Eighth grade

Our purpose is to create an intentional learning experience. To ensure that each student in every grade experiences educational enrichment that corresponds to their classroom learning we have created videos, downloadable handouts, quizzes, and more that corresponds to classroom learning.

Eighth grade Science Content Standards

Students in eighth grade exhibit a wide range of learning styles and intellectual abilities. This diversity in development requires the implementation of a science curriculum that engages students in scientific inquiry. The classroom environment must provide opportunities for students to identify problems, ask questions, make observations, design solutions, and explore important scientific concepts through investigations. As students’ curiosity and creativity flourish, teachers must design activities that encourage students to construct explanations based upon their own experiences and to use their creative abilities to devise solutions to real-world problems. Students engage in higher-level, abstract-thinking processes as they make connections between and among disciplines and become well-grounded in experiences. Students work in a variety of groups that foster collaboration among peers.

“Apply the law of conservation of energy to develop arguments supporting the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object (e.g., bowling ball hitting pins, brakes being applied to a car).” 

Supporting Curriculum

Do you know what kinetic energy is? Kinetic energy is energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion. Do you know what potential energy is? Potential energy is the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position relative to others, stresses within itself, electric charge, and other factors. We are going to discuss kinetic energy in the following video, and in our quiz we are going to cover both kinetic and potential energy.

“Explain how artifacts and other archaeological findings provide evidence of the nature and movement of prehistoric groups of people. Examples: cave paintings, Ice Man, Lucy, fossils, pottery ” 

Supporting Curriculum

We can tell a lot about the nature and movement of prehistoric groups and people by looking at their bones and other artifacts. For instance, in the Caverns across the world, individuals have left cave paintings in order to share the stories of their people. These sorts of picture stories were used for thousands of years. Also, in Majestic Caverns the ancient Woodland Indians used handmade baskets to place the bones of their dead in and bury. Due to the consistent climate of our Caverns and with few disturbing elements, the bones and baskets were preserved very well. These sorts of things can help us understand the lifestyle and journeys of these past civilizations.

“Describe key aspects of pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas including the Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs, Incas, and North American tribes. Examples: pyramids, wars among pre-Columbian people, religious rituals, irrigation, Iroquois Confederacy

• Locating on a map sites of pre-Columbian cultures Examples: Maya, Inca, Inuit, Creek, Cherokee” 

Supporting Curriculum

Pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas refers to any culture that existed before Columbus came to America. There were over 500 tribes in just North America! There were a variety of cultures all with diverse languages religious rituals, and dances as well. In the video below we are going to share about some of the Native American cultures that were Native to Alabama and even gave Alabama its name, which is a Muskogean Indian word meaning “campsite” or “clearing”.