CBSE Class 8 Science: Syllabus, Chapters & Sample Practice

The Living World & Environment

• Ch 2 The Invisible Living World: Beyond Our Naked Eye

  Microorganisms too small to see; how the microscope reveals them and how they affect living things.

• Ch 3 Health: The Ultimate Treasure

  What keeps us healthy; how the body responds to infection and the role of diet, hygiene and lifestyle.

• Ch 12 How Nature Works in Harmony

  How living things and their surroundings depend on one another, and the balance of relationships in nature.

• Ch 13 Our Home: Earth, a Unique Life Sustaining Planet

  What makes Earth able to support life, and how its conditions sustain living things.

Matter & Its Nature

• Ch 7 Particulate Nature of Matter

  Matter is made of tiny particles; using the particle idea to explain the states of matter and their behaviour.

• Ch 8 Nature of Matter: Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures

  Classifying matter into elements, compounds and mixtures, and how elements combine to form compounds.

• Ch 9 The Amazing World of Solutes, Solvents, and Solutions

  Solutes, solvents and solutions; how substances dissolve, solubility, and why water is a good solvent.

The Physical World & Beyond

• Ch 1 Exploring the Investigative World of Science

  Science as investigation — asking focused questions, designing simple experiments and using observation skills.

• Ch 4 Electricity: Magnetic and Heating Effects

  The magnetic and heating effects of electric current; electromagnets and how appliances generate heat.

• Ch 5 Exploring Forces

  Forces and their effects, including friction and gravity, and why it is harder to pedal uphill or easy to slip.

• Ch 6 Pressure, Winds, Storms, and Cyclones

  Air pressure, and how differences in pressure give rise to winds, storms and cyclones.

• Ch 10 Light: Mirrors and Lenses

  How mirrors and lenses form images; plane and curved mirrors and lenses and their everyday uses.

• Ch 11 Keeping Time with the Skies

  How the movements of the Moon and Sun are used to measure days, months and years and to make calendars.

Point to the Method

Names the idea to reach for (e.g. "Think about the force that gives your feet grip on the floor") without giving the answer.

Guided Reasoning Prompt

Prompts the key step (e.g. "Does a wet surface increase or reduce the grip between your feet and the floor?").

Complete Worked Solution

Shows the full step-by-step reasoning and explains why the answer is correct.

Investigate, Don’t Just Memorise

Curiosity asks you to question and test ideas — try to explain why something happens, which is exactly the thinking secondary science will expect.

Do the Activities Yourself

Hands-on activities with circuits, forces, mixtures and mirrors make the ideas stick far better than only reading about them.

Practise a Little, Often

Short, regular revision of each chapter keeps the ideas fresh; topic-by-topic practice shows what is secure and what needs another look.

How many chapters are in the CBSE Class 8 Science syllabus?

The NCERT Class 8 Science book "Curiosity" has 13 chapters, from Exploring the Investigative World of Science through to Our Home: Earth, a Unique Life Sustaining Planet. Always confirm the current list with NCERT or your school.

What is the Class 8 Science NCERT book called?

It is "Curiosity", the Class 8 Science book written for the NCF-SE 2023 curriculum, which replaced the older NCERT Class 8 Science textbook. It is an integrated course covering biology, chemistry, physics and earth science.

Is there a board exam in CBSE Class 8?

No. Class 8 is assessed through school-based internal assessment, not a board examination — board exams begin at Class 10. Class 8 is the final middle-stage year and prepares students for secondary-stage science in Class 9.

What topics does Class 8 Science cover?

The invisible living world and health, electricity, forces, pressure and cyclones, the particulate nature of matter, elements, compounds and mixtures, solutions, light, keeping time with the skies, how nature works in harmony, and Earth as a life-sustaining planet.