Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.A.2.1.2
Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.A.2.1.2
Continuum of Activities
The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.
This continuum of activities offers:
- Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
- Questions/activities that grow in complexity
- Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance
Grade Levels
8th Grade
Course, Subject
Science
Related Academic Standards / Eligible Content
Activities
- Define hypothesis.
- An example of a testable question is
- Which releases more heat when burned – tortilla chips or potato chips?
- How does temperature of the soil affect the rate of seed germination?
- What type of soil holds the most water – clay, sand, or top soil?
- All of the above
- Your science class takes a field trip to a local park. You notice a lot of squirrels. Most of them stay near the picnic tables and appear to be hoping you will feed them. Based on your observations write a question that could be tested scientifically.
- For the question you wrote above, write a hypothesis that could be tested with an experiment.
- Cole and Nate were playing with the class rat, Loretta. They noticed that she was curious about a marble on the floor. Cole gently tapped the marble causing it to roll past Loretta over to Nate who then rolled it back to Cole. Every time the marble went past Loretta she perked up. After rolling it back and forth about four times Loretta started to chase it.
Based on the events described above write a question and a hypothesis that could be tested using scientific inquiry.
Answer Key/Rubric
- A hypothesis is a possible explanation for an observation(s) that can be tested by further investigation.
- D
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- Are the squirrels in the park afraid of people?
- Do most park visitors feed the squirrels?
- What human food do park squirrels prefer?
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- If visitors to the park regularly feed the squirrels, then the squirrels will become less afraid of people.
- Acceptable responses might include, but not be limited to:
- Can a rat be trained to chase a toy? / A rat can be trained to play chase with a small toy like a marble.
- Will a rat chase a toy like a dog chases a ball?/If a marble is rolled in front of a rat several times then the rat will learn to chase it.
