Fair Tests & the Changing World
Objectives
- D06.S1.03.01 Plan and carry out a simple fair test by changing one thing and keeping the rest the same.
- D06.S1.03.02 Record observations using drawings, words, or simple tables, and describe what the data show.
- D06.S2.03.01 Explain how a food chain links producers, consumers, and decomposers and trace energy through it.
- D06.S2.03.02 Describe how the parts of a plant (roots, stem, and leaves) help it survive and grow.
- D06.S3.03.01 Describe the three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and how heating and cooling change them.
- D06.S3.03.02 Explain that a push or pull (force) changes an object's motion, and describe friction.
- D06.S4.03.01 Explain how Earth's rotation causes day and night and how its orbit causes the seasons.
- D06.S4.03.02 Describe how wind, water, and ice shape the land over time.
Essential questions
- How do I test an idea fairly, and read what the data tell me?
- How do living and nonliving things shape and change the world?
Big ideas
- A fair test changes one thing and keeps the rest the same; data are evidence to read.
- The living and physical world — food chains, matter, forces, and Earth itself — changes in ways we can observe and describe.
Lessons
- 1 A Fair Test — Change One Thing 55 minutes
- 2 Record and Read the Data 55 minutes
- 3 Who Eats What? A Food Chain 55 minutes
- 4 A Plant's Helping Parts 50 minutes
- 5 Solids, Liquids, and Gases 50 minutes
- 6 Heating and Cooling Change States 55 minutes
- 7 Push and Pull — Forces and Motion 50 minutes
- 8 Friction — The Slow-Down Force 55 minutes
- 9 Day, Night, and the Seasons 55 minutes
- 10 The Changing World Wonder Fair 60 minutes
Assessment plan
A planned and carried-out fair test with a data record, a food-chain drawing, and a states-of-matter or day-and-night explanation as portfolio artifacts; observation of prediction, testing, and describing what the data show.
Unit 6 — Fair Tests & the Changing World
Overview
This unit turns wonder into fair testing, building on Grade 2’s predicting and testing. Learners plan and carry out a simple fair test by changing one thing and keeping the rest the same; record observations using drawings, words, or simple tables and describe what the data show; explain how a food chain links producers, consumers, and decomposers and trace energy through it; describe how the parts of a plant (roots, stem, and leaves) help it survive and grow; describe the three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas) and how heating and cooling change them; explain that a push or pull changes an object’s motion and describe friction; explain how Earth’s rotation causes day and night and how its orbit causes the seasons; and describe how wind, water, and ice shape the land over time. Big questions are held as questions, and evidence is distinguished from belief.
Essential questions
- How do I test an idea fairly, and read what the data tell me?
- How do living and nonliving things shape and change the world?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Fair Test: Change One Thing | D06.S1.03.01 |
| 2 | Record and Read the Data | D06.S1.03.02, D06.S1.03.01 |
| 3 | Who Eats What? A Food Chain | D06.S2.03.01 |
| 4 | A Plant’s Helping Parts | D06.S2.03.02 |
| 5 | Solids, Liquids, and Gases | D06.S3.03.01 |
| 6 | Heating and Cooling Change States | D06.S3.03.01 |
| 7 | Push and Pull: Forces and Motion | D06.S3.03.02 |
| 8 | Friction: The Slow-Down Force | D06.S3.03.02 |
| 9 | Day, Night, and the Seasons | D06.S4.03.01 |
| 10 | The Changing World Wonder Fair | D06.S4.03.02 (plus unit review) |