Grade 8
The Amplify Science units can be arranged at the discretion of the individual school, but suggested sequences are available. The grade 8 program in the suggested sequence below progressively builds students’ abilities to meet all the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) grade-level performance expectations through a three-dimensional instructional sequence. The following is an overview of the sample sequence of units, a description of the progression of student learning across the year, and a summary of how the sequence meets all NGSS performance expectations for grade 8.
Scroll down to see the phenomenon, student role, and performance expectations by unit, or click to jump to the Progression and Organization, Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts Core Ideas, or Science and Engineering Practices.
Sequence of units
- Harnessing Human Energy
- Force and Motion
- Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- Magnetic Fields
- Light Waves
- Earth, Moon, and Sun
- Natural Selection
- Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- Evolutionary History
Harnessing Human Energy
- PS3-1: Kinetic Energy: Mass and Speed
- PS3-2: Potential energy
- PS3-5: Motion and Energy Transfer
- ESS3-1: Distribution of Natural Resources
- ETS1-1: Criteria and Constraints
Force and Motion
- PS2-1: Newton's 3rd Law (Equal and Opposite Forces)
- PS2-2: Sum of Forces
- PS3-1: Kinetic Energy: Mass and Speed
Force and Motion Engineering Internship
- ETS1-1: Criteria and Constraints
- ETS1-2: Evaluating Solutions
- ETS1-3: Analyzing Results
- ETS1-4: Modeling and Iterative Testing
- PS2-1: Newton's 3rd Law (Equal and Opposite Forces)
- PS2-2: Sum of Forces
- ETS1-3: Analyzing Results
- PS2-4: Gravity Depends on Mass
Magnetic Fields
- PS2-3: Strength of Magnetic and Electric Forces
- PS2-4: Gravity Depends on Mass
- PS2-5: Force Fields
- PS3-2: Potential energy
- PS3-1: Kinetic Energy: Mass and Speed
- PS3-5: Motion and Energy Transfer
Light Waves
- PS4-1: Amplitude and Waves
- PS4-2: Waves Interact with Materials
- PS4-3: Digitized Signals and Waves
- LS1-1: Living Things Made of Cells
- LS1-2: Cell Parts
- LS1-6: Photosynthesis
- LS1-8: Sensory Receptors
- ESS3-5: Factors for Global Temperature
Earth, Moon, and Sun
- ESS1-1: Earth, Sun, Moon System
- ESS1-2: Gravity
- ESS1-3: Scale in the Solar System
- PS2-4: Gravity Depends on Mass
Natural Selection
- LS3-1: Gene, Protein, Trait, and Mutations
- LS4-4: Genetic Variation in Populations
- LS4-6: Natural Selection
- LS2-4: Changes Affect Populations
- LS4-5: Artificial Selection and Genetic Engineering
Natural Selection Engineering Internship
- ETS1-1: Criteria and Constraints
- ETS1-2: Evaluating Solutions
- ETS1-3: Analyzing Results
- ETS1-4: Modeling and Iterative Testing
- LS3-1: Gene, Protein, Trait, and Mutations
- LS4-4: Genetic Variation in Populations
- LS4-6: Natural Selection
Evolutionary History
- LS4-1: Fossils
- LS4-2: Comparative Anatomy
- LS4-3: Embryonic Development
- LS4-6: Natural Selection
Progression and organization
The units in grade 8 are designed and sequenced to build students’ expertise with the grade- level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). The year begins with a launch unit, Harnessing Human Energy, in which students are introduced to essential practices, routines, and approaches that will serve as touchstones for learning in all units that follow. An important example of this is Arguing from Evidence. Students are introduced to the practice of scientific argumentation in the launch unit, then build on this understanding throughout the year, with each unit focusing more in-depth on one aspect of the practice. The Harnessing Human Energy unit also has an emphasis on the CCC of Energy and Matter which students investigate in more depth throughout the Force and Motion, Magnetic Fields, and Light Waves units.
