North East School Division Planning Organizer
Science Grades K - 5
Stage 1 – Begin With the End in Mind
Big Ideas What do we want students to remember 40 years from now?
The Earth is composed of rocks and minerals and
our use of them affect us, others and the Earth
itself.
Goals
Construct scientific knowledge
Scientific Inquiry
 Processes of:
o Designing, planning, and implementing
investigations
o Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data
o Proposing explanations and making new
predictions
o Communicating results (scientific paper, lab
report, visual presentation)
Understand the nature of science and
Science-Technology-SocietyEnvironment (STSE) interrelationships
Technological Problem Solving (TPS)
uses iterative design processes:
o Proposing, creating, testing prototypes
o Analyzing and interpreting results
o Communicating methods and results
(design report)
K-5 Units of Study
Life science
K
1
2
Needs and characteristics of living
things
Animal growth and changes
3
Plant growth and changes
4
Habitats and communities
5
Meeting basic needs and maintaining
a healthy body
Physical science
Exploring the world with our senses
- Properties of objects and materials
- Materials and our senses
- Liquids and solids
- Relative position and motion
- Materials and structures
- Invisible forces
- Light
- Sound
- Properties and changes of materials
- Forces and simple machines
Develop scientific and technological skills
and attitudes that support scientific habits
of mind
STSE Decision Making:
o Clarifying an issue, identifying stakeholders
viewpoints, evaluating available research
o Generating, implementing, and evaluating
position statements or courses of action
o Identifying results of decision / action
o Communicating and/or taking action
(research project, position paper, role
play, deliberative dialogue, debate, case
Earth and Space science
study, action plan)
- Daily and seasonal
Cultural
changesand Indigenous Perspectives
 Indigenous ways of knowing include:
- Air in water in the environment
o Experiential learning – listening, observing,
intuitive awareness, participating, and
- Exploring soils
experiencing
- Rocks, minerals, and erosion
o Place-based knowledge to solve practical
problems
- Weather
o Honouring protocols for obtaining this
knowledge from a knowledge keeper, and
taking responsibility for knowing it.
o Interrelatedness, connectedness,
spirituality
Outcomes Bold the verbs or skills, underline the qualifiers
RM4.1 Investigate physical properties of rocks and minerals, including those found in the local
environment.
Investigate - physical properties of rocks, including those found in the local environment.
Investigate - physical properties of minerals, including those found in the local environment.
RM4.2 Assess how human uses of rocks and minerals impact self, society, and the environment.
Assess - how human uses of rocks impact self
Assess - how human uses of rocks impact society
Assess - how human uses of rocks impact environment
Assess - how human uses of minerals impact self
Assess - how human uses of minerals impact society
Assess - how human uses of minerals impact environment.
RM4.3 Analyze how weathering, erosion, and fossils provide evidence to support human
understanding of the formation of landforms on Earth.
Analyze - how weathering, provide evidence to support human understanding of the formation of
landforms on Earth.
Analyze - how erosion, provide evidence to support human understanding of the formation of
landforms on Earth.
Analyze how fossils provide evidence to support human understanding of the formation of
landforms on Earth.
Understandings What do we hope students will come
Essential Questions Questions for deeper
to understand as a result of learning? Think: Students will
understand that…
understanding that invite deep thinking about the ideas
and issues throughout the unit.
i.
ii.
i.
ii.
There are a variety of rocks and
minerals around Nipawin.
The physical properties of rocks and
minerals help us to classify them.
a. What types of rocks can be found in
Nipawin?
b. What types of minerals can be found in
Nipawin?
c. How do you know what type of rock you
have found?
d. How do you know what type of rock you
have found?
There are numerous uses for rocks and
minerals
The use of rocks and mineral affect
everyone and the future of the Earth
i.
ii.
iii.
What are the uses of rocks and
minerals?
Are the uses of rocks and minerals
essential to you and or those around
you?
How do the use of rocks and minerals
affect you, those around you, the
environment?
i.
ii.
iii.
The Earth is affected by weather
Weather causes erosion of the land
a. Is there anything we can do to reduce the
Fossils are found in the Earth,
effects of weather on the Earth?
surrounded by rock
b. What does the wind do to rocks/minerals
iv.
Different kinds of rocks are affected
c. Are there benefits of erosion?
differently
d. How do fossils end up inside rocks?
Students need to know: What is essential knowledge And be able to do: What should they eventually be
for students to have in order to demonstrate their
understanding of the outcomes?
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
xiii.
xiv.
2 or more minerals make a rock.
Where we find rocks and minerals.
