3rd Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that students understand how the materials connect the dimensions from unit to unit. Each unit begins with a unit overview that introduces the unit’s topic. As part of that overview in the units following Unit 1, the introductory text/narration states the overall theme of the previous unit and how it transitions into the new unit and its main topic. The connections are typically brief, but, across the examples, connect DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs. The teacher notes also include a Build on Prior Lessons section at the beginning of each Lesson. This supports the teacher to understand how DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs connect across lessons, but misses the opportunity to make those connections explicit to students. 

Examples of connections across units:

• In Grade 3, Unit 2: Forces and Motion, the introductory narration states “In Unit 1, you observed how forces can cause problems or may provide solutions. In this unit, you will plan and carry out investigations on forces to discover how forces can cause or change motion.”

• In Grade 3, Unit 3: Life Cycles and Inherited Traits, the introductory narration states “In Unit 2, you conducted investigations to see patterns in how forces affect objects. In this unit, you will use patterns to make and use model life cycles of living things. You will explain how living things of the same type can be alike and different.”

• In Grade 3, Unit 4: Organisms and Their Environments, the introductory narration states “In Unit 3, you made models and analyzed data to provide evidence for how living in groups can help animals survive. In this unit, you will gather evidence to construct explanations of how the environment an organism lives in can affect their traits and how changes in environments can cause changes in the organisms that live there.”

• In Grade 3, Unit 5: Weather Impacts, the introductory narration states “In Unit 4, you constructed explanations about the patterns in how organisms survived when the environment changed. In this unit, you will collect and analyze data to explain patterns in weather can vary by season or by regions in the world.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations that they have an intentional sequence where student tasks increase in sophistication. Materials are designed with an intentional or suggested sequence and student tasks related to explaining phenomena and/or solving problems increase in sophistication across the grade band.

The materials contain Units that are intended to be completed in sequence and are completely organized to be completed in that sequence. Similarly, each Unit is organized into Lessons made up of a series of Explorations that are all intended to be completed in sequence. In a limited range of tasks, the sophistication of students’ work related to solving problems and explaining phenomena increases. In some cases, the increase in sophistication is due to reduced scaffolds. In others, the demands of the tasks increase by adding complexity to the tasks or increasing expectations of students’ output.

Examples of student tasks increasing in sophistication across the grade band:

• Across the grade band, there is an increase in sophistication as students work with and use models to solve problems. As students represent phenomena or possible solutions and/or prototypes, the expectations for detail and iteration increase. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Plant Problems, students individually, and then as a team, draw a prototype to represent their solution to watering plants over the 2 week break. Students are instructed to draw their model with no other requirements (SEP-MOD-E5). In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Engineer It: Running on Sunshine, students research materials to capture solar energy. They define a problem and now need to identify criteria and constraints. The drawing of their device also now needs labels and they test their device for possible improvements. In Grade 5, Unit 5, Lesson 4, Exploration 1: Engineer It: Pocket Park, students propose a model “pocket park” that now includes a scaled representation. Their model must also account for a budget and include justification for each element. They also do more iteration and consider tradeoffs in their final model to best meet design requirements (SEP-MOD-E5).

• Across the grade band, there is an increase in sophistication as students work with data. Student responsibility and expectations for the use of data increase over the span of the grade band including growing responsibility for choosing how to organize raw data and graphical displays for the purpose of analysis as well as the degree to which data is shared and analyzed with other groups prior to making final conclusions or creating design solutions. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 1, Exploration 3: A Year of Change, students create their own data table to contain temperature research data for three cities to find the average high temperature for April-June. Students then use their data to draw a bar graph, with Teacher guidance, for the month of June for each city (SEP-DATA-E1). In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Volcanic Eruptions, students create their own data table to organize research data on recent volcanic eruptions, then plot the data on a map which contains earthquake data from a previous investigation. Students analyze the distribution of data on the map to identify patterns with less guidance from the teacher (SEP-DATA-E1). In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: Shadows, students plan an open investigation and determine on their own how best to organize and present data in a way that helps everyone see what they did and what happened. Students identify patterns in their data and now compare and contrast results with other groups (SEP-DATA-E1).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they present disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts in a way that is scientifically accurate. Across the grade, the teacher materials, student materials, and assessments accurately represent the three dimensions and are free from scientific inaccuracies in each of the units.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they do not inappropriately include scientific content and ideas outside of the grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs). Across the grade, the materials consistently incorporate student learning opportunities to learn and use DCIs appropriate to the grade.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level disciplinary core ideas for physical sciences.

