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Overview of the 3rd/4th Grade Units.
See also, 2nd/3rd Grade Units and 4th/5th Grade Units
The four Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading units for grades 3/4 are Light Energy, Weather and Water, Digestion and Body Systems, and Variation and Adaptation. Light Energy and Weather and Water are each 40 sessions in length, Digestion and Body Systems, and Variation and Adaptation are each 20 sessions in length. Below you will see detailed descriptions of each unit. Note the highlighted text in the first paragraph of each description, which gives an idea of the key concepts taught in that unit.
Light Energy
Light Energy focuses students on learning about light, light’s
multiple interactions with different materials, light as energy, energy transformers, and related physical science concepts. The unit includes a major emphasis on science inquiry and gathering evidence to support key concepts. Nine student books engage students in doing, talking, reading, and writing about the science concepts. About half of the sessions have a literacy focus.
Investigation 1—How Light Travels. Students reflect on what they know and wonder about light. They make the first of many predictions before reading Can You See in the Dark?, which conveys that light comes from a source and we need light to see. Using a flashlight, students investigate and make observations about light, then make light tubes to gather evidence that light travels in a straight line. They begins a Class Glossary and Concept Wall. After making predictions, they read The Speed of Light, and, using key words, construct main idea statements about book passages. They summarize what they have learned by writing supporting details for a topic sentence.
Investigation 2—Reflection and Transmission. Students begin by reading Why Do Scientists Disagree? and practice making and revising predictions about the book. They learn that science is based on evidence. Students continue testing materials, predicting what they will discover, and revising predictions as they go. Guiding questions frame investigations of light, including “Which materials transmit light?” “Which materials block light?” and “Which materials reflect light?” In two passages on shadows, they review the key word strategy for summarizing and distinguishing the main idea statement from supporting sentences. In Investigating Shadows, they see different models
for recording data, and learn why some shadows are darker than others.
Investigation 3—Absorption and Refraction. Students compare data from firsthand investigations with data in the Handbook of Light Interactions reference book. They confront conflicting evidence, discuss possible reasons for it, and use data from the book to answer questions that are hard to answer in a firsthand way, such as: “Do materials that are the same color absorb a similar amount of light?” They use evidence to debate conclusions in a Discourse Circle. They learn about lenses and that when light passes through a lens, it bends, or refracts. They read Light Strikes! and Tools that Bend Light and connect their learning about light interactions to everyday events and useful tools. They write a nonfiction page about the light interaction of their choice.
Investigation 4—Energy. Students wonder, “What is light?” and are introduced to the concepts that light is energy, that there are many forms of energy, and that these forms can transform from one into another. They discover that warmth can be evidence that light is absorbed. They read It’s All Energy, visit energy transformation stations, and are introduced to the important role of solar energy. They read Energy Scientist, take part in a Discourse Circle, and write a nonfiction page on solar energy. The unit closes as students visit reminder stations about the unit’s investigations and reflect on ways they have acted like scientists.
Weather and Water
Weather and Water involves students in learning about air and the atmosphere, phase change, the water cycle, precipitation, weather patterns, and other earth science concepts. In four investigations of 10 sessions each, students engage in inquiry processes of posing questions, using tools to extend senses, using and critiquing models, analyzing data, and making explanations from evidence. They read and discuss weather and water topics through nine student books. About half of the sessions have a literacy focus. Students strengthen reading comprehension skills, write scientific explanations and process descriptions, and learn to use nonfiction text features. Throughout, students consider the nature and practices of science.
Investigation 1—Air and Atmosphere. Students discuss what they know about weather and pose questions. The first of four weather mysteries asks if there is weather on the Moon. Students read Tornado! A Meteorologist and Her Prediction. They learn to make weather measurements and observations. They gather evidence to support the claim that air is a substance, and the class writes a scientific explanation together. By analyzing data and reading Falling Through the Atmosphere, they learn about Earth’s atmosphere and that weather occurs in the lower atmosphere, where there is enough air. They learn air contains water vapor, and measure humidity in different locations.
Investigation 2—Phase Change. Students learn about how adding or taking away energy makes water change phase, with a focus on evaporation and condensation. To solve Part 1 of the Mystery of the Drying Towels they investigate how temperature, moving air, and humidity affect evaporation. They learn how to use reference books, read about topics in the Weather Encyclopedia, and write a scientific explanation about evaporation. They investigate the relationship between temperature and condensation, read Water in the Desert, learn how phase change relates to weather, and write a scientific explanation about condensation.
Investigation 3—Water Cycle. Students apply what they’ve learned about phase change to the water cycle. The Mystery of the Daily Rain Showers is introduced. Students learn about how clouds form, and about different types of clouds. They read Drinking Cleopatra’s Tears. The class writes a process description about cloud formation. Students use models, maps, and graphs to investigate groundwater and runoff. They read Go with the Flow: Making Models of Streams, make their own models of the water cycle, then write process descriptions about the water cycle.
