Grade 8 Science CA Core Standards

Examining the forces that cause Celestial Objects to form and move and the ways they are examined from Earth.

Use data to understand and describe different characteristics to objects in space, including distances, size, surface features, structure and composition

Understand and describe the role of gravity, as an attractive force, in the formation of the solar system

Describe relationships and interactions between components of the solar and galaxy systems, including gravity, orbital motion and mass

Model apparent motion of celestial object (such as Earth, Moon, Sun) with accurate scale and distance relationships

Understand the Electromagnetic Spectrum and that stars release this type of energy

Explain the Lunar phases and how solar energy from the Sun reflects off the Moon to the Earth

Explain the change in seasons on Earth as a result of the orientation of the Earth relative to the Sun

Examine how DNA is passed through generations and how Natural Selections acts to change populations of organisms over time

Model the relevant components in a cell, including genes, chromosomes, proteins and traits of organism.

Understand gene and protein structure and how it leads to observable organism traits.

Model a gene mutation that leads to beneficial, neutral or harmful change in an organism.

Explain how genetic variations of traits affects the probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.

Describe how individuals in a species have genetic variation that can be passed on to their offspring.

Explain the way humans influence the inherited traits in plants and animals, such as gene therapy, genetic modification, and selective breeding.

Explain changes and trends over time in the distribution of traits within a population.

Explain cause-and-effect relationships between environmental conditions and natural selection in a population.

Use and apply the science and engineering practices

How do forces cause motion and how is energy transferred between objects.

Non-contact forces, like electric and magnetic forces, can attract or repel, with strength depending on charge, current, field strength, and distance.

Identify different types of forces

Describe the difference between balanced and unbalanced forces

Understand the difference between speed and acceleration

Understand and apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to an object

Describe motion of an object using correct units and the frames of reference

Explain the interaction of forces between two colliding objects

Create and analyze models of energy flow in a system; Collisions, and relative changes in Potential Energy

Describe the relationships between kinetic energy (KE) and speed, and KE and mass

Use evidence from the geologic record to model and explain the theory of evolution

Understand and describe geologic processes in the formation of rock strata to determine relative age and type.

Construct and use a model of the geologic timescale for Earth’s 4.6 billion year history

Track major events in Earth’s History with evidence: fossil record, volcanic activity, atmospheric changes, asteroid impacts.

Investigate the diversity of prehistoric ecosystems with patterns and abundance of fossils and other markers.

Use anatomical similarities and differences (in fossils and embryos) to infer evolutionary relationships among modern organisms (whales) and between modern and fossil organisms (Dorudon)

Use the fossil record to identify patterns of increasing complexity of anatomical structures over time

Use and apply the science and engineering practices

Introducing Scientific thinking, Modeling and Investigation Practices.

Safely plan and carry out investigations

Explain a models limitations, misconceptions, and errors as applicable

Use and engage in scientific argument for a claim with evidence and scientific reasoning

Explain how phenomena can have more than one cause or explanation using science

Identify the independent and dependent variable within any experiment

Use scientific tools to measure accurately the quantity of any type of substance

Use and apply the science and engineering practices

Identify and describe the property of matter and light waves and how wave technology can be applied to solve problems.

Identify the characteristics of a wave, including amplitude, frequency and wavelength

Describe how waves characteristics corresponds to physical observations such as pitch and volume

Given data about a repeating physical phenomena (a wave), identify the amount of energy present and transmitted by the wave

Understand interactions of waves with a medium such as reflection, absorption, transmission, and the source of the wave

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the animals and the environment

Argue with evidence that digital signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals

Evaluate the Electromagnetic Spectrum wavelengths and the corresponding energy levels in real world situations

PRINCIPLE I: People Depend on Natural Systems The continuation and health of individual human lives and of human communities and societies depend on the health of the natural systems that provide essential goods and ecosystem services.

The goods produced by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.

The ecosystem services provided by natural systems are essential to human life and to the functioning of our economies and cultures.

That the quality, quantity, and reliability of the goods and ecosystem services provided by natural systems are directly affected by the health of those systems.

PRINCIPLE II: People Influence Natural Systems The long‐term functioning and health of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems are influenced by their relationships with human societies.

Direct and indirect changes to natural systems due to the growth of human populations and their consumption rates influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

Methods used to extract, harvest, transport, and consume natural resources influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

The expansion and operation of human communities influences the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

The legal, economic, and political systems that govern the use and management of natural systems directly influence the geographic extent, composition, biological diversity, and viability of natural systems.

