Grade 8 Health NJSLS Standards

Dependency, Substances Disorder and Treatment

Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs

Health Conditions, Diseases and Medicines

Personal Safety

Nutrition

Lifelong Fitness

Physical Fitness

Movement Skills and Concepts

Community Health Services and Support

Social and Sexual Health

Emotional Health

Pregnancy and Parenting

Personal Growth and Development

Personal and Mental Health

Identify professionals at school and in the community available to assist with health conditions and emergencies, sexual health services, life skills training and describe how they can be accessed (e.g., suicide prevention, CPR/AED, breast self-examination, traumatic stress).

Describe the state and federal laws related to age of consent, minors’ ability to consent to health care, confidentiality in a healthcare setting, child pornography, sexting, safe haven and sex trafficking.

Identify the state and federal laws related to minors' access to sexual healthcare services, including pregnancy and STIs/HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment.

Identify community resources and/or other sources of support, such as trusted adults, including family members, caregivers, and school staff, that students can go to if they are or someone they know is being sexually harassed, abused, assaulted, exploited, or trafficked.

Identify medically accurate sources of information about STIs, including HIV, such as local STIs /HIV prevention, steps to obtain PrEP and PEP, testing, and treatment resources.

Develop an advocacy plan regarding a health issue and share this information in an appropriate setting.

Collaborate with other students to develop a strategy to address health issues related to climate change.

Analyze difficult situations that might lead to feelings sadness, anxiety and or depression and identify individuals, agencies or places in the community where assistance may be available.

Compare and contrast stress management strategies that are used to address various types of stress-induced situations (e.g., academics, family, personal relationships, finances, celebrations, violence).

Analyze how personal attributes, resiliency, and protective factors support mental and emotional health.

Explain how appropriate health care can promote personal health.

Analyze how genetics and family history can impact personal health.

Describe the human reproductive systems, the external and internal body parts and their functions, and the natural variations that exist in human bodies.

Analyze the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health.

Describe pregnancy testing, the signs of pregnancy, and pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption.

Summarize the stages of pregnancy from fertilization to birth.

Identify prenatal practices that support a healthy pregnancy and identify where to find medically accurate sources of information about prenatal care.

Predict challenges that may be faced by adolescent parents and their families.

Identify resources to assist with parenting.

Differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

Identify short and long-term contraception and safer sex methods that are effective and describe how to access and use them (e.g., abstinence, condom).

Develop a plan to eliminate or reduce risk of unintended pregnancy and STIs (including HIV).

Develop a plan for the school to promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations in the school community.

Demonstrate communication skills that will support healthy relationships

Compare and contrast the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships.

Analyze the similarities and differences between friendships, romantic relationships and sexual relationships.

Examine how culture influences the way families cope with traumatic situations, crisis, and change.

Identify factors that are important in deciding whether and when to engage in sexual behaviors.

Identify factors that can affect the ability to give or perceive consent to sexual activity (e.g., body image, self-esteem, alcohol, other substances).

Define vaginal, oral, and anal sex.

Physical Wellness

Develop and build an effective movement and physical fitness vocabulary for self, peers, and family members that can enhance wellness.

Explain the importance of assuming responsibility for personal health behaviors through physical activity throughout one’s lifetime.

Explore by leading self and others to experience and participate in different cultures' physical fitness activities.

Identify and recognize factors that generate positive emotions from participating in movement and physical fitness activities.

Engages in a variety of physical activities (e.g., aerobic-fitness, strengthen, endurance-fitness activities) using technology and cross-training, and lifetime activities.

Develop a strategy to overcome barriers that allows for a visit in the community that promotes physical activities.

Evaluate personal attributes as they relate to career options in physical activity and health professions.

Explain and demonstrate the transition of movement skills from isolated settings (e.g., skill practice) into applied settings (e.g., games, sports, dance, recreational activities).

Demonstrate control of motion in relationship between force, flow, time, and space in interactive dynamic environments.

Create and demonstrate planned movement sequences, individually and with others, based on tempo, beat, rhythm, music, and physical activities (e.g., creative, cultural, social, fitness aerobics, dance, yoga).

