Alberta · Grade 8
Science 8
Alberta’s Grade 8 science course, from Mix and Flow of Matter to Freshwater and Saltwater Systems.
- Units
- 5
- Lessons
- 19
- Skills
- 39
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Alberta Education
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 9 skills
Mix and Flow of Matter
Fluids Around Us
What is a fluid?
I can explain what makes something a fluid and give examples of liquid and gas fluids around me.
Skill 1.1
Fluids in technological devices
I can describe how a familiar device uses a fluid to do its job.
Skill 1.2
Solutions and Mixtures
Mixtures and solutions
I can classify a material as a pure substance, a mechanical mixture, or a solution, and name the solute and solvent in a solution.
Skill 1.3
Concentration and solubility
I can describe concentration as dilute vs. concentrated and name factors that change how much or how fast a solute dissolves.
Skill 1.4
Properties of Fluids
Viscosity and flow rate
I can describe viscosity as resistance to flow and predict how temperature changes a fluid’s viscosity.
Skill 1.5
Density and buoyancy
I can explain density as mass per unit volume and use it to predict whether an object floats or sinks.
Skill 1.6
Compressibility and the particle model
I can use the particle model to explain why gases compress easily but liquids barely do.
Skill 1.7
Technologies That Use Fluids
Pressure and force in fluids
I can describe pressure as force spread over an area and explain how a confined fluid passes pressure along.
Skill 1.8
Hydraulic and pneumatic systems
I can explain how hydraulic and pneumatic systems use fluid pressure to move and lift, and tell them apart.
Skill 1.9
The official wording · 9 outcomes
- 1.1
- Investigate and describe fluids used in technological devices and everyday materials.
- 1.3
- Investigate and describe the composition of fluids, and interpret the behaviour of materials in solution.
- 1.5
- Investigate and compare the properties of gases and liquids; and relate variations in their viscosity, density, buoyancy and compressibility to the particle model of matter.
- 1.8
- Identify, interpret and apply technologies based on properties of fluids.
Key ideas
A fluid is any material that flows and takes the shape of its container — this includes BOTH liquids and gases, not just liquids.
A pure substance has one kind of particle; a mechanical mixture has visibly separate parts; a solution is a mixture so uniform you cannot see the parts.
Viscosity is a fluid’s resistance to flowing — high-viscosity fluids (honey, syrup) flow slowly; low-viscosity fluids (water) flow fast.
Pressure = force ÷ area: the same force on a smaller area gives more pressure (why a sharp knife cuts and a snowshoe stops you sinking).
Solids keep their own shape; fluids do not, because their particles can move past one another.
Watch out for
- Thinking "fluid" means only liquids, and that gases are not fluids.
- Thinking dissolved sugar has disappeared or been destroyed, rather than spread out as particles.
- Thinking a denser fluid is always more viscous (density and viscosity are different properties).
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 8 skills
Cells and Systems
Characteristics of Living Things
Living things and their organization
I can list characteristics common to living things and describe how organisms are organized from cells up to systems.
Skill 2.1
Seeing cells with the microscope
I can explain how the microscope extended what we can see and use magnification to reason about size.
Skill 2.2
Cells and Their Functions
Cell structures and functions
I can identify major cell structures and their functions and compare plant and animal cells.
Skill 2.3
Diffusion and osmosis
I can describe how materials move into and out of cells by diffusion and osmosis.
Skill 2.4
Human Body Systems
Digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems
I can describe how the digestive, circulatory, and respiratory systems work and cooperate to supply the body’s cells.
Skill 2.5
Responding to stimuli
I can give examples of how the body reacts to internal and external stimuli to stay stable.
Skill 2.6
Science and Medical Advances
Investigating body systems
I can describe an area of scientific investigation that led to new knowledge about how the body works.
Skill 2.7
Medical technologies and applications
I can identify a medical technology that came from this knowledge and weigh a benefit against a concern.
Skill 2.8
The official wording · 8 outcomes
- 2.1
- Investigate living things; and identify and apply scientific ideas used to interpret their general structure, function and organization.
- 2.3
- Investigate and describe the role of cells within living things.
