FOSS - UNITS FROM SPRING 2015

UNIT

Lesson Name

What students will be doing:

In this activity, students will be using different measuring tools to discover

Take Me to Your how much water it takes to fill a container to make one liter. The students
will also learn new vocabulary introduced within this activity.
Liter

Measurement
Grade 3-4

A Pencils a
Pencil, Right?

Students will discover the need for a standard unit of measurement after
measuring their desks using their own pencil. They will then explore and
take measurements of several different items in the classroom, comparing
the sizes of these items. Through this process, students will learn about
the different units of measurement.

Take Me to Your Part 1 - Students use different-size vials as units to measure the capacity
of a plastic cup filled with water, which helps establish the need for a
Liter
standard unit of measure. The liter and milliliter are then introduced.
Part 2 - Students will be estimating and measuring given volumes of
water. They will measure the capacity of several containers, using 50-ml
syringes and graduated cylinders.

First Straw

Estimating and
Measuring

Part 1 - Students will discover the need for a standard unit to accurately
measure length. They will use straws to measure various objects of
different lengths around the classroom. When the realize they have straws
of different lengths they will understand the importance of using a
standard measuring unit.
Students will be exploring measurement. They will use straws to measure
objects in the room and compare their findings with the rest of the class.
This will build an understanding of why we should use a standard form of
measurement when measuring. They will become familiar with standard
measurements and vocabulary used when measuring length and distance.

Students will them create their own meter stick and become efficient at
estimating the length of objects and check their estimates with their paper
meter stick

Whats in a
liter?

Landforms
Grade 5-6

Water
Grade 2-3

Students will be finding out the standard measuring unit for liquids, by
using different size vials to fill a cup that are all the same sizes. Students
will come to the conclusion by sharing their data that there were different
sizes and there is a need for a common unit of measurement for liquid.
This leads into the Soda pop problem, students will find out just how much
liquid a soda can can hold, and if it matches what is written on the can.
Then as an extension students will be able to find out the capacity of other
common containers.

Our Schoolyard, Students will be trying to create a model of their schoolyard with sand and
blocks. Then they will share their model and explain it to the class.
My Model
Map Makin

Students will be using aerial photographs and grids to create their own
landform maps of Mt. Shasta. Then they will compare these landform
maps to topographic maps of Mt. Shasta to determine if a photograph
gives enough information to make a complete topographic map.

Water
Observations

Students will be working individually and collaboratively testing out how

drops of water act differently on the set materials provided (waxed paper,
aluminum foil, and paper). Students will also be encourage to drop the
water at different angles and to observe what shapes the water makes.

Hot Water vs.

Cold Water

Students will be working individually and collaboratively testing how

various objects' density by observing whether they sink or float in water.
Students will also examine how warm and cold water react when mixed
together.

Drops on a
Penny

Students will be investigating what characteristics of a penny or the

materials used to drop on the penny affect the amount of water that will
fit on the penny. Then they will make a claim about what those
characteristics are and support that claim with evidence.

Waterwheel
Challenge

Students will work in small groups to design a waterwheel that can lift a
binder clip from the ground. Students will use trial and error to create the
most efficient waterwheel design with the materials provided.

Students will be exploring the concept of surface tension by dropping

Discovering
Surface Tension various water solutions onto pennies. Then, they will make claims about
what helps and what hinders surface tension. With evidence from their
explorations, they will be able to support the claims they make.

Water Power!

Animals 2 X 2
Kindergarten

The students will be taking the materials that are provided and using them
to create a water wheel like structure. They will create something that will
be able to lift an object by them using water pressure. They will be
experimenting to see how much pressure is needed to lift objects of
different weights.

What on Earth
is in the Earth?
Worms!

Students will be learning all about the behaviors and structures of worms
through investigation, observation, and hands on activity. Students will
also be making a classroom book over everything that they have learned
during the lesson.

But Goldfish
Dont Belong in
the Classroom?

Students will be preparing their own goldfish aquarium in groups and

observe the fish/environment over a period of time. Students will learn
about what fish need to survive and how they can bring that into real life.

Off to the Snail

Races

The students will be learning about the structure of land-snails. They will
observe land-snails features and behaviors. After a class discussion the
students will then put the snails to the test by racing their snails.

Searching for
Seashells

Students will be exploring the similarities and differences between many

different types of shells by manipulating and categorizing the seashells by
the teachers request.

Goldfish and
Guppies

The students will observe goldfish in an aquarium container. They will

observe the goldfish to see what they look like, such as the shape of their

body and what other parts they can see. After observing the goldfish they
will get a fish outline sheet to draw the goldfish structures they observed.
They will write a sentence at the bottom of their sheet that includes new
vocabulary words from the class word bank. The students will be in groups
of 5 when they come to the center with the goldfish.

Magnetism and
Electricity
Grade 4-5

Big and Little

Worms

Students will get to observe and handle redworms. They will look at the
structure and the behavior of the worms. They will also communicate
their observations of the redworms.

May The
Magnetic Force
Be With You!

