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    Curriculum Overview & Units of Study

     

    Within the Earth, Space and Stars unit, students learn about the sun and stars, relative brightness as it applies to distance from the Earth. The unit explores motion of celestial objects including the earth and moon. Students make observations about seasonal changes as they relate to position on the Earth, angles with the sun and the processes of both rotation and revolution. The unit reviews the gravitational pull of objects on the Earth’s surface toward the core.

     

    Students explore the chemical sciences during the Structure and Properties of Matter unit which builds off of the basic definition of matter as particles too small to be seen. Students will explore the conservation of matter as it applies to both physical and chemical changes including heating, cooling or mixing of substances. Students will learn how to evaluate substances, make observations and record specific properties to identify a particular substance.

     

    The Earth’s Systems and Interactions unit focuses on the concept that Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. Students learn that nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most freshwater is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere. Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments.

     

    In the last unit, Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems, students will explore the materials plants need to survive, the types of materials that are recycled in the environment and how plants extract energy from sunlight and combine it with materials in the environment to produce food energy for living organisms.