In this unit, students focus on the science phenomena of Earth’s interacting systems, evaluating how the hydrosphere and geosphere are shaped by one another. In the first lesson of the unit, students conduct an experiment to determine how the particle size of an Earth material affects its permeability to water. This page highlights key excerpts from the components of this lesson.
In the last unit, students learned about matter as they explored Earth’s position in the solar system. In this unit, students discuss how the sun provides light and heat to Earth, powering the water cycle, which in turn influences weather and climate. Students analyze the science phenomena of weather patterns in specific regions during a particular season.
In this unit, students explore the science phenomena of Earth’s weather system and analyze how heat from the sun warms Earth’s surface unevenly, powering the water cycle, which in turn drives weather and climate on the planet. Students create weather instruments to collect and analyze daily weather data.
In this unit, students analyze the phenomena of Earth’s interacting systems, focusing on how the hydrosphere interacts with and is influenced by the other systems. In this lesson, students graph and model the distribution of fresh water and salt water on Earth and use a physical model to analyze how fresh water moves and becomes salty. This page showcases each section of this lesson.
Standards citation: NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.