Examples of grade-level physical science DCI elements present in the materials:

• PS2.A-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Move the Car, students test the effect of different force strengths on the movement of a toy vehicle. In Exploration 3: Which Way?, students use data from video, text, and drawings to answer questions about relative force, balance, strength, and direction and the effect these have on the movement of objects. 

• PS2.A-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Tick Tock, students test the effects of different variables on the motion of pendulums. Students compare their group results with the whole class to identify patterns in the motion of the pendulums. In Exploration 3: Patterns in Speed and Direction, students extend their understanding of patterns in the motion of objects to make predictions about how moving objects will move in the future. 

• PS2.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Ramp Moves, students test the relationship between ramp surface material type, gravitational force generated by ramp height, and the motion of an object sliding down the ramp. In Exploration 4: What are Contact Forces, students develop a deeper understanding of friction created when objects are in contact with each other and how this impacts the motion of the objects.

• PS2.B-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: Magnets Everywhere, students use videos, text, and interactive simulations to observe and explore the interaction of magnets with other magnets and with objects made of metal. Videos and pictures of magnets of different shapes, orientation of poles relative to other magnets, and distance from one another illustrate that the sizes of the forces in each situation depend on the properties of the objects, their distance from each other, and their orientation relative to each other. In Exploration 4: It’s Electric, students explore how static electricity can cause objects to interact at a distance.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level disciplinary core ideas for life sciences.

Examples of grade-level life science DCI elements present in the materials:

• LS1.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Comparing Life Cycles, students research a plant or animal to learn about the life cycle for the organism. Students share the diagrams they create from their research with the class. Students compare the different life cycles to identify what is similar and what is different. 

• LS2.C-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Wild Horses, students enact a simulation of how resources can limit the survival of members of a population. In Exploration 3: Everything Changes, students explore several environmental changes, such as fire and flooding, and make claims about how the changes in the environment affect the organisms living in that environment. Students study examples of reactions different animals and plants have to changes in their environments.

• LS2.D-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: All for One, students use a model using different colored marbles to explore how an individual is less likely to be selected if in a group and how the size of the group provides greater protection. In Exploration 4: Better Together, students collect evidence of how living in groups helps organisms protect themselves and their young, obtain food, and cope with changes in the environment.

• LS3.A-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: What Will It Look Like, students observe a photo of a bull and a photo of a cow and potential offspring to identify traits they have in common. Students use this data to choose which calves are most likely to be the offspring of the adult pair. 

• LS3.A-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 1: The Environment Affects Traits, students observe a group of flamingos in the wild, which are pink, and a group grown in captivity, which are white. They are asked to consider how the food that they eat may influence the color of their feathers.

• LS3.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Monster Traits, students simulate the random passing of traits from parents to siblings and use their results to explain how members of a family can be similar but yet have inherited different traits from their parents. In Exploration 3: Parents and Offspring, students extend their understanding of inherited information and variation by studying different plant and animal characteristics.

• LS3.B-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 1, Exploration 3: Plants and Their Environments, students explore how changes in the environment can change the appearance of inherited traits in plants, including the change in the color of the flowers of a plant based on the nutrients available in the soil. In Exploration 4: Animals and Their Environments, students explore how temperature can cause the color of an animal’s fur to change and how access to nutrients can change an animal's size or their body colors. 

• LS4.A-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 4, Exploration 3: Evidence of Change, students read about fossils and extinct animals such as dinosaurs, ancient sea turtles, and mammoths.