- 2.5
- Interpret the healthy function of human body systems, and illustrate ways the body reacts to internal and external stimuli.
- 2.7
- Describe areas of scientific investigation leading to new knowledge about body systems and to new medical applications.
Key ideas
Living things share characteristics such as being made of cells, needing energy, growing, responding to their environment, and reproducing.
Key structures: the cell membrane controls what enters/leaves, the nucleus is the control centre (holds genetic material), and the cytoplasm is where activities happen.
Digestion breaks food into nutrients; the respiratory system takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide; the circulatory system carries nutrients and oxygen (in blood) to every cell and removes wastes.
Careful investigation of body systems (circulation, the nervous system, germs and disease) built the knowledge modern medicine depends on.
Organisms are organized in levels: cells → tissues → organs → organ systems → organism.
Watch out for
- Thinking anything that moves or changes (fire, a river) is alive.
- Thinking animal cells have cell walls (only plant cells do).
- Thinking each body system works independently rather than cooperating.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 6 skills
Light and Optical Systems
The Nature of Light and Vision
Sources and nature of light
I can tell luminous sources from illuminated objects and describe how our ideas about light developed.
Skill 3.1
How we see objects
I can explain that we see because light travels from a source, reflects off an object, and enters the eye.
Skill 3.2
Light and the Ray Model
Reflection and the ray model
I can use the ray model and the law of reflection to predict how light bounces off a surface.
Skill 3.3
Refraction: bending light
I can describe refraction as the bending of light between materials and give examples of its effects.
Skill 3.4
Images and Optical Technology
Lenses and image formation
I can describe how lenses bend light to form images and how the eye forms an image on the retina.
Skill 3.5
Optical technologies
I can explain how an optical technology uses lenses or mirrors to extend or correct human vision.
Skill 3.6
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- 3.1
- Investigate the nature of light and vision; and describe the role of invention, explanation and inquiry in developing our current knowledge.
- 3.3
- Investigate the transmission of light, and describe its behaviour using a geometric ray model.
- 3.5
- Investigate and explain the science of image formation and vision, and interpret related technologies.
Key ideas
Luminous objects make their own light (the Sun, a bulb, a flame); illuminated objects only reflect light from a source (the Moon, this page).
The ray model represents light as straight lines (rays) showing its path.
A converging (convex) lens bends light rays together to a focus and can form an image; a diverging (concave) lens spreads rays apart.
Our understanding of light grew through invention (lenses, prisms) and inquiry, and still uses models.
Law of reflection: the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection (both measured from the normal, the line perpendicular to the surface).
Watch out for
- Thinking the Moon (or a mirror) makes its own light.
- Measuring the angle from the surface instead of from the normal.
- Thinking a lens magnifies by making objects physically larger rather than bending light.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 8 skills
Mechanical Systems
Machines Through History
Simple machines
I can identify the simple machines and describe how each makes work easier.
Skill 4.1
How machines improved over time
I can compare an older and newer version of a device and describe the idea behind the improvement.
Skill 4.2
Analyzing Mechanical Systems
Systems, subsystems and parts
I can analyze a machine as an overall system made of subsystems and component parts, and give each a function.
Skill 4.3
Mechanical advantage
I can describe mechanical advantage as the trade-off between force and distance.
Skill 4.4
Force and Energy in Machines
Transmitting force and motion
I can describe how force and motion transmit between parts of a mechanical system.
Skill 4.5
Energy and efficiency
I can explain why some input energy is always lost to friction, so a machine is never 100% efficient.
Skill 4.6
Machines, Society and Environment
Machines and society
I can describe how the development of a mechanical device changed how people live or work.
Skill 4.7
Environmental impact of machines
I can analyze an environmental impact of a machine and a way to reduce it.
Skill 4.8
The official wording · 8 outcomes
- 4.1
- Illustrate the development of science and technology by describing, comparing and interpreting mechanical devices that have been improved over time.
- 4.3
- Analyze machines by describing the structures and functions of the overall system, the subsystems and the component parts.
- 4.5
- Investigate and describe the transmission of force and energy between parts of a mechanical system.
