Grade 8 Science
14 units matched to the Prince Edward Island Curriculum.
Learning focus
- Water Systems.
- Fluids.
- Optics.
- Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Systems.
Units
Unit 1
Water on Earth
Practises where water is found on Earth, how it moves through the water cycle and watersheds, and how people use and protect it.
Curriculum outcome: Water Systems · where water is found on Earth, the water cycle, watersheds and groundwater
Unit 2
Oceans, Currents & Climate
Practises features of the ocean, such as salinity, currents, waves and tides, and how oceans and large bodies of water affect climate and shape coastlines.
Curriculum outcome: Water Systems · ocean features, currents, tides and how water affects climate and coastlines
Unit 3
Viscosity & Flow
What viscosity is, how temperature and other factors change how fluids flow, and how to find a flow rate by dividing volume by time.
Curriculum outcome: Fluids · what viscosity is and how temperature changes how fluids flow
Unit 4
Density & Buoyancy
Calculating density from mass and volume, explaining why solids, liquids and gases differ in density using the particle theory, and predicting whether objects float or sink in different fluids.
Curriculum outcome: Fluids · density, floating and sinking
Unit 5
Pressure & Pascal's Law
Why gases compress easily and liquids do not, how heating or compressing a fluid changes its pressure and volume, and how a hydraulic press uses Pascal's law to multiply a force.
Curriculum outcome: Fluids · pressure in gases and liquids and how force is passed on
Unit 6
Hydraulics & Pneumatics
How hydraulic systems (liquids) and pneumatic systems (compressed air) work, where each is used, and how valves, pumps and tubes in machines compare with the heart, lungs and blood vessels.
Curriculum outcome: Fluids · how hydraulic and pneumatic systems work
Unit 7
Fluids, Spills & Society
The benefits and risks of technologies that use fluids, such as pipelines and hydroelectric dams, how spills affect wildlife, the economy and communities (including Indigenous communities who rely on the land and water), and why cleanup is costly and difficult.
Curriculum outcome: Fluids · benefits and risks of technologies that use fluids
Unit 8
Light & Radiation
Wavelength and frequency, the electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays and what each is used for, reflection, refraction and colour, and staying safe from UV radiation.
Curriculum outcome: Optics · waves, the electromagnetic spectrum and how light behaves
Unit 9
How Light Behaves
Light as rays that travel in straight lines, how materials reflect, absorb or transmit it, the law of reflection and why light bends (refracts) between materials.
Curriculum outcome: Optics · rays, reflection, refraction and the law of reflection
Unit 10
Lenses, Eyes & Optical Devices
How lenses form images, how the eye and a camera are alike, how microscopes and telescopes extended what scientists could see, and how technology helps vision and stores images.
Curriculum outcome: Optics · lenses, the eye, microscopes, telescopes and cameras
Unit 11
Cells & Life Processes
The cell theory, what organelles do in plant and animal cells, how photosynthesis and respiration are connected, osmosis, and how cells form tissues, organs and organ systems.
Curriculum outcome: Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Systems · cell theory, organelles, photosynthesis, respiration and osmosis
Unit 12
Cells, Tissues & Organs
Why cells are the basic unit of life, how plant and animal cells differ, how materials move into and out of cells, and how cells form tissues, organs and systems. Includes working out microscope magnification.
Curriculum outcome: Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Systems · plant and animal cells, diffusion, osmosis, tissues and organs
Unit 13
Human Body Systems
The main jobs of the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory and nervous systems, how they work together, and what affects healthy function, such as exercise and air quality.
Curriculum outcome: Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Systems · the jobs of the main human body systems and how they work together
Unit 14
Heart & Blood
The heart, blood vessels and blood, how the circulatory system delivers oxygen and removes waste, and how it helps the body stay in balance.
Curriculum outcome: Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Systems · the heart, blood vessels and blood
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