Grade 8 Science Washington standards Standards

Environmental and Sustainability Education

6–8 Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

How is the availability of needed natural resources related to naturally occurring processes? How can natural hazards be predicted? How do human activities affect Earth systems? How do we know our global climate is changing?

How do the materials in and on Earth’s crust change over time? How does the movement of tectonic plates impact the surface of Earth? How does water influence weather, circulate in the oceans, and shape Earth’s surface? What factors interact and influence weather? How have living organisms changed the Earth and how have Earth’s changing conditions impacted living organisms?

What is Earth’s place in the Universe? What makes up our solar system and how can the motion of Earth explain seasons and eclipses? How do people figure out that the Earth and life on Earth have changed through time?

Earth and Space Sciences

How do organisms change over time in response to changes in the environment?

How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the next?

How does a system of living and non-living things operate to meet the needs of the organisms in an ecosystem?

How can one explain the ways cells contribute to the function of living organisms?

Life Science

What are the characteristic properties of waves and how can they be used?

How can energy be transferred from one object to another?

How can one describe physical interactions between objects and within systems of objects?

How do atomic and molecular interactions explain the properties of matter that we see and feel?

Physical Science

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. [ESE]

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. [ESE]

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

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. [ESE]

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [ESE]

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

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. [Climate] [Engineering] [ESE]

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and percapita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. [Climate] [ESE]

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused climate change over the past century. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

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

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. [ESE]

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. [ESE]

From Molecule 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 the 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. [Climate] [Engineering]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. [Climate] [ESE]

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

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

Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. [Climate] [Engineering] [ESE]

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 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. [Climate]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [Climate] [ESE]

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. [Engineering]

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. [Engineering]

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. (supporting MS-PS3-5)

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. [Engineering] [ESE]

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. [Climate]

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. [Climate]

Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.

Apply understanding of ecological, social, and economic systems to develop and communicate solutions for environmental issues at local, regional, national, and tribal scales.

Design an investigation to gather, analyze, and present data about how the built environment of the local community improves or reduces environmental quality (e.g. impacts on/benefits to water quality, air quality, biodiversity, waste).

Conduct a project that specifies a local environmental problem, identifies solution paths, solves the problem, and reports results in a way that demonstrates individual knowledge, attitudes, and an understanding of personal and civic responsibility for environmental justice and sustainable communities.

Demonstrate understanding of the connections between ecological, social, and economic systems by designing and implementing civic engagement projects that address environmental justice and sustainability issues across different scales.

Use data and modeling to explain Earth’s history and place in the universe, including patterns of celestial motion and solar system dynamics.

Use evidence, data, and modeling to create explanations of how Earth’s major systems (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) interact to shape Earth’s surface materials and processes.

Use data and evidence to construct explanations about the impact of human activities on Earth systems. Apply this understanding to engineer methods for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

Use modeling, investigation, and data to design, evaluate, and refine solutions to a problem that can be solved through engineering; include impacts on people and the natural environment and use systemic strategies to ensure solutions meet criteria and constraints.

Use evidence and modeling to support explanations of how cells contribute to the structure and function of living organisms.

Use evidence and modeling to support explanations of how living and non-living components of an ecosystem interact and are utilized by organisms. Apply this understanding to engineer solutions to problems related to maintaining biodiversity or ecosystem services.

Develop and use models of how organisms pass traits from one generation to the next and how the environment affects the traits an organism develops, and how the genetic information of offspring may be the same or different from a parent.

Use evidence and data to create explanations of how organisms change over time in response to environmental shifts.

Use evidence, data, and modeling to show how atomic and molecular interactions explain the properties of matter. Apply this understanding to engineer a device that releases or absorbs thermal energy.

Use data from investigations to construct an argument about how different forces interact to create motion. Apply this understanding to engineer a solution to a problem involving colliding objects.

Use evidence, data, and modeling to support claims about the transfer of energy between objects and systems. Apply this understanding to engineer a device that minimizes or maximizes the transfer of thermal energy.

