In Organisms and Their Habitats students will plan a butterfly meadow that will come back and spread year after year. They will investigate the dependence of plants on air, water, minerals, and light for growth and on the dependence of animals to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds. Students will also observe the diversity of life in different habitats. They will further examine the interdependence of relationships in ecosystems in Grade 3 Unit 3 Habitats and Change and in Grade 4 Unit 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems.

The unit Organisms and Their Habitats provides students the opportunity to explore concepts that include the following:

• Plants depend on air, water, and light to grow.
• Plants depend on animals for pollination or to move their seeds around.
• There are many kinds of living things in any area and they exist in different places on land and in water.

His science unit embodies Core Knowledge’s vision of best practices in science instruction and knowledge-based schooling, such as the following:

• building students’ knowledge of core ideas in life science, as well as engineering design
• developing scientific practices that give students firsthand experience in scientific inquiry, engineering, and technology
• connecting scientific learning to concepts across various disciplines, such as mathematics and literacy

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 2: Organisms and Their Habitats