In the Animals 2 by 2 unit students are provided with experiences with a number of animals that look and act quite unlike the barnyard model and heighten their awareness of the structure and behavior of animals. They experience four pairs of similar organisms: Fish (Goldfish and Guppies), Snails (Land Snails and Aquatic Snails), Worms (Little Redworms and Big Night‐crawlers) and Isopods (Pill Bugs and Sow Bugs). They are challenged to compare the similarities and differences of each pair. Through these observations, children learn that all of these organisms are animals, what animals need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live. The performance expectations in kindergarten help students formulate answers to questions such as: “Where do animals live and why do they live there?” Students are also expected to develop an understanding of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live.

Anchoring phenomenon

Important ideas in science are about the relationships between a natural phenomenon and an explanation that helps us understand why something in the world unfolds the way it does (phenomena are events or processes— things that happen). Studying events or process rather than “things” or abstract ideas really interests students and helps them develop deep and interconnected understandings of science concepts. In this unit, children learn what animals need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live. They should be able to answer questions such as: “Where do animals live and why do they live there?” Students are also expected to develop understanding of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live. To provide a context for these investigations, we've prepared a short video (3:30 minutes) showing ducks in a pond. What are the ducks doing? Why do they look different? Are they all the same? (Videow below, or on Vimeo.)

Essential Question

• How do living things live, grow, respond to their environment?

Related/sub‐questions:

• What are the parts of these animals?

• What do these animals do?

• How are these animals similar to ‐ and different from ‐ each other?

The documents below have been created to help consider the FOSS materials in the context of the Next Generation Science Standards. We recommend you review, at the very least, the following documents:

• Unit Guide - A summary of materials, sequencing and content for the module.

• Storyline - An overview of the sequencing and reasons for the various activities

• Assessment - A collection of assessment tools including what to look for as students work on the activities.