The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has two major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents lists by Roman numeral the units covered in grade 8. Each unit is organized into topics that describe further the content of the grade level. The smallest organizers in the table of contents are the student outcomes that describe in detail what students are expected to learn about each topic. After each outcome, a page number directs the reader to a classroom activity (or activities) that addresses the specific outcome. The second and largest component of the guide consists of classroom activities. Each activity begins with identifiers that summarize and introduce the activities. The identifiers are the Unit, Topic, and Outcome(s) addressed by the activity. Each activity contains a background section that provides teachers with information they may need to teach the activity effectively. Following the background, all materials needed for the activity are listed in a section entitled "Materials." Procedures for implementing the activity are outlined next. In some cases, extensions of an activity or source for an activity appear after the section on procedures. In addition, this curriculum guide include appendices that provide statements concerning classroom environment, Alabama's law relating to safety goggles, and the National Science Teachers Association position statements that address the issues of use of animals in the classroom, liability of teachers for lab safety and field trips, use of the metric system, science for the handicapped, and the importance of earth science education. Units include the following: (1) "Introduction--Scientific Investigations vs. Application, Metric System, Career Opportunities, and Laboratory Safety"; (2) "The Universe Overview"; (3) "Stars"; (4) "Our Solar System"; (5) "Space Exploration"; (6) "Earth"; and (7) Current Trends in Earth and Space Science." (KR)