Focus: This unit focuses on the scientific concept that energy and matter flow through an ecosystem to individual organisms and back to the ecosystem in a continuous cycle.
Students will learn that every organism on Earth needs energy to live. Both energy and matter cycle through an ecosystem. Life on Earth derives its energy from the sun. Plants and algae take in the energy of sunlight and transform it into the chemical energy of food. When animals eat plants, the chemical energy of food moves into the bodies of animals, so the energy that animals use originally came from the sun.
Number of Lessons: 15
Lesson Time: 30–45 minutes daily. Each lesson may be divided into shorter segments.
Please note that certain lessons in this unit are designed for multiple days, resulting in approximately 21 days of instruction. For more information, please refer to the recommended Pacing Guide within the Teacher Guide.
Additional Search Terms:
food • energy • living thing • organism • decomposer • producer • consumer • predator • prey • scavenger • glucose • sugar • photosynthesis • chemical reaction • metabolism • energy transformation • transfer • nonfiction • informational text
CKSci Grade Levels: CKSci units are correlated to topics at the grade levels specified in the K–5 Core Knowledge Science Sequence.