The students will be using magnets to determine what types of materials

magnets are attracted to. By exploring with different materials, the
students will build an understanding of specific characteristics that
magnets attracted and do not attract to.

Light Me Up!

May the Force

Be With You

Electrifying
Circuits

Students will be exploring electric circuits through experimenting in

groups with batteries, wires, and light bulbs. This activity will lay the
foundation for further exploration of connections and flow of electricity
through a circuit.
Students will be learning about what magnets are and what they can do.
To further their understanding in what magnets can do, they will conduct
many different experiments involving magnets and multiple items of
various material to determine which items the magnet is can attract and
which items the magnet cannot.
Students will be working with D-cells (batteries) as well as wires and small
light bulbs, to create their own simple circuits. They then will be given
prompts to help them better understand what it takes to construct simple
open and closed circuits.

Let the Force

Be With You

In this activity students will be exploring and investigating what kind of

materials magnets stick to and the force between two magnets.

Enlighten Me

Students will be exploring simple electric circuits. The students will use
trial and error to build a circuit that will light a bulb. Student will discover

concepts about how connections must be made and how electricity flows
through a circuit.

Do You Hear
What I Hear

Students will listen to sounds travel through different materials, such as

solids and air. They will record their findings and discuss how they think
sound travels, using evidence from their experiments.

Dropping In

The students will be observing sounds of the objects being dropped. They
will communicate with others using a drop code and comparing sounds to
develop sound-discrimination ability.

Dropping In

In Dropping In students will observe sounds made by objects when

dropped and compare the sounds to develop sound discrimination.
Students will then create codes through the dropping sounds. Through this
activity, the students will be communicating with others using the drop
code and learning concepts that will contribute to understanding of the
Pattern and Structure themes.

Physics of
Sound

Lets Hear it for Students will complete four listening activities. They will identify sound
sources and receivers and compare sounds heard through the air, solids, a
Sound!
string, and water.

Dropping In

Students will be dropping a variety of objects into a drop chamber and

analyzing the sounds that each object makes. 2 groups will work together
to determine what characteristics to listen for with each objects. Then the
groups will play a code game in which objects will be dropped into the
chamber, view obstructed, by one team and will try to send codes back
and forth.

How Sound
Travels

Students will be listening to sound through various materials. Then the

students will record observations about the sounds and how the sound
varies through various materials.

Lets Be
Geologists:
Exploring Mock

In this activity, students will make observations of mock rocks, mimicking

what a geologist would do with an actual rock. Students in grades 4 or 5
should find this activity to be engaging and exciting. This activity should

Rocks

Earth Materials
Grade 4-6

Breaking up
Mock Rocks

Investigating
Crystals

Mock Rocks
Rock!

take about 30 minutes and should be completed before doing activities 2

and 3.
In this activity, students will use picks to take apart mock rocks and
discover what the components of a rock are. Students in grades 4 or 5
should find this to be an engaging and exciting activity. This activity
should take 45-60 minutes to complete.
In this activity, students will create their own crystals from the material
dissolved in water from their mock rocks. Students will discover how
crystals are formed and learn about how water evaporates, leaving
material behind. Students in grades 4 or 5 should find this activity to be
engaging and exciting. This activity takes two days: 15 minutes on one
day to prepare the evaporation dishes, and 20 minutes on another day
once the evaporation dishes are completely dry.
Students will be defining mock rocks, geologist, diameter, circumference,
and depth. They will be making and recording observations of mock
rocks. Students will be comparing properties of mock rocks with real
rocks. They will be comparing observations with their classmates.
Students will be analyzing the data they came up with.

Whats In These This activity features mock rocks. The students break apart mock rocks
and test them in water to try and find out what ingredients are in the
Rocks
rocks. The students will predict and make a claim with evidence.

Becoming MiniGardeners

Environments
Structures of
Life

Students will plan and plant terrariums. They will decide where to plant
the seeds, what types of seeds, and how much water the plants will need.

Watch Them
Grow

Students will observe and record changes taking place in their terrarium
every 2-3 days for 2 weeks by creating a journal.

Bugging Out

Students will be observing isopods and beetles in order to construct a list

of similarities and differences between the animals. Students will
construct runways to conduct future investigations of living organisms
environmental preferences. Students will design an investigation which

will involve controlling variables so one factor can be observed while the
isopods and beetles are moving in the runway.

Weve Been
Growing!

Students will be looking at the properties or structures of germinated

seedlings. Students will write a journal entry about their seeds and what
they notice using vocabulary from the class word bank. Students will take
a look at a students journal entry and agree or disagree with the students
reasoning. They will be able to give their own ideas about how seedlings
grow using the properties, structure names, and other important
vocabulary.

Seed Seek

Students will observe fruits and bean pods, describe the properties of
them, open the bean pods, and describe the seed properties of the bean
seeds. Students will then compare the bean seeds to seeds of other fruits
on a provided sheet. Lastly, students will eat the fruits!

Bugs and
Beetles!