• LS4.A-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 4, Exploration 2: What Can You Learn from a Fossil?, students observe the features of a fossil and conduct research to identify and draw the environment the organism originally lived in. 

• LS4.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: Differences That Win, students read about differences within the same sparrow species and that the behavior associated with their colors is related to its ability to find a mate and reproduce. 

• LS4.C-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 4: Adaptations and Environment, students explore several examples of how specific traits of organisms help them survive in their habitat. Students are asked to consider, based upon their adaptations to their normal habitats, how well a hippopotamus would survive in the desert and how well polar bears would survive in a hot rainforest.

• LS4.D-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: Everything Changes, students explore the effect changes in habitat can have on the living systems in that environment. Students use data on a deer population in a habitat where the amount of resources reduced over time to predict the future of the population.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level disciplinary core ideas for earth and space sciences.

Examples of grade-level earth and space science DCIs present in the materials:

• ESS2.D-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Weather Here and There, students select three cities across the United States and research the average high temperature in April, May, and June. Using their data, students predict which city will have the highest temperature in July.

• ESS2.D-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Looking for a New Home, student groups collect weather pattern data for a full year for two locations. Students collect data for an additional five years to check if the weather pattern is consistent over the course of a year. 

• ESS3.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Smashing Weather, students conduct research on types of severe weather and the types of problems it can cause. Students select a problem they will design a solution to and draw, build, and test that solution.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades 3–5 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-band and grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) for engineering, technology, and applications of science (ETS) and all associated elements. 

In Grade 3, no performance expectations (PEs) are associated with physical, life, or earth and space science DCIs that also connect to an ETS DCI. However, the materials do include opportunities for students to engage with ETS elements in this grade.

Examples of Grade-Level ETS DCI elements present in the Grade 3 materials:

• ETS1.A-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Plant Problems, students are introduced to the problem of watering classroom plants during a two-week school break and tasked with building a solution. They are guided through identifying the criteria for success for their solution as well as the constraints they will need to work with. Student groups draw their proposed solution and present to other groups with attention to how the solution meets the criteria and constraints.

• ETS1.B-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Plant Problems, students conduct research to find examples of ways plants can be watered when people are not around before they create their own designs for the classroom plant problem. After they build their prototype solution, students test and collect data on the amount of water their solution releases for plant use.

• ETS1.B-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Engineer It - Looking It Over, students return to their original drawing from Exploration 1 of their plant watering solution and, using their conclusions from their tests, identify where the design failed or could be improved. 

• ETS1.B-E3. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Plant Problems, students collaborate with their peers to select best ideas from their research on existing plant watering solutions to create their group design. Students share their designs with other student groups to obtain feedback on how well they are meeting design criteria and constraints and use the feedback to adjust their plan before building a prototype. 

In Grade 4, two PEs are associated with physical, life, or earth and space science DCIs that also connect to an ETS DCI. The materials include opportunities for students to engage with these ETS elements in this grade.

Examples of Grade-Level ETS DCI elements present in the Grade 4 materials:

• ETS1.A-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Quick Tower Building, students are given the constraints of materials and time to meet the criteria of the tallest tower that can stand and hold the weight of one book. In Exploration 2: Designing a Listening Device, students work independently to design a non-powered listening device using available materials that cannot go into their ears. Students build and test their proposed device then evaluate how well they met the goals. The results of their first test are used to propose improvements. 

• ETS1.B-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Running on Sunshine, students conduct research on materials that can help capture solar energy as they plan and design a solar heater that can be brought on a trip to heat food. Students apply their research to design and build their solution, then test how well sand heats in their device and compare it to heating sand in the sun without their device. 

• ETS1.C-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Designing a Listening Device, students gather data on the performance of their best version of a device for listening to outdoor sounds. They are challenged to develop, build, and test a new design that might work better based on their experience. Students share their final designs to learn more about what materials and designs best met the criteria and constraints to solve the problem. 

