New Jersey Science — Grade 8
Comprehensive Course Syllabus
Course Overview
Our New Jersey Grade 8 Science course is designed around the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (NJSLS-S) and the state’s middle-school science expectations.
New Jersey Science is built around three major domains—Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth & Space Science—with Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts integrated throughout instruction. Grade 8 is also an important year for the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment–Science (NJSLA-S), which is administered in Grade 8. Students investigate scientific phenomena, develop and use models, analyze data, construct evidence-based explanations, evaluate scientific arguments, and design solutions to real-world problems.
Scientific Investigation & Engineering Practices
Scientific Questions
Students develop testable questions based on observations, patterns, data, and scientific phenomena.
Experimental Design
Students plan investigations by identifying variables, controls, procedures, measurements, and expected outcomes.
Data Collection
Students collect and organize quantitative and qualitative data using appropriate scientific tools and methods.
Data Analysis
Students analyze tables, graphs, measurements, and datasets to identify patterns, trends, relationships, and anomalies.
Scientific Models
Students develop, use, evaluate, and revise models to explain scientific systems and phenomena.
Matter & Atomic Structure
Structure of Matter
Students investigate matter at the particle level and develop models showing how particles make up substances.
Atoms
Students study atoms as the basic units of elements and explore their basic components.
Elements
Students investigate elements and how they are identified and organized.
Molecules & Compounds
Students explore how atoms combine to form molecules and compounds with different properties.
Periodic Table
Students use the periodic table to identify elements and recognize patterns in their properties.
Chemical Reactions
Physical & Chemical Changes
Students distinguish physical changes from chemical reactions using observable evidence.
Evidence of Chemical Reactions
Students identify evidence such as temperature changes, gas formation, color changes, and formation of new substances.
Chemical Reaction Models
Students develop particle-level models showing how atoms rearrange during chemical reactions.
Conservation of Matter
Students explain that atoms are conserved and rearranged during chemical reactions.
Reactants & Products
Students identify substances present before and after a chemical reaction and represent their relationships.
Forces & Motion
Motion
Students describe motion using position, distance, direction, and changes in position over time.
Speed
Students calculate and interpret speed using distance and time.
Velocity
Students distinguish velocity from speed by considering both magnitude and direction.
Forces
Students investigate how pushes and pulls influence the motion and behavior of objects.
Balanced & Unbalanced Forces
Students analyze how balanced and unbalanced forces affect the motion of objects.
Energy & Energy Transfer
Forms of Energy
Students investigate kinetic, potential, thermal, chemical, electrical, light, and other forms of energy.
Kinetic & Potential Energy
Students distinguish energy associated with motion from energy stored because of position or configuration.
Energy Conservation
Students explain that energy can be transferred or transformed while the total amount of energy is conserved.
Energy Transformations
Students identify how energy changes from one form to another in physical and technological systems.
Thermal Energy
Students investigate temperature, thermal energy, and the movement of thermal energy between objects.
Waves & Information Transfer
Wave Properties
Students investigate wavelength, amplitude, frequency, and wave speed.
Mechanical Waves
Students explore waves that require a medium, including sound and other mechanical waves.
Electromagnetic Waves
Students investigate electromagnetic waves and their applications in communication, technology, and everyday life.
Reflection & Absorption
Students analyze how waves interact with surfaces and materials through reflection and absorption.
Transmission
Students investigate how waves and information can travel through different materials and systems.
Earth’s Place in the Universe
Earth-Sun-Moon System
Students develop models showing relationships among Earth, the Sun, and Moon.
Moon Phases
Students explain the changing appearance of the Moon using the relative positions of Earth, the Moon, and the Sun.
Solar & Lunar Eclipses
Students model how the alignment of Earth, Moon, and Sun produces solar and lunar eclipses.
Seasons
Students explain seasonal patterns using Earth’s position, rotation, and revolution around the Sun.
Gravity & Orbits
Students investigate how gravity influences the motion of objects within the solar system.
Earth’s History & Geological Time
Earth’s 4.6-Billion-Year History
Students develop an understanding of Earth’s long geological history and major changes over time.
Rock Layers
Students use rock strata and their relative positions to investigate the sequence of geological events.
Fossils
Students examine fossils as evidence of past life and changes in Earth’s environments.
Relative Dating
Students use evidence from rock layers and geological relationships to determine the relative ages of events.
Geological Time Scale
Students investigate how scientists organize Earth’s history into broad intervals based on major geological and biological events.
Plate Tectonics & Earth’s Dynamic Systems
Earth’s Interior
Students investigate Earth’s major layers and develop models of its internal structure.
Tectonic Plates
Students explore how Earth’s lithosphere is divided into moving plates.
Plate Boundaries
Students investigate divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries and the geological processes associated with them.
Earthquakes
Students examine how movement along faults and tectonic plates produces earthquakes.
Volcanoes
Students investigate how tectonic activity and Earth’s internal heat contribute to volcanic activity.
Earth’s Surface & Natural Processes
Weathering
Students investigate how physical and chemical processes break down rocks and minerals.
Erosion
Students examine how water, wind, ice, and gravity move sediments and reshape Earth’s surface.
Deposition
Students investigate how sediments are deposited and contribute to the formation of new landforms.
Water Cycle
Students analyze evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration, and groundwater movement.
Earth’s Surface Changes
Students investigate how natural processes gradually and rapidly change landscapes.
Weather, Climate & Earth’s Systems
Weather Patterns
Students analyze temperature, precipitation, air pressure, wind, humidity, and other weather conditions.
Climate
Students distinguish weather from climate and investigate long-term patterns in atmospheric conditions.
Earth’s Interacting Systems
Students examine interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
Climate Data
Students analyze temperature, precipitation, atmospheric, and other datasets to identify climate patterns.
Human Influence on Climate
Students investigate how human activities can influence atmospheric composition and climate systems.
Natural Hazards & Risk Reduction
Natural Hazards
Students investigate earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, severe storms, landslides, wildfires, and other hazards.
Hazard Patterns
Students use maps, historical records, models, and data to identify patterns in natural hazards.
Hazard Forecasting
Students investigate how scientists use monitoring systems and models to forecast potential hazards.
Risk Assessment
Students analyze how population, infrastructure, geography, and environmental conditions influence risk.
Engineering Solutions
Students evaluate engineering solutions designed to reduce damage from natural hazards.
Also Covered in This Course
Teaching Methodology
Our Grade 8 Science classes focus on physical science, life science, Earth and space science, environmental science, scientific investigation, engineering, and evidence-based reasoning. Students learn through:
Learning Outcomes
By the end of Grade 8, students will be able to:
Assessment & Progress Tracking
Student progress is evaluated through: