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PROGRAMS FOR 3rd - 5th GRADES
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OHIO'S WILDLIFE - 3rd – 5th Grade
LIFE SCIENCES
Benchmark A. Differentiate between the life cycles of different plants and animals.
Benchmark B. Analyze plant and animal structures and functions needed for survival and describe the flow of energy through a system that all organisms use to survive.
Benchmark C. Compare changes in an organism's ecosystem/habitat that affect its survival.
3RD GRADE
1. Compare the life cycles of different animals including birth to adulthood, reproduction and death (e.g., egg-tadpole-frog, egg-caterpillar-chrysalis-butterfly).
2. Relate animal structures to their specific survival functions (e.g., obtaining food, escaping or hiding from enemies).
3. Classify animals according to their characteristics (e.g., body coverings and body structure).
4. Use examples to explain that extinct organisms may resemble organisms that are alive today.
6. Describe how changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful.
4TH GRADE
5. Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds).
5TH GRADE
1. Describe the role of producers in the transfer of energy entering ecosystems as sunlight to chemical energy through photosynthesis.
2. Explain how almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants.
3. Trace the organization of simple food chains and food webs (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers).
4. Summarize that organisms can survive only in ecosystems in which their needs can be met (e.g., food, water, shelter, air, carrying capacity and waste disposal). The world has different ecosystems and distinct ecosystems support the lives of different types of organisms.
5. Support how an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's ecosystem, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the changing physical characteristics of the ecosystem.
To TopREPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS - 3rd – 5th Grade
LIFE SCIENCES
Benchmark A. Differentiate between the life cycles of different plants and animals.
Benchmark B. Analyze plant and animal structures and functions needed for survival and describe the flow of energy through a system that all organisms use to survive.
Benchmark C. Compare changes in an organism's ecosystem/ habitat that affect its survival.
3RD GRADE
1. Compare the life cycles of different animals including birth to adulthood, reproduction and death (e.g., egg-tadpole-frog, egg-caterpillar-chrysalis-butterfly).
2. Relate animal structures to their specific survival functions (e.g., obtaining food, escaping or hiding from enemies).
3. Classify animals according to their characteristics (e.g., body coverings and body structure).
6. Describe how changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful.
4TH GRADE
5. Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds).
5TH GRADE
3. Trace the organization of simple food chains and food webs (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers).
4. Summarize that organisms can survive only in ecosystems in which their needs can be met (e.g., food, water, shelter, air, carrying capacity and waste disposal). The world has different ecosystems and distinct ecosystems support the lives of different types of organisms.
5. Support how an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's ecosystem, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the changing physical characteristics of the ecosystem.
SCIENTIFIC WAYS OF KNOWING
Benchmark A. Distinguish between fact and opinion and explain how ideas and conclusions change as new knowledge is gained.
4TH GRADE
1. Differentiate fact from opinion and explain that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed.
5TH GRADE
1. Summarize how conclusions and ideas change as new knowledge is gained.
2. Develop descriptions, explanations and models using evidence to defend/support findings.
4. Identify how scientists use different kinds of ongoing investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer (e.g., observations of things or events in nature, data collection and controlled experiments).
To TopHABITATS - 3rd – 5th Grade
LIFE SCIENCES
Benchmark A. Differentiate between the life cycles of different plants and animals.
Benchmark B. Analyze plant and animal structures and functions needed for survival and describe the flow of energy through a system that all organisms use to survive.
Benchmark C. Compare changes in an organism's ecosystem/ habitat that affect its survival.
3RD GRADE
2. Relate animal structures to their specific survival functions (e.g., obtaining food, escaping or hiding from enemies).
3. Classify animals according to their characteristics (e.g., body coverings and body structure).
6. Describe how changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial and sometimes harmful.
4TH GRADE
1. Compare the life cycles of different plants including germination, maturity, reproduction and death.
2. Relate plant structures to their specific functions (e.g., growth, survival and reproduction).
3. Classify common plants according to their characteristics (e.g., tree leaves, flowers, seeds, roots and stems).
5. Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds).
5TH GRADE
1. Describe the role of producers in the transfer of energy entering ecosystems as sunlight to chemical energy through photosynthesis.
2. Explain how almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants.
3. Trace the organization of simple food chains and food webs (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers).
4. Summarize that organisms can survive only in ecosystems in which their needs can be met (e.g., food, water, shelter, air, carrying capacity and waste disposal). The world has different ecosystems and distinct ecosystems support the lives of different types of organisms.
