Michigan State Standards for Science: Grade 8

MI.I.1. Constructing New Scientific Knowledge: All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world; design and conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learn from books and other sources of information; communicate findings of investigations, using appropriate technology.

I.1.1. Ask questions that can be investigated empirically. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard I.1.1.

I.1.2. Design and conduct scientific investigations. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard I.1.2.

I.1.3. Recognize and explain the limitations of measuring devices. 16
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard I.1.3.

I.1.4. Gather and synthesize information from books and other sources of information. 80
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard I.1.4.

I.1.5. Discuss topics in groups by making clear presentations, restating or summarizing what others have said, asking for clarification or elaboration, taking alternative perspectives, and defending a position. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard I.1.5.

MI.II.1. Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge: All students will analyze claims for their scientific merit and explain how scientists decide what constitutes scientific knowledge; show how science is related to other ways of knowing; show how science and technology affect our society; and show how people of diverse cultures have contributed to and influenced developments in science.

II.1.1. Justify plans or explanations on a theoretical or empirical basis. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.1.

II.1.2. Describe some general limitations of scientific knowledge. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.2.

II.1.3. Show how common themes of science, mathematics, and technology apply in real-world contexts. 98
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.3.

II.1.4. Discuss the historical development of key scientific concepts and principles. 67
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.4.

II.1.5. Explain the social and economic advantages and risks of new technology. 90
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.5.

II.1.6. Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world. 64
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.6.

II.1.7. Describe the historical, political, and social factors affecting developments in science. 85
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard II.1.7.

MI.III.1. Using Life Science Knowledge: Cells: All students will apply an understanding of cells to the functioning of multicellular organisms, including how cells grow, develop and reproduce.

III.1.1. Explain how multicellular organisms grow, based on how cells grow and reproduce. 30
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.1.1.

III.1.2. Compare and contrast ways in which selected cells are specialized to carry out particular life functions. 56
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.1.2.

MI.III.2. Using Life Science Knowledge: Organization of Living Things: All students will use classification systems to describe groups of living things; compare and contrast differences in the life cycles of living things; investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy; and analyze how parts of living things are adapted to carry out specific functions.

III.2.1. Classify major groups of organisms to the kingdom level. 12
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.2.1.

III.2.2. Describe the life cycle of an organism associated with human disease. 67
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.2.2.

III.2.3. Explain the process of food storage and food use in organisms. 70
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.2.3.

III.2.4. Explain how living things maintain a stable internal environment. 103
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.2.4.

III.2.5. Describe technology used in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and explain its function in terms of human body processes. 98
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.2.5.

MI.III.3. Using Life Science Knowledge: Heredity: All students will investigate and explain how characteristics of living things are passed on through generations; explain why organisms within a species are different from one another; and explain how new traits can be established by changing or manipulating genes.

III.3.1. Explain how characteristics of living things are passed on from generation to generation. 27
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.3.1.

III.3.2. Describe how genetic material is passed from parent to young during sexual and asexual reproduction. 27
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.3.2.

III.3.3. Explain how new traits may arise in individuals through changes in genetic material (DNA). 27
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.3.3.

MI.III.4. Using Life Science Knowledge: Evolution: All students will explain how scientists construct and scientifically test theories concerning the origin of life and evolution of species; compare ways that living organisms are adapted (suited) to survive and reproduce in their environments and explain how species change through time.

III.4.1. Describe what biologists consider to be evidence for human evolutionary relationships to selected animal groups. 20
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.4.1.

III.4.2. Explain how a new species or variety may originate through the evolutionary process of natural selection. 20
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.4.2.

MI.III.5. Using Life Science Knowledge: Ecosystems: All students will explain how parts of an ecosystem are related and how they interact; explain how energy is distributed to living things in an ecosystem; investigate and explain how communities of living things change over a period of time; describe how materials cycle through an ecosystem and get reused in the environment; and analyze how humans and the environment interact.

III.5.1. Describe common ecological relationships between and among species and their environments. 6
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.1.

III.5.2. Explain how energy flows through familiar ecosystems. 6
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.2.

III.5.3. Describe general factors regulating population size in ecosystems. 3
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.3.

III.5.4. Describe responses of an ecosystem to events that cause it to change. 3
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.4.

III.5.5. Describe how carbon and soil nutrients cycle through selected ecosystems. 5
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.5.

III.5.6. Explain the effects of agriculture and urban development on selected ecosystems. 85
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard III.5.6.

MI.IV.1. Using Physical Science Knowledge: Matter and Energy: All students will measure and describe the things around us; explain what the world around us is made of; identify and describe forms of energy; and explain how electricity and magnetism interact with matter.

