Science and Technology/Engineering

26 Grade 8

Lauren Weiss and Margaret Krone

Cause and Effect

Grade 8 students use more robust abstract thinking skills to explain causes of complex phenomena and systems. Many causes are not immediately or physically visible to students. An understanding of cause and effect of key natural phenomena and designed processes allows students to explain patterns and make predictions about future events. In grade 8 these include, for example, causes of seasons and tides; causes of plate tectonics and weather or climate; the role of genetics in reproduction, heredity, and artificial selection; and how atoms and molecules interact to explain the substances that make up the world and how materials change. Being able to analyze phenomena for evidence of causes and processes that often cannot be seen, and being able to conceptualize and describe those, is a significant outcome for grade 8 students.[1] [2]

 

8.MS-LS. Life Science

LS1. From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

  • 8.MS-LS1-5. Construct an argument based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Anatomy and Life Cycle
Geography

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

What environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of peregrine falcons, and how?

Materials
For Instructors For Students
  • About Falcons: Life Cycle
  • Falcon Curriculum: Life Cycle videos
Sample Plan

Read About Falcons: Life Cycle and watch the Falcon Curriculum: Life Cycle videos. Read the Case Study of 72/BV. Identify the environmental and genetic factors that influenced her growth and her offspring’s growth (i.e. her genetics seem to lend themselves to large clutches; she was raised in a relatively safe and protected environment, and was able to raise 2 4-chick clutches in a relatively safe and protected environment).

 

8.MS-LS. Life Science

LS4. Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

  • 8.MS-LS4-4. Use a model to describe the process of natural selection, in which genetic variations of some traits in a population increase some individuals’ likelihood of surviving and reproducing in a changing environment. Provide evidence that natural selection occurs over many generations.
  • 8.MS-LS4-5. Synthesize and communicate information about artificial selection, or the ways in which humans have changed the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Anatomy and Life Cycle
Geography

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

How do genetic variations in falcon subspecies increase their likelihood of surviving and reproducing in their environments, and how have humans have changed the inheritance of desired traits in them?

Materials
For Instructors For Students
  • Paper (or could also do on the computer)
Sample Plan

Read and watch About Falcons: Habitat and Falcon Curriculum: Habitat videos. As a class, go through the PEFA Genetics article. Talk about the various subspecies used to restore the falcon population in North America.

Ask students to do a pretend “falcon family tree” for an admixed (hybrid) peregrine falcon released to Eastern North America. Using information provided in the article, identify traits that the bird might have inherited from its subspecies ancestors that would help it adapt to the environment.

 

8.MS-PS. Physical Science

PS2. Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

  • 8.MS-PS2-1. Develop a model that demonstrates Newton’s third law involving the motion of two colliding objects.
Falcon Curriculum Core Categories

Animal Behavior

Falcon Curriculum Essential Question

How do falcons demonstrate Newton’s third law?

Materials
For Instructors For Students
  • About Falcons: Flight
  • About Falcons: Prey and Hunting
  • Falcon Curriculum: Flight
  • Falcon Curriculum: Prey and Hunting videos
  • Lift-Off Experiment
    • Worksheet 
    • Materials to make a balloon-powered vehicle
      • Simple vehicle:
        • Cardboard
        • Plastic drinking straws (regular; not extra thick)
        • Wooden skewers
        • Bottle caps (4 per student)
        • Rulers
        • Strong scissors and/or box cutters
        • Awls
        • Tape
        • Glue and/or clay
Sample Plan

Discuss Newton’s laws of motion:

  1. An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.
  2. The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied.
  3. Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first. (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.)

Read the “Flight” and “Prey and Hunting” sections of “About Falcons,” and watch the Falcon Curriculum: Flight and Prey and Hunting videos. Discuss how birds demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion:

  1. The bird is at rest until it applies force by flapping its wings to start flying.
  2. Its acceleration depends on its mass and amount of force applied. With regard to peregrine falcons, this can be demonstrated by its sexual dimorphism: males are smaller than females and do the majority of hunting, because they are able to fly faster after their speedy prey.
  3. When the bird’s wings flap downwards and backwards, they push the air in that same direction. The air, in turn, provides an equal and opposite reaction, pushing the bird upwards and forwards. (See “lift” in “About Falcons: Flight.”)

Do the Lift-Off Experiment:

  1. Research models for a balloon-powered vehicle and build one.
    1. Simple vehicle:
      1. Cut out a rectangle of cardboard (3 x 6 inches).
      2. Cut 2 3-inch pieces of a straw.
      3. Tape those pieces on the bottom of the piece of cardboard.
      4. Cut off the ends of a wooden skewer; then cut 2 4-inch pieces of it.
      5. Slide the skewer pieces into the straw pieces that you taped onto the cardboard previously.
      6. Use an awl to poke holes in the centers of 4 bottle caps. You can also use cardboard if you do not have bottle caps.
      7. Put the bottle caps on the ends of the skewers. You can use glue or clay on the ends of the skewers so the bottle caps do not slide off.
      8. Stick a straw about 2 inches into a balloon (not inflated) and tape the balloon tightly around the straw.
      9. Tape the straw lengthwise onto the top of the cardboard. The balloon end should be on top of the cardboard and the other end of the straw should be hanging off the cardboard.
  2. Use the straw to blow some air into the balloon, then pinch the straw to prevent air from escaping just yet.
  3. Put the vehicle on a flat surface, and let go of the straw. The vehicle should take off!

The air that rushes out of the balloon backwards pushes the car forwards, in the opposite direction, with equal force. This simulates how birds fly.

Please note that you can also use recycled plastic bottles, small cardboard containers, or even 3D-printed vehicles for this experiment. You might even want each of your students/groups to use different materials and see which vehicle goes the farthest/fastest.

  1. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2022). SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / ENGINEERING Grades Pre-Kindergarten to 12 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework. https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html ↵
  2. Falcon Curriculum Common Core Standards mapping by Margaret Krone. Falcon Curriculum Lesson Plans by Lauren Weiss. © 2022 CC BY 4.0 ↵

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Grade 8 by Lauren Weiss and Margaret Krone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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