Kindergarten Science, Quarter 4, Unit 5 Plants Overview Number of instructional days: 20 (1 day = 20 minutes) Content to be learned Distinguish between living and nonliving things. Identify and sort based on similar or different external features. Observe the external features that make up living things (e.g., roots, stems, leaves, flowers). Observe that plants need water, air, food, and light to grow and survive. Care for plants by identifying and providing for their needs. Sequence the stages in the life cycle of a plant when given a set of pictures. Essential questions What characteristics help us know if something is living or nonliving? How are plants similar to one another? How are they different from one another? Science processes to be integrated Observe, identify, and compare the external features of organisms. Sort organisms using external features. Identify similarities and differences. Sequence the changes that occur in organisms over time. What do plants need in order to survive and grow? How does a plant change over time? Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-17
Written Curriculum Grade-Span Expectations LS1 - All living organisms have identifiable structures and characteristics that allow for survival (organisms, populations, & species). LS1 (K-4) - INQ+POC 1 Sort/classify different living things using similar and different characteristics. Describe why organisms belong to each group or cite evidence about how they are alike or not alike. LS1 (K-2) 1 Students demonstrate an understanding of classification of organisms by 1a distinguishing between living and non-living things. 1b identifying and sorting based on a similar or different external features. lc observing and recording the external features that make up living things (e.g. roots, stems, leaves, flowers, legs, antennae, tail, shell). LS1 (K-4) SAE -2 Identify the basic needs of plants and animals in order to stay alive. (i.e., water, air, food, space). LS1 (K-2)-2 Students demonstrate understanding of structure and function-survival requirements by 2a observing that plants need water, air, food, and light to grow; observing that animals need water, air, food and shelter to grow. LS1 (K-4) POC 3 Predict, sequence or compare the life stages of organisms plants and animals (e.g., put images of life stages of an organism in order, predict the next stage in sequence, compare two organisms). LS1 (K-2) 3 Students demonstrate an understanding of reproduction by 3b sequencing the life cycle of a plant or animal when given a set of pictures. Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-18
LS2 - Matter cycles and energy flows through an ecosystem. LS2 (K-4) SAE 5 Recognize that energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow or identify where a plant or animal gets its energy. LS2 (K-2) 5 Students demonstrate an understanding of energy flow in an ecosystem by 5a caring for plants and/or animals by identifying and providing for their needs; experimenting with a plant s growth under different conditions, including light and no light. Clarifying the Standards Prior Learning If students attended a preschool program, the early learning standards indicate that they have had previous experience ordering, comparing, and describing objects according to their different features. They also used play to discover, question, and understand the natural and physical world and explored the natural processes of growing, changing, and adapting to the environment. Current Learning Students in kindergarten have varying levels of experience with the content in this unit. In a prior unit of study, Kindergarten students observed, identified, and compared physical/external features. In this unit of study, kindergarteners distinguish between living and non-living things. Students observe the external features that make up plants (e.g., roots, stems, leaves, and flowers), and they identify and sort plants based on similar or different external features. They observe that plants need water, air, food, and light to grow. A few of these concepts are addressed in subsequent grade levels in regards to animals; however, in reference to plants, these concepts are only addressed in Kindergarten. Therefore, they should be taught at the developmental level to the drill and practice level of instruction. During this unit, kindergarten students also learn to care for plants by identifying and providing for their needs, and they sequence the life cycle of a plant when given a set of pictures. These concepts are revisited in grade 2, and should be taught at the developmental level to the reinforcement level of instruction. To begin this unit of study, students should engage in activities that help them first conceptually understand the characteristics that distinguish living organisms from nonliving objects, because this understanding is foundational to all other life science concepts. Kindergarteners also need many opportunities to interact with a variety of plants. Students should have access to a wide variety of plants, which can be brought into the classroom or observed outside in the schoolyard, in local parks, or on a walking field trip around the neighborhood. Students need time to observe and describe the external features of the plants they encounter in order to group them based on their external features. Although it is not required by the standards, teachers might also consider letting students grow a variety of plants in the classroom, such as radishes, beans, and corn, in order to become familiar with the life cycle of plants. Picture books that show life cycles of plants should also be readily available throughout this unit. This will help students as they learn to sequence the life cycle of plants when given a set of pictures. In addition, students should have opportunities to discuss their observations about the external features of plants, describe similarities and differences among the many plants they observed. Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-19
