Grade 8 Science Studies

Junior high students are wonderfully curious! It is this curiosity that causes the study of science to come naturally. Throughout the 6, 7, and 8th grades, our students become physically and intellectually engaged in class. They are encouraged to develop scientific skills across the spectrum by engaging in guided inquiry. This is achieved by the student observing, predicting, inferring, classifying and developing models for a variety of disciplines. Analytical skills are reinforced by measuring, calculating, graphing, and interpreting data from photographs, tables, and graphs.

Differentiated instruction methods, along with technology, assist our students in exploring and interpreting the world around them. We strive to make all of their scientific journeys at Overbrook both challenging and enjoyable.

The goals for our junior high students are that they will:

• Gain confidence in their scientific ability
• Inspire and challenge others by their curiosity
• Be motivated to further explore the world around them

Eighth graders at Overbrook School explore small and unseen worlds of chemistry and physical science. Through the year, our students discover the chemical building blocks and chemical interactions of elements and atoms. Through inquiry based skills and content acquisition of chemical reactions they become aware of differences in properties of elements. Various chemical and physical processes will be explored. Students will understand the significance of organic chemistry and the molecules’ functions in living things.

The students end their year with studies of motion, forces, electricity, and the study of waves from light and sound. This is the year the 8th grade students individually generate and conduct a research experiment and investigate their hypothesis by using scientific methodology. By the end of this year, your eighth-grader will be able to communicate their understanding of how unseen forces, as well as molecular and chemical reactions help drive all of the processes they have previously studied in the junior high science curriculum.