KINDERGARTEN



Wachusett regional school district

science curriculum guide

Units of study: Progression of “big ideas”

|K |1 |2 |

|Life Science |

|What does it mean to be a living thing? |How do animals survive? |How do plants survive? |

|Earth Science |

|What is the Earth made of? |What are Earth’s patterns? |What makes Earth’s patterns unique? |

|Physical Science |

|How do we distinguish objects and |How do objects move? |What are the characteristics of objects and|

|materials? | |materials? |

|Engineering |

|How do we use tools and machines? |How do tools and machines help us? |How do tools and machines help us? |

|3 |4 |5 |

|Life Science |

|How do animals change? |How do plants change? |How do plants and animals change to |

| | |survive? |

|Earth Science |

|How is Earth unique in our solar system? |How does the Earth change? |What are the patterns of change on Earth? |

|Physical Science |

|How can properties of materials change? |What is energy? |How can energy cause change? |

|Engineering |

|What is the design process? |What is the design process? |What is the design process? |

Using this document

The science curriculum is organized so that there are four instructional units per grade level. Each grade level teaches one unit in each of the following domains found in the frameworks:

Life science

Earth science

Physical science

Technology/engineering (integrated into the domains above)

Why is the curriculum organized this way?

By providing instruction in four science units per year, we accomplish the following:

Spiraling of important concepts to develop in-depth understanding (four domains are revisited every year)

Time to achieve the desired competency level at each grade (with only four units taught per year)

Opportunities to integrate other subject areas and plan curriculum strategically

Time to facilitate a high level of inquiry and hands-on exploration

The first section of the document shows the spiraling of each of the four domains throughout the grade levels (e.g., How does life science spiral through each of the grades?). The second section provides an overview of the year at a glance by grade (e.g., What do we teach throughout the year in Kindergarten?).

What about curriculum materials developed prior to this document?

When the Science Administrative Curriculum Team examined the existing curricula, it was apparent that a spiral already existed. However, some gaps were evident while other areas were revisited frequently. Dividing all grade levels into four units of study allowed the team to address the gaps and equalize time spent on the four domains. In most cases, the team was able to preserve the major units already in place at various grade levels. This allows us to continue to use the curriculum materials developed and disseminated during the last few years. In some cases, it was necessary to move units of study to new grade levels in order to achieve the four-unit organizational structure. For those instances, it may be necessary to move previously developed curriculum materials to new grade levels. New curriculum materials will continue to be developed as we learn more about science instruction and the needs of our students. As with all curriculum areas, our resources will continue to expand.

How do we connect this document with existing curriculum materials?

Use this guide to determine which domains and standards are recommended for each grade level. Match these with existing curriculum materials, or redistribute curriculum materials among grade levels. For example, on page 7 of this document, standards associated with the solar system have been assigned to grade three under the Earth Science domain. This correlates with the curriculum resource binder titled Earth and Our Solar System, disseminated in 2009. The binder provides you with resources to support your instruction around this topic.

What additional support will be provided?

As we move through the phases of the multi-year curriculum plan, we will continue to develop resources and provide professional development in science, as well as other subject areas. Resources will include additional lesson samples, ideas for hands-on inquiry, and teaching tools.

Table of contents

Curriculum overview by domain………………………………………………………..5

life science………………………………………………………………………………...6

earth science …………………………………………………………………………….9

physical science………………………………………………………………………..11

technology/engineering…………………………………………………………..13

curriculum overview by grade………………………………………………………...14

kindergarten……………………………………………………………………………15

grade one………………………………………………………………………………….16

grade two…………………………………………………………………………………17

grade three………………………………………………………………………………18

grade four………………………………………………………………………………..19

grade five…………………………………………………………………………………20

Curriculum overview by Domain

Life science

|Kindergarten: What does it mean to be a living thing? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and nonliving things |Animal |Non-living |Emergent |

|according to the characteristics that they share. |Characteristics |Plants | |

| |Living |Grow | |

|Essential Question: What can fossils tell us about the Earth’s history? |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited the earth |Extinct |Emergent |

