5.1 Strand
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). Within these systems, the location of Earth’s land and water can be described. Also, these systems interact in multiple ways. Weathering and erosion are examples of interactions between Earth’s systems. Some interactions cause landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions that impact humans and other organisms. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards, but solutions can be designed to reduce their impact.
Standard(s) 5.1.1: Analyze and interpret data to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Emphasize most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans while major mountain chains may be found inside continents or near their edges. Examples of data could include maps showing locations of mountains on continents and the ocean floor or the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes. (ESS2.B)
Practices
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
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Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Patterns
Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.
Storyline Narrative
To begin this storyline students will investigate the phenomenon, a volcano rapidly formed in a field in Paricutin. Students will obtain information about a volcano that grew in a field in Paricutin, Mexico over the course of 9 years, destroying the village.
Then students will obtain information about other North American examples of volcano and earthquake activity and mountain ranges to analyze patterns in the data. They will look at volcanoes in the area of Paricutin to understand and reason that the occurrence of that volcano was part of a pattern rather than a random act. From there, students will look at examples and nonexamples of volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain ranges to further analyze and interpret data to find patterns of Earth’s features. Finally, when given a map with known volcano and/or earthquake occurrences, students identify which location is more likely to have the next occurrence and support their answer using the data from their investigations?
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Utah Science
Curriculum Consortium
Tyson Grover
Annette Nielson
5.1 Strand
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). Within these systems, the location of Earth’s land and water can be described. Also, these systems interact in multiple ways. Weathering and erosion are examples of interactions between Earth’s systems. Some interactions cause landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions that impact humans and other organisms. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards, but solutions can be designed to reduce their impact.
Standard(s) 5.1.1: Analyze and interpret data to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Emphasize most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans while major mountain chains may be found inside continents or near their edges. Examples of data could include maps showing locations of mountains on continents and the ocean floor or the locations of volcanoes and earthquakes. (ESS2.B)
Practices
Analyzing and Interpreting Data Analyzing data in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to introducing quantitative approaches to collecting data and conducting multiple trials of qualitative observations. When possible and feasible, digital tools should be used.
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Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features areas of Earth.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Patterns
Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.
Storyline Narrative
To begin this storyline students will investigate the phenomenon, a volcano rapidly formed in a field in Paricutin. Students will obtain information about a volcano that grew in a field in Paricutin, Mexico over the course of 9 years, destroying the village.
Then students will obtain information about other North American examples of volcano and earthquake activity and mountain ranges to analyze patterns in the data. They will look at volcanoes in the area of Paricutin to understand and reason that the occurrence of that volcano was part of a pattern rather than a random act. From there, students will look at examples and nonexamples of volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain ranges to further analyze and interpret data to find patterns of Earth’s features. Finally, when given a map with known volcano and/or earthquake occurrences, students identify which location is more likely to have the next occurrence and support their answer using the data from their investigations?
Standard(s) 5.1.2: Use mathematics and computational thinking to compare the quantity of saltwater and freshwater in various reservoirs to provide evidence for the distribution of water on Earth. Emphasize reservoirs such as oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, groundwater, and polar ice caps. Examples of using mathematics and computational thinking could include measuring, estimating, graphing, or finding percentages of quantities. (ESS2.C)
Practices
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Mathematical and computational thinking in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative measurements to a variety of physical properties and using computation and mathematics to analyze data and compare alternative design solutions.
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Describe and graph quantities such as area and volume to address scientific questions.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and volume.
Storyline Narrative
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Engage: Students obtain information about animal water sources. They will observe the phenomenon that animals will gather to drink from ponds, lakes, and rivers but we don’t see animals gathering to drink from the Great Salt Lake.
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Explore & Explain: Students will evaluate information about different sources of water to determine if they are fresh or salt water.
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Elaborate: Students will analyze a map using their knowledge of water sources to determine what quantity of water represented on the map is fresh versus salt water. They will compute the amount of water and represent it mathematically using graphing.
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Evaluate: Students will analyze an actual map to determine the quantity of saltwater compared to the quantity of freshwater.
Standard(s) 5.1.3: Ask questions to plan and carry out investigations that provide evidence for the effects of weathering and the rate of erosion on the geosphere. Emphasize weathering and erosion by water, ice, wind, gravity, or vegetation. Examples could include observing the effects of cycles of freezing and thawing of water on rock or changing the slope in the downhill movement of water. (ESS2.A, ESS2.E)
Practices
Asking Questions and Defining Problems in grades 3–5 builds on grades K–2 experiences and progresses to specifying qualitative relationships.
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Ask questions that can be investigated based on patterns such as cause and effect relationships.
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations to answer questions or test solutions to problems in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to include investigations that control variables and provide evidence to support explanations or design solutions.
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Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around. ESS2.E: Biogeology ∙ Living things affect the physical characteristics of their regions.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Cause and Effect
Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change.
Storyline Narrative
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Engage: Students will obtain information as they watch two videos and write observations of the phenomenon. The will then use reasoning and question stems to develop questions about the observed phenomenon. They will work with their partner to communicate the three best questions they generated that will best help us investigate the phenomenon.
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Explore: Students will observe images of different examples of weathering then compare their observations from episode 1 with their observations from this episode and try to come up with the cause. Students will record the cause and effect for each of the images in their journal.
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Explain: Students will observe an investigation about the rate of weathering on a piece of chalk. Students will then plan and carry out an investigation, changing a variable to either increase or decrease the rate of weathering. Students will record their conclusion, evaluating their new hypothesis.
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Elaborate & Evaluate: Students will read about an investigation conducted by two scientists. Students will evaluate the results of that experiment and come up with new ways to investigate the phenomenon, recording their predicted results.
Standard(s) 5.1.4: Develop a model to describe interactions between Earth’s systems including the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere. Emphasize interactions between only two systems at a time. Examples could include the influence of a rainstorm in a desert, waves on a shoreline, or mountains on clouds. (ESS2.A)
Practices
Developing and Using Models: Modeling in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to building and revising simple models and using models to represent events and design solutions.
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Develop a model using an example to describe a scientific principle.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems
Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Systems and System Models
A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
Storyline Narrative
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Engage: Students look at two images that show elements that represent all four spheres: geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. In groups, they are assigned a component to describe and determine its interactions with the other components in the picture.
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Explore & Explain: Students will learn about the four spheres and how they interact in systems. They will learn features of each sphere. They will start explaining how these features interact, to work towards creating a model of the spheres’ interactions.
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Elaborate: Students create a visual model of the interactions between Earth’s systems using what they have learned from the videos and by evaluating the phenomenon pictures.
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Evaluate: Students will further their model by writing what would happen if parts of the system were no longer there or functioning.
Standard(s) 5.1.5: Design solutions to reduce the effects of naturally occurring events that impact humans. Define the problem, identify criteria and constraints, develop possible solutions using models, analyze data from testing solutions, and propose modifications for optimizing a solution. Emphasize that humans cannot eliminate natural hazards, but they can take steps to reduce their impacts. Examples of events could include landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards, or volcanic eruptions. (ESS3.B, ETS1.A, ETS1.B, ETS1.C)
Practices
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
∙ Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design solution.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ESS3.B: Natural Hazards
A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions). Humans cannot eliminate the hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts.
Cross Cutting Concepts
Cause and Effect
Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change.
Storyline Narrative
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Engage & Explore: Students define problems caused by natural hazards by observing different hazards and their effects on humans.
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Explain, Elaborate & Evaluate: Students design solutions to different natural hazards and carry out an investigation showing how their designed solution is able to mitigate the effects of a natural hazard.