The following links provide the Scope and Sequence information for Science. By providing these links we are introducing one more way for you as a parent/guardian to become more informed and engaged in your students’ education. Scope and Sequence documents provide information on course expectations and show how teachers effectively build on learning instead of covering material that students already know. By design, Scope and Sequences are standards-based with key concepts at their core. Click on the course title to read a full description.
Science - Kindergarten
List of Theme Topics/ Synopsis of Units/Course:
Push, Pull, Go
Build it, push it, and watch it go. Students discover the patterns of how objects move as they work through a series of lessons about motion. In the tradition of Rube Goldberg, your young scientists build action toys that move. Using a foam ball, a line of tumbling dominos, a Kid K’NEX® swing, a slide, and a spinning top, students pairs are challenged to build a contraption that “works.” Each science toy that students build moves in a different but predictable pattern. As a result, students build a grade-level-appropriate concept of systems and an understanding of moving objects.
My Sense (STC)
Give students inquiry-based experiences that build upon one another using the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Students trace and record how tools such as hand lenses and 3-D glasses change our perception of objects. They also use Carolina™ scent cards and their senses of smell and touch to analyze real-life safety scenarios. Cooperation in the inquiry classroom is spiraled into learning experiences using literature, hands-on activities, and character education. Throughout the unit, students make predictions, document findings, and explain reasoning through class discussions and science note-booking opportunities. The activities also expose students to vocabulary through song, musical patterns, graphing, sign language, and dramatization.
Science - First Grade
List of Theme Topics/ Synopsis of Units/Course:
Weather (STC)
This unit introduces first-graders to the concept of weather and how it affects their lives. Using a variety of tools, students observe, discuss, measure, and record data on cloud cover, precipitation, wind, and temperature. They learn how to read a thermometer and construct a rain gauge to measure precipitation. They also study cloud formations and use a wind scale to estimate the speed of wind. To apply their new skills and knowledge, students compare their own weather predictions with an actual weather forecast and use the weather data they have collected to form generalizations about the weather in their own locale.
Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills (EiE)
This unit guides students to think like mechanical engineers as they use their knowledge of wind to design and create machines that can be used to capture wind energy. The storybook “Leif Catches the Wind” reinforces the science concept of air as wind, and introduces the field of mechanical engineering. The wind turbines found in Leif’s home country, Denmark, are used as an example of a renewable energy source and a machine designed in part by mechanical engineers. Students will look critically at several common machines (mechanical pencils, egg beaters, rolling pins) and diagram how the parts of the machine interact with other parts of the machine and allow the object to function. Students will then use their mechanical engineering skills to explore different materials and shapes conducive to catching the wind, first by designing sails for small boats and finally for designing windmill blades.
Solids and Liquids (FOSS)
The Solids and Liquids module provides experiences that heighten students’ awareness of the physical world. Matter with which we interact exists in three fundamental states: solid, liquid, and gas. In this module first and second graders have introductory experiences with two of these states of matter, solid and liquid.
Organisms (STC)
This unit provides hands-on experiences that help students develop an understanding of and sensitivity to living things. Students create and maintain a woodland habitat containing pine seedlings, moss, pill bugs, and Bess beetles or millipedes. They also set up and observe a freshwater habitat into which they introduce elodea and cabomba plants, pond snails, and guppies. With both plants and animals in each habitat, students have the opportunity to observe how these organisms coexist. Through studying the needs and characteristics of a variety of organisms, the students are able to draw conclusions about how plants and animals are similar and different. In a final lesson, students apply to humans what they have learned about organisms, exploring how human beings are similar to and different from other living things.
Science - Second Grade
List of Theme Topics/ Synopsis of Units/Course:
Soils (STC)
In this unit, students investigate the chief components of soil—sand, clay, and humus—and explore the relationship between soil and plant growth. Early in the unit, they create their own compost bags. This activity enables them to observe the decomposition of organic materials over time. Students observe and read about earthworms to learn about their connection to plant roots and soil. The students also conduct tests that enable them to observe and compare such properties of soil as odor, appearance, and texture. Phenomena such as settling, water content, and soil consistency are also explored. These observations are then related to plant growth, as students plant cucumber seeds in a clear plastic tube. By observing root growth, students learn about the role of roots in keeping the plant anchored and upright. In a final activity, students apply what they have learned to investigate a sample of local garden soil.
