Disciplinary Core Ideas
In 2nd grade, students conduct investigations, carry out experiments, and apply their scientific knowledge to engineer prototype solutions. In this unit, students investigate the science phenomenon of properties of different kinds of matter, connecting a material’s properties with the functions for which it is used.
In this unit, students are introduced to scientific exploration as they observe and test the properties of different kinds of matter. For this lesson, students continue their exploration of properties of matter by classifying different kinds of objects according to observable properties.
In 3rd grade, students ask questions and conduct experiments to explore the world around them. In this unit, students unpack the phenomena of tiny particles called atoms that make up all matter in the universe. This page showcases key parts of the first lesson in this unit.
In this unit, students use the scientific process to analyze Earth’s place in the solar system. They begin by modeling how matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms, and changes state when heat is added or removed. This page provides an overview of lesson 1B in which students explore the science phenomena of how heat affects matter.
In the last unit, students observed butterflies moving through their life cycle, explored how butterflies are pollinators, and then designed a hand pollinator. In this unit, students explore the science phenomena of how shelters help animals survive in their environment and then design a prototype burrow-like structure to keep a burrowing owl cool in hot temperatures.
In this unit, students study Earth’s systems, analyzing the science phenomena of natural processes that shape Earth’s surface. In this lesson, students model the different ways that tectonic plates move to observe how landforms are created. This page showcases key aspects of this lesson.
In this unit, students are introduced to the scientific process as they analyze matter in the universe and Earth’s place in the solar system. For the first lesson in this unit, they conduct an experiment to compare the masses of two different substances, analyzing how matter is never created or destroyed. Students also discuss how all matter in the universe is made up of different combinations of atoms formed from chemical reactions. This page highlights key parts of this lesson.
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In this unit, students are introduced to science and engineering by exploring several phenomena that relate to cooking. Students begin with an investigation into the structure of matter and how energy determines state of matter. This page is a high level look at key components of this lesson.
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In this unit, students explore several phenomena that relate to cooking. In this lesson, students evaluate chemical reactions, and use that knowledge to engineer a prototype that transfers energy by chemical processes. This page showcases key components of this lesson.
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In this unit, students use what they know about the relationship between energy and matter to investigate phenomena of how energy powers the cycling of Earth materials. They begin with this lesson on modeling the Earth processes that form different kinds of rock. This page provides an overview of this lesson.
In this unit, students explore the natural processes that cause Earth’s surface to change over time, analyzing how energy causes Earth’s matter to transform and cycle from one form to another. In this lesson, they trace phenomena of how energy is transferred in chemical reactions, which allows scientists to produce ethanol to use as an alternative energy source. This page showcases each component of this lesson.
In this unit, students explore the relationship between matter and energy using the phenomenon of material properties to discover why certain materials are useful for a particular function. For this lesson, they focus on the role of energy in changing matter during a chemical reaction phenomena between two substances. This page is a high-level extract of this lesson.
In the last unit, students explored how shelters help animals survive in their environment. In this unit, students investigate the relationship between forces and motion, building propeller cars to observe action-reaction forces, the relationship between the distance their car travels and the amount of force applied, and how friction affects motion.
