Science and Technology

In this unit you will zoom in on the cell, the basic unit of life. You will learn the cell theory and the story of how microscopes and newer technologies (stains, electron microscopes, fluorescent markers, cell culture) revealed cells. You will identify the organelles of animal and plant cells (nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, vacuoles, cell wall and chloroplasts), explain their jobs and compare the two cell types. You will explain how materials move into and out of cells by diffusion and osmosis, compare how unicellular and multicellular organisms meet their basic needs, and describe how cells are organized into tissues, organs and organ systems. Finally, you will learn how to keep cells healthy and assess developments in cell biology (from insulin and stem cell transplants to GM crops, cultured meat and AI) from different perspectives, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives on research.

Remember from earlier grades: in Grade 5 you learned that the body is organized into cells, tissues, organs and organ systems; in Grade 6 you classified living things, including microorganisms; and in Grade 7 you learned the particle theory (including diffusion), photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Grade 8 explains what happens inside cells.

Along the way you will work like a scientist and engineer: using magnifiers and microscopes safely, making scientific drawings, building and testing a cell model, running fair tests on diffusion, osmosis and yeast, coding a model of bacterial growth, and researching a development in cell biology.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3, B1.1, B1.2, B2.1, B2.2, B2.3, B2.4, B2.5, B2.6 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 8, 2022).

In this unit you will study fluids, the liquids and gases that flow all around us and inside us. You will measure viscosity with volumetric flow rate, find out what speeds up or slows down a flow, and calculate density from mass and volume. You will use the particle theory of matter to explain why solids, liquids and gases have different densities, and why ice floats. You will predict buoyancy in different fluids, compare the compressibility of liquids and gases, and explain how pressure, volume and temperature are linked.

Then you will use Pascal's law to calculate how hydraulic systems multiply force, compare hydraulic and pneumatic systems (and build a syringe-powered lift), and compare how fluids are moved and controlled in living things and machines, including a little coding to automate a pump. Finally, you will assess the impacts of technologies that use fluids, including First Nations and Inuit technologies like the birchbark canoe and the qajaq, and of fluid spills, including their impacts on First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities and the challenges of cleanup.

Safety: a grown-up handles hot water and any cutting or hole-poking. Syringes are always needle-free. Only food-safe materials and cooking oil are used in experiments (never motor oil or fuel), nothing used in an experiment is eaten, and household chemicals are never mixed.

In this unit you will learn to see the world as systems: groups of components that work together for a purpose. You will identify mechanical, electrical, social, natural and information systems, describe their purpose, inputs and outputs (including food processing systems such as milk and maple syrup), and find the components and processes that keep systems running safely and efficiently.

Then you will put numbers on how machines work. You will calculate work (W = F × d), mechanical advantage of levers, pulleys, ramps, wheels and axles and gears, and efficiency, and discover where the "lost" energy goes and which innovations reduce it.

Finally, you will look at systems and society: how consumer information keeps systems safe, how mechanical innovations raised productivity, the impacts of automation (with some coding), how social factors change systems, and alternative ways of meeting needs, including First Nations and Inuit food systems. You will finish by using the engineering design process to build a lifting system with mechanical advantage.

Remember from earlier grades: In Grade 2 you met simple machines, in Grade 4 pulleys, gears and how machines change forces, and in Grade 7 forces on structures and weight (about 9.8 N per kilogram). Grade 8 brings these together into whole systems.

Every lesson has a hands-on activity using things from home, lots of practice and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: D1, D1.1, D1.2, D2, D2.1 to D2.10 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 8, 2022, Strand D: Structures and Mechanisms, topic: Systems in Action), with STEM skills and connections from Strand A (A1.1 to A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3).

Earth is a water planet, yet safe, easy-to-reach fresh water is a tiny part of all its water. In this unit you will find out where water is, in what state and how much, and follow how it circulates between the oceans, air, ice, land and underground. You will explore watersheds and why Ontario manages water by watershed, how the water table rises and falls, why glaciers and polar ice are melting and what that means for water systems, and how lakes and oceans change the weather, from lake breezes to lake-effect snow.

Then you will measure water quality with physical, chemical and biological indicators, explain how human activities change it, and follow water from lake to tap and back through municipal treatment plants. You will learn about First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledges and relationships with water, including current, dated facts about drinking water advisories, assess discoveries and innovations from John Snow's map to AI leak sensors, and finish by assessing fresh water scarcity and designing a plan of action.

Remember from Grade 7: the water cycle (science), drainage basins and the LOWERN climate factors (geography), the particle theory, convection and the greenhouse effect. Every lesson has a hands-on activity, practice questions and a short quiz. Safety: never drink or taste water samples; collect natural water only with an adult, away from steep banks, fast or deep water and ice; adults do any cutting and handle fertilizer and hot water.

Curriculum expectations covered: E1.1, E1.2, E1.3, E2.1, E2.2, E2.3, E2.4, E2.5, E2.6, E2.7 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 8, 2022, Strand E: Earth and Space Systems, Water Systems), with STEM skills and connections from Strand A (A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3).