Changes (STC)
Students expand their understanding of solids, liquids, and gases by exploring changes in state. They investigate freezing, melting, evaporation, and condensation of water. In a sequence of lessons, students produce a mixture of two solids and a mixture of solids with liquids and observe the results. They work through several methods to separate mixtures: sieving, filtration, evaporation, and chromatography. The students set up races that involve sugar dissolving in water and observe the effects of particle size and water temperature on the rate at which the sugar dissolves. They also observe crystals formed as a result of evaporation. Students observe some changes that occur immediately and some that occur over time, and they begin to recognize the characteristics of chemical reactions. They investigate rusting, and they observe and collect the gas formed by mixing an effervescent tablet in water. Students have several opportunities to practice their new skills in lessons in which they devise ways of separating a mystery mixture and plan and carry out investigations that involve other changes.
Insects (FOSS)
The Insects module provides experiences that heighten students’ awareness of the diversity of animal forms. They come to know firsthand the life sequences of a number of insects. In each investigation an insect is introduced, and students observe structures and behaviors, discuss their findings, and ask questions. Students observe life cycles of insects and compare the stages of metamorphosis exhibited by each species.
Science - Third Grade
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Chemical Tests (STC)
This unit introduces third-graders to the science of chemistry by challenging them to explore and determine the identity of five common household chemicals: sugar, alum, talc, baking soda, and cornstarch. Students begin by focusing on the physical properties of color, form, and texture. Next, they explore chemical properties by observing how the five powders interact with water, vinegar, iodine, and red cabbage juice. These tests enable them to explore phenomena such as crystallization and to observe the processes of evaporation and filtration. Finally, students apply their skills and their knowledge of the five chemicals to identify a variety of “mystery” mixtures. As a result of conducting these investigations, students develop scientific skills such as observing and recording results, forming conclusions on the basis of experience, communicating results, and applying their knowledge to solve problems.
Rocks and Minerals (STC)
Students explore the differences and similarities between rocks and minerals by investigating samples of these earth materials, performing a series of tests similar to geologists’ field tests, and reading about rocks and minerals and how they are used. The first lessons focus on rocks. The students then turn their attention to a set of 12 minerals and test them to identify properties such as streak color, luster, transparency, hardness, shape, and magnetism. After completing these observations, students compile them into their own “Minerals Field Guide.” In a culminating activity, they are challenged to apply their knowledge and skills to identify new minerals. They then report on how rocks and minerals are used.
Structures of Life (FOSS)
The Structures of Life module consists of four sequential investigations dealing with observable characteristics of organisms. Students observe, compare, categorize, and care for a selection of organisms, and in so doing they learn to identify properties of plants and animals and to sort and group organisms on the basis of observable properties. Students investigate structures of the organisms and learn how some of the structures function in growth and survival.
Science - Fourth Grade
List of Theme Topics/ Synopsis of Units/Course:
Measurement (FOSS)
Measurement, the process of quantifying observations, is one of the cornerstones of science. Measurement compares nature—the unknown—to a standard unit—the known. Through such comparison, the organization of the world becomes more comprehensive. The FOSS Measurement module consists of four investigations, each designed to emphasize a particular type of metric measurement—length, mass, temperature, and volume.
Levers and Pulleys (FOSS)
Humans are the only living creatures that have been able to put materials together to construct machines to do work. Our capacity to see and invent relationships between effort and work produced through simple machines has led us into a world that is becoming more technologically oriented. Knowledge of these relationships is necessary for understanding all mechanics. The Levers and Pulleys module consists of four investigations that involve students in fundamental concepts of simple machines.
Electric Circuits (STC)
In Electric Circuits, students investigate electricity by wiring a circuit to light a bulb. They come to understand that a circuit must form a complete circle through which electric current can pass in order to light the bulb. Students use this knowledge to explore other electrical concepts, such as what conductors and insulators are and how they work and how diodes affect the flow of electricity. Students also learn about the symbolic language of electricity and use it to read and draw diagrams for wiring circuits and constructing a flashlight. Students apply what they learn about electricity and electrical safety to a final activity in which they design and implement a wiring plan for a cardboard house. These activities cultivate students’ abilities to analyze problems, think critically, and develop solutions
Animal Studies (STC)
By caring for and observing three animals from different habitats—the dwarf African frog, the fiddler crab, and the millipede—students learn about what animals need to survive, the primary parts of their anatomical structure, and the ways in which they are suited for life in a particular environment. Students create and maintain individual logs in which they record their observations of each animal over time. These observations focus on animal behavior, including methods for food getting, movement, and protection. Toward the end of the unit, students apply what they have learned about structure, habitat, survival needs, and behavior to study a fourth classroom animal: the human. They also conduct an animal research project and decide how they will present their findings to the class.
