Animal Reporters

Students grab their notepads and take on the role of Animal Reporters before embarking on a global quest to observe different animals. On their journey, students discover how animals use their body parts and how young animals resemble and differ from their parents. Students learn about sound, finding out how animals communicate with each other. They are challenged to design and build their own devices, discovering how they too can use sounds to communicate over long distances. Over the course of the module, these intrepid Animal Reporters record and present their findings in preparation for their final written articles.

Module Anchor Phenomenon:A young elephant makes a sound. Then an adult elephant feeds it.

How do animals use their body parts, communicate with their young, and make sounds?

Shadow Town

Let’s go to Shadow Town! The town of Rjukan, Norway, spends half the year with no direct sunlight. Why? Over the course of the module, students explore light, shadows, transparency, and reflection. They create shadow puppets to tell stories of life in Rjukan and experiment with reflective surfaces. Finally, students design and test solutions to Rjukan’s problem. How will students bring light to Rjukan?

Module Anchor Phenomenon:During the fall, even in the daytime, the town of Rjukan is in the dark.

Why is the town of Rjukan in a shadow?

Click here to watch a short video on Shadow Town.

Patterns in the Sky

How do you know the Sun will set tonight and rise tomorrow? The sky above us is full of patterns—and we can use these to make predictions. It’s like being able to look into the future! Students become junior astronomers, using naked-eye observations, models, and videos to observe and collect data on phenomena that affect us all every day. They explore the way the Sun and Moon appear to move across the sky, investigate why the length of the day changes throughout the year, and create posters that document all they have learned. Keep looking up!

Module Anchor Phenomenon:Child A can only see the Sun out of their window in the morning. Child B can only see the Sun out of their window in the afternoon.

What patterns do we observe in the sky?

Museum of Leafology

Students create and curate their very own Museum of Leafology, capturing everything they know about plants in a series of themed rooms. Students observe plants through hands-on activities like outdoor nature explorations and growing their own seedlings. They investigate different plant parts, and design and build an invention inspired by plants to solve school problems. At the end of the module, students invite their families and friends to visit the Museum. Finally, students prepare a celebratory (and delicious!) "Plant Parts Salad."

Module Anchor Phenomenon:The thistle plants look alike, but not exactly the same.

How are all plants alike and how are they different?