8th GRADE
Eighth grade is the culmination of the Exploris experience. Unified by their shared experiences during their first two years together, Exploris eighth graders are well prepared to assume their responsibilities as school leaders and enjoy the challenges of their final year in middle school. By building on the sixth and seventh grade programs, the eighth grade teachers create a rich curriculum that helps our students confidently make the transition to high school, and prepares them for the variety of educational approaches that they will face in the future.
Exploris eighth graders are asked to explore their futures. They are looking inward (What do I believe?), outward (What are the issues in the world?), and most importantly forward (What will my life be like and what impact can I have to affect change?). Interdisciplinary themes in the eighth grade center around four basic big ideas: Rights and Responsibilities, Resources, International Trade, and Trends in American Society. In addition, each year has a general Essential Idea that is woven into each theme. Yearlong essential ideas have included Societies, Change, Beginnings, and the most recent - Human and Non-human Systems. The ongoing questions for eighth grade - no matter what the year or what the theme - are How is it connected? and Why is it important?
As with other grades, theme approaches change each year based on student questions and current events. Certain topics are included each year, although they might be incorporated into different themes from one year to the next. Additionally, one theme always includes a strand that looks at the broad scope of history, connecting continents, centuries, and ideas. Each theme has a literature strand, with the book titles changing from year to year based on the direction of the current student questions.
Resources
During this theme, students have studied ecological systems and their impact on communities around them. They have looked at natural resources as possible causes of international conflict. They have researched a particular resource (cotton, sugar, oil, etc.) and traced its path from growth to product, charting each step and the humans it took to make these possible. Talkin' Trash, the latest theme, explores waste, energy, and resources in human and non-human systems.
International Trade
This theme often includes the historical study of trade. They have looked at the importance of trade on the rise of civilizations and the building of societies. Students have studied empires and their effects on the spread of goods and ideas, have mapped historical trade routes, and have looked at specific issues affecting the economies of countries around the world. In addition, students have participated in the Stock Market Game, have been introduced to economic terms and philosophies, and have studied the impact of trade on American domestic and foreign policy. We are planning to integrate a study of plate tectonics and geologic history to parallel our study of trade routes in our upcoming theme on trade.
Rights and Responsibilities
A public reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a cornerstone of this theme. In past years, students have chosen particular rights to research, creating interactive exhibits to be displayed at the museum and dramatic presentations to be performed at area schools. Other activities have included the study of specific conflict areas around the world, the study of literature related to human rights, and the production and publication of a book about immigrants entitled The Changing Face of North Carolina. The scientific component of this theme is currently focusing on the study of population growth, human health, and connections to our rights and responsibilities as humans.
Trends in American Society
This theme always occurs in the spring and culminates in a nine-day eighth grade road trip to Boston and Philadelphia. To prepare for the trip, students study the origins of our nation, compare trends in American art and literature throughout our history, and work on specific, "site-related" assignments that they will present during the trip. In the past, this theme has also integrated investigations of matter and energy in science. Last year we studied the transformation of potential and kinetic energy in matter and their metaphorical parallels in building a democracy. Memorable, exciting, and exhausting, the trip is a perfect opportunity for students to exhibit the skills, maturity, poise, and expertise they have acquired in their three years at Exploris.
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