will determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–8 texts and topics.

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Students will analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.

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Students will analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.

Topic: Reading- Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

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Students will integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

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Students will distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.

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Students will compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.

Topic: Reading- Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

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Students will by the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Topic: Writing- Text Types and Purposes

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Students will write arguments focused on discipline-specific content:

  • introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
  • support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.
  • use words, phrases and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons and evidence.
  • establish and maintain a formal style.
  • provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

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Students will write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments or technical processes:

  • introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts and tables) and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
  • develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
  • use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
  • use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
  • establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone.
  • provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

Topic: Writing- Production and Distribution of Writing

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Students will produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

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Students will with some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

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Students will use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

Topic: Writing- Research to Build and Present Knowledge

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Students will conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

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Students will gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

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Students will draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.

Topic: Writing- Range of Writing

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Students will write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.