The Living World Around Us
Objectives
- D06.S1.K.01 Ask "why" and "how" questions about things in the world and offer their own ideas.
- D06.S4.K.02 Observe and describe changes in the natural world (day and night, seasons, growth).
Essential questions
- What lives around us, and how does the world change from day to night and season to season?
- How do we ask "why" and look closely to find answers?
Big ideas
- Living things grow and change; the world changes in steady, repeating ways.
- Asking questions and looking closely is how we learn about the natural world.
Lessons
- 1 Day and Night 45 minutes
- 2 The Changing Sky 45 minutes
- 3 Seasons Change 45 minutes
- 4 Living Things Grow 45 minutes
- 5 Watching Something Grow 45 minutes
- 6 Changes All Around Me 45 minutes
- 7 Asking Why and How 45 minutes
- 8 Looking Closely 45 minutes
- 9 A Wonder Walk 45 minutes
- 10 The Living World Around Us 45 minutes
Assessment plan
Observation of questioning and nature journaling; a growth or seasons observation as a portfolio artifact.
Unit 9 — The Living World Around Us
Overview
This unit turns the child’s wonder outward to the natural world. Building on the big question of Where Did Everything Come From?, children now look closely at what lives and changes around them — day and night, the seasons, and the growth of living things — and practice asking “why” and “how” with their own ideas. Science is offered as observation and wonder, never as a set of facts to memorize.
Essential questions
- What lives around us, and how does the world change from day to night and season to season?
- How do we ask “why” and look closely to find answers?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| L.00.009.01 | Day and Night | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.02 | The Changing Sky | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.03 | Seasons Change | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.04 | Living Things Grow | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.05 | Watching Something Grow | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.06 | Changes All Around Me | D06.S4.K.02 |
| L.00.009.07 | Asking Why and How | D06.S1.K.01 |
| L.00.009.08 | Looking Closely | D06.S1.K.01 |
| L.00.009.09 | A Wonder Walk | D06.S1.K.01 |
| L.00.009.10 | The Living World Around Us | D06.S1.K.01, D06.S4.K.02 |