Rocks do not become minerals, they are
made of minerals
Terminology - What are the physical
properties of rocks and minerals ( colour,
texture, lustre, hardness, cleavage,
transparency, and crystal structure)
Tools - hand lens, safety glasses, brush,
rock pick, knife, measuring tape, and
gloves
How to make observations, collect and
display information. Jot notes, labelled
diagrams, charts
Where to and not to collect samples
How to test hardness
Compare and contrast data collected
Understand purpose of classifying is to
help understand commonalities
Demonstrate how experiences/needs
change classification schemes of othersElders, traditional knowledge keepers,
geologists
What is a rock
What is a mineral
Generalize from data
able to do as a result of their learning experiences in
order to achieve the outcome? Should reference the
indicators. Think: verb.
a. Pose questions about the properties of rocks and
minerals (e.g., What is the difference between rocks
and minerals? Where do we find rocks and
minerals? Do rocks become minerals?).
b. Document the locations and characteristics of
rocks that exist in their local environment.
c. Observe and record physical properties of rocks
and minerals using appropriate terminology such as
colour, texture, lustre, hardness, cleavage,
transparency, and crystal structure.
d. Use appropriate tools (e.g., hand lens, safety
glasses, brush, rock pick, knife, measuring tape, and
gloves) safely while making observations and
collecting information on the physical properties of
rocks and minerals.
e. Demonstrate respect for all components of their
environment when observing and collecting rocks
and minerals (e.g., do not remove rocks and
minerals from private property without permission).
f. Demonstrate processes for testing the hardness of
rocks, including reference to guides such as Moh’s
scale of mineral hardness.
g. Record observations of rocks and minerals using
jot notes, labelled diagrams, and charts.
h. Compare the physical properties of rocks and
minerals from their local environment with those
from other geological areas.
i. Develop their own classification scheme to
organize their understanding of rocks and minerals.
j. Account for any variation between their
classification schemes of rocks and minerals and
those of classmates, Elders, traditional knowledge
keepers, geologists, or from other resources.
k. Differentiate between rocks and minerals.
l. Develop simple generalizations about the physical
characteristics of rocks and minerals based on
observation and research.
a. Discuss ways in which people of different cultures
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
The different uses of rocks and minerals
depending on cultural group
Things that are made from rocks and minerals
- nickel, table salt, pottery, cement, carvings,
brick, jewellery, bicycle, nutrients, battery,
copper wiring, soda can, plumbing pipe, and
sidewalk
Historical (e.g., flint arrowheads, gold
jewellery, paint pigments, and coal heating)
and contemporary (e.g., fertilizer, building
products, ceramics, glass, salt, silver fillings
and electronics) uses for rocks and minerals
Alternative materials or new uses for rocks and
minerals.
Use of rock affected by characteristics such
as functionality, mineral shape, cost,
availability, and aesthetics
Where minerals are found - potash, sodium
sulphate, salt, kaolin, uranium, copper, coal,
diamond, and gold
Pros and cons of extraction and use of
minerals - company owner, employee,
scientist, Elder, environmental group, and end
user
Ways to recycle-reuse
Methods of reclaiming sites and reducing
impacts - quarry, strip mine, open pit mine,
and hard rock mine
How they affect natural resources
i. Definitions – weathering, erosion, fossils,
ii. Effects of - tidal wave, flash flood, hurricane,
tornado, earthquake, mud slide, forest fire,
avalanche, and meteor impact, mulching, crop
rotation, strip farming, windbreaks, terracing, and
sediment basins
iii. The landforms on earth
iv. Rock classifications - igneous, sedimentary, or
metamorphic
v. Carrying out an experiment
vi. possible effects of wind, water, and ice = sandy
beaches, coastline erosion, rounded rock
formations, sand dunes, river deltas, glacial
deposits, and cracks in rocks
vii. Predict effects - butte, cliff, cave, valley, river,
waterfall, and beach
viii. How soil is created
ix. How to create models of plants and animals
x. Fossil records
value, respect, and use rocks and minerals,
including First Nations and Métis connections to
Mother Earth.
b. Identify objects in their local environment that are
made from rocks and minerals (e.g., nickel, table
salt, pottery, cement, carvings, brick, jewellery,
bicycle, nutrients, battery, copper wiring, soda can,
plumbing pipe, and sidewalk).
c. Research historical (e.g., flint arrowheads, gold
jewellery, paint pigments, and coal heating) and
contemporary (e.g., fertilizer, building products,
ceramics, glass, salt, silver fillings and electronics)
uses for rocks and minerals in Saskatchewan.
d. Suggest alternative materials that could be used
to create everyday objects or propose new uses for
rocks and minerals.
e. Relate uses for rocks and minerals to
characteristics such as functionality, mineral shape,
cost, availability, and aesthetics.
