STEELS SCIENCE CURRICULUM
K-8 CORE IDEAS

1ST GR: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. 

4TH GR: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. 

1ST GR: Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive. 

3RD GR: Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

KDG: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.  

3RD GR: Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

4TH GR: Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

2ND GR: Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. 

Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants. 

5TH GR: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. 

3RD GR: Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive. 

1ST GR: Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. 

3RD GR: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that variation of these traits exists in a group of similar organisms. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment. 

3RD GR: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago. 

3RD GR: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

3RD GR: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all. 

2ND GR: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. 

3RD GR: Make a claim supported by evidence about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. . 

2ND GR: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties. 

Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose. 

Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object.  

5TH GR: Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen. 

Make and communicate observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties. 

Interpret and analyze data to make decisions about how to utilize materials based on their properties. 

2ND GR: Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot. 

5TH GR: Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved. 

Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. 

KDG: Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull. 

3RD GR: Make and communicate observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. 

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. 

KDG: Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. 

3RD GR: Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. 

Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets. 

4TH GR: Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. 

KDG: Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface. 

Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area. 

4TH GR: Make and communicate observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. 

4TH GR: Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. 

4TH GR: Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. 

5TH GR: Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun. 

1ST GR: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. 

4TH GR: Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. 

1ST GR: Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated. 

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. 

4TH GR: Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.  

1ST GR:Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance. 

4TH GR: Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information. 

1ST GR: Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. 

5TH GR: Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. 

1ST GR: Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. 

5TH GR: Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky. 

2ND GR: Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly. 

4TH GR: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. 

2ND GR: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.  

4TH GR: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. 

5TH GR: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

2ND GR: Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area. 

4TH GR: Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. 

2ND GR: Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.  

5TH GR: Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth. 

KDG: Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. 

3RD GR: Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season. 3.3.3.B Obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.

KDG: Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. 

KDG: Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live. 

4TH GR: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment 

2ND GR: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.  

4TH GR: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. 

5TH GR: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

KDG: Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather. 

3RD GR: Make a claim supported by evidence about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard. 

4TH GR: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.