Grade 8 Math: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 8 math in the Nunavut Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Iqqaqqaukkaringniq: concepts in mathematics, analytical and critical thinking, and solution-seeking.
- Number: develop number sense and understand how numbers and operations work.
- Patterns and Relations: use patterns and equations to describe the world and solve problems.
- Shape and Space: measure, and describe 2-D shapes and 3-D objects and how they move.
- Statistics and Probability: collect, read and interpret data, and describe chance.
Easy ways to practise math at home
- Look for fractions, decimals and percentages in sale signs, sports statistics and recipes.
- Ask your child to explain a problem to you as if you were the student.
- Estimate first (the bill, the trip time), then check with a calculator.
- Keep a tricky-problems list and revisit it every few days instead of re-doing everything.
What each unit covers
Squares & Square Roots
Finding squares and square roots of whole numbers, spotting perfect squares, and estimating the square root of other numbers by placing it between two whole numbers.
Ratios, Rates & Proportions
Simplifying ratios, finding missing terms in equivalent ratios, comparing unit prices, working with speed, scaling recipes and map distances, and turning a part of a whole into a percent.
Fraction Operations
Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, multiplying and dividing fractions, switching between mixed numbers and improper fractions, and finding a fraction of an amount.
Integer Operations
Multiplying and dividing positive and negative integers, adding and subtracting them, working with the order of operations, and solving real-life problems such as temperature changes.
Tables, Graphs & Linear Relations
Using an equation like y = 3x + 2 to build a table of values, find a missing x or y, and describe how the variables change together.
Equations with Brackets
Solving one-variable equations, including ones with brackets and negative numbers, checking by substitution, and spotting a common mistake with the distributive property.
Pythagorean Theorem
Finding a missing side of a right triangle, checking whether a triangle is a right triangle, and using the theorem for ladders and diagonals.
Nets & Views
Matching flat nets to prisms and cylinders, working out what the parts of a net measure, and picturing an object from above, the front and the side.
Surface Area & Volume
Finding surface area and volume of boxes, cubes, triangular prisms and cylinders, working backwards to a missing dimension, linking cm³ to millilitres, and recognizing nets and views of 3D objects.
Congruent Shapes
Recognizing congruent shapes, matching corresponding sides and angles, and finding the coordinates of a point after a slide, flip or turn.
Independent Events
Finding the chance that two separate events both happen, such as a coin toss and a die roll, by multiplying their probabilities.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Nunavut report card guide.
Common questions
Look for fractions, decimals and percentages in sale signs, sports statistics and recipes. Ask your child to explain a problem to you as if you were the student. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Nunavut Curriculum Grade 8 math units include squares & square roots, ratios, rates & proportions, fraction operations, integer operations, tables, graphs & linear relations, equations with brackets.
Free printable Grade 8 math practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.