5. Support how an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's ecosystem, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the changing physical characteristics of the ecosystem.
6. Analyze how all organisms, including humans, cause changes in their ecosystems and how these changes can be beneficial, neutral or detrimental (e.g., beaver ponds, earthworm burrows, grasshoppers eating plants, people planting and cutting trees and people introducing a new species).
To TopPREDATOR/PREY - 3rd – 5th Grade
LIFE SCIENCES
Benchmark A. Differentiate between the life cycles of different plants and animals.
Benchmark B. Analyze plant and animal structures and functions needed for survival and describe the flow of energy through a system that all organisms use to survive.
Benchmark C. Compare changes in an organism's ecosystem/ habitat that affect its survival.
3RD GRADE
2. Relate animal structures to their specific survival functions (e.g., obtaining food, escaping or hiding from enemies).
3. Classify animals according to their characteristics (e.g., body coverings and body structure).
4TH GRADE
5. Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds).
5TH GRADE
1. Describe the role of producers in the transfer of energy entering ecosystems as sunlight to chemical energy through photosynthesis.
2. Explain how almost all kinds of animals' food can be traced back to plants.
3. Trace the organization of simple food chains and food webs (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers).
4. Summarize that organisms can survive only in ecosystems in which their needs can be met (e.g., food, water, shelter, air, carrying capacity and waste disposal). The world has different ecosystems and distinct ecosystems support the lives of different types of organisms.
5. Support how an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's ecosystem, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the changing physical characteristics of the ecosystem.
6. Analyze how all organisms, including humans, cause changes in their ecosystems and how these changes can be beneficial, neutral or detrimental (e.g., beaver ponds, earthworm burrows, grasshoppers eating plants, people planting and cutting trees and people introducing a new species).
To TopWEATHER - 3rd – 5th Grade
EARTH & SPACE SCIENCES
Benchmark D. Analyze weather and changes that occur over a period of time.
4TH GRADE
1. Explain that air surrounds us, takes up space, moves around us as wind, and may be measured using barometric pressure.
2. Identify how water exists in the air in different forms (e.g., in clouds, fog, rain, snow and hail).
3. Investigate how water changes from one state to another (e.g., freezing, melting, condensation and evaporation).
4. Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation and barometric pressure.
5. Record local weather information on a calendar or map and describe changes over a period of time (e.g., barometric pressure, temperature, precipitation symbols and cloud conditions).
6. Trace how weather patterns generally move from west to east in the United States.
7. Describe the weather which accompanies cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus and stratus clouds.
8. Describe how wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas producing characteristic landforms (e.g., dunes, deltas and glacial moraines).
5TH GRADE
1. Describe how night and day are caused by Earth's rotation.
2. Explain that Earth is one of several planets to orbit the sun, and that the moon orbits Earth.
3. Describe the characteristics of Earth and its orbit about the sun (e.g., three-fourths of Earth's surface is covered by a layer of water [some of it frozen], the entire planet surrounded by a thin blanket of air, elliptical orbit, tilted axis and spherical planet).
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Benchmark A. Use appropriate instruments safely to observe, measure and collect data when conducting a scientific investigation.
Benchmark B. Organize and evaluate observations, measurements and other data to formulate inferences and conclusions.
Benchmark C. Develop, design and safely conduct scientific investigations and communicate the results.
3RD GRADE
2. Discuss observations and measurements made by other people.
3. Read and interpret simple tables and graphs produced by self/others.
6. Communicate scientific findings to others through a variety of methods (e.g., pictures, written, oral and recorded observations).
4TH GRADE
1. Select the appropriate tools and use relevant safety procedures to measure and record length, weight, volume, temperature and area in metric and English units.
2. Analyze a series of events and/or simple daily or seasonal cycles, describe the patterns and infer the next likely occurrence.
3. Develop, design and conduct safe, simple investigations or experiments to answer questions.
4. Explain the importance of keeping conditions the same in an experiment.
5. Describe how comparisons may not be fair when some conditions are not kept the same between experiments.
6. Formulate instructions and communicate data in a manner that allows others to understand and repeat an investigation or experiment.
5TH GRADE
1. Select and safely use the appropriate tools to collect data when conducting investigations and communicating findings to others (e.g., thermometers, timers, balances, spring scales, magnifiers, microscopes and other appropriate tools).
2. Evaluate observations and measurements made by other people and identify reasons for any discrepancies.
3. Use evidence and observations to explain and communicate the results of investigations.
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