Area: Space Systems

This First Grade unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the First Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Space Systems.

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This is a series of lessons where students use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. In this unit students will  make observations of the sky. Before we begin any predicting, or analyzing patterns, the students need to develop some prior knowledge. They must know what the sun, moon, and stars look like and some of the distinguishing features of each.

Area: Structure & Info Processing

This First Grade unit is the SECOND in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the First Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Structure and Information Processing.

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Students will observe how plants and animals have offspring and some may look similar but not exactly like their parents/adults.  Students will explore how plants and animals have features (external and internal) that allow them to survive, grow, and meet their needs.   Students will make many observations about plant and animal parts and how they use their parts to help them survive. They will observe how different plants and animals support their offspring in survival.  Students will classify similar animals that  can vary in many ways.  Students will then apply their understanding of plant and animal survival in order to gain ideas about how to engineer something to solve a human problem.  Students will use their knowledge of plant and animal parts  to mimic one of these parts to design a solution to a human problem.  Students will construct explanations and models for multiple engineering tasks.

Area: Sound and Light Waves

This First Grade unit is the THIRD in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the First Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Sound and Light Waves.

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Students will observe how sound will make objects vibrate and how vibrations will make sound.  They will then explore with a variety of materials and the sounds that they make.  They will create a musical instrument using the concept that sound is vibration.  In the next instructional cycle, students will  look at how light illuminates objects so that we can see them.  They will also experiment with different objects to classify them into transparent/translucent/opaque/reflective categories.  In addition, the students will explore redirecting light with a prism and mirrors.  Finally, students will test 2 devices, using light and/or sound, to send and receive information over a long distance (the playground) while collecting data.   They will also analyze the data to compare the performance of the two devices.

Area: Matter

This Second Grade unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the Second Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Matter.

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While too small to be seen with visible light, atoms have substructures of their own. They have a small central region or nucleus€”containing protons and neutrons€”surrounded by a larger region containing electrons. The number of protons in the atomic nucleus (atomic number) is the defining characteristic of each element; different isotopes of the same element differ in the number of neutrons only. Despite the immense variation and number of substances, there are only some 100 different stable elements.

Area: Earth Events & Diversity

This Second Grade unit is the SECOND in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the Second Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Earth Events and Diversity.

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Area: Plants

This Second Grade unit is the THIRD in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the Second Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Plants.

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Plants are dependent on their changing environment.  Being dependent means a plant will rely on the biome or ecosystem  in which it lives.  A biome is a place characterized by its climate and the plants and animals that live there.   An ecosystem includes all of the living things and non-living (plants, animals, people and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).  In an ecosystem, the living things are able to get the things that they need in order to survive.  Healthy ecosystems are in balance.  In other words, there is enough food, water, and shelter for all of the species that live within the ecosystem.  Plants can be impacted by lack of nutrients and other resources, by pathogens, herbivores and animals (people), by disturbances, by dispersal difficulties, and by the physical environment, including its climate.  So, because plants are dependent on their changing environments  they have evolved adaptations and traits that are passed from the parent plant to their offspring  to hopefully help them survive (live and grow) in different areas.  Adaptations are special features that allow a plant or animal to live in a particular place or habitat. Some adaptations and traits can include:  the plant moving toward the sun; unfurling its leaves faster than nearby taller plants to soak up as much sun before being shaded; growing close to the ground so they're protected from strong winds; have picky, sticky and/or stinky stems; have specially designed protective seed coats to help move its seeds away from the parent plants; have a waxy covering and spikes instead of leaves to prevent water loss; using the water wind, animals (insects), people to help it disperse its seeds away from the parent plant, have roots close to the ground to soak up as much water as possible in a short amount of time; and having colorful flower petals, smell, and nectar  to attract certain insects to aid in pollination.

Area: Weather & Climate

This Third Grade unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Third Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Weather and Climate.