Use modeling and mathematical representation to describe wave properties and their applications.

Networks and the Internet

Impacts of Computing

Data and Analysis

Computing Systems

Algorithms and Programming

Solicit and integrate peer feedback as appropriate to develop or refine a program.

Decompose a problem into parts and create solutions for each part.

Define and use procedures that hide the complexity of a task and can be reused to solve similar tasks. [Clarification: Students use and modify, but do not necessarily create, procedures with parameters.]

Design, develop, and present computational artifacts such as mobile applications that address social problems both independently and collaboratively.

Develop programs, both independently and collaboratively, that include sequences with nested loops and multiple branches. [Clarification: At this level, students may use block-based and/or text-based programming languages.]

Create variables that represent different types of data and manipulate their values.

Use an iterative design process (e.g., define the problem, generate ideas, build, test, and improve solutions) to solve problems, both independently and collaboratively.

Compare different algorithms that may be used to solve the same problem, but one might be faster than the other. (e.g., different algorithms solve the same problem, but one might be faster than the other). [Clarification: Students are not expected to quantify these differences.]

Provide proper attribution when code is borrowed or built upon.

Interpret the flow of execution of algorithms and predict their outcomes. [Clarification: Algorithms can be expressed using natural language, flow and control diagrams, comments within code, and pseudocode.]

Analyze the relationship between a device's computational components and its capabilities. [Clarification: Computing Systems include not only computers, but also cars, microwaves, smartphones, traffic lights, and flash drives.]

Use a systematic process to identify the source of a problem within individual and connected devices (e.g., follow a troubleshooting flow diagram, make changes to software to see if hardware will work, restart device, check connections, swap in working components).

Justify the hardware and software chosen to accomplish a task (e.g., comparison of the features of a tablet vs. desktop, selecting which sensors and platform to use in building a robot or developing a mobile app).

Represent data using different encoding schemes (e.g., binary, Unicode, Morse code, shorthand, student-created codes).

Revise computational models to more accurately reflect real-world systems (e.g., ecosystems, epidemics, spread of ideas).

Describe how different formats of stored data represent tradeoffs between quality and size. [Clarification: compare examples of music, text and/or image formats.]

Explain the processes used to collect, transform, and analyze data to solve a problem using computational tools (e.g., use an app or spreadsheet form to collect data, decide which data to use or ignore, and choose a visualization method.).

Provide examples of how computational artifacts and devices impact health and wellbeing, both positively and negatively.

Describe ways in which the Internet impacts global communication and collaborating.

Describe ethical issues that relate to computing devices and networks (e.g., equity of access, security and plagiarism), hacking, intellectual property, copyright, Creative Commons licensing.

Redesign a computational artifact to remove barriers to universal access (e.g., using captions on images, high contrast colors, and/or larger font sizes).

Summarize negative and positive impacts of using data and information to categorize people, predict behavior, and make recommendations based on those predictions (e.g., customizing search results or targeted advertising, based on previous browsing history, can save search time and limit options at the same time).

Explain how computer science fosters innovation and enhances nearly all careers and disciplines.

Simulate how information is transmitted as packets through multiple devices over the Internet and Networks.

Summarize security risks associated with weak passwords, lack of encryption, insecure transactions, and persistence of data.

Impacts of Computing

Algorithms and and Programming

Data and Analysis

Networks and the Internet

Computing Systems

Use flowcharts and/or pseudocode to address complex problems as algorithms.

Create clearly named variables that represent different data types and perform operations on their values.

Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures, including nested loops and compound conditionals

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 follow, test, and debug.

Recommend improvements to the design of computing devices, based on an analysis of how users interact with the devices.

Design projects that combine hardware and software components to collect and exchange data.

Systematically identify and fix problems with computing devices and their components.

Represent data using multiple encoding schemes.

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

Refine computational models based on the data they have generated.

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 through strategies such as crowdsourcing or surveys when creating a computational artifact.

Describe 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 how physical and digital security measures protect electronic information.

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