|years ago. |Fossil | |

|Essential Question: What are the five senses and how do our senses help us interact with our environment? |

|Recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through their senses of |Observe |Emergent |

|sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. |Senses | |

|Grade one: How do Animals survive? |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and nonliving things |Animal |Non-living |Developing |

|according to the characteristics that they share. |Characteristics |Plants | |

| |Living |Grow | |

|Essential Question: What do animals need to survive? |

|Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and|Ecosystem |Developing |

|need food, air, and water. |Food web | |

| |Growth | |

| |Habitat | |

| |Needs | |

| |Observe | |

|Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs (plants require | | |

|air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and shelter). | | |

|Essential Question: How do animals change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different |Adaptation |Heredity |Developing |

|living things. |Characteristics |Life cycle | |

| |Ecosystem |Needs | |

| |Extinction |Offspring | |

| |Fossil |Parents | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

| |Habitat |Traits | |

|Describe ways in which many plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed | | | |

|appearance. | | | |

|Recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the seasons change. | | | |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited the earth | | | |

|years ago. | | | |

|Grade Two: How do plants survive? |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and nonliving things |Living |Secure |

|according to the characteristics that they share. |Non-living | |

| |Characteristics | |

|Essential Question: What do plants need to survive? |

|Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, |Adaptation |Habitat |Developing |

|and need food, air, and water. |Characteristics |Heredity | |

| |Ecosystem |Life cycle | |

| |Food chain |Needs | |

| |Food web |Photosynthesis | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

|Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs (plants require | | | |

|air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and shelter). | | | |

|Essential Question: How do plants change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different |Adaptation |Heredity |Developing |

|living things. |Characteristics |Life cycle | |

| |Ecosystem |Needs | |

| |Extinction |Offspring | |

| |Fossil |Parents | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

| |Habitat |Traits | |

|Describe ways in which many plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed | | | |

|appearance. | | | |

|Recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the seasons change. | | | |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited the earth| | | |

|years ago. | | | |

|Grade Three: How do animals Change? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What characteristics distinguish animals? |

|Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they |Animal |Secure |

|share. |Characteristics | |

| |Classify | |

|Essential Question: How do animals change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include |Characteristics |Metamorphosis |Secure |

|birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death. |Classify |Migration | |

| |Food web |Movement | |

| |Genes |Needs | |

| |Growth |Offspring | |

| |Habitat |Organism | |

| |Heredity |Parents | |

| |Inherit |Species | |

| |Inherited characteristics |Survival | |

| |Instinct |Traits | |

| |Life cycle | | |

|Describe the major stages that characterize the life cycle of the frog and | | | |

|butterfly as they go through metamorphosis. | | | |

|Differentiate between observed characteristics of plants and animals that are fully| | | |

|inherited (e.g., color of flower, shape of leaves, color of eyes, number of | | | |

|appendages) and characteristics that are affected by the climate or environment | | | |

|(e.g., browning of leaves due to too much sun, language spoken). | | | |

|Grade Four: How do plants change? |

|Essential Question: What characteristics distinguish plants? |

|Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they |Plant |Secure |

|share. |Characteristics | |

| |Classify | |

|Essential Question: What structures and functions help a plant survive? |

|Identify the structures in plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stem, bark, wood) that are responsible for food production, support, water transport, reproduction, growth, and |

|protection. |

|Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death. |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How do plants and animals adapt in order to survive? |

|Give examples of how inherited characteristics may change over time as adaptations to changes in the environment that enable organisms to survive, e.g., shape of beak or|

|feet, placement of eyes on head, shape of teeth, color. |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What is the Earth made of? |

|Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on the earth’s |Earth |Plants |Emergent |

|surface. |Soil |Living | |

| |Rocks |Non-living | |

| |Animals | | |

|Grade one: What are earth’s patterns? |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Understand that air is a mixture of gases that is all around us and that wind is |Air |Night |Developing |