IV.1.1. Analyze properties of common household and agricultural materials in terms of risk/benefit balance. 27
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.1.1.

IV.1.2. Identify properties of common families of elements. 9
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.1.2.

IV.1.3. Explain how elements differ, in terms of the structural parts and electrical charges of atoms. 95
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.1.3.

IV.1.4. Explain how current is controlled in simple series and parallel circuits. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.1.4.

IV.1.5. Describe how electric currents can be produced by interacting wires and magnets, and explain applications of this principle. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.1.5.

MI.IV.2. Using Physical Science Knowledge: Changes in Matter: All students will explain how visible changes in matter are related to atoms and molecules; explain how changes in matter are related to changes in energy and how living things and human technology change matter and transform energy.

IV.2.1. Explain chemical changes in terms of the breaking of bonds and the rearrangement of atoms to form new substances. 28
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.2.1.

IV.2.2. Explain why mass is conserved in physical and chemical changes. 28
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.2.2.

IV.2.3. Contrast nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and natural radioactivity. 28
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.2.3.

IV.2.4. Describe energy transformations involved in physical, chemical and nuclear changes, and contrast their relative magnitudes. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.2.4.

IV.2.5. Explain changes in matter and energy involving heat transfer. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.2.5.

MI.IV.3. Using Physical Science Knowledge: Motion of Objects: All students will describe how things around us move, explain why things move as they do, and demonstrate and explain how we control the motions of objects; and relate motion to energy and energy conversions.

IV.3.1. Analyze patterns of force and motion in the operation of complex machines. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.3.1.

IV.3.2. Explain energy conversions in moving objects and machines. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.3.2.

MI.IV.4. Using Physical Science Knowledge: Waves and Vibrations: All students will describe sounds and sound waves; explain shadows, color, and other light phenomena; measure and describe vibrations and waves.

IV.4.1. Relate characteristics of sounds that we hear to properties of sound waves. 2
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.4.1.

IV.4.2. Explain how we see colors of objects. 5
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.4.2.

IV.4.3. Describe waves in terms of their properties. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.4.3.

IV.4.4. Describe different types of waves and their technological applications. 21
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard IV.4.4.

MI.V.1. Using Earth Science Knowledge: Geosphere: All students will describe and explain how the earth's features change over time; and analyze effects of technology on the earth's surface and resources.

V.1.1. Explain the surface features of the Great Lakes region using Ice Age theory. 30
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.1.1.

V.1.2. Use the plate tectonics theory to explain features of the earth's surface and geological phenomena and describe evidence for the plate tectonics theory. 4
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.1.2.

V.1.3. Explain how common objects are made from earth materials and why earth materials are conserved and recycled. 115
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.1.3.

V.1.4. Evaluate alternative long range plans for resource use and by-product disposal in terms of environmental and economic impact. 68
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.1.4.

MI.V.2. Using Earth Science Knowledge: Hydrosphere: All students will describe how water moves; and analyze the interaction of human activities with the hydrosphere.

V.2.1. Identify and describe regional watersheds. 68
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.2.1.

V.2.2. Describe how human activities affect the quality of water in the hydrosphere. 78
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.2.2.

MI.V.3. Using Earth Science Knowledge: Atmosphere and Weather: All students will investigate and describe what makes up weather and how it changes from day to day, from season to season and over long periods of time; explain what causes different kinds of weather; and analyze the relationships between human activities and the atmosphere.

V.3.1. Explain how interactions of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere create climates and how climates change over time. 31
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.3.1.

V.3.2. Describe patterns of air movement in the atmosphere and how they affect weather conditions. 31
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.3.2.

V.3.3. Explain and predict general weather patterns and storms. 31
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.3.3.

V.3.4. Explain the impact of human activities on the atmosphere and explain ways that individuals and society can reduce pollution. 61
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.3.4.

MI.V.4. Using Earth Science Knowledge: Solar System, Galaxy and Universe: All students will compare and contrast our planet and sun to other planets and star systems; describe and explain how objects in the solar system move; explain scientific theories as to the origin of the solar system; and explain how we learn about the universe.

V.4.1. Compare our sun to other stars. 10
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.4.1.

V.4.2. Describe the position and motion of our solar system in our galaxy and the overall scale, structure and age of the universe. 15
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.4.2.

V.4.3. Explain how stars and planetary systems form and how stars produce energy. 7
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.4.3.

V.4.4. Explain how technology and scientific inquiry have helped us learn about the universe. 44
Suggested Titles for Michigan Science State Standard V.4.4.