Government Standards



Next Generation Science

Science - Grade 8

Assessment Exam - NGS - Middle School
Physical Science eTAP Lesson
Structure and Properties of Matter
Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
NGS.MS-PS1-1
Atoms and Molecules

Identifying Properties of Elements
Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
NGS.MS-PS1-3
Matter and Energy

The Building Blocks of Life
Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
NGS.MS-PS1-4
Reactions and Energy
Chemical Reactions
Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
NGS.MS-PS1-2
Acids, Bases, and Neutrals
Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
NGS.MS-PS1-5
The Law of Conservation of Mass
Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.
NGS.MS-PS1-6
 
Forces and Interactions
Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
NGS.MS-PS2-1
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
NGS.MS-PS2-2
Motion, Distance and Time Relationships
Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.
NGS.MS-PS2-3
 
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects.
NGS.MS-PS2-4
Gravity and the Solar System
Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
NGS.MS-PS2-5
Friction and Other Forces
Energy
Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
NGS.MS-PS3-1
Speed and Velocity
Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system
NGS.MS-PS3-2
Matter and Energy
Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
NGS.MS-PS3-3
Heat Flow in Solids
Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
NGS.MS-PS3-4
Transporting Energy
Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
NGS.MS-PS3-5
Converting Energy
Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation
Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a waveis related to the energy in a wave.
NGS.MS-PS4-1
Transporting Energy
Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
NGS.MS-PS4-2
Solar Energy
Integrate qualitative scientific and technical information to support the claim that digitized signals are a more reliable way to encode and transmit information than analog signals.
NGS.MS-PS4-3
 
Life Science eTAP Lesson
Structure, Function, and Information Processing
Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
NGS.MS-LS1-1
Basic Cell Characteristics
Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function.
NGS.MS-LS1-2
Nucleus, Mitochondria, Chloroplasts
Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
NGS.MS-LS1-3
Mitosis and Organism Development
Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
NGS.MS-LS1-8
The Nervous System
Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence forthe role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
NGS.MS-LS1-6
Photosynthesis
Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
NGS.MS-LS1-7
Mitosis and Organism Development
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
NGS.MS-LS2-1
Energy Transformation in the Ecosystem
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
NGS.MS-LS2-3
The Food Web and the Physical Environment
Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
NGS.MS-LS2-4
Organism Populations
Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
NGS.MS-LS2-2
Biomes
Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
NGS.MS-LS2-5
Resources in the Ecosystem
Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms
Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviorsand specialized plant structuresaffect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
NGS.MS-LS1-4
How Plants and Animal Life Developed
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
NGS.MS-LS1-5
Organization and Function
Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
NGS.MS-LS3-1
Genes and DNA
Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
NGS.MS-LS3-2
Sexual and Asexual Organisms
Gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
NGS.MS-LS4-5
Sexual Reproduction
Natural Selection and Adaptations
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
NGS.MS-LS4-1
Selection and Diversity
Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
NGS.MS-LS4-2
Evidence of Evolution
Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.
NGS.MS-LS4-3
Branching Diagrams
Construct an explanation based on evidence that describe show genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
NGS.MS-LS4-4
Human Reproduction
Use mathematical representations to upport explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
NGS.MS-LS4-6
Natural Selection
Earth and Space Science eTAP Lesson
Space Systems
Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
NGS.MS-ESS1-1
Earth Processes and Life on Earth
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
NGS.MS-ESS1-2
Gravity and the Solar System
Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties ofobjects inthe solar system.
NGS.MS-ESS1-3
The Sun and Other Stars

The Planets
History of Earth
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history
NGS.MS-ESS1-4
Rock Cycle
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
NGS.MS-ESS2-2
Water Movement

Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Mountain Building
Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
NGS.MS-ESS2-3
Plate Movements

Structure of Earth
Earth’s Systems
Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.
NGS.MS-ESS2-1
Habitats and Geological Events
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
NGS.MS-ESS2-4
Rivers and Streams
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
NGS.MS-ESS3-1
Earth’s Surface Fresh Waters
Weather and Climate
Collect data to provide evidence forhow the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.
NGS.MS-ESS2-5
Weather

The Water Cycle and Weather
Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
NGS.MS-ESS2-6
Circulation Patterns in the Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
NGS.MS-ESS3-5
Greenhouse Effect on Earth
Human Impacts
Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
NGS.MS-ESS3-2
 
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
NGS.MS-ESS3-3
 
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.
NGS.MS-ESS3-4
 
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science eTAP Lesson
Engineering Design
Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
NGS.MS-ETS1-1
 
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
NGS.MS-ETS1-2
 
Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
NGS.MS-ETS1-3
 
Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
NGS.MS-ETS1-4