|moving air. |Atmosphere |Precipitation | |

| |Clouds |Patterns | |

| |Day |Sun | |

| |Earth |Seasons | |

| |Heat |Temperature | |

| |Gas |Weather | |

| |Light |Wind | |

|Describe the weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. | | | |

|Grade two: What makes earth’s patterns unique? |

|Essential Question: What makes Earth unique in our solar system? |

|Recognize that the sun supplies heat and light to the earth and is necessary for |Day |Radiant energy |Secure |

|life. |Earth |Sun | |

| |Heat |Temperature | |

| |Light |Weather | |

| |Night | | |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Identify some events around us that have repeating patterns, including the seasons |Day |Revolve |Developing |

|of the year, day and night. |Earth |Rotate | |

| |Moon phases |Sun | |

| |Night |Seasons | |

| |Precipitation |Temperature | |

| |Patterns |Weather | |

| |Revolution | | |

|Grade three: How is earth unique in our solar system? |

|Essential Question: What makes Earth unique in our solar system? |

|Recognize that the earth is part of a system called the “solar system” that |Atmosphere |Revolution |Secure |

|includes the sun (a star), planets, and many moons. The earth is the third planet |Axis |Revolve | |

|from the sun in our solar system. |Day |Rotate | |

| |Earth |Rotation | |

| |Galaxy |Seasons | |

| |Gravitational pull |Solar eclipse | |

| |Lunar eclipse |Solar system | |

| |Moon phases |Stars | |

| |Night |Sun | |

| |Orbit |Tilt | |

| |Patterns |Universe | |

| |Planets | | |

|Recognize that the earth revolves around (orbits) the sun in a year’s time and that| | | |

|the earth rotates on its axis once approximately every 24 hours. Make connections | | | |

|between the rotation of the earth and day/night, and the apparent movement of the | | | |

|sun, moon, and stars across the sky. | | | |

|Describe the changes that occur in the observable shape of the moon over the course| | | |

|of a month. | | | |

|Grade four: How does the earth change? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What is the Earth made of? |

|Give a simple explanation of what a mineral is and some examples, e.g., quartz, mica. |

|Explain and give examples of the ways in which soil is formed (the weathering of rock by water and wind and from the decomposition of plant and animal remains). |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Explain how air temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction, and |Air |Heat transfer |Secure |

|precipitation make up the weather in a particular place and time. |Atmosphere |Precipitation | |

| |Clouds |Patterns | |

| |Cloud cover |Seasons | |

| |Cloud type |Sun | |

| |Condensation |Temperature | |

| |Evaporation |Water cycle | |

| |Gas |Weather | |

| |Heat |Wind | |

|Distinguish among the various forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and | | | |

|hail), making connections to the weather in a particular place and time. | | | |

|Describe how global patterns such as the jet stream and water currents | | | |

|influence local weather in measurable terms such as temperature, wind | | | |

|direction and speed, and precipitation. | | | |

|Differentiate between weather and climate. | | | |

|Describe how water on earth cycles in different forms and in different | | | |

|locations, including underground and in the atmosphere. | | | |

|Give examples of how the cycling of water, both in and out of the atmosphere,| | | |

|has an effect on climate. | | | |

|Essential Question: How does the Earth change? |

|Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering, and rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and |

|earthquakes. |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Sort objects by observable properties such as size, shape, color, weight, and |Classify |Sort |Emergent |

|texture. |Color |Size | |

| |Compare |Shape | |

| |Describe |Texture | |

|Grade one: How do objects move? |

|Essential Question: How do objects move? |

|Describe the various ways that objects can move, such as in a straight line, |Balanced |Pull |Developing |

|zigzag, back-and-forth, round-and-round, fast, and slow. |Compare |Predict | |

| |Direction |Rolling | |

| |Distance |Size | |

| |Hypothesis |Shape | |

| |Motion |Speed | |

| |Push | | |

|Demonstrate that the way to change the motion of an object is to apply a force | | | |

|(give it a push or a pull). The greater the force, the greater the change in the | | | |