Analyze, and correct movements and apply to refine movement skills.

Predict the impact of rules, etiquette, procedures, and sportsmanship on players' behavior in small groups and large teams during physical activities and games.

Demonstrate offensive, defensive, and cooperative strategies in a variety of games and settings.

Effectively manage emotions during physical activity (e.g., anger, frustration, excitement) in a safe manner to self and others.

Analyze how culture, health status, age and access to healthy foods can influence personal eating habits.

Identify skills and healthy behaviors that can support adolescents in losing, gaining, or maintaining healthy weights.

Design sample nutritional plans for families with different lifestyles, resources, special needs, and cultural backgrounds; then consider the similarities and differences among the plans.

Assess personal nutritional health and consider opportunities to improve health and performance (e.g., sports drinks, supplements, balance nutrition).

Summarize the short and long-term physical, social, mental, and emotional health benefits of regular physical fitness activity.

Recognize and involve others of all ability levels into a physical activity.

Execute the primary principals of training (FITT) and technology for the purpose of modifying personal levels of fitness (e.g., pedometers, heart rate monitors, health tracking systems, wearable technology, virtual classes, exergames).

Implement and assess the effectiveness of a fitness plan based on health data, the assessment of one's personal fitness levels and monitor health/fitness indicators before, during, and after the workout program.

Use evidence to predict how factors such as health status, body composition, interests, environmental conditions, healthy eating, anabolic steroids, physical activity, and lifestyle behaviors impact personal fitness and health.

Safety

Examine how the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by adolescents has impacted their lives and the lives of family members socially, emotionally, and physically.

Relate the use of alcohol and other drugs to decision-making, consent, and risk for sexual assault and abuse.

Determine the factors that contribute to different rules, laws, and policies in schools, communities, and states regarding alcohol, tobacco (including e-cigarettes, vaping, cannabis products), and other drugs.

Explain the impact of alcohol and other drugs on areas of the brain that control vision, sleep, coordination, reaction time, judgment, and memory.

Analyze how the influence of peers and different social settings (e.g., home, school, party) can result in positive and/or negative outcomes.

Summarize the signs and symptoms of alcohol, tobacco, and drug disorders.

Compare and contrast the various services that are available for individuals affected by substance disorders in the community and at the state level.

Determine the impact that alcohol and drugs can have on an individual’s social, emotional, and physical well-being.

Examine how alcohol and drug disorders can impact the social, emotional, and physical lives of friends and family members.

Compare and contrast the various services that are available for family members and others affected by substance disorders in the community and at the state level.

Justify how the use of universal precautions, sanitation and waste disposal, proper food handling and storage, and environmental controls can prevent diseases and health conditions.

Determine the role of genetics in being susceptible to disease and health conditions and identify the types of behavior that might reduce the risk factors.

Describe behaviors which may contribute to or prevent a person from being susceptible to disease and illness (e.g., cardiovascular, stroke, hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, HPV, testicular cancer).

Describe the signs, symptoms, and potential impacts of STIs (including HIV).

Compare and contrast behaviors, including abstinence, to determine the potential risk of pregnancy and/or STIs (including HIV) transmission.

Explain how the immune system fights disease.

Explain how certain methods of disease prevention, treatment strategies, and appropriate medicine use promote health-enhancing behaviors.

Assess the degree of risk in a variety of situations, and identify strategies needed to reduce deliberate and non-deliberate injuries to self and others (e.g., digital safety, sexting, dating violence, domestic violence, gang violence, human trafficking, nonconsensual sexual encounters, other threats of violence).

Define sexual consent and sexual agency.

Define interpersonal and sexual violence and describe their impacts on sexual health (e.g., sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse, incest, rape, domestic violence, coercion, dating violence).

Describe strategies that sex traffickers/exploiters employ to recruit youth.

Determine the effectiveness of laws designed to keep children and adolescents healthy and safe (e.g., consent, child pornography, human trafficking, parental notification, drugs).

Demonstrate strategies to use social media safely, legally, and respectfully (e.g., sexting, sextortion).

Evaluate the impact of technology and social media on relationships (e.g., consent, communication, respect).