Transfer Goals

Students will be able to independently…

• Observe and explore a given system or concept to deepen scientific understanding
• Engage in scientific practices such as adhering to safety standards, collaborating with others, and acting as a steward for Earth’s resources and environments.
• Explore natural phenomena by designing and/or conducting investigations based on scientific questions.
• Analyze data to seek out patterns and/or make predictions
• Evaluate scientific claims, construct explanations, and communicate conclusions based on observed and tested evidence and reasoning.

Unit Name &

 Time Frame

Unit Description

Unit 1: Nature of Science

1st 9 Weeks

Students will be reviewing preventative safety protocol, setting up journals, and working to refine skills of inquiry. A special emphasis will be placed on conducting guided investigations and developing the skills of planning and implementing investigations, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Students are not expected to master these skills in this unit, but to use the unit as a starting point for further development throughout the year. The unit culminates with a student-led investigation of the absorbency of diapers to evaluate company claims.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.1A, 3.2ABCDEF, 3.3A, 3.4A

Academic Vocabulary: inference, reliability, reasoning

Unit 2: Properties of Matter

1st 9 Weeks

The student’s focus is on properties of matter, such as temperature, magnetism, relative density, and mass, which will be explored during hands-on investigations using scientific equipment. Explorations will take place as students try to separate mixtures based on each component and its unique physical properties. Emphasis will be placed on conducting investigations to answer questions, using observed and measured data to communicate valid conclusions. Students will later investigate an unknown “alien” substance to determine its properties and speculate its potential uses.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.5AD

Academic Vocabulary: mass, mixture

Unit 3: Changes From Heat

1st and 2nd 9 Weeks

This unit focuses on changes that occur in matter as a result of heating and cooling. States of matter may be changed when heat is applied or removed and these changes can be predicted during classroom investigations. Students will continue their study of matter and its physical properties, which determine how it can be classified, changed, and used. Students will conduct investigations, collecting observed and measured data to communicate valid conclusions about the effects of heating and cooling matter. The culminating task involves designing an investigation to observe how the physical state and physical properties of water are changed by heating or cooling

TEKS (link to TEA) 3.5BC

Academic Vocabulary: gas, evaporation, condensation

Unit 4: Energy

2nd 9 Weeks

Students will explore sources and forms of energy used in daily life, such as light, sound, thermal, and mechanical. Students will conduct investigations related to energy and some of the variables associated with it, in order to answer questions and gain a better understanding of how energy works. Students will end the unit by demonstrating how mechanical energy can be quantified through speed, distance, and time measures.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.6A

Academic Vocabulary: mechanical energy

Unit 5: Force and Motion

2nd 9 Weeks

Students use simple investigations with pushes and pulls to observe that changes in motion are dependent upon forces. They will experiment with objects such as wagons, balls and swings to demonstrate that position or motion can be changed when a force is applied in each case. Students will continue to develop an understanding of quality investigations, data collection, and analysis. At the end of the unit, students will demonstrate the ability of forces to cause changes to position and motion through the creation of a science museum exhibit.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.6BC

Academic Vocabulary: gravity, spring scale

Unit 6: Forces of Nature

3rd 9 Weeks

Students will use a variety of models and information resources to demonstrate and investigate how geologic forces of nature cause rapid changes in the Earth’s surface. Volcanic action, earthquakes, and landslides will be the main forces for focus. Students will use models to gain a better understanding of how these fast changes change the surface of the earth. The unit ends with students researching significant geological events and potentially debating the significance of each on humans and on the earth itself.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.7B

Academic Vocabulary: rapid change, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, model

Unit 7: Soil

3rd 9 Weeks

This unit focuses on the formation of soil through weathering of rock and decomposition of remains. Students will compare major soil types while continuing to develop observation skills and data collection methods. Through comparisons of soils, students will analyze, evaluate, and critique explanations for methods of formation. The unit culminates with a study of composting methods as a practical comparative investigation.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.7A

Academic Vocabulary: compost, decompose, weathering, humus

Unit 8: Natural Resources and Conservation

3rd 9 Weeks

This unit teaches that everything we have or use comes from natural resources. Students will learn that resources such as metals, soil, rocks, water, coal, oil, and air all come directly from the Earth. They will discover how the physical properties of these resources allow them to be useful for making other products. Conservation of natural resources will be discussed, including the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Students will explore the methods for obtaining resources and weigh the benefits of them versus the potentially negative environmental effects - yet another motivator for exercising mindfulness in conservation.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.1B, 3.7C

Academic Vocabulary: 

Unit 9: Weather

3rd 9 Weeks

Students understand day-to-day weather changes and the use of tools and current technology to collect, construct, organize, examine, and evaluate measured and observed data. Students will construct simple explanations for patterns in comparative weather data. The performance task includes opportunities to compare weather in multiple locations and formulate explanations for how location influences weather.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.8A

Academic Vocabulary: 

Unit 10: Solar System

4th 9 Weeks

Students construct models to investigate the relative size and position of the planets in our solar system including interactions and relationship of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Students will understand that the solar system is a system of components with predictable patterns of orbits around larger objects. They will also learn about the Sun and its role in our solar system as a star producing light and heat energy. Students will use models to represent the solar system, and identify their limitations. At the end of the unit, students will map the trajectory of a meteor as it travels through the solar system, using models to guide the work.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.8CD

Academic Vocabulary: planet, star, moon, solar system, orbit

Unit 11: Ecosystems

4th 9 Weeks

Students explore interactions among organisms and their environments including both living and nonliving elements. Food chains will be a focus as students follow the flow of energy beginning with the sun, and its transfer to producers and consumers. Students will also make predictions regarding removal of organisms in ecosystems, and how this affects other living things in a food chain. Emphasis will be placed on the process skills of observation, data collection, constructing scientific explanations, and communicating conclusions. They will discover the implications of altering components of ecosystems, including survivability, population growth, and relocation. These concepts culminate with a look at the effects of urbanization on environments, and generation of a plan to reduce human impact.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.9AC

Academic Vocabulary: ecosystem, population, community

Unit 12: Structure and Function

4th 9 Weeks

Students will identify and explore the function of both plant and animal structures that allow them to survive in various environments. They will explore specific physical characteristics of plants and animals in certain locations and determine how these are a help to them. Several life cycles of plants and animals will be studied to compare patterns. Emphasis will be placed on the skills of observation and data collection for the purposes of inferring and concluding how organisms grow, develop, and survive. These skills will be utilized in the ongoing study of life cycles and adaptations of classroom plants and animals as a performance based assessment.

TEKS (link to TEA): 3.10AB

Academic Vocabulary: structure, function