|motion of the object. | | | |

|Recognize that under some conditions, objects can be balanced. | | | |

|Grade two:What are the characteristics of objects and materials? |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Identify objects and materials as solid, liquid, or gas. Recognize that solids |Classify |Liquid |Secure |

|have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of their |Compare |Matter | |

|container. |Cups |Melt | |

| |Describe |Solid | |

| |Gas |Volume | |

|Grade three: How can properties of materials change? |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Differentiate between properties of objects (e.g., size, shape, weight) and |Classify |Liquid |Secure |

|properties of materials (e.g., color, texture, hardness). |Compare |Matter | |

| |Contrast |Melt | |

| |Cups |Molecule | |

| |Describe |Properties | |

| |Evaporate |Solid | |

| |Freeze |Snow | |

| |Gas |States of matter | |

| |Hail |Transfer | |

| |Heat |Volume | |

| |Ice | | |

|Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and gases based on the basic properties of | | | |

|each of these states of matter. | | | |

|Describe how water can be changed from one state to another by adding or taking | | | |

|away heat. | | | |

|Grade four: What is energy? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What is energy? |

|Identify the basic forms of energy (light, sound, heat, electrical, and magnetic). Recognize that energy is the ability to cause motion or create change. |

|Essential Question: What is energy? |

|Give examples of how energy can be transferred from one form to another. |Attract |Matter |Secure |

| |Battery |Magnetic energy | |

| |Circuit |Magnet | |

| |Conductor |Motion | |

| |Current electricity |Parallel circuit | |

| |Electricity |Potential energy | |

| |Energy |Repel | |

| |Forces |Series circuit | |

| |Friction |Sound | |

| |Insulator |Static electricity| |

| |Kinetic energy |Transfer | |

| |Light |Vibrate | |

|Recognize that electricity in circuits requires a complete loop through which | | | |

|an electrical current can pass, and that electricity can produce light, heat, | | | |

|and sound. | | | |

|Identify and classify objects and materials that conduct electricity and | | | |

|objects and materials that are insulators of electricity. | | | |

|Explain how electromagnets can be made, and give examples of how they can be | | | |

|used. | | | |

|Recognize that magnets have poles that repel and attract each other. | | | |

|Identify and classify objects and materials that a magnet will attract and | | | |

|objects and materials that a magnet will not attract. | | | |

|Recognize that sound is produced by vibrating objects and requires a medium | | | |

|through which to travel. Relate the rate of vibration to the pitch of the | | | |

|sound. | | | |

Technology/Engineering

|Kindergarten: How do we use tools and Machines? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How do living things use tools? |

|Describe how human beings use parts of the body as tools (e.g., teeth for cutting, hands for grasping and catching), and compare their use with the ways in which animals use |

|those parts of their bodies. |

|Essential Question: How do simple machines make work easier? |

|Identify tools and simple machines used for a specific purpose, e.g., ramp, wheel, pulley, lever. |

|Essential Question: How can we use tools and materials to solve problems? |

|Identify and describe characteristics of natural materials (e.g., wood, |Characteristics | |Developing |

|cotton, fur, wool) and human-made materials (e.g., plastic, Styrofoam). |Human-made | | |

| |Materials | | |

| |Natural | | |

| |Tools | | |

|Identify and explain some possible uses for natural materials (e.g., wood, | | | |

|cotton, fur, wool) and human-made materials (e.g., plastic, Styrofoam). | | | |

|Identify and describe the safe and proper use of tools and materials (e.g., | | | |

|glue, scissors, tape, ruler, paper, toothpicks, straws, spools) to construct | | | |

|simple structures. | | | |

|Grade Three: What is the design process? |

|Essential Question: How can materials affect the solution in the design process? |

|Identify materials used to accomplish a design task based on a specific |Characteristics |Material |Secure |

|property, e.g., strength, hardness, and flexibility. |Design |Property | |

| | |Tool | |

|Grade Four: What is the design process? |

|Essential Question: How can the design process be used to solve a problem? |

|Identify a problem that reflects the need for shelter, storage, or |Convenience |Prototype |Secure |