Part 1 - To begin this investigation students will be introduced to isopods

and darkling beetles. Using a magnifying glass, students will be
encouraged to examine and record, and draw observations in their
journals. Next, students will be creating runways in order to conduct future
experiments and observations of isopods and darkling beetles and their
preferred environment. Part 2 - Students will be investigating darkling
beetle and isopod responses to moisture by experimenting with varying
environment moisture levels and observing the organisms responses to
the variables.

Wonders of
Water

In this activity, students will conduct an experiment with four

different kinds of plants to discover what their range for tolerance of water
is. They will do their own plant experiments and keep a data journal to
analyze their findings. They will discover what the optimum water
conditions are for early growth of seeds as they use scientific thinking
processes to observe, communicate, organize, and relate.

Aquatic
Environments

Students will be observing a goldfish aquarium, looking for environmental

factors within it as groups. Students will also be determining if those
factors are living or nonliving factors. Each group will observe the

environments in the aquariums over a 2 week period.

Salt of the
Earth

Meet the
Crayfish

Levers and
Pulleys

Students will be setting up a controlled experiment to test the effect of

salinity on four kinds of plants. They will then monitor the growth of their
plants by observing the plants daily. They will collect quantitative data on
days 5, 9, and 13. They will determine the salt tolerance of the four plants.
Finally the students will answer their own questions with investigations
and research.
Students will be doing hands on activities working with crayfish and
beetles in groups. The students will observe, document, and keep the
habitats clean.

Bess Beetles

Students will be investigating a beetles pull power and strength by

comparing its bodily weight to the weight of the amount of paper clips it
can pull. Students look at the function of the beetles strength and ways to
conduct experiments on animals to ensure no harm is done.

Can You Lift It?

Students will try to pick up heavy loads by using a fixed and moveable
pulley and single and two-pulley. Students will decide which pulley system
makes picking up larger objects easier and how it makes it easier.

To Lift or Not to In this activity students will explore the different ways levers can help
Lift that is the them accomplish different tasks such as lift, pull and cut. Hence the term
leverage. Have students write their results on a scratch piece of paper.
Question?
Pulley(ing) Up
and Down

Students will be will be completing four tasks with pulleys. Students will
complete two tasks involving one pulley and two tasks involving two
pulleys. The students will make claims about which pulley uses the least
and most amount of effort (n).

Whats Inside?

Students will be exploring what is inside of a box without being able to see
what is actually inside the box. They will work in pairs and then
collaborate with a larger group to come up with a claim about what they
think is in the box.

Models and
Designs

The Art of a Go
Cart

Students will be designing a Go-Carts from an assortment of objects.

Once the Go-Cart is constructed students will set their carts on a self
made ramp. The student will then release their cart. The cart will be
designed to roll down the ramp and then continue traveling a little ways
past the ramp.

Finding the
Unknown

Students make multisensory observations of sealed black boxes in an

effort to determine what is inside. They develop conceptual models and
try to reach consensus with other students who investigated the same
box. The models help students explain what is in the black box.

Downhill
Discovery

Students will be working in pairs to build a free-rolling cart from a set list
of materials. The goal for the students is to design and build a cart that
can roll down a small incline.

Where will the

Bubbles Go?

Air and
Weather

Full of Hot Air

Students will discuss bubbles with one another and teacher. Students will
experiment with blowing bubbles in areas with different wind strengths
outside and also in a space inside. Students will make predictions before
blowing bubbles in these areas and will make a claim about their findings
after blowing bubbles in all of the areas. Students will communicate what
they learned through drawing and writing.
Students will be using syringes to understand that properties of air by
pushing on the plunger and observing what happens.

Air... Its Rocket Students are making rockets using balloons and air. They want to make it
go as far as they can.
Science
Cloudy with a
Chance of
Clouds
Meteorologists

In this activity students will be venturing outside to observe the different

types of clouds. They will be noticing the appearance, how they travel,
and what happens when other things interfere with them.
Students will be observing the weather outside and using a weather

Fabric
Kindergarten

in the making

calendar and a weather journal to notate their findings. Students will learn
new weather-related vocabulary words and utilize these words in their
journals.

Turning in the
Wind

Students will be observing wind and determining wind speed with the use
of an anemometer and pinwheels. The students will see the relationship
between an anemometer and a pinwheel, and how they are both used to
determine wind speed.

Lets Color
Fabric!

Students will be coloring fabric by dipping it into dye. They will become
familiar with correct terminology and learn about a Venn Diagram.

Fabric
Creations

Students will begin to become familiar with the structure of fabrics by

cutting them to make a collage. Students will then share their collages
with the class.

Feel It Out

Students will explore a set of ten fabrics, investigate their properties and
playing a matching game with feely boxes.

What Am I
Wearing

Students will be investigating how fabric interacts with water

(absorb/repel), and then students will prepare a pictograph showing which
types of cloth are best suited for different types of clothing (pants, shirts,
coats, etc) based upon findings. There will also be two other stations set
up during this time; one station will be for drawing, another for literacy
practice. Students will rotate stations over the course of 4 days, and on
the fifth day, students will be graphing as a class to demonstrate their
understandings of the Station 1 activity.