Science Curriculum Unit Planner Grade: K Strand: Life Processes SOL: K.6 & K.7 The student will investigate and understand the differences between living organisms and nonliving objects. Key concepts include a) all things can be classified as living or nonliving; and b) living organisms have certain characteristics that distinguish them from nonliving objects including growth, movement, response to the environment, having offspring, and the need for food, air, and water. The student will investigate and understand basic needs and life processes of plants and animals. Key concepts include a) animals need adequate food, water, shelter, air, and space to survive; b) plants need nutrients, water, air, light, and a place to grow to survive; c) plants and animals change as they grow, have varied life cycles, and eventually die; and d) offspring of plants and animals are similar but not identical to their parents or to one another. Time: 4-5 weeks 1. Desired Results Enduring Understandings (BIG Ideas) All living things go through life processes that involve growing, living, and dying. Essential Questions What are examples of living organisms and nonliving objects? What are differences between living organisms and nonliving objects? Why are life cycles important to the development of a plant and animal? How do plants and animals change as they grow? How are offspring similar to and different from their parents and from one another? What are the needs of plants and animals? How do plants and animals meet their needs in order to survive? Understanding the Standard Living is used to describe anything that is or has ever been alive (e.g., dog, flower, seed, log). Nonliving is used to describe anything that is not now nor has ever been alive (e.g., rock, mountain, glass, wristwatch). All living things grow, breathe, reproduce, excrete, respond to stimuli, and have similar basic needs like nourishment. *********************************** Plants and animals change as they grow. Essential Knowledge, Skills and Processes Students will: Identify and describe the basic characteristics of living things (growth, movement, response to the environment, having offspring, and the need for food, air, and water). Identify living organisms and nonliving objects found at home and at school. Classify items by living or nonliving. ****************************** Describe the life needs of animals. The life needs are food, water, shelter, air, and space.
Animals need adequate food, water, shelter, air, and space to survive. Some animals are terrestrial animals, some animals are aquatic animals, and some are both. Terrestrial animals get their oxygen from the air they breathe and aquatic animals extract oxygen from water. In order to survive, plants need nutrients, water, air, light, and a place that has adequate space for them to grow. Plants provide food for people and animals. Some plants are terrestrial plants and some are aquatic plants. Plants release oxygen as a product of photosynthesis and the oxygen is then used by other living things. Carbon dioxide from the air enters a leaf through the stomata. Oxygen is produced by plants as a waste product and is released into the air through the stomata. Plants and animals change as they grow and eventually die. These processes are part of their life cycles. The life cycles of plants and animals vary by species. Many offspring of plants and animals are like their parents but not identical to them or to one another. 2. Assessment Evidence Prior Knowledge Throughout the Unit Students will know the basic difference between living and nonliving things. Students will know what plants and animals need to survive in their environment. (Assess this by having students fold a paper in half. On one side, they write/draw the needs of plants and on the other side, they write/draw the needs of animals.) Students will know the types of body coverings an animal has. Students will know that offspring look different than their parents. Describe the life needs of plants. The life needs are nutrients, water, air, light, and a place that has adequate space for them to grow. Predict what will happen to animals and plants if life needs are not met. Describe some simple changes animals undergo during their life cycles. This may include changes in their body size, color, covering, or shape. Describe some simple changes that plants undergo during their life cycles. This may include size, presence of leaves and branches, fruits, and seeds. Compare and contrast young plants and animals with their parents, using pictures and/or live organisms. Science Vocabulary living, nonliving, growth, movement, offspring, food, air, water, space, light, nutrients, shelter, life cycle, seed, sprout, leaves, stem, trunk, flower, fruit, plant, egg (frog), tadpole, adult (frog), pupa (chrysalis), larva (caterpillar), butterfly, mammal, amphibian, reptile, fish, insect, body covering (feathers, fur, scales, skin, etc.), similar, different, characteristic, change Formative Assessment: Teacher observation /anecdotal records of students engaged in cooperative learning investigations. KWL Science notebook (questions, predictions, observations, summaries, charts, drawings) Conduct simple experiments using appropriate tools Record data on scientific investigations performed Students will observe what changes occur as plants and animals (frogs, butterflies) grow and communicate those changes through pictures, picture graphs or orally. Students will test what happens when necessities for plant growth (water) are withheld while others are given water. Summative Assessment: Test/assessment Students classify and sort living and nonliving things. Compare and contrast pictures of young plants and animals with their parents. Students draw a living organism (preferably one that the class studied at length, eg. frogs, butterflies,
sunflowers) with all of the things that it needs in order to survive. Students draw or sequence the life cycles of plants and animals. References to Adopted Materials: 3. Learning Plan Science Fusion Unit 2 Animals Lesson 4 What Are Living Things Lesson 5 What is Real? What is Pretend? Lesson 6 What Are Animals Like? Lesson 7 What Do Animals Need? Lesson 8 How Do Animals Grow and Change? Science Fusion Unit 3 Plants Lesson 9 What Are Plants Like? Lesson 10 What Do Plants Need? Lesson 11 What Are Some Plant Parts? Lesson 12 How Do Plants Grow and Change? Science Fusion Unit 4 Habitats Lesson 13 Where Do Animals and Plants Live? Lesson 14 Why Do Animals and Plants Need One Another? FOSS Animals Two by Two Investigation 1: Goldfish and Guppies Investigation 2: Land and water snails Investigation 3: Big and Little Worms Investigation 4: Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs FOSS Trees (with K.9 & K.10) Investigation 1: Fall Trees Investigation 2: Leaves Investigation3: Trees Through the Seasons AIMS Primarily Plants (Grades K-3) Inside a Seed, p. 1-4 A Seed Grows, p. 5-8 A Plant Begins, p. 9-12 It s in the Bag, p. 13-15 Little Brown Seed, p. 16-20 Seed Sort, p. 21-25 The Seed Within, p. 26-29 Seeds Travel, p. 30-34 Cuttings, p. 38-39 AIMS Sensational Springtime (K-2) AIMS Spring into Math and Science (K-1) Suggested Activities:
Discuss the needs of plants for proper growth (water, sun, air, and other nutrients found in the soil.) Students will participate in planting their own seeds in cups. This can be done individually or as a group depending on space. To effectively show the class the needs of plants, some plants should be given sunlight, no sunlight, water, and no water (air is the one factor that cannot be controlled.) The class should also keep a journal throughout this unit and write in it daily. In the journal the student should keep track of changes that each plant has, possible predictions, and results as well. Compare tree seedlings grown in the classroom with adult trees found in the schoolyard. Discuss similarities and differences number of leaves, size of trunk/stem, shape, etc. Observe the life cycle of butterflies or frogs with live specimens in the classroom. Have students keep journals. Observe and record parent and offspring similarities and differences. Pass out pictures of adult and baby animals to the students. Each student has to walk around the room and find the appropriate match (1 adult with 1 baby). The students then sit down with their partner and orally share the similarities and differences between the adult and the offspring. Pass out a card with a different animal to each student. Students sit in a circle and pretend that they are the animal on their card they should eat, drink, move like their animal. The teacher shows a water card and asks who needs water and why. What would happen if there was no water or if it were dirty? Repeat with cards for air, shelter, space, food. A similar activity can be conducted with different types of plants. Illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly with a cotton ball (egg), dyed, stuffed sock (caterpillar), small brown bag (chrysalis), and a clothespin with clip-on wings (butterfly). Have students tell others the stages of change and the physical changes that happen along the way. Review Activities: Bingo with related vocabulary Matching vocabulary words with their definitions and/or pictures Outdoor Connections: Each student adopts a plant in the schoolyard and observes changes. Plants can be tagged with students names and names of the plants. Students draw and measure at intervals to show changes. Alternately, go for a walk and search for different plants in different stages of their life cycles. Shade different patches (approximately 3 x3 ) of grass with materials that admit different levels of sunlight (i.e. a board, a translucent piece of fiberglass, etc.). Observe after one week. Alternatively, use individual dandelions instead of patches of grass. This can also be done by using water as the variable. One patch can receive very little water, while other patches can receive too much water. What can the students observe? Go outside to find different plants and/or animals. Have students look for how the animal s coverings help them to survive. Try to look at a variety of animals, such as birds, insects, frogs, and squirrels. Go outside and observe different animals and plants. Can students find the ways in which each animal and plant covers its basic needs? Go outside identify living and nonliving things in the environment. Discuss how living things need nonliving things in order to survive. 4. Resources Trade books: Is it living or nonliving? By Rebecca Rissman (Heinemann Library) Tadpole Diary (Rigby Big Book) Caterpillar Diary (Rigby Big Book) The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle Web Sites: www.brainpopjr.com
Rockingham County PS power points and SmartBoard lessons plus review games: http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/resources/elementary/kscience.htm Videos: Amazing Animal Babies, DK Vision, c1996 Baby Animals from the Wild, DK Vision, c1998 Geo Kids, p. Columbia Tristar Home Video, c1994 Awesome Animal Builders, p. National Geographic Society, c1997 Animal Families, Diamond Entertainment Corporation, c1996 Animal faces, animal places, Rainbow Educational Video, c1994 Discovery Education: Living and Nonliving Things (Gr K-2). Run time: 12:00 Ping and Pong: Learn about Plants and Animals. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 22:39 Animal Life Cycles. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 14:00 Insect Life Cycles: Metamorphosis. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 15:00 Exploring the Diversity of Life: Butterfly Garden. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 10:00 TLC Elementary School: Our Natural World. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 24:42 How Plants Grow. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 19:00 Junior Zoologist: Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 16:06 Debbie Greenthumb: How Plants Grow. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 12:59 The Blue Dragon: Roots and Fruits. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 13:10 Peep and the Big Wide World: Peep Plants a Seed. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 10:18 Peep and the Big Wide World: The Root Problem. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 10:18 The Magic School Bus: Goes to Seed. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 29:27 Plant Life Cycles. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 20:00 Concepts in Nature: Where Animals Live. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 14:19 Music Makes it Memorable: It s Alive Non-Living (song). (Gr. K-2). Run time: 2:39 Music Makes it Memorable: Animal Shop (song). (Gr. K-2). Run time: 1:26 Field Trips: None specified Other: Project WET: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide Project WILD: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide Project WILD Aquatic: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guides Environmental Education Activity Guide: PreK-8, Project Learning Tree Growing Up Wild: Exploring Nature with Young Children (Ages 3-7), Project WILD