What Is This Unit About?

In Vision and Light, students take on the role of scientists investigating why the Tokay geckoes living in one area of a rain forest in the Philippines are not doing well. They do investigations and analyze data about animal senses to figure out how changes to an animal’s environment are related to its ability to see well and survive. Students make models and write scientific explanations to share what they learn about how animal senses work, and how that’s related to survival.

What Science Vocabulary Words Do Students Use?

These are the most important science words that students use throughout the unit. These words are introduced one at a time throughout the unit and not all at once. Getting familiar with these definitions, which are sometimes different from how people use these words in everyday life, may be useful as you support your student’s at-home learning. Your student will have a Glossary that includes these words.

• environment: all the living and nonliving things in an area

ambiente: todo (viviente y no viviente) lo que hay en un área

• explanation: a description of how something works or why something happens

explicación: una descripción de cómo algo funciona o por qué algo pasa

• evidence: information that supports an answer to a question

evidencia: información que respalda una respuesta a una pregunta

• function: what something can do

función: lo que algo puede hacer

• investigation: an attempt to find out about something

investigación: un intento de aprender sobre algo

• model: something scientists make to answer questions about the real world

modelo: algo que los científicos crean para responder preguntas sobre el mundo real

• observe: to use any of the five senses to gather information about something

observar: usar cualquiera de los cinco sentidos para recolectar información acerca de algo

• predator: an animal that hunts and eats other animals

depredador: un animal que caza y come otros animales

• prey: an animal that is hunted and eaten by other animals

presa: un animal que es cazado y comido por otros animales

• process: to change information from one form to another

procesar: cambiar información de una forma a otra

• receptor: a structure that responds to information coming in from the environment

receptor: una estructura que responde a información que viene del ambiente

• reflect: to cause light to bounce off a material

reflejar: hacer que la luz rebote contra un material

• sense: (noun) how an animal gets information from its environment

sentido: cómo un animal obtiene información de su ambiente

• sense: (verb) to get information from the environment

sentir: obtener información del ambiente

• sensitive: responding to small amounts of information

sensible: que responde a pequeñas cantidades de información

• sensitivity: how strongly something responds to information

sensibilidad: con qué fuerza responde algo a la información

• structure: the way something is shaped or what it is made out of that makes it good for a specific function

estructura: la forma que tiene una cosa, o de qué está hecha esa cosa, que la hace adecuada para una función específica

• survive: to stay alive

sobrevivir: mantenerse vivo

• variable: something that can change in an investigation

variable: algo que puede cambiar en una investigación

• vision: the ability to see

visión: la capacidad de ver

What Do Students Read?

Your student will read these books, which give them a chance to learn about the science concepts in the unit through stories, illustrations and photos, real-world examples, and information about real scientists and engineers. The books help students get more evidence to answer the questions in the unit. Your student does not need to read the books on their own. These books can be enjoyed together, and you can read them multiple times.

*Click for directions to reading the books.

Vision and Light

Questions for At-Home Discussion

Chapter 1

● I hear you’re going to work as conservation biologists to help with a problem in a rainforest. What kinds of things do you think you’ll investigate?

● Let’s imagine I started cooking dinner and you were in a different room. What are all the ways you could get clues that I was cooking dinner? Could you get clues from all your senses?

Chapter 2

● What do you know about animal senses? What do you wonder?

● I hear you’re investigating an animal called the Tokay Gecko. What can you tell me about this animal?

Chapter 3

● What do you know about light? What do you wonder?

● Let’s think of an animal that we’ve seen that eats other animals. What do you think has to happen for it to see and recognize its prey?

Chapter 4

● What can you tell me about how vision works?

● What’s one of your favorite animals? How do you think its senses might be the same as ours and different from ours?

Chapter 5

● Let’s think of an animal that is active at night. How do you think it is able to find its way around?

● What can you tell me about ways scientists can figure things out about senses?

Amplify Family Resources website:  amplify.com/amplify-science-family-resources-es