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Grades K–2
Using the natural curiosity that young children have about plants and
animals, Organisms asks students to develop observational skills by
caring for and looking at organisms. Students create and maintain an
aquarium and a terrarium; making first-hand observations of plants and
animals allows students to develop an understanding and sensitivity for
living things. The woodland habitat that students build contains pine
seedlings, moss, pill bugs, and Bess beetles or millipedes. The
freshwater habitat they create consists of Elodea and Cabomba
plants, pond snails, and guppies. Students are able to observe how the
animals and plants coexist and determine the basic needs of every living
thing as well as needs that are unique to each organism. In a final
lesson, students apply what they have learned about organisms to humans,
exploring how human beings are similar to and different from other
living things.
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Lesson-by-Lesson Summary
Lesson 1 gets students thinking about what living things need to
live and be healthy and about the ways all plants and animals are alike
and different. A pre‑unit assessment lesson, it provides you with a
sense of students’ present thinking about the unit’s central themes.
Lessons 2 and 3 introduce students to the first organism they
will study: plants they grow from seeds. Students create an observing
table, a tool that helps them sharpen their observation skills.
Throughout the unit, children consult and add to this table. This
activity encourages them to use more than one sense as they observe
their different organisms.
Moving from how a seed grows into a plant to how plants flourish in
their natural homes, student groups set up woodland terrariums with moss
and young conifer trees in Lesson 4 and freshwater aquariums with
Elodea and Cabomba in Lesson 5. Establishing the process they
will use throughout the unit, students observe, record, discuss, and
compare features of the two woodland plants and then the two freshwater
plants.
In Lesson 6, students return to the seeds they have planted,
observed, and cared for over a period of time. Here, for the first time,
they focus on growth and change in an organism, discuss what plants need
to live, and create their own readers that capture their experiences
about growing plants from seeds. To expand the class’s understanding of
the diversity of life, Lessons 7 through 10 introduce four
animals: freshwater snails and guppies for the aquariums, and pill bugs
and Bess beetles (or millipedes) for the terrariums. By adding these
animals to the two environments, students begin to notice not only that
plant coexist with animals but also that animals coexist with other
animals.
This time, students observe, record, discuss, and use Venn diagrams to
compare the two woodland animals and then the two freshwater animals. In
addition, by observing a pair of guppies (male and female), they
discover that similarities and differences exist within the same kind of
organism. As this sequence of lessons continues, some of the students’
animals may die. This may provide an appropriate opportunity to talk
with the class about death and to help students see that it is a natural
part of the life cycle. For suggestions on how to broach this topic,
please see “Discussing Death and Birth,” which appears at the end of
Section 4 of this guide, as well as some of the resources in Section 8.
Lessons 11 and 12 reinforce the class’s emerging awareness that
living things grow and change. Students observe, discuss, and write
about changes that have occurred in the terrariums and aquariums over
time.
Lessons 13 through 15 help students move from the specific to the
general, forming their own ideas about the ways plants and animals are
alike and different. Using Venn diagrams, students first explore how all
their plants are alike and different; then, how all their animals are
alike and different; and finally, how all eight of these plants and
animals are alike and different. To enhance their understanding of these
concepts, in Lesson 13, students read about four unusual plants
from around the world. And, to reinforce their awareness of organisms’
basic and specific needs, the class reads about how a zoo prepares a
home for a new organism, a crocodile. In Lesson 16, students are
ready to apply what they have learned about organisms to the one
organism in the classroom they have not yet discussed: themselves. How
are we like other organisms? How are we different? Through drawings and
words, students compare themselves with other living things.
Lesson 17, a post-unit assessment, is a follow-up to the class
brainstorming session that took place during Lesson 1. Students revisit
their science notebooks and class lists. They make suggestions for
confirming, revising, expanding, or clarifying the observations on the
lists. They offer evidence to back up any changes they believe should be
made. This experience enables the teacher to document students’ progress
and helps students realize how much they have learned about the needs of
living things, the changes that organisms undergo during their life
cycles, and the similarities and differences between animals and plants.
This is an exciting unit for young students. They get to observe, touch,
hold, and care for a number of living things that have been chosen
especially for their strikingly different characteristics and that
exemplify the variety that exists in nature. By bringing a part of the
natural world into the classroom, you give children a deeper
understanding of the diversity of life. And you help them see that all
living things are like one another in many ways but are also unique unto
themselves. |
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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!
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Organisms (3rd Edition) 2-Use Kit
The 2-Use Kit comes with all of the
materials needed for a second, non-concurrent use. |
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Organisms
Refurbishment Set
This set replenishes the consumable
materials in the Unit Kit. |
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Organisms Replacement
Parts
We offer individual replacement
parts for your Unit Kits. |
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Organisms (STC Literacy Series),
Pack of 8
The Organisms book introduces children to the basic characteristics of organisms, while helping them develop an understanding of and sensitivity to all living things |
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KIDS DISCOVER:
Organisms ,
Pack of 8
This KIDS DISCOVER magazine
stimulates students' imaginations,
connects science in the classroom to
the real world, and makes learning
fun! |
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Literacy Enhancement:
Organisms
Each Literacy Enhancement contains
24 KIDS DISCOVER readers and 30 student notebooks. |
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