What your child learns in Grade 8 in Alberta
Grade 8 builds on Grade 7 with squares and roots, ratios and rates, percent, the Pythagorean theorem, surface area and volume. Science covers matter, cells, light, machines and water systems, and social studies looks at Japan, Renaissance Europe and the Spanish and the Aztecs.
Grade 8 subjects in the Alberta Curriculum
Math
Big Ideas
- Number: develop number sense, with perfect squares, square roots, percents, ratios and rates, and operations on fractions and integers
- Patterns and Relations: graph and analyze linear relations, and solve linear equations
- Shape and Space: use the Pythagorean theorem, nets, surface area, volume and views, and describe congruence
13 units, including squares & square roots, percents & gst, ratios, rates & proportions, fraction operations.
English Language Arts
Big Ideas
- General Outcome 1: students explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences
- General Outcome 2: students listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend and respond personally and critically
- General Outcome 3: students manage ideas and information
12 units, including talking & working together, close reading, reading detective, whose story is it?.
Science
Big Ideas
- Unit A, Mix and Flow of Matter: substances mix and flow, and their properties can be explained with the particle model
- Unit B, Cells and Systems: living things are made of cells, and body systems work together
- Unit C, Light and Optical Systems: light behaves in predictable ways, and optical devices use it
22 units, including mixtures, solutions & whmis, particles & matter, viscosity & flow, density & buoyancy.
Social Studies
Big Ideas
- Historical Models of Societies is the Grade 8 focus
- 8.1 Japan: how Japan's land, values and history shaped it before and after the Tokugawa and Meiji periods
- 8.2 Renaissance Europe: how new ideas in art, learning and trade changed Europe
10 units, including japan: land, beliefs & values, tokugawa japan & isolation, from isolation to adaptation, where the renaissance began.
French Immersion
Big Ideas
- Listening and speaking in French grow every day when French is the language of learning.
- Reading French texts of many kinds builds comprehension and the habit of reading for meaning.
- Writing in French for a purpose and an audience uses the conventions of the language.
11 units, including les registres de langue, parler et se faire comprendre, la légende, le théâtre.
Core French
Big Ideas
- Applications: using French to communicate in everyday situations, to explore and to have fun.
- Language competence: understanding and using the sounds, words, sentences and texts of French.
- Global citizenship: learning about Francophone communities in Alberta, Canada and the world, and about other cultures.
9 units, including past, present, future, asking questions, how often?, opinions and reasons.
What to look for on the report card
Look for comments on managing a heavier workload, showing steps in math and supporting an argument with evidence.
Alberta report cards describe learning with Beginning, Approaching, Meeting, Exceeding. See what each level means.
Competencies grow alongside subject learning in every grade. Read about competencies.
Ready for Grade 8?
Grade 8 builds on what your child practised in Grade 7. If a skill feels shaky, a few short practice sessions before or early in the year can help:
- Math: divisibility rules, decimal operations, adding & subtracting fractions, comparing & ordering, fractions, decimals & percents
- English Language Arts: close reading, whose story?, literary devices, tone & mood, poetry lab
- Science: ecosystems, food chains & energy, cycles & succession, people & ecosystems, how plants work
- Social Studies: new france & the fur trade, the fur trade in the west, power & conflict, 1713 to 1800, loyalists & the war of 1812, reform & rebellion
- French Immersion: le superlatif, choisir le bon temps, figures de style, la poésie, défendre son opinion
- Core French: directions, places in town, comparing, describing people, cognates and strategies
Common questions
What do kids learn in Grade 8 in Alberta?
Grade 8 covers math, english language arts, science, social studies, french immersion, core french in the Alberta Curriculum. Grade 8 builds on Grade 7 with squares and roots, ratios and rates, percent, the Pythagorean theorem, surface area and volume. Science covers matter, cells, light, machines and water systems, and social studies looks at Japan, Renaissance Europe and the Spanish and the Aztecs.
How is Grade 8 reported in Alberta?
Alberta report cards describe learning with Beginning, Approaching, Meeting, Exceeding.
How can I help my Grade 8 child at home?
Short, regular practice works better than long sessions: 10 to 15 minutes a few times a week, on the skills your child's teacher flags. Read together, use math in real life, and praise effort.
Practise Grade 8 skills with Gradelings
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