Living Things
We start off the year with an exciting unit about "How Living Things Function" and "Living Things in Their Environment."
Here are some of the things students will learn:
- Plants use their parts to survive.
- Plants can be classified according to their parts.
- Some plants have special adaptations for survival and reproduction
- Animals are either vertebrates or invertebrates.
- What are fossils and how do we learn from them?
- What is an extinct animal vs. an endangered animal?
- Livings things grow and reproduce offspring that resembles the parents.
- Organisms compete for resources and space in an ecosystem.
- Organisms have to adapt to their environment in order to survive.
- Organisms affect their environment in positive and negative ways.
- All living things need energy from the sun to survive.
- Food chains start from the sun to producers, and from, producers to consumers.
Vocabulary: cell, environment, leaf, netted veins, nutrient, parallel veins, plant, reproduce, root, stem, vein, seed, fruit, conifer, life cycle, ecosystem, organism, energy, resource, community, population, adaptation, behavior, habitat, pollution, herbivore, omnivore, solar energy, food chain, cell, carnivore, consumer, producer, decomposer.
After conducting their research, the next step of this project, was to report this data back to their peers. They worked with a partner to write a script about their planet. Students wrote about this from the point of view that they were astronauts reporting from the planet they chose. They used a template to map out the 5 parts of their story, and followed the 6-Trait writing model until they had a final draft. The final step of this project was for them to transform their script and make it come alive through technology. Students used the iPad to import pictures that they drew, took, or imported from the web. They recorded themselves or their partner telling their story. They added music, background, and graphics, and used their creativity to make their iMovie as factual and entertaining as possible. Below are the iMovies created in 3B. I hope you enjoy them!
Space Unit
Big Ideas for our unit on Space:
- Scientists use telescopes and space probes to study objects in space.
- The nine planets, their moons, and asteroids all orbit the Sun and , with the Sun, make up the solar system.
- The inner planets are small, solid, and rocky.
- Earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night. The tilt of Earth's axis causes the lengths of day and night to change.
- The Moon's phases result from its motion around the Earth.
- The Sun appears large because it is close to the Earth. Stars, visible only at night, can be grouped into constellations.
Research Project:
Students picked out their favorite planet and integrated books and the use of technology to conduct their research. They were asked to find these important things:- Who or what is your planet named after?
- How far is your planet from the sun?
- Find 5 interesting facts about your planet.
- How many moons does your planet have and what are their names?
- How long is 1 year on your planet in comparison to Earth years?
- What are some special features about your planet? (rings, craters, valleys, etc.?)
- What is your planet made of?
- What is the weather like?
- And much more!
After conducting their research, the next step of this project, was to report this data back to their peers. They worked with a partner to write a script about their planet. Students wrote about this from the point of view that they were astronauts reporting from the planet they chose. They used a template to map out the 5 parts of their story, and followed the 6-Trait writing model until they had a final draft. The final step of this project was for them to transform their script and make it come alive through technology. Students used the iPad to import pictures that they drew, took, or imported from the web. They recorded themselves or their partner telling their story. They added music, background, and graphics, and used their creativity to make their iMovie as factual and entertaining as possible. Below are the iMovies created in 3B. I hope you enjoy them!
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