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Connections and Relationships in Systems

This interdisciplinary unit is based upon the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary education fifth grade science, technology, and engineering standards theme: Connections and Relationships in Systems. As part of this study students will model, provide evidence to support arguments, and obtain and display data about relationships and interactions among observable components of different systems. Students will learn that objects and organisms do not exist in isolation and that animals, plants and their environments are connected to, interact with, and are influenced by each other. They will study the relationships between Earth and other nearby objects in the solar system and the impact of those relationships on patterns of events as seen from Earth. They will also learn about the relationship among elements of Earth’s systems through the cycling of water and human practices and processes with Earth’s resources, and learn about the connections and relationships among plants and animals, and the ecosystems within which they live, to show how matter and energy are cycled through these. They will develop an ability to describe, analyze, and model connections and relationships of observable components of different systems as a key to understanding the natural and designed world.

(Note that this text was edited and adapted directly from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education