Concepts and practices are connected across grade 8. For example, in the Natural Selection unit, students discover the mechanisms of Natural Selection, drawing upon concepts about reproduction and ecosystems from earlier grades. Students then apply their understanding to make sense of drug resistance in the Natural Selection Engineering Internship unit, and to make sense of speciation and other long-term evolutionary changes in the Evolutionary History unit. Throughout the year, students use the CCC of Cause and Effect in a variety of contexts. The Force and Motion Engineering Internship unit follows the Force and Motion unit and requires students to apply what they learned in the Force and Motion unit to design a solution to an engineering problem.
Each unit has particular emphasis on certain DCIs, CCC’s, and SEP’s, with combinations that are appropriate for the anchor phenomena of each unit. For example, in the Magnetic Fields unit, investigating a surprising result from the testing of a magnetic spacecraft launcher leads students to discoveries about Types of Interactions (DCI PS2.B), including magnetic forces; Definitions of Energy (DCI PS3.A); and Relationship Between Energy and Forces (PS3.C). The unit has a particular emphasis on the CCC of Systems and System Models, helping students think about systems of objects in a field. It includes a focus on Planning and Carrying Out Investigations— some of the most appropriate concepts in middle school to figure out via experiments.
Unit abbreviations: Harnessing Human Energy (HHE), Force and Motion (FAM), Force and Motion Engineering Internship (FAM EI), Magnetic Fields (MF), Light Waves (LW), Earth, Moon, and Sun (EMS), Natural Selection (NS), Natural Selection Engineering Internship (NS EI), Evolutionary History (EH).
Disciplinary core ideas
Focal Other Emphasized
HHE | FAM | FAM EI | MF | LW | EMS | NS | NS EI | EH | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits (MS-LS3-1) | |||||||||
LS3.B: Variation of Traits (MS-LS3-1) | |||||||||
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity (MS-LS4-1, MS-LS4-2, MS-LS4-3) | |||||||||
LS4.B: Natural Selection (MS-LS4-4, MS-LS4-5) | |||||||||
LS4.C: Adaptation (MS-LS4-6) | |||||||||
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars (MS-ESS1-1, MS-ESS1-2) | |||||||||
ESS1.B: Earth and the Solar System (MS-ESS1-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3) | |||||||||
ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth (MS-ESS1-4) | |||||||||
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems (MS-ESS3-4) | |||||||||
PS2.A: Forces and Motion (MS-PS2-1, MS-PS2-2) | |||||||||
PS2.B: Types of Interactions (MS-PS2-3, MS-PS2-4, MS-PS2-5) | |||||||||
PS3.A: Definitions of Energy (MS-PS3-1, MS-PS3-2) | |||||||||
PS3.C: Relationship Between Energy and Forces (MS-PS3-2) | |||||||||
PS4.A: Wave Properties (MS-PS4-1, MS-PS4-2) | |||||||||
PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation (MS-PS4-2) | |||||||||
PS4.C: Information Technologies and Instrumentation (MS-PS4-3) | |||||||||
MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints (ETS1.A) | |||||||||
MS-ETS1-2Evaluate competing design solutions (ETS1.B) | |||||||||
MS-ETS1-3Analyze data from tests (ETS1.B, ETS1.C | |||||||||
MS-ETS1-4Iterative testing (ETS1.B, ETS1.C) |
Crosscutting concepts
Focal Other Emphasized Additional
HHE | FAM | FAM EI | MF | LW | EMS | NS | NS EI | EH | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patterns | |||||||||
Cause and Effect | |||||||||
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity | |||||||||
Systems and System Models | |||||||||
Energy and Matter | |||||||||
Stability and Change | |||||||||
Structure and Function |
Science and engineering practices
Focal Other Emphasized Additional
HHE | FAM | FAM EI | MF | LW | EMS | NS | NS EI | EH | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asking Questions and Defining Problems | |||||||||
Developing and Using Models | |||||||||
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations | |||||||||
Analyzing and Interpreting Data | |||||||||
Using and Mathematics and Computational Thinking | |||||||||
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions | |||||||||
Engaging in Argument from Evidence | |||||||||
Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information |