Future Learning In first grade, students will focus on animals. They will identify and sort based on similar or different external features, they will observe and record the external features of animals, and they will identify the specific functions of the physical structures of animals. Students will observe that animals need water, air, food, and shelter to grow, and will care for animals by identifying and providing for their needs. Students will observe the stages in the life cycle of a familiar animal, and will sequence the life cycle of a animal when given a set of pictures. They will also identify the senses needed to meet survival needs for a given situation. In second grade, students will observe and scientifically draw and label the stages in the life cycle of a familiar plant or animal, and will sequence the life cycle of a plant or animal when given a set of pictures. They will also identify the specific functions of the physical structures of a plant or an animal, and will care for plants and/or animals by identifying and providing for their needs. In grades 3-4, students will cite evidence to distinguish between living and non-living things, and will identify, sort, and compare based on similar and/or different external features. They will record and analyze observations and data about external features, and will cite evidence to draw conclusions explaining why organisms are grouped/not grouped together. Students will observe that plants need air, food, light, and space to grow and reproduce, and will observe changes and record data to scientifically draw and label the stages in the life cycle of a familiar plant. They will sequence the life cycle of a plant and will compare the life cycles of 2 plants when given a set of data or pictures. Students will also identify and explain how the physical structure/characteristic of an organism allows it to survive and defend itself, and they will analyze the structures needed for survival of populations of plants in a particular habitat/environment. Additional Findings During the elementary grades, children build understanding of biological concepts through direct experience with living things, their life cycles, and their habitats. These experiences emerge from the sense of wonder and natural interests of children. An understanding of the characteristics of organisms, life cycles of organisms, and complex interactions among all components of the natural environment begins with children s questions and with their understanding of how individual organisms maintain and continue life. Making sense of the way organisms live in their environments will develop some understanding of the diversity of life and how all living organisms depend on the living and nonliving environment for survival. Because the child s world at grades K 4 is closely associated with the home, school, and immediate environment, the study of organisms should include observations and interactions within the natural world of the child. These experiences and activities provide a concrete foundation for the progressive development in later grades of major biological concepts. (National Science Education Standards, pp. 127 128). According to the National Science Education Standards, children s ideas about the characteristics of organisms develop from basic concepts of living and nonliving. Piaget noted, for instance, that young children give anthropomorphic explanations, or human characteristics, to organisms. In lower elementary grades, many children associate life with any objects that are active in any way. This view of life develops intone in which movement become the defining characteristic. Eventually children incorporate other concepts, such as eating, breathing, and reproducing, to define life. As students have a variety of experiences with organisms and subsequently develop a knowledge base in the life sciences, their anthropomorphic attributions should decline. (National Science Education Standards, p. 128) As students investigate the life cycles of organisms, teachers might observe that young children do not understand the continuity of life from, for example, seed to seedling and or larvae to pupae to adult. In Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-20
classroom activities such as classification, younger elementary students generally use mutually exclusive rather than hierarchical categories. Young children, for example, use two groups, but older children use several groups at the same time. Students do not consistently use classification schemes similar to those used by biologists until the upper elementary grades. (National Science Education Standards, p. 128) The basic experiences for primary-school children include seeing plants grow from seeds they have planted, eating the edible portions of the mature plants, and noticing what plants and other things animals eat. Comparisons can be made to see what happens if some plants do not get water or light, but carefully controlled experiments should be delayed until later when students will know better how to conduct scientific investigations. Some of the earliest stories read to and by small children can tell about life on the farm and what happens to food between the farm and the store. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy, p. 184) Children should begin to be aware of the basic parts of the food chain: Plants need sunlight to grow, some animals eat plants, and other animals eat both plants and animals. The key step that plants make their own food is very difficult for elementary students. Understanding the complex process of photosynthesis, therefore, should be saved for middle school. An awareness of recycling, both in nature and in human societies, may play a helpful role in the development of children s thinking. Familiarity with the recycling of materials fosters the notion that matter continues to exist even though it changes from one form to another. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy, p. 119) Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-21
Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-22