Quarter 1: Unit 1 The Earth System

In this unit students will investigate using a modeling tool to figure out how water is distributed within the hydrosphere, how water moves between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere to cause rain, how the geosphere can interact with the hydrosphere and atmosphere to create patterns of rain, and how life forms in the biosphere depend on the hydrosphere. Students use their understanding of how parts of the Earth system interact to explain why one city is experiencing a water shortage. Students also design freshwater collection systems as a possible solution for the water shortage problem, and iterate on their designs throughout the unit. They then learn about another solution: treating wastewater to turn it into clean freshwater. Students discover that, in chemical reactions, substances are mixed and at least one new substance with different properties is formed. They apply this idea to explain how wastewater treatment can remove harmful substances from the city’s water and make it safe to reuse. 

Quarter 2: Unit 2 Modeling Matter

In this unit Students will engage in hands-on experiences in which they observe phenomena and then use two apps to investigate those phenomena at the nanoscale (the molecular level)—the Modeling Matter Diagramming Tool, which enables students to create models of what they think might be happening at the nanoscale; and the Modeling Matter Simulation, a dynamic model that enables students to explore what happens when different kinds of particles are mixed, to make and test their predictions, and to gather evidence to support their emerging understanding. By the end of the unit, students will understand that there is a connection between the observable properties of materials and the properties of the molecules of which those materials are composed. Students will also be able to explain a variety of things that can happen when two substances are mixed, at both the observable scale and the nanoscale. 

Quarter 3: Unit 3 Ecosystem Restoration and Health

In this unit, students take on the role of ecologists to investigate this question and figure out what can be done to return the ecosystem to its original healthy state. As ecologists working with Natural Resources Rescue, an organization dedicated to protecting Earth’s fragile ecosystems, students work to explain the anchor phenomenon: that jaguars, sloths, and cercopia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving. In order to understand what’s causing the problem, students explore what it means to grow and how living things get the matter and energy they need to grow. Throughout the unit, students engage in oral and written scientific argumentation about the source of the problem in the failing ecosystem. They also have an opportunity to write and revise a Rain Forest Restoration Plan in which they explain, in their own words, why the ecosystem is failing and support their arguments by using evidence. 

Towards the end of Q3, students will be participating in our Health Unit. Students will learn how their bodies are physically changing, along with emotional changes that also take place during puberty. More information to follow as we get closer to our unit.

Quarter 4: Unit 4 Patterns of Earth and Sky

In this unit we will be discovering and exploring Earth and the universe around. Students take on the role of astronomers, helping a team of archaeologists at the fictional Museum of Archaeology. Students are asked to figure out and explain the significance of the illustrations on a recently discovered thousand-year-old artifact with a missing piece, the anchor phenomenon for the unit. Students observe and investigate patterns in the sky by day and by night with kinesthetic models, as well as using a digital simulation, and informational text. They learn that stars are all around us in space, develop an understanding of scale and distance in the universe, and discover how the spin and orbit of our planet causes us to observe daily and yearly patterns of stars. Students apply their understanding of why we see different stars at different times to explain what is shown on the artifact, and what might be on the missing piece.