|convenience. |Design |Shelter | |

| |Features |Solution | |

| |Problem |Storage | |

|Describe different ways in which a problem can be represented, e.g., sketches,| | | |

|diagrams, graphic organizers, and lists. | | | |

|Identify relevant design features (e.g., size, shape, weight) for building a | | | |

|prototype of a solution to a given problem. | | | |

|Grade Five: What is the design process? |

|Essential Question: How can the design process be used to solve a problem? |

|Identify and explain the appropriate materials and tools (e.g., hammer, |Complex machine | |Secure |

|screwdriver, pliers, tape measure, screws, nails, and other mechanical |Design | | |

|fasteners) to construct a given prototype safely. |Features | | |

| |Material | | |

| |Mechanical system | | |

| |Natural system | | |

| |Prototype | | |

| |Simple machine | | |

| |Solution | | |

| |Tool | | |

|Identify and explain the difference between simple and complex machines, e.g.,| | | |

|hand can opener that includes multiple gears, wheel, wedge, gear, and lever. | | | |

|Compare natural systems with mechanical systems that are designed to serve | | | |

|similar purposes, e.g., a bird’s wings as compared to an airplane’s wings. | | | |

|Identify relevant design features (e.g., size, shape, weight) for building a | | | |

|prototype of a solution to a given problem. | | | |

Curriculum Overview by grade level

Kindergarten

|Life Science: What does it mean to be a living thing? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and |Animal |Non-living |Emergent |

|nonliving things according to the characteristics that they share. |Characteristics |Plants | |

| |Living |Grow | |

|Essential Question: What can fossils tell us about the Earth’s history? |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that |Extinct |Emergent |

|inhabited the earth years ago. |Fossil | |

|Essential Question: What are the five senses and how do our senses help us interact with our environment? |

|Recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through |Observe |Emergent |

|their senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. |Senses | |

|Earth Science: What is the earth made of? |

|Essential Question: What is the Earth made of? |

|Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on the |Earth |Plants |Emergent |

|earth’s surface. |Soil |Living | |

| |Rocks |Non-living | |

| |Animals | | |

|Physical Science: How do we distinguish objects and materials? |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Sort objects by observable properties such as size, shape, color, weight, and |Classify |Sort |Emergent |

|texture. |Color |Size | |

| |Compare |Shape | |

| |Describe |Texture | |

|Technology/Engineering: How do we use tools and machines? |

|Essential Question: How do living things use tools? |

|Describe how human beings use parts of the body as tools (e.g., teeth for |Material | |Developing |

|cutting, hands for grasping and catching), and compare their use with the ways|Tool | | |

|in which animals use those parts of their bodies. | | | |

Grade One

|Life Science: HOw do animals survive? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and nonliving |Animal |Non-living |Developing |

|things according to the characteristics that they share. |Characteristics |Plants | |

| |Living |Grow | |

|Essential Question: What do animals need to survive? |

|Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, |Ecosystem |Developing |

|reproduce, and need food, air, and water. |Food web | |

| |Growth | |

| |Habitat | |

| |Needs | |

| |Observe | |

|Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs (plants | | |

|require air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and | | |

|shelter). | | |

|Essential Question: How do animals change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for |Adaptation |Heredity |Developing |

|different living things. |Characteristics |Life cycle | |

| |Ecosystem |Needs | |

| |Extinction |Offspring | |

| |Fossil |Parents | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

| |Habitat |Traits | |

|Describe ways in which many plants and animals closely resemble their parents in | | | |

|observed appearance. | | | |

|Recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the seasons | | | |

|change. | | | |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that inhabited | | | |

|the earth years ago. | | | |

|Earth Science: What are earth’s patterns? |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Understand that air is a mixture of gases that is all around us and that wind is moving|Air |Night |Developing |

|air. |Atmosphere |Precipitation | |

| |Clouds |Patterns | |

| |Day |Sun | |

| |Earth |Seasons | |

| |Heat |Temperature | |

| |Gas |Weather | |

| |Light |Wind | |

|Describe the weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. | | | |

|Physical Science: How do objects move? |

|Essential Question: How do objects move? |

|Describe the various ways that objects can move, such as in a straight line, zigzag, |Balanced |Pull |Developing |