PRINCIPLE III: Natural Systems Change in Ways that People Benefit from and can Influence Natural systems proceed through cycles that humans depend upon, benefit from and can alter.

Natural systems proceed through cycles and processes that are required for their functioning.

Human practices depend upon and benefit from the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.

Human practices can alter the cycles and processes that operate within natural systems.

PRINCIPLE IV: There are no Permanent or Impermeable Boundaries that Prevent Matter from Flowing Between Systems The exchange of matter between natural systems and human societies affects the long‐ term functioning of both.

The effects of human activities on natural systems are directly related to the quantities of resources consumed and to the quantity and characteristics of the resulting byproducts.

The byproducts of human activity are not readily prevented from entering natural systems and may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental in their effect.

The capacity of natural systems to adjust to human-caused alterations depends on the nature of the system as well as the scope, scale, and duration of the activity and the nature of its byproducts

PRINCIPLE V: Decisions Affecting Resources and Natural Systems are Complex and Involve Many Factors Decisions affecting resources and natural systems are based on a wide range of considerations and decision‐making processes.

There is a spectrum of what is considered in making decisions about resources and natural systems and how those factors influence decisions.

The process of making decisions about resources and natural systems, and how the assessment of social, economic, political, and environmental factors has changed over time.

Earth's Place in the Universe

Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.

Earth's Systems

Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

Earth and Human Activity

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

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

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Engineering Design

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.

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

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.

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.

From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells, either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

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.

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

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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 the organism.

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.

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Matter and Its Interactions

Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.

Plan 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.

Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.

Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Energy

Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.

Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.

Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer

Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.

Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals (sent as wave pulses) are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information.

Use flowcharts and/or pseudocode to design and illustrate algorithms that solve complex problems.

Create clearly named variables that store data, and perform operations on their contents.

Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures and use compound conditions.

Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.

Create procedures with parameters to organize code and make it easier to reuse.

Seek and incorporate feedback from team members and users to refine a solution that meets user needs.

Incorporate existing code, media, and libraries into original programs, and give attribution.

Systematically test and refine programs using a range of test cases.

Distribute tasks and maintain a project timeline when collaboratively developing computational artifacts.

Document programs in order to make them easier to use, read, test, and debug.

Design modifications to computing devices in order to improve the ways users interact with the devices.

Design a project that combines hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.

Systematically apply troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve hardware and software problems in computing systems.

Represent data in multiple ways.

Collect data using computational tools and transform the data to make it more useful.

Test and analyze the effects of changing variables while using computational models.

Compare tradeoffs associated with computing technologies that affect people’s everyday activities and career options.

Discuss issues of bias and accessibility in the design of existing technologies.

Collaborate with many contributors when creating a computational artifact.

Compare tradeoffs associated with licenses for computational artifacts to balance the protection of the creators’ rights and the ability for others to use and modify the artifacts.

Compare tradeoffs between allowing information to be public and keeping information private and secure.

Model the role of protocols in transmitting data across networks and the internet.

Explain potential security threats and security measures to mitigate threats.

Apply multiple methods of information protection to model the secure transmission of information.

Safety Law & Ethics

Network Communication & Organization

Algorithms

Data & Analysis

Social Interactions

Variables

Devices

Modularity

Hardware & Software

Troubleshooting

Storage

Algorithms & Programming

Culture

Computing Systems

Cybersecurity

Impacts of Computing

Program Development

Control

Inference & Models

Networks & the Internet

Collection Visualization & Transformation

Patterns – Observed patterns in nature guide organization and classification and prompt questions about relationships and causes underlying them.

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 – Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. Deciphering causal relationships, and the mechanisms by which they are mediated, is a major activity of science and engineering.

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 only be described using probability.

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity – In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different size, time, and energy scales, and to recognize proportional relationships between different quantities as scales change.

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 (e.g., speed as the ratio of distance traveled to time taken) among different types of quantities 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 – A system is an organized group of related objects or components; models can be used for understanding and predicting the behavior of systems.

Systems may interact with other systems; they may have sub-systems and be a 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 flows within systems.

Models are limited in that they only represent certain aspects of the system under study

Energy and Matter: Flows, Cycles, and Conservation – Tracking energy and matter flows, into, out of, and within systems helps one understand their system’s behavior

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 – The way an object is shaped or structured determines many of its properties and functions

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/systems can be analyzed to determine how they function.

Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used.

Stability and Change – For both designed and natural systems, conditions that affect stability and factors that control rates of change are critical elements to consider and understand.

Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces 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 dynamic equilibrium are stable due to a balance of feedback mechanisms.

Asking Questions and Defining Problems Asking questions and defining problems in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables, and clarifying arguments and models

Ask questions * that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models, or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information. * to identify and/or clarify evidence and/or the premise(s) of an argument. * to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables and relationships in models.. * to clarify and/or refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.

Ask questions that require sufficient and appropriate empirical evidence to answer. * Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles.

Ask questions that challenge the premise(s) of an argument or the interpretation of a data set.

Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions.

Developing and Using Models Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.

Evaluate limitations of a model for a proposed object or tool.

Develop or modify a model—based on evidence – to match what happens if a variable or component of a system is changed.

Use and/or develop a model of simple systems with uncertain and less predictable factors.

Develop and/or revise a model to show the relationships among variables, including those that are not observable but predict observable phenomena.

Develop and/or use a model to predict and/or describe phenomena.

Develop a model to describe unobservable mechanisms.

Develop and/or use a model to generate data to test ideas about phenomena in natural or designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs, and those at unobservable scales.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Planning and carrying out investigations in 6-8 builds on K-5 experiences and progresses to include investigations that use multiple variables and provide evidence to support explanations or solutions.

Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim.

Conduct an investigation and/or evaluate and/or revise the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that meet the goals of the investigation.

Evaluate the accuracy of various methods for collecting data.

Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions

Collect data about the performance of a proposed object, tool, process, or system under a range of conditions.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

Construct, analyze, and/or interpret graphical displays of data and/or large data sets to identify linear and nonlinear relationships.

Use graphical displays (e.g., maps, charts, graphs, and/or tables) of large data sets to identify temporal and spatial relationships.

Distinguish between causal and correlational relationships in data.

Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

Apply concepts of statistics and probability (including mean, median, mode, and variability) to analyze and characterize data, using digital tools when feasible.

Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error), and/or seek to improve precision and accuracy of data with better technological tools and methods (e.g., multiple trials).

Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings.

Analyze data to define an optimal operational range for a proposed object, tool, process or system that best meets criteria for success.

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to identifying patterns in large data sets and using mathematical concepts to support explanations and arguments.

Use digital tools (e.g., computers) to analyze very large data sets for patterns and trends.

Use mathematical representations to describe and/or support scientific conclusions and design solutions

Create algorithms (a series of ordered steps) to solve a problem.

Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (such as ratio, rate, percent, basic operations, and simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions and problems.

Use digital tools and/or mathematical concepts and arguments to test and compare proposed solutions to an engineering design problem.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 6–8 builds on K– 5 experiences and progresses to include constructing explanations and designing solutions supported by multiple sources of evidence consistent with scientific ideas, principles, and theories.

Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena.

Construct an explanation using models or representations.

Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use an explanation for realworld phenomena, examples, or events.

Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation or conclusion.

Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and/or test a design of an object, tool, process or system.

Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints.

Optimize performance of a design by prioritizing criteria, making tradeoffs, testing, revising, and retesting

Engaging in Argument from Evidence Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world(s).

Compare and critique two arguments on the same topic and analyze whether they emphasize similar or different evidence and/or interpretations of facts.

Respectfully provide and receive critiques about one’s explanations, procedures, models and questions by citing relevant evidence and posing and responding to questions that elicit pertinent elaboration and detail.

Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.

Make an oral or written argument that supports or refutes the advertised performance of a device, process, or system, based on empirical evidence concerning whether or not the technology meets relevant criteria and constraints.

Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria.

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to evaluating the merit and validity of ideas and methods.

Critically read scientific texts adapted for classroom use to determine the central ideas and/or obtain scientific and/or technical information to describe patterns in and/or evidence about the natural and designed world(s).

Integrate qualitative and/or quantitative scientific and/or technical information in written text with that contained in media and visual displays to clarify claims and findings.

Gather, read, synthesize information from multiple appropriate sources and assess the credibility, accuracy, and possible bias of each publication and methods used, and describe how they are supported or not supported by evidence.

Evaluate data, hypotheses, and/or conclusions in scientific and technical texts in light of competing information or accounts.

Communicate scientific and/or technical information (e.g. about a proposed object, tool, process, system) in writing and/or through oral presentations