8th grade Science.

[Anonymous]

What is included in 8th grade science? Kid goes to Fairfax High.

[Anonymous]

Eighth grade isn't high school.

But eighth grade science is physical science (intro chemistry and physics)

[Anonymous]

Are you worried that your rising 9th grader may have missed something in 8th grade because you are new to FCPS?
If this is the case, 8th-grade science is an intense introduction to Chemistry and Physics. The Chem intro is essential as students take Biology in 9th grade and there is a lot of Chem in the BioChemistry part of Bio.

source - I taught 8th-grade science in FCPS for 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you worried that your rising 9th grader may have missed something in 8th grade because you are new to FCPS?
If this is the case, 8th-grade science is an intense introduction to Chemistry and Physics. The Chem intro is essential as students take Biology in 9th grade and there is a lot of Chem in the BioChemistry part of Bio.

source - I taught 8th-grade science in FCPS for 10 years.

DP. Thank you so much for the info. Will you please recommend some textbooks?

[Anonymous]

DP. The Quarterly Overview of Grade 8 Science and the VDOE Standards of Learning Grade 8 Science describe the concepts that were taught:

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/middle/science/grade-8-physical-science#overview

https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/23717/638043832145330000

https://www.doe.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/15768/638035153395770000

Not sure what textbook, if any, Katherine Johnson MS Grade 8 Science uses. I think the county used to use Holt's Physical Science textbook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you worried that your rising 9th grader may have missed something in 8th grade because you are new to FCPS?
If this is the case, 8th-grade science is an intense introduction to Chemistry and Physics. The Chem intro is essential as students take Biology in 9th grade and there is a lot of Chem in the BioChemistry part of Bio.

source - I taught 8th-grade science in FCPS for 10 years.

DP. Thank you so much for the info. Will you please recommend some textbooks?

FCPS mostly uses its own lab books as the text for this course. Each student will be given lab books that they write in over the course of the year. They focus on Matter and Energy (which is the actual name of the course). Officially, the county still uses the Holt Physical Science book but many teachers only use classroom copies of the book and don't give out student copies as they are rarely used. Do you want a recommendation of a book to get a jump start on the course or to review for a rising 9th grader? In either case, there really isn't a book that you could use that would teach your student the full 8th-grade curriculum as it is a heavily lab-based course.

[Anonymous]

I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses. You are better off looking at their program of studies. The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools. 10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed. The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher will likely give them full access to any slide shows. More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses. You are better off looking at their program of studies. The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools. 10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed. The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher will likely give them full access to any slide shows. More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.

You don’t get it. Kids don’t learn well from online slide shows. We need real text.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses. You are better off looking at their program of studies. The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools. 10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed. The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher will likely give them full access to any slide shows. More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.

You don’t get it. Kids don’t learn well from online slide shows. We need real text.

Clearly you don’t get it, the PP is saying this is NOT an accurate reflection/resource for the curriculum. There may only be 1-2 units where this textbook would apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses. You are better off looking at their program of studies. The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools. 10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed. The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher will likely give them full access to any slide shows. More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.

You don’t get it. Kids don’t learn well from online slide shows. We need real text.

And this is my teachers don’t respond to parents unless a question is directly asked… you all are crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should have said "officially the county MIGHT still use the Holt Physical Science book" but when I left the county in 2015 we were already to the point of only using it as a classroom supplement at many schools.

There are a couple different editions. Does it matter which one? Thanks.

Yes it does matter. There are multiple editions and levels of this book. If you really want to know what book they are using contact your middle school and ask to speak with the chair of the science department. Given that it's summer you might not get an immediate response but at least you will know who to email.
As I said though, having this book is really not all that helpful. The bulk of this course is really based on the lab books and curriculum that the county produces. There is no way to get these books before your kid is in the course (or after they would have been enrolled if you missed 8th grade). You cannot learn this curriculum from a Physical Science textbook.
I'm still curious what your rationale is for wanting this book.

I’m a DP from the OP who is also interested in obtaining a text book. We prefer hard copies of textbooks at home to use as reference. Really helps me (parent) with background knowledge so I can re explain stuff to my kid before a quiz or test. He doesn’t absorb everything from the verbal discussions and slide shows.

the issue here is that the Holt Physical Science book (if they even still use it) doesn't really follow the curriculum that FCPS uses. You are better off looking at their program of studies. The FCPS 8th grade curriculum is quite advanced - I would argue that it matches a 10th grade chem class in a lot of schools. 10 years ago we were covering topics that were beyond what is necessary for 8th graders and based on what my kid did in his class just a few years ago I would say that hasn't changed. The lab books that the county issues have a lot of information in them and your child's teacher will likely give them full access to any slide shows. More and more, textbooks are simply a thing of the past.

You don’t get it. Kids don’t learn well from online slide shows. We need real text.

Clearly you don’t get it, the PP is saying this is NOT an accurate reflection/resource for the curriculum. There may only be 1-2 units where this textbook would apply.

Really glad someone read the whole post and understands what I was saying about the textbook.
Just because school looks different from how parents learned 30 or 40 years ago doesn't mean it doesn't work.