|back-and-forth, round-and-round, fast, and slow. |Compare |Predict | |

| |Direction |Rolling | |

| |Distance |Size | |

| |Hypothesis |Shape | |

| |Motion |Speed | |

| |Push | | |

|Demonstrate that the way to change the motion of an object is to apply a force (give it| | | |

|a push or a pull). The greater the force, the greater the change in the motion of the | | | |

|object. | | | |

|Recognize that under some conditions, objects can be balanced. | | | |

|Technology/Engineering: How do tools and machines help us? |

|Essential Question: How do simple machines make work easier? |

|Identify tools and simple machines used for a specific purpose, e.g., ramp, wheel, |Inclined plane |Purpose |Developing |

|pulley, lever. |Lever |Ramp | |

| |Machine |Screw | |

| |Material |Tool | |

| |Pulley |Wedge | |

| | |Wheel | |

Grade Two

|Life Science: How do plants survive? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How are living things different from non-living things? |

|Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and |Living |Secure |

|nonliving things according to the characteristics that they share. |Non-living | |

| |Characteristics | |

|Essential Question: What do plants need to survive? |

|Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that|Adaptation |Habitat |Developing |

|grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water. |Characteristics |Heredity | |

| |Ecosystem |Life cycle | |

| |Food chain |Needs | |

| |Food web |Photosynthesis | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

|Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic | | | |

|needs (plants require air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require | | | |

|food, water, air, and shelter). | | | |

|Essential Question: How do plants change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles |Adaptation |Heredity |Developing |

|vary for different living things. |Characteristics |Life cycle | |

| |Ecosystem |Needs | |

| |Extinction |Offspring | |

| |Fossil |Parents | |

| |Growth |Reproduction | |

| |Habitat |Traits | |

|Describe ways in which many plants and animals closely resemble their | | | |

|parents in observed appearance. | | | |

|Recognize changes in appearance that animals and plants go through as the | | | |

|seasons change. | | | |

|Recognize that fossils provide us with information about living things that| | | |

|inhabited the earth years ago. | | | |

|Earth Science: what makes earth’s patterns unique? |

|Essential Question: What makes Earth unique in our solar system? |

|Recognize that the sun supplies heat and light to the earth and is |Day |Radiant energy |Secure |

|necessary for life. |Earth |Sun | |

| |Heat |Temperature | |

| |Light |Weather | |

| |Night | | |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Identify some events around us that have repeating patterns, including the |Day |Revolve |Developing |

|seasons of the year, day and night. |Earth |Rotate | |

| |Moon phases |Sun | |

| |Night |Seasons | |

| |Precipitation |Temperature | |

| |Patterns |Weather | |

| |Revolution | | |

|Physical Science: What are the characteristics of Materials? |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Identify objects and materials as solid, liquid, or gas. Recognize that |Classify |Liquid |Secure |

|solids have a definite shape and that liquids and gases take the shape of |Compare |Matter | |

|their container. |Cups |Melt | |

| |Describe |Solid | |

| |Gas |Volume | |

|Technology/engineering: How do tools and machines help us? |

|Essential Question: How can we use tools and materials to solve problems? |

|Identify and describe characteristics of natural materials (e.g., wood, |Characteristics | | |

|cotton, fur, wool) and human-made materials (e.g., plastic, Styrofoam). |Human-made | |Developing |

| |Materials | | |

| |Natural | | |

| |Tools | | |

|Identify and explain some possible uses for natural materials (e.g., wood, | | | |

|cotton, fur, wool) and human-made materials (e.g., plastic, Styrofoam). | | | |

|Identify and describe the safe and proper use of tools and materials (e.g.,| | | |

|glue, scissors, tape, ruler, paper, toothpicks, straws, spools) to | | | |

|construct simple structures. | | | |

Grade tHREE

|Life Science: How do animals change? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What characteristics distinguish animals? |

|Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that |Animal |Secure |

|they share. |Characteristics | |

| |Classify | |

|Essential Question: How do animals change? |

|Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that |Characteristics |Life cycle |Secure |

|include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death. |Classify |Metamorphosis | |

| |Food web |Migration | |

| |Genes |Movement | |

| |Growth |Needs | |

| |Habitat |Offspring | |

| |Heredity |Organism | |

| |Inherit |Parents | |

| |Inherited characteristics |Species | |

| |Instinct |Survival | |

| | |Traits | |

|Describe the major stages that characterize the life cycle of the frog and | | | |

|butterfly as they go through metamorphosis. | | | |

|Differentiate between observed characteristics of plants and animals that | | | |

|are fully inherited (e.g., color of flower, shape of leaves, color of eyes,| | | |

|number of appendages) and characteristics that are affected by the climate | | | |

|or environment (e.g., browning of leaves due to too much sun, language | | | |

|spoken). | | | |

|eARTH Science: How is earth unique in our solar system? |

|Essential Question: What makes Earth unique in our solar system? |

|Recognize that the earth is part of a system called the “solar system” that|Atmosphere |Revolution |Secure |

|includes the sun (a star), planets, and many moons. The earth is the third |Axis |Revolve | |

|planet from the sun in our solar system. |Day |Rotate | |

| |Earth |Rotation | |

| |Galaxy |Seasons | |

| |Gravitational pull |Solar eclipse | |

| |Lunar eclipse |Solar system | |

| |Moon phases |Stars | |

| |Night |Sun | |

| |Orbit |Tilt | |

| |Patterns |Universe | |

| |Planets | | |

|Recognize that the earth revolves around (orbits) the sun in a year’s time | | | |

|and that the earth rotates on its axis once approximately every 24 hours. | | | |

|Make connections between the rotation of the earth and day/night, and the | | | |

|apparent movement of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky. | | | |

|Describe the changes that occur in the observable shape of the moon over | | | |

|the course of a month. | | | |

|pHYSICAL Science: How can properties of materials change? |

|Essential Question: What are the characteristics of objects and materials we encounter? |

|Differentiate between properties of objects (e.g., size, shape, weight) and|Classify |Liquid |Secure |

|properties of materials (e.g., color, texture, hardness). |Compare |Matter | |

| |Contrast |Melt | |

| |Cups |Molecule | |

| |Describe |Properties | |

| |Evaporate |Solid | |

| |Freeze |Snow | |

| |Gas |States of matter | |

| |Hail |Transfer | |

| |Heat |Volume | |

| |Ice | | |

|Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and gases based on the basic | | | |

|properties of each of these states of matter. | | | |

|Describe how water can be changed from one state to another by adding or | | | |

|taking away heat. | | | |

|tECHNOLOGY/ENGINEERING: What is the design process? |

|Essential Question: How can materials affect the solution in the design process? |

|Identify materials used to accomplish a design task based on a specific |Characteristics |Material |Secure |

|property, e.g., strength, hardness, and flexibility. |Design |Property | |

| | |Tool | |

Grade fOUR

|Life Science: How do plants change? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: What characteristics distinguish plants? |

|Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they |Plant |Classify |Secure |

|share. |Characteristics | | |

|Essential Question: What structures and functions help a plant survive? |

|Identify the structures in plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stem, bark, wood) that are responsible for food production, support, water transport, reproduction, growth, and |

|protection. |

|Recognize that plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death. |

|Essential Question: What is the Earth made of? |

|Give a simple explanation of what a mineral is and some examples, e.g., quartz, mica. |

|Explain and give examples of the ways in which soil is formed (the weathering of rock by water/wind and from the decomposition of remains). |

|Essential Question: What is energy? |

|Identify the basic forms of energy (light, sound, heat, electrical, and magnetic). Recognize that energy is the ability to cause motion or create change. |

|Essential Question: How can the design process be used to solve a problem? |

|Identify a problem that reflects need for shelter, storage, or convenience. |Convenience |Prototype |Secure |