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Weather is a constant change of daily conditions with the ability to be predicted within a region based on temperatures, wind speed, and tends to form a seasonal pattern within a region. The patterns tend to develop with exceptions of random happenings, such as severe weather hazards and catastrophic events, such as, severe thunderstorms (Can connect to static electricity in Unit 1 Let's Move It) accumulating snowstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and regional flooding. These odd happenings do not impact the climate over a long period of time. However, to reduce the financial impacts related to these hazards humans constantly improve construction. The impact occurs in annual weather patterns and phenomenons and not within the climate.  Weather can be different within a region. Climate is an average of daily temperatures, precipitation and location within a region. Weather and climate are not the same, but do have a relationship that impact a region.

Area: Force & Motion

This Third Grade unit is the SECOND in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Third Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Force and Motion.

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A force is a push or a pull on an object.  Credit is given for most knowledge about force as identified by Sir Isaac Newton, a famous scientist and mathematician. He developed three laws of motion, which are simplified as;   When balanced forces occur an object is not moving.  Gravity is the force from the Earth that pulls an object down. Force causes change in the speed of direction of the motion of an object. The greater the force placed on an object, the greater the change in motion.  It is also important to understand that Static electricity is a form of electricity.  When two objects are rubbed together the negative and the positive particles cause an attraction. Negative particles leave an object causing it to become positively charged. Natural magnets are found in some rocks which contain iron. Magnets have two poles;  a north-seeking and a south-seeking pole.  An electromagnet is made by constructing a battery, wire and an axle (nail).

Each force acts on one particular object and has both a strength and a direction. An object at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add to give zero net force on the object. Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the object's speed or direction of motion. (Boundary: Qualitative and conceptual, but not quantitative addition of forces are used at this level.)

The patterns of an object's motion in various situations can be observed and measured; when past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it.

Area: Plants and Animals

This Third Grade unit is the THIRD in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Third Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Plants and Animals.

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**Based on the Michigan Science Standards, this unit allows for local, regional, or Michigan specific contexts or examples in teaching and assessment.

Therefore, as we think about how to address the performance task and this overall unit, links to the following information are very intentional (though are not intended to be limiting). Many plants and animals are specific to Michigan's environment which is quite diverse. Even within freshwater environments there is great diversity - wetlands including bogs and swamps, rivers and creeks with either fast or slow moving water, ponds or lakes - with great variation in size, depth and average temperatures. Along with the diversity of water environments and habitats we find tremendous variety of living organisms - large and small, common and uncommon. Michigan (and surrounding states, as well as Canada) is also very diverse in landforms, nutrients and topography which provides variation in habitats and ecosystems.

Organisms interact with the environment and their habitat in a systemic way. How  well each plant or animal survives in its habitat is very dependent upon the traits passed on to each organism from their parents. Traits help certain plants and animals survive well, survive less well or not survive at all within various habitats.  

Conditions within habitats are constantly changing. Sometimes change within a habitat is significant enough that some organisms (plants and animals) can no longer survive because the habitat no longer meets the needs of the plant or animal. Sometimes the change in habitat results in a new type of habitat which better suits of plants and animals that have different traits than the organisms which once lived in a geographic area.. Michigan fossils indicate and provide evidence that the habitats found today which meet the needs of many plants and animals surviving well here, are very different from what used to live here long ago.

Area: Adaptations

This Third Grade unit is the FOURTH in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Third Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Adaptations.

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Plant and animal traits and their variations may be influenced by the environment or genetic factors.  Organisms have characteristics that can be similar or different. Some animals may survive longer because they live in groups helping them to find food, defend themselves and adjust to change. Young animals are very much like their parents and also resemble other animals of the same kind. Plants also are very much like their parents and resemble other plants of the same kind.  Many characteristics of organisms are inherited from their parents and some characteristics result from individuals' interactions with the environment, which can range from diet to learning. Variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. External environmental factors can also influence and modify individual's specific development, appearance, behavior, and likelihood of producing offspring.  Differences in where they live or in the food they consume may cause organisms that are related to end up looking or behaving differently.  Some animals participate and form groups which helps members of the group to survive by being able to protect themselves, obtain food and/or cope with change.  Some kinds of animals do not typically participate in groups.  

Some organisms survive well, less well, or cannot survive at all in a particular habitat. Therefore, when an environment changes in ways which cause significant temperature changes, physical differences or availability of necessary resources to meet the needs of the plants or animals, some will adapt, some will move to new locations, and some will die. In addition, some organisms may move into an environment when changes in the environment have taken place which meet the needs of an organism which has otherwise survived elsewhere.

