ELA/SS 

Students will explore how animal body parts help animals survive by watching What are Animal Adaptations? By Shea LaFountaine. Students will then learn the importance of scientific diagrams and  use the engineering design process to create a new animal adaptation inspired by one in the video. Students will then create a diagram detailing what adaptations they used and why.

Students will read Roxaboxen and explore how children use creativity to design places where everyone can play. They will become playground engineers tasked with designing a new playground that is safe, fun, accessible, and inclusive for all children.

Students will learn how engineers design parade floats that are creative, balanced, and sturdy enough to safely travel through a parade. Students will investigate famous Thanksgiving parade floats before designing, building, testing, and improving their own miniature float.

Students will listen to and discuss The Gingerbread Man. After identifying the main problem in the story, students will use the Engineering Design Process to create a way for the Gingerbread Man to safely cross the river without relying on the fox.

Students travel back to the California Gold Rush and become prospectors hoping to find gold. Working within material constraints, students must design and build a mining tool capable of extracting "gold" from a mining site. Students will test, improve, and redesign their tools while learning about the challenges faced by Gold Rush miners.

Students will learn about inventor Lonnie Johnson, creator of the Super Soaker, and how he used creativity, perseverance, and engineering to solve problems. Students will then use the Engineering Design Process to invent and build a toy prototype using everyday materials. Through this challenge, students will learn about an influential African American inventor while experiencing the same design process inventors use to create new products.

Students will listen to The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and identify the main character, major events, and challenges in the story. Students will then work in teams to design and build a new castle for Princess Elizabeth after the dragon destroys her original castle.

Students will learn how maps help us locate places around the world. Students will explore famous landmarks and investigate why they were built. They will then design and build their own model of a world landmark or create an improved version that solves a modern problem.

Students will read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and identify the problem in the story: Baby Bear's chair broke.

Students become engineers hired by the Three Bears to design a new chair that is: strong enough to hold Goldilocks, comfortable enough that she would want to sit in it, attractive enough to fit inside the Bears' cottage

Students will learn how George Ferris created the Ferris Wheel for the 1893 World's Fair. Students will explore how inventions solve problems and bring people together. They will design a community attraction inspired by Ferris's innovation.