| |Design |Shelter | |

| |Features |Solution | |

| |Problem |Storage | |

|Describe different ways in which a problem can be represented, e.g., sketches, | | | |

|diagrams, graphic organizers, and lists. | | | |

|Identify relevant design features (e.g., size, shape, weight) for building a | | | |

|prototype of a solution to a given problem. | | | |

Grade five

|Life Science: how do plants and animals change to survive? |

|In order to respond to EQs, students need to be able to… |While incorporating this vocabulary… |At this competency level… |

|Essential Question: How do plants and animals adapt in order to survive? |

|Give examples of how inherited characteristics may change over time as adaptations to changes in the environment that enable organisms to survive, e.g., shape of beak or feet, |

|placement of eyes on head, shape of teeth, color. |

|Essential Question: What are Earth’s patterns? |

|Explain how air temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction, and precipitation make up |Air |Heat transfer |Secure |

|the weather in a particular place and time. |Atmosphere |Precipitation | |

| |Clouds |Patterns | |

| |Cloud cover |Seasons | |

| |Cloud type |Sun | |

| |Condensation |Temperature | |

| |Evaporation |Water cycle | |

| |Gas |Weather | |

| |Heat |Wind | |

|Distinguish among the various forms of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, and hail), making | | | |

|connections to the weather in a particular place and time. | | | |

|Describe how global patterns such as the jet stream and water currents influence local | | | |

|weather in measurable terms such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and | | | |

|precipitation. | | | |

|Differentiate between weather and climate. | | | |

|Describe how water on earth cycles in different forms and in different locations, including | | | |

|underground and in the atmosphere. | | | |

|Give examples of how the cycling of water, both in and out of the atmosphere, has an effect | | | |

|on climate. | | | |

|Essential Question: How does the Earth change? |

|Give examples of how the surface of the earth changes due to slow processes such as erosion and weathering, and rapid processes such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and |

|earthquakes. |

|Essential Question: What is energy? |

|Give examples of how energy can be transferred from one form to another. |Attract |Matter |Secure |

| |Battery |Magnetic energy | |

| |Circuit |Magnet | |

| |Conductor |Motion | |

| |Current electricity |Parallel circuit | |

| |Electricity |Potential energy | |

| |Energy |Repel | |

| |Forces |Series circuit | |

| |Friction |Sound | |

| |Insulator |Static electricity | |

| |Kinetic energy |Transfer | |

| |Light |Vibrate | |

|Recognize that electricity in circuits requires a complete loop through which an electrical | | | |

|current can pass, and that electricity can produce light, heat, and sound. | | | |

|Identify and classify objects and materials that conduct electricity and objects and | | | |

|materials that are insulators of electricity. | | | |

|Explain how electromagnets can be made, and give examples of how they can be used. | | | |

|Recognize that magnets have poles that repel and attract each other. | | | |

|Identify and classify objects and materials that a magnet will attract and objects and | | | |

|materials that a magnet will not attract. | | | |

|Recognize that sound is produced by vibrating objects and requires a medium through which to| | | |

|travel. Relate the rate of vibration to the pitch of the sound. | | | |

|Technology/Engineering: What is the design process? |

|Essential Question: How can the design process be used to solve a problem? |

|Identify and explain the appropriate materials and tools (e.g., hammer, screwdriver, pliers,|Complex machine |Secure |

|tape measure, screws, nails, and other mechanical fasteners) to construct a given prototype |Design | |

|safely. |Features | |

| |Material | |

| |Mechanical system | |

| |Natural system | |

| |Prototype | |

| |Simple machine | |

| |Solution | |

| |Tool | |

|Identify and explain the difference between simple and complex machines, e.g., hand can | | |

|opener that includes multiple gears, wheel, wedge, gear, and lever. | | |

|Compare natural systems with mechanical systems that are designed to serve similar purposes,| | |

|e.g., a bird’s wings as compared to an airplane’s wings. | | |

|Identify relevant design features (e.g., size, shape, weight) for building a prototype of a | | |

|solution to a given problem. | | |

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