Grade 8 NGSS Objectives

MS-PS2-4 Gravity
 Understand that all objects have gravity and gravity is a force
of attraction.  The amount of this force depends on the mass
of the objects and their distance from one another.

MS-LS2-5 Maintaining Biodiversity/Hydrologic Cycle
 Understand how humans can protect our environment,
maintaining our ecosystems and making our planet
healthier.

MS-LS4-1 Fossils and history of Life on Earth
Understand that Earth’s structure contains layers of rocks
and that these rocks may contain fossils.  Understand that the evidence contained
in fossils can tell us how life on Earth has changed over the years.

MS-LS4-2 Similar Anatomy and Evolutionary relationships
Understand that if organisms have similar anatomy, this
can show that they are related.

MS-ESS1-1 Earth/Moon/Sun Interactions
Understand how the Earth, Moon and Sun can
interact to cause the moon to have phases, or cause eclipses of the sun
and moon to happen and how season’s are caused.

MS-ESS1-2 Role of Gravity in Universe and Solar Systems
 Understand how gravity controls the motions of all objects in space.

MS-ESS1-3 Diversity of Objects in the Solar System
Understand that there are a variety of objects in our Solar System and we
have the ability to gather information about them and compare one
object to another.

MS-ESS1-4 Earth’s Geologic History via Rocks and Fossils
Understand that rocks form one layer at time on Earth, and the
oldest layers are deposited first, and other layers
pile up after that.  We can analyze these rocks
to understand more about Earth’s long history.

MS-ESS2-1 Rock Cycle
Understand that Earth recycles EVERYTHING. Even her rocks!  Understand
how this happens and how this process works.

MS-ESS2-2 Long and Short Term changes on Earth
Understand that changes to the Earth’s surface can happen very slowly, or rather
quickly.  These changes make the surface of the Earth change constantly.

MS-ESS2-3 Evidence of Plate Motions in past.
Understand that Science can learn about changes to Earth’s surface that happened in the past
 by examining such things as seafloor structures, fossils and rocks.

MS-ESS2-4 Hydrologic Cycle
Understand that water moves throughout the Earth’s systems all the time, and it is recycled and re-used many times.
 The forces that cause this movement are heat from the sun and Earth’s gravity.

MS-ESS2-5 Weather
Understand that weather is caused by the interaction of various masses of air on Earth. 
The cause of all of our weather is the result of these interactions.

MS-ESS2-6 Climate
Understand that all parts of the Earth aren’t heated the same amount by the sun.
This unequal heating forms the basis for all of our weather.
These weather conditions tend to vary by region and this is
a major factor that affects our climate in these regions.

MS-ESS3-1 Earth Resources
Understand that Earth’s resources (mineral, energy and water resources) are
all formed from natural processes on Earth and that these resources
are not distributed equally all over the planet.  Some places have more,
some have less.  Many of these resources are NOT renewable and once
they’re used up, they’re gone!

MS-ESS3-2 Natural Hazards
Understand that Natural Disasters such as severe weather, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc. can sometimes
be predicted.  By understanding where and when these events may happen, humans may be
able to better deal with them when they do, and minimize loss of life and damage to property.

MS-ESS3-3 Minimizing Human Environmental Impacts
Understand that humans have an impact on the environment, and this impact can be
a good thing or a bad thing.  Our responsibility is to learn how to
minimize the negative human impact on the environment.

MS-ESS3-4 Effects of human populations on environmental resources
Understand that when human population increases,
 our impact upon the environment increases too. 

MS-ESS3-5 Global Warming and Climate Change
Understand the various factors that have caused a rise in global
temperatures over the last century.