f. Identify locations where minerals, including
potash, sodium sulphate, salt, kaolin, uranium,
copper, coal, diamond, and gold, are extracted in
Saskatchewan.
g. Discuss economic benefits associated with
mineral extraction and refining, including related
careers, in Saskatchewan.
h. Analyze issues related to the extraction and use
of minerals from the perspectives of various
stakeholders (e.g., company owner, employee,
scientist, Elder, environmental group, and end user).
i. Research ways in which products made from
rocks or minerals can be recycled and reused.
j. Suggest methods of reclaiming resource extraction
sites (e.g., quarry, strip mine, open pit mine, and
hard rock mine) to reduce short-term and long-term
impacts on communities and the environment.
k. Assess their own and their family’s impact on
natural resources based on their current lifestyle.
a. Construct a visual representation of the diversity
of landscapes and landforms throughout
Saskatchewan, including those which have
significance for First Nations and Métis people.
b. Examine the effects of natural phenomena (e.g.,
tidal wave, flash flood, hurricane, tornado,
earthquake, mud slide, forest fire, avalanche, and
meteor impact) that cause rapid and significant
changes to the landscape.
c. Explain how rocks can be classified as igneous,
sedimentary, or metamorphic based on the
processes by which they form.
d. Discuss practices and techniques (e.g., mulching,
crop rotation, strip farming, windbreaks, terracing,
and sediment basins) for minimizing and controlling
erosion locally and in communities around the world.
e. Design and construct a prototype of a system for
minimizing and controlling gravitational, water,
shoreline, ice, or wind erosion in a given situation.
f. Evaluate a prototype of a personally-constructed
system for minimizing and controlling erosion and
the use of prototypes in science for modelling
natural phenomena.
g. Describe possible short-term and long-term
effects of wind, water, and ice on local, national, and
global landscapes (e.g., sandy beaches, coastline
erosion, rounded rock formations, sand dunes, river
deltas, glacial deposits, and cracks in rocks).
h. Predict the effects of weathering on various
landforms (e.g., butte, cliff, cave, valley, river,
waterfall, and beach) in Saskatchewan.
i. Suggest explanations for how soils form from
rocks, including the roles that wind, water, and
biological processes (e.g., decomposition of plant
and animal matter, and growth of plant roots play)
over of time.
j. Create models of different types (e.g., amber,
imprint, cast, or mould) of plant and animal fossils.
k. Discuss how fossils and the fossil record provide
evidence of the Earth’s history, including the
formation of various landforms.
l. Predict the types of plant or animal fossils that
would be found in Saskatchewan landforms in the
past, present, and future.
m. Explain how scientists rely on observations and
data to develop explanations of natural phenomena.
n. Pose new questions about Saskatchewan
landforms based on what was learned.
Stage Two – Critical Evidence of Understanding
Formative Assessment. Through what multiple
Summative Assessment. Is an assessment of
sources of evidence will students demonstrate their
understanding on a daily basis?
what students know and can do according to the
outcomes? It is a snapshot in time, used for reporting.
i. Definitions – matching, fill in the blanks
ii. Observations of using tools
iii. Various chances to make observations, collect
data, and display information.
iv. Compare and contrast data collected
i. Match uses to cultural group
ii. Historical (e.g., flint arrowheads, gold
jewellery, paint pigments, and coal heating)
and contemporary (e.g., fertilizer, building
products, ceramics, glass, salt, silver fillings
and electronics) uses for rocks and minerals
iii.
iv. Alternative materials or new uses for rocks and
minerals.
v. Use of rock affected by characteristics such
as functionality, mineral shape, cost,
availability, and aesthetics
vi. Where minerals are found - potash, sodium
sulphate, salt, kaolin, uranium, copper, coal,
diamond, and gold
vii. Pros and cons of extraction and use of
minerals - company owner, employee,
scientist, Elder, environmental group, and end
user
viii. Ways to recycle-reuse
ix. Methods of reclaiming sites and reducing
impacts - quarry, strip mine, open pit mine,
and hard rock mine
i. Definitions - weathering, erosion, fossil, tidal
wave, flash flood, hurricane, tornado,
earthquake, mud slide, forest fire, avalanche,
and meteor impact, mulching, crop rotation,
strip farming, windbreaks, terracing, and
sediment basins, sandy beaches, coastline
erosion, rounded rock formations, sand dunes,
river deltas, glacial deposits, and cracks in
rocks, butte, cliff, cave, valley, river, waterfall,
and beach
ii. Identification of various rocks types
iii. Experiments and models
Criteria:
Identify physical properties of rocks
Identify physical properties of minerals
Assess how human uses of rocks and minerals
impact self, society, and the environment
Analyze - how weathering, provide evidence to
support human understanding of the formation of
landforms on Earth.
