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Life Science: Organisms
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: organism, plant, animal, male, female, birth, death, habitat, food chain, decay.
The stage is set for the unit as children plant seeds, watch the growth of the seedlings, and experiment to see how external conditions affect growth. Their observations are extended to a model ecosystem - an aquarium. They observe changes that occur in the aquarium, including the growth of plants and animals, animals feeding on plants, animals eating other animals, birth, death, and decay. Experiences with classroom plants and aquariums give children a general introduction to the overall theme of the life/earth science units: the interaction of organisms with their environments.
Physical Science: Material Objects
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: object, property, material, serial ordering, evidence, conservation of matter, conservation of volume, phases of matter.
The children handle, observe, and describe objects. They learn that objects are composed of materials and have properties by which the objects can be discriminated; that some objects are solids, while others are liquid or gases; that objects can change; and that there are ways to recognize evidence of change. Property comparison leads to the concept of serial ordering. As the children investigate the properties of various materials, they realize that the same substance can exist in more than one form, and they gain an awareness of the principle of conservation of matter.
Earth Science: Weather
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: cloud cover, meteorologist, precipitation, seasons, temperature, wind, collecting data, interpreting data, measuring, observing and predicting.
The "Weather" unit is designed to draw upon and expand children's natural curiosity and enthusiasm for learning about weather. This unit builds on children's observational capabilities by introducing them gradually to specific weather features. Children will use both their senses and tools to observe the properties of weather, and they will collect and record weather data. As these features (which include wind, temperature, precipitation, and cloud cover) are presented, students discover that their own powers of observation can be extended by using tools of science. Developing new skills such as reading a thermometer also leads them to explore some practical facets of weather as it affects their daily lives.
Life Science: Life Cycles
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: growth, development, life cycle, genetic identity, plant and animal, metamorphosis.
Attention is shifted from the ecosystem as a whole to some of its important parts - individual plants and animals. Through experiences with living, dead, and nonliving objects, the children have an opportunity to learn these classifications of objects around them. Living and dead organisms are further subdivided into plants and animals. By observing live, growing, developing, reproducing plants and animals, the children become aware of the fact that living organisms have life cycles.
Physical Science: Interactions and Systems
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: interaction, system, evidence of interaction, interaction at a distance, dissolving, evaporation, electric circuit.
The concept of interaction is introduced, as well as the concept that related objects or parts comprise a system. Students examine a variety of interactions, some of which are directly observable, others less apparent. The evidence that an interaction has taken place comes from the observed change in the system. The children investigate gear/pulley systems, chemical systems, magnetic systems, and electric circuits to observe and interpret evidence of interaction.
Earth Science: Space
The Space unit will focus primarily on observable properties of the stars, sun, earth, and moon. Students will learn how the motion of the earth affects the apparent motion of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky. In addition to first-hand observations, lessons will also address exploration, technology, and related careers. Students will visit the planetarium at the Earth and Space Science Laboratory following a pre-visit at school led by one of the facility's co-directors. Activities at the Earth and Space Science Laboratory may include a presentation on the sun, earth, and moon; an introduction to space technology; and a viewing of the constellations in the night sky.
Life Science: Populations
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: population, food web, biotic potential, plant-eater, animal-eater, plant-animal-eater, predator-prey, dispersal, barrier, emigration, immigration.
The children learn that the individual plants and animals they observed in previous units live as groups in nature. They build, maintain, and observe terrariums and aquariums, and they investigate the interactions of populations - food webs, for example - in each system. The concept of biotic potential can be inferred after the pupils are asked to imagine, with the help of prepared charts, what could happen in a population if reproduction continued without any deaths.
Physical Science: Subsystems and Variables
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: subsystem, solution, evaporation, histogram, and variable, controlled experiment.
The subsystem concept is introduced to give the children a grouping of objects intermediate between a single object and an entire system. The children's work with solid and liquid materials extends their understanding of the subsystem concept. They learn that filtering will separate an undissolved solid from a liquid, but that solids dissolved in solutions must be identified by the residue that remains after the liquid evaporates. Histograms are used to record and interpret data collected by the students. The variable concept helps them to identify and investigate factors influencing their experiments.
Earth Science: Our Water Planet
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit relate to the Earth's water: fresh water, brackish water, salt water, water cycle, estuary, ocean floor features, tides, currents, organisms, and resources.
