our eighth grade program
Science
With a focus on the essential question, “How do we change or evolve?” Eighth Grade students begin an investigation of natural selection and a presentation based on their summer reading, Inherit the Wind. They study evolution and Darwin’s theory and examine the structure and function of cells. They study microbiology, protists, genetics and examine DNA. They delve into photosynthesis, respiration, mitosis and the process of heredity. They learn how to use the Punnet Square to predict genotypes and how to use probability with heredity. The spring brings an introduction to viruses and bacteria as they investigate the disease cholera and complete a “CSI”-style lab on an actual outbreak of the disease in London in 1856. They read The Andromeda Strain and investigate it for the possibility of extraterrestrial microscope life and critique it for science accuracy. The year concludes with a study of food, nutrition and digestion. Through construction of models, labs, and projects, students reach a deep understanding of scientific concepts.
Science skills focus on:
- Gathering information – observing, measuring, researching, using lab equipment, and investigating
- Organizing information by classifying, sequencing, constructing data display tools, and writing formal laboratory reports
- Communicating information through public reporting, peer interaction, models and vocabulary
- Analyzing information by comparing/contrasting, computing and interpreting
- Applying information by defining problems, predicting, estimating, trial and error, and hands-on projects
- Synthesizing information by interpreting, summarizing and concluding