Carolina Curriculum: GEMS > Kits for Grades K-5

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Expanded view of the Aquatic Habitats Kit

GEMS^® Aquatic Habitats (Grades 2–6)

Underwater worlds are fascinating to children and adults alike. Aquatic life exhibits amazing structures and behaviors. Unlike the clean, filtered aquarium some students may have at home, this unit has students constructing desktop pond habitats. As in an actual pond, organic waste drifts to the bottom, creating an environment for the growth of beneficial bacteria and algae. Over the weeks of the unit, students study and add one type of organism at a time—plants, worms, snails, fish, and mosquito larvae. They discover firsthand some of the complex interactions within a typical pond ecosystem and use their small desk pond as a laboratory for observing nature’s processes.

The investigations in Aquatic Habitats also help students gain insight into many of the big ideas of science that permeate not only the biological sciences, but all scientific disciplines, including systems and interactions, stability within systems, and patterns of change. As students gain experience with specific organisms and the aquatic ecosystems, they increase their ability to comprehend the diversity of organisms, their adaptations, and interdependence within an ecosystem. Food webs, such as those students create in this unit, identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers. These activities may be used as an introduction to the study of any aquatic system: pond, lake, stream, river, or seashore.

Benefits of using this kit:
	Introduces foundational science concepts that lead to student success
	Strongly aligned with multiple state standards and the National Science Education Standards and Bench Marks for Science Literacy
	Provides clear step-by-step instruction, assessment suggestions, literature connections, and ideas for further instruction

Goals Standards In the Kit Pilot this Kit Support

Goals of Aquatic Habitats
	Students improve their ability to make careful observations and depict their observations accurately through drawing and writing, and in class discussions.
	Students are able to articulate that an organism’s habitat provides it with the necessities for its existence. They are able to describe the habitat needs of aquatic organisms, such as fish, invertebrates, and plants.
	Students are able to explain how the structures and behaviors of organisms help those organisms survive. Older students are able to relate these understandings to the concept of adaptation.
	Students increase their understanding of the concept of an organism’s life cycle, and are able to draw or describe the life cycle of organisms, such as the mosquito, in the model habitat.
	Students can describe or draw interactions between organisms. They are able to diagram food webs and describe roles played by different organisms composing an aquatic food web. Students deepen their understanding of the interconnected nature of their model habitat.

National Standards addressed by Aquatic Habitats:

	Science in Personal and Social Perspectives Standard, K–4: Changes in environments.
	Life Science Standard, K–4: Organisms and their environments.
	Earth and Space Science Standard, K–4: Properties of earth materials.
	Inquiry Standard, K–4: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.
	Unifying Concepts and Principles: Systems, order and organization; Evolution and equilibrium; Evidence, models and explanation.

In the Kit:
The unit kit comes with a Teacher's Guide, a Teacher's Pack containing: copy masters, MSDS sheets, matrix of provided materials where used and materials needed but not supplied, and materials needed for a class of 32 students.

Try the Carolina Curriculum Pilot Program
What’s the best way to learn about STC Program®, Building Blocks of Science™, Math Out of the Box®, or GEMS Kits®? Pilot a unit in your school or district!

Here's how it works:

	Complete the pilot information request form.
	You choose a lead teacher(s) to pilot the units.
	Carolina ships the selected unit kit(s) to your school/district.
	At the end of the pilot, you can purchase one of the unit kits for 10% off the catalog price!

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	Aquatic Habitats Kit This Kit comes with a Teacher's Guide, an information packet, and the materials needed for a class of 30.

	Aquatic Habitats Kit Teacher's Guide Additional Teacher's Guides are available if you need them.

	Aquatic Habitats Kit Refill Pack This set replenishes the consumable materials in the Kit.