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Year 8 · Science · Science understanding

AC9S8U02

analyse the relationship between structure and function of cells, tissues and organs in a plant and an animal organ system and explain how these systems enable survival of the individual

The content description above is Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)’s own wording, reproduced unmodified from the Australian Curriculum v9.0, read in August 2026, and licensed CC BY 4.0.

© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2010 to present, unless otherwise indicated. This material was downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website and was not modified. ACARA does not endorse this product and is not affiliated with it.

Taught alongside it

The rest of Science understanding in Year 8.

AC9S8U01

recognise cells as the basic units of living things, compare plant and animal cells, and describe the functions of specialised cell structures and organelles

AC9S8U03

investigate tectonic activity including the formation of geological features at divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries and describe the scientific evidence for the theory of plate tectonics

AC9S8U04

describe the key processes of the rock cycle, including the timescales over which they occur, and examine how the properties of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks reflect their formation and influence their use

AC9S8U05

classify different types of energy as kinetic or potential and investigate energy transfer and transformations in simple systems

AC9S8U06

classify matter as elements, compounds or mixtures and compare different representations of these, including 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional models, symbols for elements and formulas for molecules and compounds

AC9S8U07

compare physical and chemical changes and identify indicators of energy change in chemical reactions

The same idea, year by year

Where AC9S8U02 comes from and where it goes, for a student working below or above Year 8.

  1. Year 7AC9S7U01investigate the role of classification in ordering and organising the diversity of life on Earth and use and develop classification tools including dichotomous keys
  2. Year 7AC9S7U02use models, including food webs, to represent matter and energy flow in ecosystems and predict the impact of changing abiotic and biotic factors on populations
  3. Year 7AC9S7U03model cyclic changes in the relative positions of the Earth, sun and moon and explain how these cycles cause eclipses and influence predictable phenomena on Earth, including seasons and tides
  4. Year 7AC9S7U04investigate and represent balanced and unbalanced forces, including gravitational force, acting on objects, and relate changes in an object’s motion to its mass and the magnitude and direction of forces acting on it
  5. Year 7AC9S7U05use particle theory to describe the arrangement of particles in a substance, including the motion of and attraction between particles, and relate this to the properties of the substance
  6. Year 7AC9S7U06use a particle model to describe differences between pure substances and mixtures and apply understanding of properties of substances to separate mixtures
  7. Year 9AC9S9U01compare the role of body systems in regulating and coordinating the body’s response to a stimulus, and describe the operation of a negative feedback mechanism
  8. Year 9AC9S9U02describe the form and function of reproductive cells and organs in animals and plants, and analyse how the processes of sexual and asexual reproduction enable survival of the species
  9. Year 9AC9S9U03represent the carbon cycle and examine how key processes including combustion, photosynthesis and respiration rely on interactions between Earth’s spheres (the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere)
  10. Year 9AC9S9U04use wave and particle models to describe energy transfer through different mediums and examine the usefulness of each model for explaining phenomena
  11. Year 9AC9S9U05apply the law of conservation of energy to analyse system efficiency in terms of energy inputs, outputs, transfers and transformations
  12. Year 9AC9S9U06explain how the model of the atom changed following the discovery of electrons, protons and neutrons and describe how natural radioactive decay results in stable atoms
  13. Year 9AC9S9U07model the rearrangement of atoms in chemical reactions using a range of representations, including word and simple balanced chemical equations, and use these to demonstrate the law of conservation of mass

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