Area: Energy

This Fourth Grade unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fourth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Energy.

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That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the remarkable fact that a system's total energy is conserved. Regardless of the quantities of energy transferred between subsystems and stored in various ways within the system, the total energy of a system changes only by the amount of energy transferred into and out of the system.

Area: Plants and Animals

This Fourth Grade unit is the SECOND in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fourth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Plants and Animals.

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A central feature of life is that organisms grow, reproduce, and die. They have characteristic structures (anatomy and morphology), functions (molecular-scale processes to organism-level physiology), and behaviors (neurobiology and, for some animal species, psychology). Organisms and their parts are made of cells, which are the structural units of life and which themselves have molecular substructures that support their functioning. Organisms range in composition from a single cell (unicellular microorganisms) to multicellular organisms, in which different groups of large numbers of cells work together to form systems.

Area: Waves & Info Transfer

This Fourth Grade unit is the THIRD in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fourth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Waves and Info Transfer.

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Whether a wave in water, a sound wave, or a light wave, all waves have some features in common. A simple wave has a repeating pattern of specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude. The wavelength and frequency of a wave are related to one another by the speed of travel of the wave, which, for each type of wave, depends on the medium in which the wave is traveling. Waves can be combined with other waves of the same type to produce complex information-containing patterns that can be decoded at the receiving end. Waves, which transfer energy and any encoded information without the bulk motion of matter, can travel unchanged over long distances, pass through other waves undisturbed, and be detected and decoded far from where they were produced. Information can be digitized (converted into a numerical representation), sent over long distances as a series of wave pulses, and reliably stored in computer memory.

Area: Earth Systems

This Fourth Grade unit is the FOURTH in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fourth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Earth Systems.

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Earth scientists use the structure, sequence, and properties of rocks, sediments, and fossils, as well as the locations of current and past ocean basins, lakes, and rivers, to reconstruct events in Earth's planetary history. For example, rock layers show the sequence of geological events, and the presence and amount of radioactive elements in rocks make it possible to determine their ages.

Area: Earth Systems

This Fifth Grade unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fifth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Earth Systems.

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Area: Matter & Its Interactions

This Fifth Grade unit is the second in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fifth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Matter and Its Interactions.

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Matter is anything that takes up space and is made up of PARTICLES so tiny that only the most powerful microscope can see them.  Matter makes up everything seen and unseen, including clothes, water, food, plants, air, the smell of perfume, and animals.   You can describe a type of matter by its physical or chemical properties.  A physical property of matter is a property that can be observed or measured that does not change the substance.  Some examples are color, texture, hardness, reflectivity, and magnetism.  A chemical property of matter is a property that changes a substance's identity or creates a new substance.  Some examples are flammability (ability of a substance to burn), reactivity with acid, and rusting/oxidation.  

The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter cannot be created or destroyed but can change.  Substances can also exist as mixtures and solutions.  A mixture is a physical combination of two or more substances that can be easily separated.  Some examples are trail mix, salt and pepper, cereal and milk, and pizza.  A solution is a combination of two or more substances in which one substance is dissolved into another.  Somes examples of a solution are salt water, Kool Aid in water, and lemonade.  A physical change is a change in matter that does not change the identity of the substance.  Some examples would be an ice cube melting, broken crackers, demolition of a building, and getting a haircut.  A chemical change is a change in matter that does change the identity of a substance.  Some examples would be wood burning, a cake baking, a nail rusting, and the formation of concrete.

Area: Earth and the Universe

This Fifth Grade unit is the THIRD in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fifth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Earth and the Universe.

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Area: Matter, Energy, Ecosystems

This Fifth Grade unit is the FOURTH in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fifth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Matter, Energy, Ecosystems.

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Area: Matter, Energy, Ecosystems

This Fifth Grade unit is the FOURTH in the curriculum of four (4) units developed to address the Fifth Grade science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Matter, Energy, Ecosystems.

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Area: Energy

This Kindergarten unit is the FIRST in the curriculum of three (3) units developed to address the Kindergarten science standards of the Michigan Science Standards related to Energy.

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