Science and Technology
Overview
The goals of the Science and Technology program are “to relate science and technology to society and the environment”, “to develop the skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for scientific inquiry and technological problem solving,” and “to understand the basic concepts of science and technology”. Using observation, experimentation, comparison, and reflection, we will explore the characteristics of plants and animals, air, water and soil in the environment, movement and the causes of, strong and stable structures (Grade 3s) and properties of liquids and solids (Grade 2s).
Click here for the Ontario Science and Technology Curriculum document
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Understanding Life Systems
Grade 2
Growth and Changes in Plants
Grade 3
Growth and Changes in Animals
The Wonderful World of Animals
We started our studies by listing a long and diverse list of animals. We then sorted that list based on characteristics that we could see. This lead us to beginning our look at Mammals.
Marvelous Mammals
Our study of Mammals has included our own knowledge, help from our grade-3 classmates, and new information from The Life of Mammals. Based on this investigation and discussion, we know the following about Mammals:
The Power and Possibilities of Plants
We began our study of plants by consider all the ways these amazing life forms contribut to our lives. We used the picture below to kick-start our conversation
Plant Parts
We examined the common parts of plants and discussed the important jobs each part does for the plant as a whole.
Reliable Reptiles
Our study of animals continues wth Reptiles. We have combined our own knowledge, help from our grade-3 classmates, and new information collected from BBC's Life in Cold Blood..
Based on this investigation and discussion, we know the following about Reptiles:
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All Reptiles have scales
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All Reptiles are cold blooded
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All Reptiles breathe air
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Most Reptiles lay eggs but some give birth to live young
Celery Experiment
We have completed an amazingly simple and colourful science experiment that helped us observe the important role stems play in the life of plants
Amazing Amphibians
Our study of animals continues wth Amphibians. We have combined our own knowledge, help from our grade-3 classmates, and new information collected from BBC's Attenborough's Fabulous Frogs.
Red Kidney Beans Experiment
We're taking a kidney bean, from hard, dry kitchen stable, to living breathing plant.
Fantastic Fish
Our study of animals inches closer to complete wth a look at Fish. The most diverse of the animal types, we have looked at everything from cleaning wrasses that provide spa treatments to Hippos to the Whale Shark, the largest fish on the planet. We combined our own knowledge, help from our grade-3 classmates, and new information collected from BBC's Life.
Based on this investigation, we have adorned our classroom walls with this information:
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All Fish are cold-blooded
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All Fish use gills to collect air from the water, but some have evolved primitive lungs to breath air.
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All Fish live in water
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Fish often have scales and fins although they come in many shapes and sizes and are used for different purposes
Beautiful Birds
Four down, two to go and next up are Birds. Birds have colonized the globe like no other type of animal. They have spread to every continent including Antarctica. They are adeopt at life on land, in the water and, of course, in the air. We combined our own knowledge, help from our grade-3 classmates, and new information collected from BBC's Life of Birds.
Leaves and Flowers
Having explored the power of stems and seeds and witnessed the birth and growth of a plant first-hand we turned our attention to other parts of plants.
We began with flowers. We looked at their many important parts (work sheet below) and the role each plays in plant reproduction. We learnt about their origin and appearance on the planet 130,000,000 years ago. We concluded by looking at their incredible relationship with animal polinators. Our studies were assisted by our Grade-2 classmates and by the BBC documentary Kingdom of Plants.
Our studies continue by looking at Leaves. We've discussed simple and compound leaves and hunted for examples in and around Withrow. We'll use our new undestanding of leaves to discuss photosynthesis