Natural Sciences — Grade 8

• ✓Describe the structure of a leaf and explain how each feature suits it for photosynthesis, using the correct word equation for photosynthesis
• ✓Write and explain the word equation for respiration, distinguish respiration from breathing, and explain how photosynthesis and respiration keep the oxygen and carbon dioxide of the atmosphere in balance
• ✓Use the particle model of matter to explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases, the changes of state, diffusion, expansion and contraction
• ✓Calculate density from mass and volume and use it to predict whether an object will float or sink in water
• ✓Explain static electricity as the transfer of charge, apply the rules of attraction and repulsion, and describe lightning safety and earthing
• ✓Build, describe and troubleshoot simple series and parallel circuits, and identify conductors and insulators
• ✓Explain day and night, the month, the phases of the Moon, solar and lunar eclipses, and the tides in terms of the movements of the Sun, Earth and Moon

Before you start

• Classify materials by their properties and read the periodic table at an introductory level (Grade 7)
• Explain heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, and the difference between heat and temperature (Grade 7)
• Describe how the Earth's rotation causes day and night and how its tilt causes the seasons (Grade 7)
• Work confidently with whole numbers, decimals and simple formulae, and read tables