Oklahoma Grade 8 science standards

8.ESS1.1 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.

Lessons: The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice (Is summer when Earth is closest to the Sun?, Why are summer days longer?, Why is sunlight stronger in summer?) (partly)

Practice: The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice workbook · Sun, Earth and Moon workbook

8.ESS1.2 Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.

Lessons: The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale (Why do planets go around the Sun and not fly away?) (partly)

Practice: The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale workbook

8.ESS1.3 Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.

Lessons: The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale (How big is the solar system, really?, What is each world like?)

Practice: The Solar System: Gravity, Orbits and Scale workbook · Sun, Earth and Moon workbook

8.LS3.1 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.

Lessons: Genes and Traits: Heredity and Punnett Squares (What happens when a gene changes?)

Practice: Genes and Traits: Heredity and Punnett Squares workbook

8.LS3.2 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.

Lessons: Genes and Traits: Heredity and Punnett Squares (Why do you look like your family, but not exactly?, How can two purple-flowered pea plants have a white-flowered one?, What did Mendel count?)

Practice: Genes and Traits: Heredity and Punnett Squares workbook

8.LS4.1 Analyze and interpret data to identify patterns within the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth.

Lessons: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time (How do fossils show life has changed?) (partly)

Practice: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time workbook

8.LS4.2 Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the patterns of anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer ancestral relationships.

Lessons: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time (How do fossils show life has changed?)

Practice: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time workbook

8.LS4.4 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.

Lessons: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time (Why do some animals survive and others don't?, What did the Grants find on the Galápagos?)

Practice: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time workbook

8.LS4.5 Gather and synthesize information about the practices that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

Lessons: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time (How fast can people change a species?) (partly)

Practice: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time workbook

8.LS4.6 Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.

Lessons: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time (Why do some animals survive and others don't?, What did the Grants find on the Galápagos?, How fast can people change a species?)

Practice: Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time workbook

8.PS2.1 Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two objects in a system.

Lessons: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop (Why does a heavier cart hit harder?, Can you design a crumple zone?)

Practice: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop workbook

8.PS2.2 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.

Lessons: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop (Why do you lurch forward when a bus stops?, Why does a heavier cart hit harder?)

Practice: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop workbook