The eighth grade science course, titled “Investigating Matter and Energy,” builds upon the experiences in the physical sciences introduced to students in upper elementary school. Properties of matter, energy and its transformation, and forces and motion are content strands developed through a sequence of varied instructional strategies with an emphasis on experimentation, observation, generalization, applications, and discussion. Students observe physical and chemical properties of matter. They learn that the evidence of energy is often a change in temperature or a change in motion. They investigate the forces of friction and gravity to determine how these forces affect the motion of an object. They apply these concepts to everyday experiences on Earth.

Students learn the physical science concepts through hands-on laboratory investigations where they make predictions, design experiments, collect and organize data in tables and graphs, analyze data and draw conclusions, and communicate results. Graphing calculators and computer technologies including probeware, CD-ROMs, and interactive videodiscs are integrated with instruction and used to enhance student understanding.