Eighth Grade Chemistry

Getting Started

A comprehensive course that continues the chemistry adventure from previous years in Chemistry. (Note: If you're wanting a more in-depth chemistry course (not just lab experiments but additional content including chemistry calculations), then you'll want to visit our Chemistry Course in the Advanced section. You do not need to complete the program on this page in order to do the Advanced Chemistry Course.)

Students perform advanced experiments with ammonia, learn how to burn sulfur, ignite colored fires, decompose hydrogen peroxide, detonate bubbles, unlock energy stored in chemical bonds, supercool solutions, calculate the energy of a single peanut, turn copper into silver and gold, and so much more.

Here are the scientific concepts:

• Substances are made from different types of atoms, which combine with one another in various ways. Atoms form molecules that range in size from two to thousands of atoms.
• Gases and liquids are made of molecules or inert atoms that are moving about relative to each other.
• In a liquid, the molecules are constantly in contact with others; in a gas, they are widely spaced except when they happen to collide. In a solid, atoms are closely spaced and may vibrate in position but do not change relative locations.
• Solids may be formed from molecules, or they may be extended structures with repeating subunits (e.g., crystals).
• In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants.
• Heat refers to energy transferred when two objects or systems are at different temperatures.
• The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present.
• The total number of each type of atom is conserved, and thus the mass does not change.
• Some chemical reactions release energy, others store energy.

By the end of the labs in this unit, students will be able to:

• Predict the results of an experiment of a simple chemical reaction based on electron states of atoms, trends of the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties. (For example: predict what happens in the reaction of sodium and chlorine, or of carbon and oxygen, or carbon and hydrogen...)
• Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after they interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
• Show using a model how the number of atoms doesn't change in a reaction and therefore mass is conserved.
• Design an experiment that releases or absorbs thermal energy by a chemical process.
• Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
• Measure and estimate the length and volume of objects.
• Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
• Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
• Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.
• Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.