Students will learn about the kinds of water on the Earth (ice, ground water, surface water) and how they interact within the water cycle. Students will trace the flow of water from Frederick County watershed to the Chesapeake Bay and then to the Atlantic Ocean. Students will learn how our activities affect Bay quality. Then they will explore the ocean's physical features and how living organisms adapt to this environment. Student will visit the Earth and Space Laboratory falling a previsit at their home school led by one of the facility's co-directors. There they will participate in numerous activities that explore the earth's waters, the populations of organisms that inhabit those waters, and related career opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to observe freshwater, estuarine, and salt water aquariums.
Life Science: Environments
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: environment, environmental factors, biotic, abiotic, range, optimum, adaptation, variation, controlled experiment.
The environment of an organism consists of biotic factors, which include all the other plants and animals living in the same area; it also includes abiotic factors, such as light, temperature, air, water, and soil. The children experiment with both plants and animals to discover the effects of changing various factors, to establish a range of conditions for testing each factor, and to find the optimum part of a range for each organism. On the basis of data collected from these experiments, students build terrariums with suitable environments for the organism. They discuss and plan a human environment that includes other organisms on which humans depend.
Physical Science: Motion and Design
Students work in design teams to build and test a variety of vehicles. As they do so, they explore the physics of motion and apply those concepts to technological design. As a class, students share in the creativity of solving problems, testing ideas, and presenting results. The unit culminates with teams working to complete a design challenge in which they decide on their vehicle design, cost, and method of testing. After building. testing, and refining, teams present their final design solutions to the class.
Earth Science: Solar System & Beyond
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: stars, planets, solar system, galaxy, universe, eclipse, rotation, revolution.
This Solar System & Beyond unit extends concepts begun in grades one and two. Students participate in activities designed to help them achieve a deeper understanding of the solar system and beyond. Particular emphasis is placed on a thorough understanding of rotation and revolution and how it causes day and night, seasons, and moon phases. Students explore events, tools, and technology that have made space exploration possible. Students will visit the planetarium at the Earth and Space Science Laboratory following a previsit at their home school led by one of the facility's co-directors. Visiting classes may choose from one of six "menu" items: Living in Space; Deep Space; Moon Phases; Solar System; Sun and Seasons; or Rocketry and Newton's Laws of Motion.
Life Science: Communities
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: pyramid of numbers, raw materials, reproduction, community, producers, consumers, decomposers, photosynthesis, food transfer, competitors.
In Communities, emphasis is placed upon interactions among different populations of organisms, the most important of which concerns food. Students examine the interdependent relationships among plants (as producers), animals (as consumers), and microorganisms (as decomposers). The children investigate the capacity of green plants to produce food. They build terrariums containing plants, crickets, and chameleons, and observe the food-chain relationships. And they observe the results of decomposition after burying dead crickets in moist sand.
Physical Science: Energy Sources
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: energy source, energy receiver, energy transfer, energy chain, kinetic energy, potential energy, insulator.
The concepts of energy source, energy transfer, and energy receiver constitute the core of the unit and are illustrated with experiments exploring mechanical and thermal systems. The importance of solar energy to meet some of our needs is emphasized in this unit. The children's descriptions of the amounts of energy transferred from a source to a receiver help to prepare them for understanding and applying the principle of conservation of energy.
Earth Science: Geology
Concepts and processes emphasized in this unit: plate tectonics, weathering, erosion, physical and chemical changes, rock cycle, minerals, soil conservation.
This earth science unit will involve students in a variety of activities designed to help learn the major concepts. They will learn about forces that shape the earth and determine causes and effects of each. They will use a variety of tests to classify rocks and minerals. They will also identify the changes in sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks and identify these changes as the rock cycle. Students will visit the Earth and Space Science Laboratory following a previsit at their home school led by one of the facility's co-directors. While there they will participate in activities to identify the parts of the earth, discuss the theory of plate tectonics, identify forces that build up the earth, identify forces that wear down the earth, explore erosion, and learn ways to prevent the loss of soil. In addition, the Frederick County Outdoor School provides a 2 day field study that correlates with the fifth grade geology unit. The outdoor staff leads students on a tour of many beautiful and interesting geological sites of Frederick County, ranging from a local limestone quarry to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. Students will also collect 12 different rock and mineral specimens to make their own "Frederick County Rock and Mineral Collection."