AISL Grade 8 Benchmarks in Science

(Revised June, 2010)

AISL.SCI.01. PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and properties of matter.
AISL.SCI.01.G8.01 Know that over 100 different elements exist and combine in a multitude of ways to produce compounds
AISL.SCI.01.G8.02 Know that a substance has characteristic properties such as density, a boiling point, and solubility and mixtures can be separated into original substances by using these properties
AISL.SCI.01.G8.03 Know that substances react chemically in characteristic ways with other substances to form new substances (compounds) with different characteristic properties
AISL.SCI.01.G8.04 Know that oxidation is the loss of electrons, and commonly involves the combining of oxygen with another substance
AISL.SCI.02. PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the sources and properties of energy.
AISL.SCI.02.G8.01 Know how the Sun acts as a major source of energy for changes on the Earth's surface
AISL.SCI.02.G8.02 Know that only a narrow range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation can be seen by the human eye;
AISL.SCI.02.G8.03 Know that tiny fraction of heat reaches the Earth as light with a range of wavelengths
AISL.SCI.03. PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of forces and motion.
AISL.SCI.03.G8.01 Understand that physical forces affect the movement of all matter on earth and throughout the universe
AISL.SCI.03.G8.02 Know that the motion of an object can be described and predicted
AISL.SCI.03.G8.03 Understand that a system may stay the same because of a number of reasons
AISL.SCI.03.G8.04 Know that machines help people do work by changing the force applied to an object
AISL.SCI.04. LIFE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and function of living systems.
AISL.SCI.04.G8.01 Know that cells use inorganic compounds to make materials that the cell or organism needs
AISL.SCI.05. LIFE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the principles of reproduction and heredity
AISL.SCI.05.G8.01 Know the chemical and structural properties of DNA and its role in specifying the characteristics of an organism
AISL.SCI.05.G8.02 Know ways in which genes (segments of DNA molecules) may be altered and combined to create genetic variation within a species.
AISL.SCI.05.G8.03 Know that new heritable characteristics can only result from new combinations of existing genes or from mutations of genes in an organism's sex cells
AISL.SCI.06. LIFE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them.
AISL.SCI.06.G8.01 Know how energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is transferred from organism to organism through food webs.
AISL.SCI.06.G8.02 Know that as matter and energy flow through different levels of organization in living systems and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways.
AISL.SCI.07. LIFE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the diversity and adaptations of organisms
AISL.SCI.07.G8.01 Know that millions of plants, animals and microorganisms that are alive today that look dissimilar but through analysis of their internal structure, shows similarity of chemical processes and common ancestry.
AISL.SCI.07.G8.02 Understand the concept of extinction and that it occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of the species are insufficient for its survival
AISL.SCI.07.G8.03 Know that heritable characteristics, which can be biochemical and anatomical, largely determine what capabilities an organism will have, how it will behave, and how likely it is to survive and reproduce
AISL.SCI.08. LIFE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of human body systems and healthy physical growth.
AISL.SCI.08.G8.01 Know that the human organism has systems: digestion, respiration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, control, co-ordination and protection
AISL.SCI.08.G8.02 Understand the impact of personal health behaviors on the functioning of body system
AISL.SCI.09. EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the earth's composition and structure.
AISL.SCI.09.G8.01 Know processes involved in the rock cycle
AISL.SCI.09.G8.02 Understand that living things have played many roles in the Earth's system
AISL.SCI.10. EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE: Students will understand the processes that shape the earth.
AISL.SCI.10.G8.01 Know the composition and structure of the Earth's atmosphere (e.g., temperature and pressure in different layers of the atmosphere, circulation of air masses)
AISL.SCI.10.G8.02 Know factors that can impact the Earth's climate
AISL.SCI.10.G8.03 Know ways in which clouds affect weather and climate
AISL.SCI.11. EARTH & SPACE SCIENCE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition and structure of the universe and the earth's place in it.
AISL.SCI.11.G8.01 Know characteristics of the Sun and its position in the universe
AISL.SCI.11.G8.02 Know that gravitational force keeps planets in orbit around the Sun and moons in orbit around the planets.
AISL.SCI.11.G8.03 Know that the universe consists of many billions of galaxies and that incomprehensible distances separate these galaxies and stars from one another and from the Earth.
AISL.SCI.12. SCIENCE AS INQUIRY: Students will demonstrate the use of the scientific method.
AISL.SCI.12.G8.01 Understand why only one variable (independent) can be manipulated at a time and that all other variables must be controlled during the investigation.
AISL.SCI.12.G8.02 Evaluate the results of scientific investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical and mathematical models, and explanations proposed by other scientists
AISL.SCI.12.G8.03 Know possible outcomes of scientific investigations
AISL.SCI.13. SCIENCE AS INQUIRY: Students will be able to demonstrate scientific thinking
AISL.SCI.13.G8.01 Know various settings in which scientists and engineers may work
AISL.SCI.13.G8.02 Know that throughout history, many scientific innovators have had difficulty breaking through accepted ideas of their time to reach conclusions that are now considered to be common knowledge
AISL.SCI.13.G8.03 Know ways in which science and society influence one another