Science
SCI.III.2.4
Grade: 3
Using Scientific Knowledge in Life Science
- Organization of Living Things
Strand:
Standard:
Benchmark:
All students will investigate and explain how living things obtain and use
energy
Compare and contrast food, energy, and environmental needs of
selected organisms.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1 - Generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation
SCI.I.1.3 - Manipulate simple devices that aid observation and data collection.
SCI.I.1.4 - Use simple measurement devices to make measurements in scientific investigations.
SCI.I.1.5 - Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving.
SCI.I.1.6 - Construct charts and graphs and prepare summaries of observations.
SCI.II.1.1 - Develop an awareness of the need for evidence in making decisions scientifically.
SCI.II.1.2 - Show how science concepts can be illustrated through creative expression such as language arts and fine
arts.
SCI.II.1.3 - Describe ways in which technology is used in everyday life.
Vocabulary / Key Concepts
Context
Life requirements:
Germinating seeds:
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•
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•
•
•
•
•
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Food
Air
Water
Minerals
Sunlight
Space
Habitat
beans
corn
Aquarium or terrarium life:
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guppy
goldfish
snail
Knowledge and Skills
All plants and animals have life requirements.
Students will compare and contrast (similarities
and differences) the ways that various plants and
animals obtain and use energy (sunlight and food)
from their environment (water, air, minerals,
space, and habitat).
Resources
Coloma Resources:
Discover the Wonder – Grade 3
Module B, pages 5-11, pages 23-27.
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Plants use energy directly from the sun and
convert it to produce their own food
(photosynthesis).
Animals depend on plants or other animals for
their food.
Needs” Sing the Science Standards with the
Science Explosion Songbook
(http://scienceexplosion.indiegroup.com/)
Himmelman, John. Dandelion’s Life. Children’s
Press, 1999.
Maestro, Betsy. Why Do Leaves Change
Color? Harper, 1994.
3.2.4
Food Webs from the Bronx Zoo/Wildlife
Conservation Society
Animal Nutrition from the Indianapolis Zoo
Instruction
Benchmark Question: How do living things obtain
and use energy?
Focus Question: How do the life requirements for
a plant and animal compare?
Students plant a seed (ex. grass, corn, bean). In a
journal, students record growth and needs. (link to
key concepts III.2.E.4.) Students’ data should
contain what the plant needs to survive over a
short period of time. The class creates a chart to
organize and record data. Chart should include
life requirements (link to key concepts III.2.E.4.)
and food sources. Students then observe either
an animal in the environment, classroom or home
and record observations for the same amount of
time.
Students work in small groups to complete a Venn
diagram comparing their plant and animal.
Groups report results to class. Class generalizes
that animals require food from another source
while plants use the sun’s energy to make their
own food. Class concludes that while habitats and
food sources may differ, the need for air, food,
water, minerals, sunlight, and space are similar.
VENN DIAGRAM:
Assessment
Students create a graphic organizer displaying
the following information for a selected plant and
animal: food, air, water, sunlight, habitat, and
food source. Using this information, students
divide a box and construct a three dimensional
model (diorama) that compares the life
requirements of their plant to their animal. (Half
of the box for the plant/half of the box for the
animal.)
(Give students rubric before activity.)
Scoring Rubric
Apprentice
Basic
Meets
Exceeds
Completeness
of graphic
organizer
Criteria
Shows two of
the life
requirements
for both plant
and animal.
Shows three
of the life
requirements
accurately for
both plant
and animal.
Shows four of
the life
requirements
accurately for
both plant
and animal.
Shows food
source
accurately.
Shows all of
the life
requirements for
both plant
and animal.
Shows food
source
accurately.
Construction of
plant life
requirements
Constructs
two of the life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
three of the
life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
four of the life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
five or more
of the life
requirements in the
diorama.
Construction of
animal life
requirements
Constructs
two of the life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
three of the
life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
four of the life
requirements
in the
diorama.
Constructs
five or more
of the life
requirements in the
diorama.
Teacher Notes:
Investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy.
The relationship between life and energy is complex. While the generalization that living things need energy to
survive is satisfactory at one level of understanding, it fails to convey the crucial role energy plays in all
aspects of life, from the molecular to the population level. At the elementary level students can compare and
contrast food, energy and environmental needs of selected organisms, such as beans, corn or aquarium life.
In the middle and high school, the focus is more specific on the concept that plants make and store food.
Scientists speak of the flow of energy through the environment. Almost all life on the earth is sustained by
energy from the sun. This energy is transformed and moved from location to location, but doesn't disappear.
Plants capture the sun's energy and use it to produce energy rich organic molecules that we call food. The
food molecules then serve as energy sources for plants and ultimately animals.
In animals, organic food molecules are chemically broken down and carried through the circulatory system to
cells, cytoplasm, and eventually to mitochondria. This is, most often the site of final energy release through the
process known as cellular respiration.
The chemical process of photosynthesis occurs at the cellular level and is capable of converting light energy
into molecular energy. Animals are dependent on plants for this first important step in the flow of energy. In
plants, light energy is captured by chloroplasts or chlorophyll and is converted to chemical energy through the
making of organic food molecules when water and carbon dioxide are chemically combined to make sugar and
oxygen. These sugars (organic compounds) formed in photosynthesis are used for the plant's metabolic
processes and maybe ultimately be used as food for animals. The chemical process of respiration is also
cellular. Cellular respiration releases stored molecular energy so the energy can be used for other life
processes. Both plants and animals respire.
The acquisition and use of energy by living things is a very abstract idea for students at all levels. Students
tend to develop a vague and very broad definition of energy that is inconsistent with the scientific definition.
This imprecise definition interferes with the acquisitions of the biological understanding of energy and its
importance in a living system.