How to read this page
Alberta publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In Alberta, that's Mathematics 8 — 4 units, 44 skills.
Number
- Perfect squares
- Trapping a root between perfect squares
- Percents of all sizes
Patterns and Relations
- From table to graph
- One-step equations (ax = b, x/a = b)
Shape and Space
- Understanding the theorem
- Drawing nets
- Surface area of rectangular prisms
Statistics and Probability
- Reading the four displays
- What independent events are
See the full Mathematics 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In Alberta, that's English Language Arts 8 — 5 units, 20 skills.
Reading and Comprehension
- Paraphrasing main ideas and details
- Exchanging ideas to broaden perspective
Responding to and Analyzing Texts
- Interpreting character choices and motives
- Matching form to purpose
- How texts reflect cultures and periods
Research and Information
- Focusing a topic and tracing arguments
- Organizing to show relationships
Writing Craft and Conventions
- Revising for emphasis and variety
- Modifiers and sentence variety
See the full English Language Arts 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Alberta, that's Science 8 — 5 units, 39 skills.
Mix and Flow of Matter
- What is a fluid?
- Mixtures and solutions
- Viscosity and flow rate
Cells and Systems
- Living things and their organization
- Cell structures and functions
- Digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems
Light and Optical Systems
- Sources and nature of light
- Reflection and the ray model
- Lenses and image formation
Mechanical Systems
- Simple machines
- Systems, subsystems and parts
- Transmitting force and motion
Freshwater and Saltwater Systems
- Distribution of water
- Water shaping the land
- Factors affecting productivity
See the full Science 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Alberta, that's French as a Second Language 8 (Nine-Year Program) — 6 units, 20 skills.
La boîte à outils — Grade 8 Expansion
- Present tense of –er, –ir and –re verbs
- Demonstrative and exclamatory adjectives
- The partitive: du, de la, des
La nourriture
- Understanding French about food and nutrition
- Writing a recipe
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 8 in Alberta?
Alberta's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 8 — 135 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers number and patterns and relations; English Language Arts covers reading and comprehension and responding to and analyzing texts; Science covers mix and flow of matter and cells and systems. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Alberta curriculum?
It's built from Alberta's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.
My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?
That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.
Keep exploring
Knowing the list is half the job
The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.
MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In Alberta, that's Social Studies 8 — 3 units, 12 skills.
From Isolation to Adaptation: Japan
- How and why Japan isolated itself
- Why Japan changed course
+ 3 more skills in this unit →Origins of a Western Worldview: Renaissance Europe
- What the Renaissance was
+ 3 more skills in this unit →Worldviews in Conflict: The Spanish and the Aztecs
- The Aztec worldview
+ 2 more skills in this unit →See the full Social Studies 8 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →