Investigation 1, Origins of Seeds: Students conduct a seed hunt by opening fresh fruit and locating the seeds. They describe and compare seed properties. Students examine and sort a selection of seeds—bean, pea, sunflower, and corn. They investigate the effect water has on seeds by setting up seed sprouters and observing and recording changes over a week. Students systematically find out how much water lima beans soak up in a day. Students investigate seed dispersal mechanisms of plants.
Embedded Files
Investigation 2, Growing Further: Students examine germinated seeds to determine similarities and differences in the way the organisms grow. They set up a hydroponic garden to observe the life cycle of a bean plant. Students go outdoors to investigate the roots and shoots of various plants. They use tools to dig up plants and compare the structures above ground to those below ground. Through direct experience and readings, students learn about plant structures and functions.
Investigation 3, Meet the Crayfish: Students observe and record some of the structures of a crustacean, the crayfish, and compare it to other organisms. They establish a feeding and maintenance schedule for the organisms. Students investigate crayfish behavior and map where the crayfish spend time within their habitat. Through readings, organism cards, and a video, students learn about adaptations of organisms in different environments, including different kinds of group and social behaviors. Students use a computer simulation to study variation of traits in species and explore how variation might affect survival of individuals. Students engage in an outdoor simulation activity to explore food chains.
Investigation 4, Human Body: Students observe the articulated human skeletal system in action, use posters and a sense of touch to estimate and refine a count of the 206 human bones, and build skeleton puzzles from memory. Students dissect rodent bones from owl pellets and compare them to human bones. They explore joints and their role in movement focusing on opposable thumbs. Students build operational models of muscle-bone systems to see how muscles move bones. They investigate their skin by making and analyzing fingerprint patterns.
Report abuse