Unit Descriptions
How Does Your Garden Grow is a pre-kindergarten Life Science unit. Students are introduced to vegetables as plants. They explore various vegetables we eat that are roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Each lesson in the unit offers students opportunities to observe, ask questions, and learn more about vegetables as examples of plant life. Students are engaged in scientific experimentation to learn more about seeds and the function they play in the life cycle of the vegetables. Their active involvement in the unit activities supports conceptual development related to science content as well as investigative processes. (Unit not currently available for purchase)
The kindergarten and first grade unit, Survive and Thrive, engages students in a study of animals, their characteristics, and their natural environments. Students learn how to distinguish features and life needs of several familiar animals including an arachnid, an insect, a bird, and mammals. Students also observe unfamiliar animals in their habitats. Students learn to classify animals by simple characteristics and to observe live animals. Students raise mealworms in the classroom and observe their life cycle. The macro concept of Change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit.
How the Sun Makes Our Day, a kindergarten and first grade unit, engages students in investigations and observations that support their learning about the Sun as a source of light and energy, the nature of shadows, and the need for humans to conserve natural resources. Students explore natural and man-made sources and develop a conservation plan for their home, school, or community. The macro concept of Change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit.
The unit Water Works engages kindergarten and first grade students in close observations and experimentation on water. The macro concept of Change is reinforced as students notice, react to, reflect on, and discover more about force and change. Students ask questions and design experiments to reinforce their learning. Generalizations about how things change are developed through students' analysis of their finding. Students explore the characteristics of water, discover whether objects sink or float, experiment to make things float, and examine materials and their interactions with water.
Budding Botanists, a first-second grade life science unit, engages students in a scenario-based approach to investigating plant life. Students assume the role of botanists seeking answers to a question related to alternative fuel sources. Students work in teams to investigate plant life and to understand the structure, nature, and life cycle of plants. Budding Botanists builds upon students' prior knowledge of plant life and encourages them to use inquiry skills to observe, gather evidence, analyze data, and make inferences. Students explore the macro concept of Systems to reinforce the development of science concepts and seek connections among these important concepts to solve a relevant problem.
The Weather Reporter, a Second Grade Earth/Space Science unit, provides students with opportunities to observe, measure, and analyze weather phenomena. The Weather Reporter includes a scenario-based approach to allow students to make decisions about observing, predicting, and forecasting the weather while exploring the macro concept of change. Building upon students' prior knowledge of weather and their newly acquired understanding of meteorology, The Weather Reporter promotes life-long learning by encouraging students to investigate naturally occurring weather patterns after the completion of the unit. Finally, The Weather Reporter includes literary and math components to engage students in discussions and to reinforce the concepts addressed in the unit.
What's the Matter? is a second-third grade unit that focuses on the properties of solids, liquids, and gases and the processes by which matter changes states. Students work on problem-solving scenarios where they use their new knowledge of matter, change in physical properties, and the measurement of matter to prepare a presentation to share new ideas and discoveries about matter for a "science conference." The macro concept of Change is used to deepen understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit.
Dig It! is a third grade Earth & Space science unit. Students are encouraged to investigate man's effects on the environment, the importance of Earth's natural resources, and sound conservation practices while exploring the macro concept of change. Using a scenario-based approach, the unit builds upon students' prior knowledge by providing opportunities to relate local examples of environmental pollution and conservation with hands-on scientific experiments and demonstrations. Dig It! also includes literary and math components to engage students in discussions and to reinforce the concepts addressed in the unit.
Invitation to Invent, a third grade unit, engages students in investigations and observations that support their learning about simple machines and their uses. Students explore force, motion, and friction as they learn about the six simple machines and how they are put together to form compound machines. The macro concept of Systems is used to deepen their understanding of the scientific concepts in the unit.
