Length: Full Year
Recommended Background: Successful completion of Year 7 Science
Content:
Over Years 7 to 10, students develop their understanding of microscopic and atomic structures, how systems at a range of scales are shaped by flows of energy and matter and interactions due to forces, and develop the ability to quantify changes and relative amounts.
In Year 8 Science, students analyse the relationship between structure and function at cell, organ and body system levels. They compare physical and chemical changes and use the particle model to explain and predict the properties and behaviours of substances. Students will be able to identify different forms of energy and describe how energy transfers and transformations cause change in simple systems. They compare processes of rock formation, including the timescales involved. Students examine the different science knowledge used in occupations and explain how evidence has led to an improved understanding of a scientific idea. They will be able to describe situations in which scientists collaborated to generate solutions to contemporary problems and reflect on implications of these solutions for different groups in society.
Students use experimentation. They identify and construct questions and problems that they can investigate scientifically, whilst considering safety and ethics when planning and designing investigations. They will identify variables to be changed, measured and controlled, construct representations of their data to reveal and analyse patterns and trends, and use these when justifying their conclusions. Students will explain how modifications to methods could improve the quality of their data and apply their own scientific knowledge and investigation findings to evaluate claims made by others. They use appropriate language and representations to communicate science ideas, methods and findings in a range of text types.
All units of work can be categorised in one or more key ideas to support students in constructing deep and coherent understandings of the scientific phenomena comprising their world. The three strands include:
Assessment:
Student performance will be determined according to the subject’s Achievement Standards as outlined in the framework of the Australian Curriculum. Grades A to E will be used for reporting purposes.