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Mississippi Standards

Mississippi 8th Grade Math Standards

All 36 Mississippi math standards for 8th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Mississippi Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

36 standards

Standards for Mathematical Practice

8 standards
8.SMP.1
Plan solutions to multistep problems with linear equations, systems and geometry, persist, and check answers in the original situation.
8.SMP.2
Connect real quantities to symbols and graphs, like reading slope as cost per minute and explaining what the solution to a system means.
8.SMP.3
Build arguments about functions, transformations or the Pythagorean theorem, and test whether a classmate's reasoning and conclusions hold up.
8.SMP.4
Model real data and situations with linear functions, scatter plots and equations, like a line of best fit to predict plant growth.
8.SMP.5
Pick tools such as graphing technology, tracing paper, rulers and calculators to explore transformations, functions and scientific notation.
8.SMP.6
Use exact notation for exponents, roots and scientific notation, state units, and label graph axes and slopes clearly.
8.SMP.7
Find structure, like seeing that y = mx + b shows a rate and a starting value, or that exponent rules come from repeated multiplication.
8.SMP.8
Notice repeated reasoning, like slope staying the same between any two points on a line, and use it to write general equations.

The Number System

2 standards
8.NS.1
Tell rational numbers from irrational ones, show that a fraction's decimal ends or repeats, and turn a repeating decimal like 0.333... back into 1/3.
8.NS.2
Pin down an irrational number with decimals, like the square root of 2 is between 1.4 and 1.5, to compare such numbers and place them on a number line.

Expressions and Equations

8 standards
8.EE.1
Use the exponent rules, like 2³ × 2² = 2⁵ or 3⁻² = 1/9, to rewrite expressions with whole-number and negative exponents.
8.EE.2
Solve equations like x² = 25 or x³ = 8 with square and cube roots, find the roots of small perfect squares and cubes, and know that the square root of 2 is irrational.
8.EE.3
Estimate very large or very small amounts as a single digit times a power of 10, and tell how many times bigger one is, like 6 x 10⁹ versus 2 x 10⁷.
8.EE.4
Add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers in scientific notation, mix them with ordinary decimals, and pick sensible units for very large or very small measurements.
8.EE.5
Graph a proportional relationship, read its unit rate as the slope, and compare two such relationships shown in different ways, like a graph against an equation.
8.EE.6
Explain with similar triangles why a line's slope is the same between any two of its points, and derive the equations y = mx and y = mx + b.
8.EE.7
Solve one-variable linear equations with fractions, parentheses and like terms, and tell whether an equation has one solution, none or infinitely many.
8.EE.8
Solve a pair of linear equations in two variables by graphing or algebra, knowing the solution is where the two lines cross, and use such pairs to solve word problems.

Functions

5 standards
8.F.1
Know that a function gives exactly one output for each input, and that its graph is the set of all its input-output pairs.
8.F.2
Compare two functions given in different ways, like one as a table and one as an equation, to see which has the greater rate of change.
8.F.3
Recognize y = mx + b as a linear function whose graph is a straight line, and give examples of nonlinear ones, like the area of a square A = s².
8.F.4
Write a linear function for a real situation, find its rate of change and starting value from a description, table, graph or two points, and explain what they mean.
8.F.5
Describe what a graph shows about two quantities, like where it rises, falls or curves, and sketch a graph from a verbal description.

Geometry

9 standards
8.G.1
Check with tracing paper or software that sliding, turning or flipping a figure keeps its side lengths, angles and parallel lines unchanged.
8.G.2
Know that two figures are congruent when one can be moved onto the other by slides, turns and flips, and describe the moves that do it.
8.G.3
Describe what happens to a figure's coordinates when it is slid, turned, flipped or scaled up or down.
8.G.4
Know that two figures are similar when slides, turns, flips and a resize can map one onto the other, and describe the sequence that does it.
8.G.5
Argue informally why a triangle's angles add to 180 degrees, which angles match when a line crosses parallel lines, and why two equal angles make triangles similar.
8.G.6
Explain a proof that a² + b² = c² in every right triangle, and that a triangle whose sides fit that rule must be a right triangle.
8.G.7
Use the Pythagorean theorem to find a missing side of a right triangle in real problems, flat or in three dimensions, like the diagonal of a box.
8.G.8
Find the distance between two points on a coordinate grid by treating it as the long side of a right triangle.
8.G.9
Use the volume formulas for cylinders, cones and spheres to solve real problems, like how much a can or an ice cream cone holds.

Statistics and Probability

4 standards
8.SP.1
Make a scatter plot of two measurements, like height and shoe size, and describe clusters, outliers and whether the points trend up, down, in a line or in a curve.
8.SP.2
Draw a straight line of best fit by eye through a scatter plot that looks linear, and judge how well it fits by how close the points sit to it.
8.SP.3
Solve problems with a line's equation fit to two-variable measurement data, and explain what its slope and y-intercept mean, like cm of growth per hour of sunlight.
8.SP.4
Organize yes-or-no data about two things, like curfews and chores, in a two-way table and use row or column percentages to see whether the two are linked.

The official Mississippi documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Mississippi's standards, not the official wording, which Mississippi Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.