In this unit, the guiding phenomenon is to an examination of the before-and-after stories of the effects of living things on the environment to see how the environment is changed. The unit builds on Unit 2, in which students explored the needs of plants and animals (PE K-LS1-1 and K-ESS3.1). In Grade 1, students will develop understanding of plant and animal survival, and in Grade 2, students will explore organisms and their habitats more deeply.

Over the course of the unit, students will determine what plants and animals, including humans, need to consume to survive. In exploring the question, students investigate how plants and animals, including humans, get what they need from their environments and, in the process, change their environments to meet their needs. They discover that the changes humans cause in environments tend to have a greater impact on land, air, water, and other living things than the environmental changes imposed by other organisms The unit Changing Environments provides students the opportunity to explore concepts that include the following:

• Organisms get what they need from the environment.
• Damaging environmental changes can affect organisms.
• Ways in which environmental changes affect the needs of plants, animals, and humans.
• There is evidence of plants, animals, and humans causing changes to an environment.
• There are both negative and positive ways in which humans impact the environment.
• There are practical ways to protect the environment.

CKSci is informed by the NGSS, which encourages student learning through hands-on activities and collecting data. This activity-centered approach requires, at times, that schools collect or purchase materials and equipment that will be needed to complete activities.

Complete materials supply list for CKSci Unit 3: Changing Environments