GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Curriculum Guide

 

 

Course Title:                             Kindergarten Science

 

Subject:                                    Science

 

Grade Level:                             Kindergarten

 

Department/School:                  Science/Forest - Linden

 

Duration:                                  Full Year

 

Number of Credits:                   N/A

 

Prerequisite:                              N/A

 

Elective or Required:                 N/A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:  Laura Perrius

Jennifer Schedlbauer

Date Submitted:  Summer 2004

Course Description

 

 

The kindergarten science curriculum will provide concepts for students to explore through the use of the scientific process and apply what they learn to their everyday life in the classroom and outside in the everyday world.  Through hands-on activities that utilize a multi-modal approach which appeals to a variety of learning styles, students will have the opportunity to understand the characteristics of living things, to explore the earth and sky, to understand the physical science of pushes and pulls, and to study the body parts to be taught as part of the health curriculum.

 

GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SCIENCE MISSION STATEMENT

 

 

The Glen Ridge Public School’s science curriculum seeks to develop scientifically literate life-long learners through a program that fosters a spirit of wonder, intellectual curiosity and collaborative problem solving that is authentic, hands-on, inquiry based and developmentally appropriate.  This is done through the study of Life, Physical, Earth and Environmental science.

 

Our students will use the scientific method to understand and respond to questions about science, technology, and societal and world problems.  Students will be challenged and encouraged to take risks and to develop critical thinking skills as they apply to real-world experiences.

 

 

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

 

Science

 

STANDARD 5.1 (SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES):  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP PROBLEM-SOLVING, DECISION-MAKING AND INQUIRY SKILLS, REFLECTED BY FORMULATING USABLE QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES, PLANNING EXPERIMENTS, CONDUCTING SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS, INTERPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, AND COMMUNICATING RESULTS.

 

STANDARD 5.2 (SCIENCE AND SOCIETY):  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PEOPLE OF VARIOUS CULTURES HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND HOW MAJOR DISCOVERIES AND EVENTS HAVE ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

 

STANDARD 5.3 (MATHEMATICAL APPLICATIONS):  ALL STUDENTS WILL INTEGRATE MATHEMATICS AS A TOOL FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING IN SCIENCE, AND AS A MEANS OF EXPRESSING AND/OR MODELING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES.

 

STANDARD 5.4 (NATURE AND PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY):  ALL STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE AND PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY.

 

STANDARD 5.5 (CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE):  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE, CHARACTERISTICS, AND BASIC NEEDS OF ORGANISMS AND WILL INVESTIGATE THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE.

 

STANDARD 5.6 (CHEMISTRY):  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDER-STANDING OF THE STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOR OF MATTER.

 

STANDARD 5.7 (PHYSICS):  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTAND-ING OF NATURAL LAWS AS THEY APPLY TO MOTION, FORCES, AND ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS.

 

STANDARD 5.8 (EARTH SCIENCE):  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STRUCTURE, DYNAMICS, AND GEOPHYSICAL SYSTEMS OF THE EARTH.

 

STANDARD 5.9 (ASTRONOMY and SPACE SCIENCE):  ALL STUDENTS WILL GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORIGIN, EVOLUTION, AND STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE.

 

STANDARD 5.10 (ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES):  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT AS A SYSTEM OF INTERDEPENDENT COMPONENTS AFFECTED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY AND NATURAL PHENOMENA.

Curriculum Description

 

UNIT 1 – CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

Standard 5.5

 

Goal:    All students will gain understanding of the structure, characteristics, and basic needs of organisms, and will investigate the diversity of life.

 

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

1.      Investigate the basic needs of humans and other organisms.  (CCS 5.5A.1)

2.      Compare and contrast essential characteristics that distinguish living things from nonliving things.  (CCS 5.5A.2)

3.      Recognize that different types of plants and animals live in different parts of the world.  (CCS 5.5B.1)

4.      Recognize that some kinds of organisms that once lived on earth have completely disappeared.  (CCS 5.5B.2)

5.      Recognize that humans and other organisms resemble their parents.  (CCS 5.5C.1)

6.      Use tables and graphs to represent and interpret data.  (CCS 5.3D.1)

7.      Select and use simple tools and materials to complete a task.  (CCS 5.4B.1)

8.      Associate organisms’ basic needs with how they meet those needs within those surroundings.  (CCS 5.10A.1)

9.      Identify various needs of humans that are supplied by the natural or constructed environment.  (CCS 5.10B.1)

 

Approximate duration to teach:  September - June

 

Activities:

 

- Observe and discuss the basic needs of humans and organisms.

