Proposed Lesson Plan
- Organizing things into categories
- Solids, liquids and gases
- Air is a substance
- Matter I: particles
- Distinguishing materials
- Magnets and magnetic fields
- Matter II: air pressure and the Earth’s atmosphere
- Air: a mixture of gases (mixtures and chemical reactions)
- Matter III: evaporation and condensation
- Matter IV: dissolving, solutions, and crystallization
- Rocks, minerals, crystals, dirt and soil
- Distinguishing living, natural non-living, and human-made things
- Distinguishing between plants and animals: the plant and animal kingdoms
- Life cycles
- Identification of living things
- What is a species?
- Food chains and adaptations
- How animals move I: the skeleton and muscle system
- How animals move II: different body designs; major animal phyla
- How animals move III: coordinating body movements; the nervous system
- How animals move IV: energy to run the body
- Plant science I: basic plant structure
- Plant science II: germination, seedling growth, and responses
- Plants, soil, and water
- Concepts of energy I: making things go!
- Sound, vibrations and energy
- Concepts of energy II: kinetic and potential energy
- Concepts of energy III: distinguishing matter and energy
- Inertia
- Friction
- Push pushes back
- Gravity I: Earth’s gravity; horizontal and vertical
- Day and night; the Earth’s rotation
- Reading and drawing maps
- North, south, east and west
- Land forms and major biomes of the Earth
- Time and the Earth’s turning
- Seasonal changes and the Earth’s orbit
- Gravity II: rate of fall; weightlessness in space, the distinction between mass and weight
- Rocks and fossils
- Atomic/molecular motion I: Brownian motion and diffusion
- Atomic/molecular motion II: relationship to temperature
- Atomic/molecular motion I: heat and pressure
- Chemical elements and compounds
- Will it sink or float? The concept of density
- How metal ships float; making a hydrometer
- Heat, volume and density
- Convection currents
- Cells I: microscopes, observations of tissues, and cell theory
- Cells II: cell growth, division, and diffferentiation
- Cells III: integrating cells and whole-body functions
- Microscopic organisms I: their multitude and diversity
- Microscopic organisms II: single-celled organisms
- Fungi and bacteria I: their role as decomposers in nature
- Fungi and bacteria II: decomposers vs. food storage and preparation
- Fungi and bacteria III: decomposers vs. disease and health
- The life of plants I: gardening for food, fun and learning
- The life of plants II: how a plant grows its parts
- How things fly
- Center of gravity, balance and wobbling wheels
- Movement, energy, and momentum
- Mechanics I: levers and discovery of the underlying principle
- Mechanics II: inclined planes, pulleys, gears, and hydraulic lifts
- Electricity I: electric circuits, switches, conductors, and non-conductors
- Electricity II: static electricity, sparks, and lightning
- Electricity III: parallel and series circuits, short circuits, fuses, and ground wires
- Light: the basics of seeing
- Cause of seasonal changes
- Mapping the Earth: latitude and longitude
- The water cycle and its ramifications
- Earthquakes, volcanoes, and the movements of tectonic plates
- Climate and weather: wet tropics and dry deserts
- Carbon dioxide and regulation of climate
This curriculum is based on Dr. Bernard J. Nebel’s excellent “Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding”, volumes 1 and 2, for grades K-5.
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