Outline
• Review of grade 5 lessons
• Review of grade 4 lessons
• Science fair
• Technology integration
• Future plans
5th grade - Curriculum Goals • Learn that Earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night.
• Understand that the exact path the Sun takes in the sky varies by season.
• Learn that Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun in the solar system.
• Learn that stars are suns positioned at great distances from Earth and form groups called constellations that appear to move together across the sky at night.
• Use tools to collect and analyze data to develop logical conclusions about the movements of objects in the sky.
• Model ecosystems may be used to learn more about the relationships that exist on earth.
• Organisms in ecosystems have dependent and interdependent relationships.
• Nature and human activity may affect an ecosystem in beneficial or harmful ways.
• People can develop solutions to mitigate the effects of pollutants.
• Gain experience with the concepts of erosion and deposition.
• Relate processes that they observe in the stream-table models to processes that created famous landforms.
• Become familiar with topographic maps and some of the techniques used to create them.
• Use measurement and mathematics in the context of scientific investigations.
• Acquire vocabulary associated with landforms and the processes that create landforms.
Curriculum Schedule
Fall Winter Spring
Measuring
time, sun
and moon
Ecosystems
Landforms
Outdoor
Classroom
ePals Curley
landforms
5th grade - Project Goals • Students will be able to:
• Make and test predictions
• Document and analyze plants
• Understand what climate change is and ways to help
• Use digital cameras and online learning tools
• Communicate information through writing, digital images and discussion
Fall: Curriculum-based lessons
• Track the movement of the sun’s shadow over time
• Observe and record how the Moon changes its appearance or phase in a regular pattern over 4 weeks
• Know the basic organization of the solar system, how eclipses work
• Guest lecture, Bekki Dawson – graduate student in Department of Astronomy at Harvard U
National Geographic Space Lesson
• Transition from solar system unit to ecosystems by describing weather on other planets
• Lesson modeled after National Geographic Extreme Weather on Other Planets
• Additions:
• Overview of temperature, wind, moisture requirements for different weather phenomena
• Overview of water phase changes
• Evaporation
• Water vapor
• Condensation
• Solar system weather report
Outdoor Classroom • Students will be assigned one plant and
draw and describe their plant
• Students will research their plant online
• Field guide online/print version
• Richard Primack
• Guest lecture: Identifying local plants
Ecocolumns
• Water cycle overview
• Is it biotic or abiotic?
• Food chain lesson
• Students creat MA forest food chain tab chart
• Smartboard flow of energy food chain activity
• Starting research on MA woodland plants for brochure
• Keeping notebook observations of ecocolumns
• Gas exchange worksheet
Terrarium
Aquarium
Plants breathe in_____________and breathe out________
Animals breathe in_____________and breathe out________
Oxygen
Duckweed
Elodea
Algae
Carbon dioxide
Pond Snails
Producers
Decomposers
Consumers
Mosquito Fish
Mustard
Alfalfa
Grass
Crickets
Isopods
Oxygen
Carbon dioxide
Alternate MCAS
• Design and administer an alternate version of the MCAS for learning disabled students.
4th and 5th – Phototropism
• Lesson Plan
• Track directional plant growth each day with classroom plants
4th grade – Curricular lessons
• Students designed the habitat for and cared for:
• African dwarf frog
• Fiddler crab
• Millipede
• They studied their body parts, life cycle, basic needs and survival skills
4th grade – Curricular lessons
• What materials attract magnets?
• Force of magnetism through different materials
• Temporary and permanent magnets
• Measuring magnetic force
Grade 4 – Additional lessons
• Students chose their own frog species, researched it online, and created a field guide in print and online
• Students wrote a one page millipede adventure story, containing at least 3 scientific facts and an attached illustration
• 3 part chart summarizing the three animals and Venn diagram comparing them
• Microorganisms and macroorganisms
Techology Integration
• Digital cameras
• Research on the computers in library
• Post projects on Curley website
• Smartboard activities: magnets, food chain, carbon cycle
• Projector used for lessons, net activities, MCAS: Question of the day
Future Plans
• Stream table investigation
• EPALS Project Elements
• Global warming terms activity
• Global warming 101, greenhouse effect tutorial, and quiz
• 4 informational emails between ePals
• Create advocacy presentation
• Share
Curley Landforms
• Students will collect or capture digital images representing landforms and water features in their community or throughout the world
• Students will identify and label geographic features depicted in digital images from the Curley school neighborhood
• Labeled landforms will be uploaded to Curley K-8 School and GK-12 websites