- Explorations and experiments with growing organisms.

- Classify animals and plants according to their characteristics and environmental needs.

- Introduction to body parts will be included during health class.

 

 

UNIT 2 – LOOKING AT THE EARTH AND SKY

Standard: 5.8, 5.9

 

Goal:    All students will gain an understanding of the origin, evolution, and geophysical systems of the earth and universe.

 

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

1.      Observe and describe rocks and soil. (CCS 5.8A.1)

2.      Identify sources and uses of water.  (CCS 5.8B.1)

3.      Recognize that water can disappear (evaporate) and collect on cold surfaces (condensate).  (CCS 5.8B.2)

4.      Describe current weather conditions and recognize how those conditions affect our daily lives.  (CCS 5.8B.3)

5.      Describe daily and seasonal changes and patterns in the weather. (CCS 5.8B.4)

6.      Record observations that describe the features of the natural world in their local environment.  (CCS 5.8D.1)

7.      Identify sources of light and demonstrate that light can be reflected from some surfaces and passed through others.  (CCS 5.7B.2)

8.      Recognize that the sun supplies light and heat to the earth.  (CCS 5.9A.1)

9.      Observe the patterns of day and night and the movements of the shadows of objects on the Earth during the course of a day.  (CCS 5.9A.2)

10.  Recognize that the sun can only be seen during the day, but the moon can be seen sometimes at night and sometimes during the day.  (CCS 5.9B.1)

11.  Observe that stars are many, scattered, and different in brightness.  (CCS 5.9C.1)

12.  Observe that the position of the stars, with respect to each other (constellations) is unchanging.  (CCS 5.9C.2)

13.  Use tables and graphs to represent and interpret data.  (CCS 5.3D.1)

14.  Sort objects according to the materials from which they are made or their physical properties, and give a rationale for sorting.  (CCS 5.6A.1)

15.  Use magnifiers to observe materials, then draw and describe what more can be seen using the tools.  (CCS 5.6A.2)

16.  Observe that water can be a liquid or a solid and can change from one form to the other.  (CCS 5.6A.3)

 

Approximate duration to teach: January – March

 

Activities:

 

- Discuss the Earth’s surface and its varied land forms, made of rocks, soil, air, and water.

- Explore and identify through observation and manipulation of rocks, soil, and water.

- Discussion of day and night sky; modeling of rotation of the solar system.

- Study of planets and constellations through construction of some of the systems.

 

 

UNIT 3 – PHYSICAL SCIENCE OF PUSHING AND PULLING

Standard 5.7

 

Goal:    All students will gain an understanding of natural laws as they apply to motion, forces, and energy transformations.

 

Objectives:

Each student will be able to:

1.      Distinguish among the different ways objects can move such as: fast and slow, in a straight line, in a circular path, and back and forth.  (CCS 5.7A.1)

2.      Show that the position and motion of an object can be changed by pushing or pulling the object.  (CCS 5.7A.2)

3.      Make a plan in order to design a solution to a problem.  (CCS 5.4C.1)

4.      Describe a toy or other familiar object as a system with parts that work together.  (CCS 5.4C.2)

5.      Use tables and graphs to represent and interpret data.  (CCS 5.3D.1)

6.      Sort objects according to the materials from which they are made or their physical properties, and give a rationale for sorting.  (CCS 5.6A.1)

7.      Demonstrate that sound can be produced by vibrating objects.  (CCS 5.7B.1)

 

Approximate duration to teach: February - April

 

Activities:

 

- Identify and compare moving objects and body parts.

- Experiment and classify pushing and pulling objects.

- Experiment and classify bouncing and rolling objects.

- Explore different surfaces, materials and groups of objects and how they move.

- Create graphs to visually demonstrate the similarities and differences of the movement

   of a variety of materials.

 

 

List of Texts, Resources, and/or Literature:

 

·          New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards

·          Scope and Sequence

·          Authentic literature to correspond with the themes

·          Houghton Mifflin Science Discovery Works