Science

Scarsdale's elementary science program, which aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards, emphasizes:

• Hands-on science and engineering practices

• Real world connections to science concepts

• Strong coordination with math, literacy, and writing

The four (4) fifth grade science units are:

1-  Space Systems: The Stars and The Solar System - In this Science 21 unit, students will be developing and using models to analyze data. The focus will be to explain the relationship between Earth and the Solar System. Part of their work will be to create arguments with evidence to support observations and claims made during investigations. They will use data presented in graphic formats and obtained from models to analyze interactions between Earth, the Sun and the Moon. They will use the data to recognize and explain patterns which include the change in length and direction of shadows during the day, day/night caused by Earth’s rotation, the seasonal changes nighttime constellations, and the changing appearance of the Moon throughout a month. Analysis of these phenomena will be for students to construct understandings of cause and effect relationships in addition to patterns. Students will use evidence to present arguments that gravity causes all objects to fall down towards Earth’s center and that Earth has a spherical shape. This unit will also introduce the concept of measuring enormous distances to stars using the light year and a cause of stars having different apparent brightness as seen from Earth.

2-  Structure and the Properties of Matter - This Science 21 unit was designed to follow Earth and Space Systems to reinforce the idea of scale and the immense range that exists in natural objects from tiny particles of matter to the Earth, Moon and Sun. Students will be developing and using many different models to make sense of how the tiny particles that make up solids, liquids and gases (matter) behave. They will use their models to explore these concepts and explain their understanding of everyday phenomena, such as melting ice, dissolving salt, evaporating water and chemical reactions such as baking soda and vinegar. This unit will also introduce the idea of conservation of mass which students will be revisiting in middle school. 

3-  How Can We Predict Change in Ecosystems? In this Smithsonian module, students:

• Carry out investigations to provide evidence that plants get most of their matter from air and water.

• Analyze data showing that animals get both matter and energy by consuming food.

• Develop and use food web models to track matter and energy flows in ecosystems.

• Obtain information about the causes and effects of invasive species.

Use models to support a prediction about which of two coastal locations is more likely to be invaded by a nonnative sea squirt. 

4- How Can We Provide Freshwater to Those in Need? In this Smithsonian module, students:

• Define the problem of human’s need for freshwater and the limited amount of freshwater available

• Develop a model to show how human activities interact with components of the Earth’s system to cause groundwater pollution

• Design, test, and evaluate different solutions for treating contaminated water

• Use a digital simulation to design and test a solution to the problem of water scarcity

• Communicate two perspectives on the causes and effects of an environmental crisis

• Design, test, and evaluate a solution to pump, treat, and allocate water in a particular town

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, 

requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. 

- Albert Einstein