Science - Fifth Grade
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Microworlds (STC)
In Microworlds, students explore magnifiers, learning that tools like lenses and microscopes can be used to extend the sense of sight to view objects in greater detail. By observing everyday objects with a variety of lenses, students learn that a magnifier must be transparent and curved. Students use a microscope, learn the functions of all its parts, and practice proper lighting and focusing techniques. Preparing their own slides, students are able to view onion skin under magnification. Students turn their attention to living specimens and view three microorganisms—Volvox, Blepharisma, and vinegar eels. Observing the structure of these microorganisms, and how they move, feed, grow, and multiply, develops the students’ sense of microbial life and interactions among living things and between living things and their environment.
Ecosystems (STC)
In Ecosystems, students set up terrariums for crickets and isopods. Duckweed, algae, Elodea, guppies, and snails are introduced to an aquarium. Connecting the two habitats to create an “ecocolumn,” students observe the relationship between the two environments and the organisms living within them. Students simulate the effects of pollutants—road salt, fertilizer, and acid rain—on the environment. To discover how pollutants might affect the organisms in their ecocolumn, students create a food chain and make inferences about the effects of pollutants based on the relationships between the organisms in their ecocolumns. Students explore the Chesapeake Bay as a model ecosystem, analyzing the environmental problems present there from various perspectives. Applying their knowledge of ecosystems to a real-world situation, students generate possible solutions to the pollution problem and share their conclusions with the class. This activity enables students to appreciate the trade-offs necessary to reach mutually acceptable solutions to environmental problems.
Motion and Design (STC)
The Motion and Design unit combines the physics of forces and motion with technological design. Students use plastic construction materials, weights, rubber bands, and propellers to design and build vehicles, then test how those vehicles respond to different forces of motion, like pushes, pulls, or rubber band energy. They explore, through experiments and multiple trials, how forces like friction, gravity, and air resistance work against motion to slow their vehicles down. Students must apply the concepts they learn to a design challenge, designing a vehicle that can perform to certain specifications, but also meets certain “cost” requirements. Collaboratively, student teams must design a vehicle, calculate the cost, test it, and refine their design. This unit develops skills in recording design through drawing, making accurate measurements, completing and analyzing data tables, making and testing predictions, and communicating results and experimental data.
Science - Sixth Grade
List of Theme Topics/ Synopsis of Units/Course:
Life Science: Classification System; Environmental Impact on Living and Nonliving things; Natural Selection; Environmental Issues
In this unit students study the classification system and learn how scientists began classifying living things; they understand how our present day classification system had evolved from the earliest scientists. Students study the environmental impact –nature and Homo sapiens—on living organisms, building on their learning in the fifth grade unit entitled Ecosystems. This leads into the natural selection theory, explaining how living things change to survive within the environment, making clear the interrelation of living and nonliving things. Students then move into research of an environmental issue of interest. They research the issue in depth by reading a nonfiction text, taking notes, participating in a book talk with others that have read about the same or similar topic, and lastly write a persuasive writing piece about an opinion they have acquired from their reading and research. They learn about personal responsibility for solving environmental problems.
Physical Science: Matter (FOSS Mixtures and Solutions—one source used)
In this unit students study matter in depth: reviewing the structure of the atom; reviewing and extending knowledge about solids, liquids, gases, and plasma; understanding physical and chemical properties and changes of matter; learning the differences between elements, compounds, and mixtures. This unit provides an introduction to the Periodic Table of Elements. Students learn how to read and interpret the information on the table, showing the differences among matter in our world and draw an atom from the Periodic Table. Students come to understand that atoms are the building blocks of all matter, but elements are combined chemically to make up all matter in our world. Students do research on an element of their choice to understand how it exists in our world, making the study of “matter” real.
Life Science: Systems of the Human Body; Food is Elementary: Farm to Table; Gardening
Students study all the systems of the human body. The first system is the reproductive system, where students are taught the reproductive parts of both the female and male. As students continue their study of the human body, they learn about healthy living weekly. This includes studying food choices as well as exercise and their importance to maintain a healthy body. Part of this unit includes research on Nutrition and Fitness by reading a nonfiction text. They focus on the effects of these two topics on the human body. Then students decide on what they will present to the class. An oral presentation is given. Another part of this unit includes planning, caring for, and harvesting food from a class garden. Students research healthy recipes for the vegetables that are harvested as well as other recipes that will be prepared for a healthy luncheon, providing this unit of study closure.