AC9S8U05 Year 8 Science

AC9S8U05 – Year 8 Science: Physical sciences

Strand

Science understanding

Substrand

Physical sciences

This Content Descriptor from Year 8 Science provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

Content Descriptor

classify different types of energy as kinetic or potential and investigate energy transfer and transformations in simple systems

Elaborations

• investigating relationships between kinetic and potential energy in a simple system such as a roller-coaster or Newton’s cradle
• classifying types of energy as either kinetic energy such as movement, heat and electricity or potential energy such as chemical, elastic and gravitational
• critiquing and using representations such as flow diagrams to illustrate changes between different forms of energy in a system
• identifying where heat energy is produced as a by-product of energy transfer, such as filament light globes, exercise, and battery charging and use
• using electrical circuits and components to demonstrate electrical energy transfer and its transformation into heat, light and sound
• observing a Rube Goldberg machine and identifying the energy transfers and transformations involved
• investigating traditional fire-starting methods used by First Nations Australians and their understandings of the transformation of energy

Achievement Standard This Supports

This Content Descriptor contributes to the following Achievement Standard:

Year 8 ASSCIY8

Year 8 Science Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 8 students explain the role of specialised cell structures and organelles in cellular function and analyse the relationship between structure and function at organ and body system levels. They apply an understanding of the theory of plate tectonics to explain patterns of change in the geosphere. They explain how the properties of rocks relate to their formation and influence their use. They compare different forms of energy and represent transfer and transformation of energy in simple systems. They classify and represent different types of matter and distinguish between physical and chemical change. Students analyse how different factors influence development of and lead to changes in scientific knowledge. They analyse the key considerations that inform scientific responses and how these responses impact society. They analyse the importance of science communication in shaping viewpoints, policies and regulations. Students plan and conduct safe, reproducible investigations to test relationships and explore models. They describe potential ethical issues and intercultural considerations needed for specific field locations or use of secondary data. They select and use equipment to generate and record data with precision. They select and construct appropriate representations to organise and process data and information. They analyse data and information to describe patterns, trends and relationships and identify anomalies. They identify assumptions and sources of error in methods and analyse conclusions and claims with reference to conflicting evidence and unanswered questions. They construct evidence-based arguments to support conclusions and evaluate claims. They select and use language and text features appropriately for their purpose when communicating their ideas, findings and arguments to specific audiences.