What your child learns in Grade 8 in Nova Scotia
Grade 8 is the last year before high school. Students work with squares and roots, rates and ratios, linear relations, the Pythagorean theorem, surface area and volume. Science covers cells, fluids and climate change, and social studies follows Canada from 1920.
Grade 8 subjects in the Nova Scotia Curriculum
Math
Big Ideas
- Number: Develop number sense.
- Patterns and Relations: Use patterns to describe the world and solve problems.
- Measurement: Use direct and indirect measurement to solve problems.
10 units, including squares, cubes & roots, pythagorean theorem, integer operations, fraction operations.
English Language Arts
Big Ideas
- Cultural expressions. Learners will reflect on how the cultures of communities, inclusive of the Mi’kmaq, Acadians, African Nova Scotians, and the Gaels, are expressed through a range of communication forms.
- Responses. Learners will plan oral, written, and visual personal and critical responses, in relation to audience and purpose.
- Creating. Learners will create oral, written, and visual communication forms for a range of audiences and purposes.
11 units, including voices & cultural expressions, word study, reading detective, forms, patterns & visuals.
Science
Big Ideas
- Healthy Cells, Healthy Systems. Learners will analyse how the characteristics of cells relate to the needs of organisms.
- Healthy Cells, Healthy Systems. Learners will evaluate ways to maintain and factors that disrupt cell and system health.
- Climate Change. Learners will create a model that demonstrates the principles of kinetic molecular theory.
8 units, including cells & life processes, particles & matter, viscosity & flow, density & buoyancy.
Social Studies
Big Ideas
- Reflect on 20th and 21st century Indigenous experiences in Canada. Learners will reflect on 20th and 21st century Indigenous experiences in Canada.
- Evaluate the impact of equity and inequity in a changing Canadian society. Learners will evaluate the impact of equity and inequity in a changing Canadian society.
- Formulate responses to change in Canadian society. Learners will formulate responses to change in Canadian society.
3 units, including conflicts that shaped canada, world war ii & canada, taking action.
French Immersion
Big Ideas
- French Immersion is first and foremost a language program: French is both the language students learn in and the language they learn.
- Early French Immersion begins in Primary and Late French Immersion in Grade 7, and both follow Français arts langagiers.
- Students listen, speak, read and write in French for real purposes and audiences.
11 units, including les registres de langue, parler et se faire comprendre, la légende, le théâtre.
Core French
Big Ideas
- Oral communication. Learners will communicate orally in French in a variety of authentic situations.
- Reading. Learners will determine the meaning of a range of French texts representing a variety of cultures and diverse abilities, in authentic situations.
- Writing. Learners will create texts in French (including in electronic format) in a variety of authentic situations.
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. Grade 8 students may take part in a provincial assessment.
Nova Scotia report cards describe learning with Minimal, Satisfactory, Good, Very good to excellent. See what each level means.
Grade 8 students also take the Nova Scotia provincial assessments. Read the Provincial assessments guide.
The Essential Graduation Competencies grow through every subject from Primary to Grade 12. Read about graduation 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, add & subtract integers, fractions, decimal operations, fractions, decimals & percents
- English Language Arts: cultures & communication forms, close reading, literary devices, tone & mood, whose story?
- Science: ecosystems, food chains & energy, people & ecosystems, netukulimk & interconnected life, particles & mixtures
- Social Studies: mi’kma’ki & treaty rights, opportunities & challenges, long ago, political change in the maritimes, changing times in the maritimes, world war i & the maritimes
- 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
Grade 8 covers math, english language arts, science, social studies, french immersion, core french in the Nova Scotia Curriculum. Grade 8 is the last year before high school. Students work with squares and roots, rates and ratios, linear relations, the Pythagorean theorem, surface area and volume. Science covers cells, fluids and climate change, and social studies follows Canada from 1920.
Nova Scotia report cards describe learning with Minimal, Satisfactory, Good, Very good to excellent. Students in Grade 8 also write the Nova Scotia provincial assessments, which is separate from the report card.
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
Kind hints, no ads, and reports in the language of the Nova Scotia report card. Subscribe now, or try it free for 30 days with no card.