- 4.7
- Analyze the social and environmental contexts of science and technology, as they apply to the development of mechanical devices.
Key ideas
The simple machines are the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw.
A machine is a system; it contains subsystems (groups of parts that do one job) made of individual component parts.
Parts transmit force and motion through connections like gears, belts, chains, levers, and fluids.
New machines change society — how we travel, produce goods, and spend time — with both benefits and drawbacks.
A simple machine makes work easier by changing the size or direction of a force — usually trading a smaller force for a longer distance.
Watch out for
- Thinking a machine reduces the total WORK needed (it trades force for distance; work is roughly the same or more).
- Treating a machine as one undivided object rather than a system of parts.
- Thinking force appears at the output without a path connecting the parts.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 5 · 8 skills
Freshwater and Saltwater Systems
Water on Earth
Distribution of water
I can describe where Earth’s water is found and the relative amounts.
Skill 5.1
Water supply and quality
I can explain why the supply and quality of fresh water matter and how quality is judged.
Skill 5.2
Water, Landforms and Climate
Water shaping the land
I can describe how moving water, ice, and waves shape landforms through erosion and deposition.
Skill 5.3
Water and climate
I can explain how large bodies of water moderate climate and drive the water cycle.
Skill 5.4
Life in Aquatic Systems
Factors affecting productivity
I can analyze how light, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients affect the productivity of an aquatic environment.
Skill 5.5
Species distribution in water
I can explain how conditions such as salinity, depth, and temperature decide where aquatic species live.
Skill 5.6
Human Impact on Water
Human impacts on aquatic systems
I can analyze human impacts on aquatic systems and their effects on water quality and life.
Skill 5.7
Science and water issues
I can identify roles of science and technology in monitoring and protecting water.
Skill 5.8
The official wording · 8 outcomes
- 5.1
- Describe the distribution and characteristics of water in local and global environments, and identify the significance of water supply and quality to the needs of humans and other living things.
- 5.3
- Investigate and interpret linkages among landforms, water and climate.
- 5.5
- Analyze factors affecting productivity and species distribution in marine and freshwater environments.
- 5.7
- Analyze human impacts on aquatic systems; and identify the roles of science and technology in addressing related questions, problems and issues.
Key ideas
Most of Earth’s water is salt water in oceans; only a small fraction is fresh water, and much of that is frozen in ice and glaciers.
Erosion is the wearing away and carrying off of material by water, ice, or waves; deposition is dropping it somewhere new.
Productivity (how much life an area supports) depends on light (for plants/algae), temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients.
Human activities affect water through pollution (chemicals, sewage, plastics), overuse, and habitat change (dams, draining wetlands).
Usable liquid fresh water (rivers, lakes, groundwater) is a small part of the total.
Watch out for
- Thinking most of Earth’s water is fresh and drinkable.
- Thinking landforms are fixed and unchanging rather than slowly shaped by water.
- Thinking more nutrients are always better for an aquatic ecosystem.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows Alberta’s own curriculum for Science 8.
Strands
| Strand | Outcomes | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Mix and Flow of Matter | Outcomes 4 | Taught in Unit 1 |
| Cells and Systems | Outcomes 4 | Taught in Unit 2 |
| Light and Optical Systems | Outcomes 3 | Taught in Unit 3 |
| Mechanical Systems | Outcomes 4 | Taught in Unit 4 |
| Freshwater and Saltwater Systems | Outcomes 4 | Taught in Unit 5 |
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches Science 8 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep Science 8 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 36
- Fillable fields
- 1,613
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about Science 8
What is Science 8?
Alberta’s Grade 8 science course: 5 units and 39 skills, from Mix and Flow of Matter to Freshwater and Saltwater Systems.
What units are in Science 8?
1. Mix and Flow of Matter, 2. Cells and Systems, 3. Light and Optical Systems, 4. Mechanical Systems and 5. Freshwater and Saltwater Systems.
Is there a provincial exam for Science 8?
No. Alberta gives no provincial exam for Science 8.
What comes after Science 8?
Science 9.
Can MapleMind help with Science 8?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Science 8, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for Science 8
Practise every skill of Science 8 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