In Grade 5, no PEs associated with physical, life, or earth and space science DCIs connect to an ETS DCI. However, the materials do include opportunities for students to engage with ETS elements in this grade.

Examples of grade-level ETS DCI elements present in the Grade 5 materials:

• ETS1.A-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: What Makes a Good Toy Car?, students are provided with a toy car kit and challenged to use the provided materials to improve the basic toy car model. The criteria for success are the improved model should be easy to build, work reliably, and roll in a straight line. Student groups develop proposed design improvements after testing the provided materials and evaluating how well they meet the new criteria for success. 

• ETS1.B-E3. In Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: What Makes a Good Toy Car?, students collaborate in small groups to brainstorm ideas for improving the toy car design to meet the constraints and criteria of the challenge. In Exploration 2: Improving Toy Cars, students communicate their final design improvements and performance with other student groups then evaluate why some solutions may have failed to meet the criteria of the challenge.

• ETS1.C-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Improving Toy Cars, student groups design, build, and test their proposed toy car improvements. Groups share their test results and evaluate the data to conclude which design improvement solutions best solved the problem given the criteria and constraints. 

The Grades 3–5 band includes three DCI PEs that are designed to be taught at any point across the grade band. These PEs include five elements. The materials provide opportunities to engage with ETS DCIs and their elements in all three grades within this band.

Examples of grade-band ETS DCI elements present in the Grades 3-5 materials:

• ETS1.A-E1. in Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Plant Problems, students are introduced to the problem of watering classroom plants during a two-week school break and tasked with building a solution. They are guided through identifying the criteria for success for their solution as well as the constraints they will need to work with. Student groups draw their proposed solution and present to other groups with attention to how the solution meets the criteria and constraints.

• ETS1.B-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Running on Sunshine, students conduct research on materials that can help capture solar energy as they plan and design a solar heater that can be brought on a trip to heat food. Students apply their research to design and build their solution, then test how well sand heats in their device and compare it to heating sand in the sun without their device. 

• ETS1.B-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Engineer It - Looking It Over, students return to their original drawing from Exploration 1 of their plant watering solution and, using their conclusions from their tests, identify where the design failed or could be improved. 

• ETS1.B-E3. In Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: What Makes a Good Toy Car?, students collaborate in small groups to brainstorm ideas for improving the toy car design to meet the constraints and criteria of the challenge. In Exploration 2: Improving Toy Cars, students communicate their final design improvements and performance with other student groups then evaluate why some solutions may have failed to meet the criteria of the challenge.

• ETS1.C-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Improving Toy Cars, student groups design, build, and test their proposed toy car improvements. Groups share their test results and evaluate the data to conclude which design improvement solutions best solved the problem given the criteria and constraints.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level science and engineering practices (SEPs) and associated elements. Across the grade level, the units fully incorporate all the grade-band elements associated with the performance expectations (PEs) for Grade 3. Across the grade, students are provided opportunities to engage with the SEPs multiple times and in multiple contexts. Students engage with elements of SEPs multiple times across the units.

Examples of SEP elements associated with grade-level performance expectations present in the materials:

• AQDP-E3. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Tick Tock, students use their personal knowledge of pendulums in their everyday life to develop a question about pendulums they can design an investigation to answer. Students select a variable to test and predict the outcome before completing their investigation. 

• AQDP-E5. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: How Can It Cross the Road?, students are introduced to the problem of roads changing the environment for animals that live near the roads. Students propose criteria and constraints for their solution and conduct research on the issue of caribou crossing roads during migration to understand the problem before designing their solution. 

• MOD-E4. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 4: How Do Life Cycles Differ, students use diagrams that model the life cycle of a tomato plant and a pine tree to describe how the life cycle of the tomato plant is different from the life cycle of the pine tree.

• INV-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Move the Car, students work in a group to plan and conduct an investigation on the effects of different strength forces on a toy vehicle. Students are instructed to change only one variable in their investigation and to conduct their test of the variable multiple times. Data generated is used to support claims about the movement of their vehicle.

