8.1.1 Students will develop an understanding of systems, order, and organization. (Recognize and describe integral parts and functions of any system; analyze and predict the interactions within a system and between systems; create and use classification schemes; interpret cause and effect relationships within and between systems)
 
    8.1.2 Students will develop an understanding of evidence, models, and explanation. (Collect, manipulate, and analyze data from an experiment; observe and develop models, such as physical, mathematical, mental, and computer simulations; interpret and explain products of experimentation; review investigative procedures and conclusions for reasonableness)

    8.1.3 Students will develop an understanding of change, constancy, and measurement. (Select and use appropriate measurement units; quantify changes in systems; use English and metric systems of measurements; investigate and describe changes in terms of scale, rate, and pattern)

    8.1.4 Students will develop an understanding of form and function. (Demonstrate how the design of an object makes it possible for that object to perform a specialized task, such as a bicycle or airplane)

    8.2.1 Students will develop the abilities needed to do scientific inquiry. (Identify questions and form hypotheses that can be examined through scientific investigations; design and conduct scientific investigation; use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data; develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence; think critically and logically to make the relationship between evidence and explanations; recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions; communicate scientific procedures and explanations; use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry)

    8.3.1 Students will develop an understanding of properties and changes of properties in matter. (Investigate and demonstrate that characteristic properties, such as density, boiling point, and solubility of substances, are not dependent on the quantity of the substance; observe, describe, and measure physical and chemical properties of matter; relate that all matter is composed of elements which may combine in a variety of ways to form compounds; investigate and relate that in chemical reactions, total mass is conserved)

    8.3.2 Students will develop an understanding of motion and forces. (Investigate, describe, and represent the motion of an object by its position, direction of motion, and speed; investigate and demonstrate that the speed and/or direction of an object changes when a force is applied to that object)

    8.3.3 Students will develop an understanding of the transfer of energy. (Investigate, explain, and give examples of the forms of energy, such as heat, light, chemical, sound, electrical, and how energy is transferred; investigate and describe energy transfer using simple machines; investigate and describe how heat is transferred from a warmer object to a cooler object until both reach the same temperature; investigate and describe the properties of sound; investigate and describe the basic principles of electricity and magnetism)

    8.4.1 Students will develop an understanding of the structure and function in living systems. (Investigate and describe the levels of organizations: cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems; investigate and describe how cells sustain life through functions, such as growth and nutrition; investigate and describe the specialized function performed by specialized cells, such as muscular and skeletal, in multi cellular organisms; investigate and describe the internal human body systems; investigate and explain how disease affects the structure and/or function of an organism)

    8.4.2 Students will develop an understanding of reproduction and heredity. (investigate and describe how all organisms reproduce through sexual or asexual reproduction; investigate and relate that females produce eggs and males produce sperm in many species; investigate and state that chromosomes contain genes which influence heredity; investigate and describe the effects of inherited traits on an organism’s characteristics)

    8.4.3 Students will develop an understanding of regulation and behavior. (Investigate and explain how all organisms obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment; investigate and relate how an organism senses change in its internal or external environment and attempts to respond to keep conditions within a required range; investigate and explain how behavior is a response to internal and external stimuli; investigate and explain how an organism’s behavior evolves through environmental adaptation)

    8.4.4 Students will develop an understanding of populations and ecosystems. (Investigate and describe that a population consists of all individuals of a species at a given place and time; investigate and describe the living and nonliving factors, such as air, water, and light that determine the number of organisms an ecosystem can support; describe an organism by the function it serves in an ecosystem, such as producer, consumer, and decomposer; investigate and explain how energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis, and that energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs)

    8.4.5 Students will develop an understanding of diversity and adaptations of organisms. (Analyze internal structures, similarity of chemical processes, and evidence of common ancestry to explain the unity among organisms; investigate and explain how organisms adapt to living and nonliving factors in a biome; investigate and explain how environmental changes created by nature and by humans may cause species extinction)

    8.5.1 Students will develop an understanding of the structures of the earth. (Investigate and diagram the crust, mantle, and core of the earth; investigate and describe how a combination of constructive and destructive weathering and erosion forces create land forms; investigate and describe the composition of soils; investigate and describe the water cycle; investigate and describe the composition of the atmosphere at different altitudes; investigate and describe the major impact of topography, location, and oceans on climate; investigate and describe the effect of living organisms on weathering, the composition of rocks, and the atmosphere)

    8.5.2 Students will develop an understanding of the earth’s history. (Investigate and understand how earth processes that occur today, such as the weather and natural catastrophes, are similar to those that occurred in the past; investigate and use the fossil record to provide evidence and explain how environmental conditions have changed)

    8.5.3 Students will develop an understanding of the earth in the solar system. (Investigate and list components of the solar system, galaxies, and universe; investigate and describe the motion of  solar system objects in terms of the concepts of day, year, seasons, eclipses, and phases of the moon; investigate and describe gravity’s relationship to the solar system; investigate and understand that the sun is a major source of energy for phenomena in the atmosphere and on the earth’s surface; investigate and describe the effect of the tilt of the earth’s axis on seasons)

    8.6.1 Students will develop an understanding of technological design. (Identify appropriate problems for technological design; design a solution or product; implement a proposed design; evaluate completed technological designs or products; communicate the process of technological design)

    8.6.2 Students will develop an understanding of science and technology. (Distinguish between scientific inquiry{asking questions about the natural world} and technological design{using science to solve practical problems}; describe how science and technology are reciprocal; list the avoidable and unavoidable limits of a technological design; recognize that solutions have intended and unintended consequences)

    8.7.1 Students will develop an understanding of personal health. (Research and identify substances harmful to human beings in the natural environment, such as radon, lead, and nitrates; investigate and explain how personal choices can directly affect a person’s health, such as exercise, nutrition, and use of drugs)

    8.7.2 Students will develop an understanding of populations, resources, and environments. (Investigate and describe how population levels affect resources and the environment; investigate and understand that the causes of environmental degradation and resource depletion vary locally and globally)

    8.7.3 Students will develop an understanding of natural hazards. (Investigate and describe the effect of natural hazards on the environment, such as earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, floods, and storms; investigate and describe human activities, such as urban growth, land use, and waste disposal, which can accelerate many natural changes)

    8.7.4 Students will develop an understanding of risks and benefits. (Analyze a type of hazard, such as natural, chemical, or biological, estimating the number of people that might be exposed and the number likely to suffer consequences; describe how perceptions of risks and benefits influence personal and social decisions, such as seat belt usage and waste disposal procedures)

    8.7.5 Students will develop an understanding of science and technology in society. (Understand the effect of science on society is neither entirely beneficial nor entirely detrimental; understand that societal challenges often inspire questions for scientific research, but that science cannot answer all questions and technology cannot solve all human problems or meet all human needs; state an example of when societal priorities influenced research priorities; practice the ethical codes followed by scientists, such as informing research subjects about risks and benefits, humane treatment of animals, and truth in reporting)

    8.8.1 Students will develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor. (Investigate and understand that women and men of various social and ethnic backgrounds, working alone or in teams, engage in the activities of science, engineering, and related fields; investigate and understand that scientists have different abilities, basic human qualities, and scientific habits of mind)

    8.8.2 Students will develop an understanding of the nature of science. (Formulate and test a hypothesis using observations, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models; use questioning, response to criticism, and open communication when defending a conclusion; evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and the explanations proposed by other scientists; distinguish between scientific fact and scientific theory)

    8.8.3 Students will develop an understanding of the history of science (Research and report on the difficulties experienced by a scientific innovator who had to overcome flawed, commonly held beliefs of his/her time to reach conclusions that we now take for granted)