1st Nine Weeks
First Eight Days of School: Explore Science Topics, Complete Science Inventory, Set Up Journal, Review Safety, Tower Design Challenge, and Write a Claim/Evidence/Reasoning Statement.
Matter & Energy
Properties of Matter
The student knows that matter has measurable physical properties that determine how matter is identified, classified, changed, and used. The student is expected to:
Compare and contrast matter based on measurable, testable, or observable physical properties, including mass, magnetism, relative density (sinking and floating using water as a reference point), physical state (solid, liquid, gas), volume, solubility in water, and the ability to conduct or insulate thermal energy and electric energy.
Demonstrate and explain that some mixtures maintain physical properties of their ingredients such as iron filings and sand or sand and water.
Compare the properties of substances before and after they are combined into a solution and demonstrate that matter is conserved in solutions.
Illustrate how matter is made up of particles too small to be seen such as air in a balloon.
Energy Transformations, Circuits, and Light
The student knows that energy is everywhere and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to:
Investigate and describe the transformation of energy in systems such as energy in a flashlight battery that changes from chemical energy to electrical energy to light energy.
Demonstrate that electrical energy in complete circuits can be transformed into motion, light, sound, or thermal energy and identify the requirements for a functioning electrical circuit.
Demonstrate and explain how light travels in a straight line and can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed.
2nd Nine Weeks
Energy Continues...
Force, Motion, & Energy
The student knows the nature of forces and the patterns of their interactions. The student is expected to:
Investigate and explain how equal and unequal forces acting on an object cause patterns of motion and transfer of energy.
Design a simple experimental investigation that tests the effect of force on an object in a system such as a car on a ramp or a balloon rocket on a string.
Patterns in Space
The student knows that there are processes on Earth that create patterns of change. The student is expected to:
Explain how the Sun and the ocean interact in the water cycle and affect weather.
Model and describe the processes that led to the formation of sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels.
Model and identify how changes to Earth's surface by wind, water, or ice result in the formation of landforms, including deltas, canyons, and sand dunes.
The student understands how natural resources are important and can be managed. The student is expected to design and explain solutions such as conservation, recycling, or proper disposal to minimize the environmental impact of the use of natural resources.
3rd Nine Weeks
Changes to the Earth's Surface
The student knows that there are processes on Earth that create patterns of change. The student is expected to:
Explain how the Sun and the ocean interact in the water cycle and affect weather.
Model and describe the processes that led to the formation of sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels.
Model and identify how changes to Earth's surface by wind, water, or ice result in the formation of landforms, including deltas, canyons, and sand dunes.
Organisms and Environments
The student describes patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within environments. The student is expected to: Observe and describe how a variety of organisms survive by interacting with biotic and abiotic factors in a healthy ecosystem.
Predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the cycling of matter and flow of energy in a food web.
Describe a healthy ecosystem and how human activities can be beneficial or harmful to an ecosystem.
4th Nine Weeks
Organisms and Environments Continued...
The student knows that organisms undergo similar life processes and have structures and behaviors that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:
Analyze the structures and functions of different species to identify how organisms survive in the same environment.
Explain how instinctual behavioral traits such as turtle hatchlings returning to the sea and learned behavioral traits such as orcas hunting in packs increase chances of survival.
STAAR Review
Scientific and Engineering Practices Experiences