Investigation 4—Precipitation. A mystery about rain data in two towns is introduced. Students read Sky Notebook, analyzing data from the book and data the class has collected. Each student researches a type of precipitation in the Wet Weather Handbook, writes a process description about how it forms, and predict what type of precipitation could fall in different conditions. They read What’s Going on With the Weather? The class investigates fog data, then pairs of students conduct investigations of weather data. The rain shadow effect is introduced. Students share investigations, solve the final mystery, and review what they’ve learned throughout the unit.
Digestion and Body Systems
In Digestion and Body Systems sudents learn about the structure and function of the human digestive system and its interactions with other body systems. There are two investigations—each with 10 sessions. Firsthand activities, instructional routines, and five student books involve students in doing, talking, reading, and writing about key science concepts, inquiry abilities, and literacy skills.
Investigation 1—Digestion as a System. The unit first introduces the concept of a system. The class explores a cherry pitter as a system, then small groups rotate through learning stations to analyze household devices. They read Systems and explore elements of a diagram. They devise, draw, and label parts of a dish-cleaning system. The relationship between a part’s structure and its function is highlighted. Students use a collection of parts, including a tube, filter, and pump, to build a system to sort tiny balls by size. The class reflects on the use of tubes, filters, and pumps in body systems. In discourse circles, students discuss whether or not a piece of paper is a system. They visualize and diagram their current conception of the human digestive system. They investigate the mouth and esophagus, writing a paragraph about the esophagus. They read Secrets of the Stomach for evidence on “How does the stomach
digest food?” Students write an explanation of digestion in the stomach. Groups make evidence-based explanations to solve a cooperative logic puzzle about digestion. Discourse circles discuss: “Is the stomach the most important part of the digestive system?” Students reflect on how they acted like scientists so far in the unit.
Investigation 2—Digestion and Other Body Systems. The class models movement of food through the intestines by first squeezing a ball through a long plastic tube, then a wet lump of papier mâché. They evaluate each model. They generate a Word Bank about intestines and write a description. Students read Voyage of a Cracker, which explains more about the digestive system, its organs and functions. Pairs walk through a model where each station is an organ. A triangle diagram shows relationships between the digestive and other body systems. Students again visualize and diagram the digestive system. They discuss how, like scientists, they are revising their understanding as they learn more. The teacher shows the class a blender, its parts, and how it works; as an assessment, students are challenged to compare the function and structure of the parts of a blender with those of the mouth. They describe the digestive system in five paragraphs—one for each major part. They learn more about four other body systems—circulatory, respiratory, musculo-skeletal, and nervous—and discuss ways these systems interact. Students also learn about features of reference books, using the Handbook of Body Systems. They read What’s the Diagnosis, Doctor? about how a doctor uses evidence. Students run in place and cite firsthand evidence of body systems involved. They read an account of a girl eating dinner to show how different body systems interact. Students reflect on systems within systems, review the guiding questions and key concepts of the unit, and expand on how they have acted like scientists.
Variation and Adaptation
With Variation and Adaptation students gain foundational,
standards-based understandings of basic concepts in life science. There are two investigations—each with 10 sessions. Firsthand activities, instructional routines, and four original student books involve students in doing, talking, reading, and writing about key science concepts, inquiry abilities, and literacy skills.
Investigation 1—Variation and Relatedness. Students begin by reading Maple Trees, Manatees, Milkweed, and Mites. They learn that there’s a great deal of variation among living things on Earth, yet all living things are related. Students explore similarities and differences among living things, using bird cards and bird sounds. They compare and contrast animal characteristics, and learn that shared characteristics may be evidence of relatedness. At the end of the first week, students reflect upon and make sense of the concepts of variation and relatedness by practicing with vocabulary applying the concepts they have learned to write about a specific animal. Students read The Code, on genes and inherited characteristics in human heredity. They make observations and inferences about inherited characteristics using illustrations of fruit fly families. They learn the important distinction between inherited and acquired characteristics. Students also learn about structural features of informational text, such as captions and illustrations, and practice creating them. They use vocabulary in context, and make observations and inferences using text features and models. To end the week, students reflect upon and make sense of what they’ve learned about heredity.
Investigation 2—Adaptation and Extinction. Students read Mystery Mouths and make inferences about what animals eat based on mouth structures. The class observes adaptations of a living plant and animal and makes inferences about how certain structures and behaviors promote survival. Students learn that living things have adaptations to help them get what they need to survive in their habitat. They write an informational paragraph about adaptations, illustrate it, and write a caption. A butterfly model demonstrates natural selection. Students learn that most of the living things that were once alive are now extinct, and that characteristics of species can change over very long periods of time, and that this is called evolution. They learn that evidence of evolution is preserved in the fossil record. They make observations and inferences about fossil replicas at five learning stations. They read Paleontologists: Scientists Who Look Back in Time, about how two young paleontologists use fossil evidence. Throughout the unit, students deepen their understanding of the importance of supporting explanations with evidence. They learn that scientists work with many other scientists in a scientific community, to share their investigations and debate ideas using evidence. Students write a paragraph comparing an extinct animal with a closely related living animal. To end the unit, reminder artifacts from their previous investigations are used to help students consider the question, “Why do living things have the characteristics they do?”
Go to: 2nd/3rd Grade Units or 4th/5th Grade Units
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