Science

Scientific Investigation and Reasoning

Key Concepts

Identify what a scientist is and what different scientists do.
Identify, describe, and demonstrate safe practices for scientific investigations including washing hands, wearing safety goggles, and using materials appropriately.
Identify and demonstrate how to use, conserve, and dispose of natural resources. (ex. conserving water or recycling plastic)
Plan and conduct investigations, ask questions to learn more, collect data, record and organize the data collected, communicate observations and justify explanations, compare the results.
Identify and explain a scientific problem, then propose a task and solution for the problem.
Make predictions based on observable patterns.
Use age appropriate tools and models to investigate the natural world, this includes: computers, hand lenses, rulers, primary balances, plastic beakers, magnets, collecting nets, notebooks, and safety goggles; timing devices; weather instruments such as thermometers, wind vanes, and rain gauges; and materials to support observations of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums.

Matter and Energy

Key Concepts

Classify matter by physical properties, including relative temperature, texture, flexibility, and whether material is a solid or liquid
Compare changes in materials caused by heating and cooling
Demonstrate that things can be done to materials such as cutting, folding, sanding, and melting to change their physical properties
Combine materials that when put together can do things that they cannot do by themselves such as building a tower or a bridge and justify the selection of those materials based on their physical properties

Force, Motion, and Energy

Key Concepts

Investigate the effects on objects by increasing or decreasing amounts of light, heat, and sound energy such as how the color of an object appears different in dimmer light or how heat melts butter.
Observe and identify how magnets are used in everyday life.
Trace and compare patterns of movement of objects such as sliding, rolling, and spinning over time.

Organisms and Environments

Key Concepts

Identify the basic needs of plants and animals.
Observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics of plants help them meet their basic needs such as stems carry water throughout the plant.
Observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs.
Compare the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as through food chains.
Identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation, that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation, and dormancy of living things.
Investigate and record some of the unique stages that insects such as grasshoppers and butterflies undergo during their life cycle.
Participate in an insect research project.

Earth and Space

Key Concepts

Observe, describe, and compare rocks by size, texture, and color.
Identify and compare the properties of natural sources of freshwater and saltwater.
Distinguish between natural and manmade resources.
Measure, record, and graph weather information, including temperature, wind conditions, precipitation, and cloud coverage, in order to identify patterns in the data.
Identify the importance of weather and seasonal information to make choices in clothing, activities, and transportation.
Observe, describe, and record patterns of objects in the sky, including the appearance of the Moon