Analyze - how erosion, provide evidence to support
human understanding of the formation of landforms
on Earth.
Analyze how fossils provide evidence to support
human understanding of the formation of landforms
on Earth.
a.
A performance activity - to demonstrate their
understanding of properties of minerals and rocks.
Test 3 rock/minerals and classify them based on
physical properties.
a.
Research/Project - a rock or mineral which
addresses
1. A variety of uses for their choice
2. Identify which cultural group makes the most
use of the uses presented
3. Where it is found
4. How is it collected
5. How the removal effects the environment
6. How the impact is reduced
a.
Test
1. Explain how weather patterns could change
the look of Nipawin in the future.
Stage Three – Learning Plan
The Learning Plan should guide your day-to-day operations based on the natural order of learning experiences
necessary to achieve the outcomes by all students.
All materials are in order in my binder. Original and marking key
1. Highlight notes about Rocks and Minerals
Colour the layers of the Earth
2. Vocabulary development Quiz
3. Highlight notes on the Rock Cycle
Colour the processes in the rock cycle
4. Computer simulation on the rock cycle – http://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/index.html
5. Smart Board lesson on Rock Cycle
6. Rock Formations worksheet
7. Three Types of Rock – identification Worksheet
8. Three Types of Rocks worksheet
9. Looking at Rocks
From a known collection of rocks, describe/draw a sedimentary rock,
igneous rock, metamorphic rock
10. Highlight notes We can classify different rocks
Looking at an unknown rock of their choosing, respond to questions
to “guess” what type it is
11. Identifying rocks – worksheet
Use rocks from an unknown rock of their choosing
12. Identification Quiz
Igneous rocks – Identification
Metamorphic rocks – identification
Sedimentary rocks - Identification
13. Highlight notes Property of Minerals
Look at rocks which exhibit each property – in real life and on
Smartboard
14. Experiment – What do Crystals look Like?
15. How can you tell the hardness of rocks? Notes
16. Experiment – How hard is a rock
17. Computer simulation on properties of Rocks and Minerals http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/flash/rocks_soils.swf
18. Look at the effects of Erosion through a power point
19. Erosion Worksheet
20. Highlight notes Saskatchewan Mineral Resources
21. Your house comes from a Mine – notes
22. Video – Partners in Motion – Mining: Good for Saskatchewan
23. Fossil Dig
24. Fossil Layers Chart and questions
25. Final Test
Reflection
How did each student experience the learning through the unit? How did my plan transfer to practice?
The Process – My initial process in creating this unit was all jumbled up. First of all I had to make changes to
my last year portion on Understandings, Need to Know and Able to Do. After attending the day on this, I saw
many planning errors which initially set me off in the wrong direction. As I was in the middle of planning and
teaching simultaneously, the unit didn’t fall together as it should have. I always felt three steps behind. After
receiving the full training for UBD (Day 3 was October 14th) I had a much better understanding and was
feeling more comfortable with the process. Trying to adapt mid stream did not produce a desired product .
I had some learning activities which fit with the outcomes from my work last year, but I didn’t have a full
understanding of the process and reverted to old planning methods trying to fit them into UBD. I was totally
out of sync with the true UBD process and throughout the whole unit I was having a hard time getting ahead
of myself and adapting. I found this unit a big learning curve but by the end felt I could produce a much better
product for my second unit. Time was also a factor, see comments in Future Planning.
The Students - I find this a hard unit for the students. It is very abstract despite numerous hands on activities.
It is a huge learning curve jump from Grade 3 expectations. The students do not possess much of the
analytical skills needed and are more used to regurgitation of facts. They have no processes for taking
information and making their own conclusions.
Putting it into Practice –
I found it hard to fit all the learning outcomes needed into the first reporting period as there are many start of
the year activities which slow the initial presentation of material. (year starting assemblies, creating rapport,
determining learning styles/multiple intelligences, etc.)
I felt very disorganized during the unit. I kept finding great activities to help meet the outcomes here and there
and thus felt there was no cohesion to the lessons – no flow – no build. I have re-ordered the lessons in my
learning plan to reflect a better presentation for future use.
Having found putting the 3 outcomes on one sheet for the Sound unit helpful, I cut and pasted this unit as
well. It helped the Sound Unit have more flow and I expect it to help with future years with this unit.
Future Planning - Given my choice, I would leave this unit for last in the year. This was something I had
determined last year but as the curriculum had not been finalized by school start date. The Grade Four team
went with Rocks and Minerals first as it was the unit that was common to both curricula