Concepts & Practices Storyline

Focus Question #1: How can we use our sense to compare materials?

  1. Properties can be used to identify materials.

  2. Sugar, salt, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and alum can be compared using just our senses.

  3. Sugar and cornstarch can be obtained from plants.

Focus Question #2: What happens when materials are mixed with water?

  1. When sugar is dissolved in water, there is no change in weight.

  2. Dissolving and evaporation can be explained by particles.

  3. Solids can be compared based on how they mix with water.

Focus Question #3: How do heating and cooling affect materials?

  1. A mixture of coconut oil and beeswax melts more easily than beeswax alone.

  2. Mixtures have different melting points and freezing points from pure materials.

  3. Solids can be compared based on how they respond to heat.

Focus Question #4: Does mixing materials together form a new materials?

  1. Bubbles or a change in color can be observed when six solids are mixed with vinegar or iodine.

  2. Bubbles or a change in smell, color, or texture can be a sign that a new material has been made.

  3. When something new is formed, there is no change in weight.


Science Challenge

Focus Question #5: How can we identify unknown kitchen materials?

  1. A model can be used to plan an investigation.

  2. Unknown solids can be identified by comparing properties.

  3. Scientists use evidence when communicating their findings.

Concepts & Practices Storyline

Focus Question #1:How can plants get what they need to live and grow?

  1. Plants need many things to live and grow, but not all of them contribute most of the matter to growth.

  2. Plants take in carbon dioxide from the air, and air is made up of particles.

  3. Air is matter, and light is energy.

  4. Plants get most of their matter for growth from air and water, not soil.

Focus Question #2: How can animals get what they need to live and grow?

  1. Animals need matter and energy to live and grow, and to gain weight they need to consume more food.

  2. Food is a source of energy for animals.

  3. Animals get both the matter and the energy they need from food.

Focus Question #3: How do matter and energy flow through ecosystems?

  1. Organisms are related in food webs, which can be used to model the flow of matter and energy.

  2. Decomposers return matter from dead organisms to the environment.

  3. Energy flows and matter cycles through living and nonliving components of ecosystems.

Focus Question #4: What affects the stability of ecosystems?

  1. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs for matter and energy are met.

  2. Newly introduced species can often cause problems in native ecosystems.

  3. The introduction of a top predator can sometimes have a cascade effect that reaches the bottom of the food web.


Science Challenge

Focus Question #5: How can we use models to make predictions about invasive sea squirts?

  1. Sea squirts often hitchhike on boats and become invasive species.

  2. Models can be used to make predictions about locations that are more susceptible to invasion.

Concepts & Practices Storyline

Focus Question #1: What is the evidence for a spherical Earth?

  1. Ships sailing at the horizon provide evidence that Earth is spherical.

  2. Shadows provide evidence that Earth is spherical.

  3. Gravity is a force directed toward the center of the spherical Earth.

Focus Question #2: How can we explain daily observations of the sky?

  1. The sun appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer.

  2. The Sun's daily motion provides evidence that Earth rotates on an axis.

  3. The daily motion of the stars provides evidence that Earth rotates on an axis.

Focus Question #3: What causes the annual patterns of motion of the Sun and stars?

  1. Some constellations are not visible all year.

  2. Earth's revolution around the Sun causes variation in daylight (Modeling Daylight).

  3. Earth's revolution around the Sun causes variation in daylight (It's Been a Long Day).

Focus Question #4: How are tools and systems used to navigate?

  1. Predictable patterns in the night sky can be used to solve a navigational problem.

  2. Solutions to problems are designed to meet criteria and constraints and must be tested to determine which best meets them.

  3. Solutions to problems are designed to meet criteria and constraints but must be implemented correctly to be successful.


Science Challenge

Focus Question #5: How could ancient Polynesians navigate the ocean without instruments?

  1. Ancient Polynesians navigated the ocean without instruments.

  2. Observations of the sky can be used to navigate a boat.

  3. Scientific arguments are based on evidence.

Concepts & Practices Storyline

Focus Question #1: Where does the water you need come from?

  1. Accessing freshwater is a problem.

  2. Human activities require freshwater.

  3. Freshwater is limited and not easily accessible.

  4. Water scarcity is a global problem.

Focus Question #2: How have humans impacted the water we need?

  1. Identifying failure points informs how to improve a design.

  2. Humans impact Earth's four spheres.

  3. Earth's four spheres interact.

  4. Human activities impact groundwater.

  5. Design solutions should be compared based on how well they meet the criteria.

Focus Question #3: How have humans tried to solve the problem of getting freshwater to where it's needed?

  1. Human activities impact water availability and distribution.

  2. Human activities can have unintended consequences (Read All About It!).

  3. Human activities can have unintended consequences (Write All About It!).

Focus Question #4: How can we provide freshwater to agriculture, industry, the environment, and housing in your town?

  1. Earth's four spheres interact.


Design Challenge

  1. Communication with peers is an important part of the design process.

  2. Identifying failure point informs how to improve a design.