GRADE 8 CURRICULUM GUIDE

Grade 8 Math:

Students are introduced to the foundational skills needed for more advanced mathematics courses and develop the skills needed to solve mathematical problems. Students perform operations involving numbers, sets, and variables; know the basic properties of real numbers; solve and use first degree equations and inequalities; understand functions, relations, and graphs; solve and use systems of equations and inequalities; solve problem involving integral exponents; solve problems involving polynomials and rational algebraic expressions; factor polynomials; simplify rational and irrational expressions; solve and use quadratic equations.

Grade 8 ELS (English Language Skills):

Grade 8 English Language Skills expands grammar skills needed for effective writing. The essay is the focus of higher level skills in these lessons on homographs, homonyms, direct/indirect objects, semi-colons, colons, hyphens, idioms, transitions, complex sentences and paragraphs.

Grade 8 Reading:

Grade 8 Reading emphasizes reading fluency to ensure students are prepared for high school English Literature courses. Concepts include elements of literature, poetry, idioms, analogies, the biography, the autobiography, author’s purpose, point of view, character study, analogies, and metaphors. Students are required to write eight (8) book reviews from book selections at their appropriate reading level.

Grade 8 Social Studies:

Grade 8 Social Studies explores critical events and notable people throughout American History. These include, but are not limited to, America to 1620, Christopher Columbus, Queen Isabella, John Peter Zenger and his newspaper business, George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Matthew Lyon, the American Revolution, America in the 1820’s, the Jacksonian Era, America during 1850-1875, and the Gilded Age 1870-1900.

Grade 8 Science:

Part 1: Earth Science:

Students develop elementary concepts about the earth, its materials, processes, and history. Concepts include the scientific method, the earth’s interior, old and new mountains and their formation, rocks and minerals, the causes and consequences of earthquakes, volcanoes, and other crustal movements, old and young rivers and their formation, types of erosion and the results, glacial types and their effects on land formation, the hydrological cycle, ocean currents, changing weather and seasons, the geological time frame, fossil types, scientific theories of the origin of the universe, the Earth/moon relationship, renewable and non-renewable resources, energy sources and their use, map reading skills in everyday applications, and the earth sciences interact with technology and society.

Part 2: Life Science:

Students are introduced to cell biology, basic principles of genetics, biological changes through time, classification and taxonomy, structure and function of plants, structure and function of animals, structure and function of the human body, and ecological relationships. Concepts include cell organelles, basic genetic concepts(including the Punnett square), biological changes over time, the classification systems, structures and function of viruses, monerans, and protists, vascular and nonvascular plants, vertebrate and invertebrates, major human systems, the relationships among individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems, and how biology interacts with technology and society.