• INV-E3. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind, students observe the effects of blowing on the pages of a book gently, then forcefully, on the movement of the pages. Students use these observations to support an explanation of the relationship between the force of the wind and the change it can cause in the environment.  

• DATA-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Ramp Moves, students use a table to record data on the type of material that covers a ramp and the height of the ramp when a coin slides down the material. Students use the data in the table to make a claim about the relationship between the material covering the ramp and the amount of friction affecting the coin as it slid.  

• DATA-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Battle of the Beans, students investigate the ability to see and pick up white or black beans when the beans are scattered on three different backgrounds - white, black, or patterned. After conducting the investigation, students analyze and interpret their data using logical reasoning in order to explain how the color paper backgrounds affected which beans were picked up in each trial. Students extend their understanding by using their results to explain the phenomena of how body color in animals affects their survival in their environment.

• CEDS-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Looking For A New Home, students use patterns in data collected on climate relative to the distance of a location from the equator to select a new home for a group of penguins. Students use the data as evidence to explain the location they select for the penguins’ new home. 

• ARG-E4. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: How Do Structures Help, students use data gathered during an investigation to make a claim about how the physical features of an organism relate to its environment. Students share their claim with other students and use their evidence as they argue in support of their claim.

• ARG-E6. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 4: Moving On Upstream, students evaluate the unintended effects on the environment caused by the building of a dam. They develop criteria and constraints for potential solutions to the problem then evaluate three different potential solutions on success in meeting the criteria and constraints. Finally, students make a claim about which solution best solves the problem using evidence on how well each solution met the criteria and constraints.

• INFO-E4. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: How Do Behaviors Help, students use books and the internet to conduct research on the behavior of a plant or animal of their choice. Students use the information they collect to explain how the behavior strategies of the organism help it survive their environment.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-band science and engineering practices (SEPs) and associated elements across the grade band. The materials include all of the SEP elements associated with the performance expectations (PEs) for the grade band. Elements of the SEPs are found across all three grades within this grade band. Materials include few elements of the SEPs from above or below the grade band without connecting to the grade-band appropriate SEP.

Examples of SEP elements associated with the grade-band performance expectations that are present in the materials:

• AQDP-E3. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Tick Tock, students use their personal knowledge of pendulums in their everyday life to develop a question about pendulums they can design an investigation to answer. Students select a variable to test and predict the outcome before completing their investigation. 

• AQDP-E5. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: How Can It Cross the Road?, students are introduced to the problem of roads changing the environment for animals that live near the roads. Students propose criteria and constraints for their solution and conduct research on the issue of caribou crossing roads during migration to understand the problem before designing their solution. 

• MOD-E3. In Grade 4, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Layer by Layer, students work in groups to create a model of rock layers with fossils using images of modern plants and animals to represent the ancient fossils.

• MOD-E4. In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Objects In The Sky, students draw a diagram to model and explain why the sun and stars appear to change position over the course of 24 hours.

• MOD-E6. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Modeling Energy Resource Use, students use counting chips to model the global coal supply and demonstrate the effects of using non-renewable resources on the supply of those resources.

• INV-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 4, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: What’s Out There, students collaborate as a class to develop an investigative question about their local ecosystem. Students work in groups to plan an investigation that will answer their question. Students collect data by observation of an area of their ecosystem.

• INV-E3. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind, students observe the effects of blowing on the pages of a book gently, then forcefully, on the movement of the pages. Students use these observations to support an explanation of the relationship between the force of the wind and the change it can cause in the environment. 

• DATA-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Exploration 1: Shadows, students design an investigation on how shadows from sunlight change throughout the day. Students design their own data collection and graphical display strategy to reveal patterns they can share with other student groups.

• DATA-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Battle of the Beans, students investigate the ability to see and pick up white or black beans when the beans are scattered on three different backgrounds - white, black, or patterned. After conducting the investigation, students analyze and interpret their data using logical reasoning in order to explain how the color paper backgrounds affected which beans were picked up in each trial. Students extend their understanding by using their results to explain the phenomena of how body color in animals affects their survival in their environment.

• DATA-E4. In Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 2: Designing a Listening Device, students collect observational evidence on how well their first design of an unpowered outdoor listening device meets the design criteria and constraints. Students use the evidence to design an improved device that will better solve the problem.

• MATH-E3. In Grade 5, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Earth’s Water Sources, students graph the volume of water used to produce one serving of a type of food to represent the water footprint of that food.

• CEDS-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Looking For A New Home, students use patterns in data collected on climate relative to the distance of a location from the equator to select a new home for a group of penguins. Students use the data as evidence to explain the location they select for the penguins’ new home. 

• CEDS-E3. In Grade 4, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Fast Changes, students explore the characteristics and causes of fast changes to Earth’s surface through research and case studies of recent events. Students construct an explanation by summarizing what they have learned and describe the evidence they found to support their explanation.

• CEDS-E5. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 3, Exploration 2: Running On Sunshine, students design a portable solar heater that meets the criteria of heating sand to the maximum possible temperature in 20 minutes. Student groups research materials they can use to help capture solar energy, brainstorm design solutions, and select the design they think will best meet the design criteria and constraints. 

• ARG-E4. In Grade 5, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Changes In Matter, students use five different methods to clean a penny. Students use the data from their investigation to support a claim about which cleaning method worked the best.

• ARG-E6. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 3, Exploration 4: Moving On Upstream, students evaluate the unintended effects on the environment caused by the building of a dam. They develop criteria and constraints for potential solutions to the problem then evaluate three different potential solutions on success in meeting the criteria and constraints. Finally, students make a claim about which solution best solves the problem using evidence on how well each solution met the criteria and constraints.

• INFO-E4. In Grade 4, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 2: Courtship Displays, students conduct research, using the internet, on the structures and behaviors animals use to find a mate. Students use their research to create a multimedia presentation to use when explaining their research to their classmates.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3-5 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level crosscutting concepts and associated elements across the grade band.

Examples of CCC elements within the 3-5 grade band present in the materials:

• PAT-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 4: How Do Life Cycles Differ?, students explore and compare and contrast the life cycles of flowering to non-flowering plants as well as cicada to ladybug life cycles.

• PAT-E2. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 4: Natural Hazard Solutions, students explore how scientists have identified patterns that predict the risk of a natural hazard, such as volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide, wildfire, tsunami, flood, hurricane, or drought.

• PAT-E2. In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Objects in the Sky, students use the pattern of the daily time of sunset and sunrise to predict if there will be more or less daylight in the next few days to come.

• PAT-E3. In Grade 4, Unit 5, Lesson 1, Exploration 1: Tracking Quakes, students research the location of 20 recent earthquakes around the world and use the pattern of distribution to explain where earthquakes are most likely to occur.

• CE-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Fast Changes, students read and answer questions about how events such as floods, volcanoes, and earthquakes can cause changes to the landscape.

• EM-E2. In Grade 5, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Exploration 4: Conservation of Matter, students read and answer questions about conservation of matter in terms of physical (including peeling an orange and freezing water) and chemical changes (mixing baking soda and vinegar).

• EM-E3. In Grade 4, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Exploration 4: Heat, students read and answer questions about the transfer of energy as heat between objects in contact and at distance.

• SPQ-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 4, Exploration 3: Evidence of Change, students explore the differences between fossils of shells and footprints from the distant past compared to shells and footprints in sand from the present.

• SPQ-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: How Does Distance Affect the Apparent Size of Objects, students explore the phenomena of the very long distances stars are from Earth while appearing to all be the same distance.

• SPQ-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 4, Exploration 3: Evidence of Change, students compare and contrast wooly mammoths to modern elephants by comparing weight in kilograms and height in meters.

• SYS-E2. In Grade 4, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 4: Inside Out, students explore the components of the digestive system of several animals and how they work together to get the nutrients from food into the animal's body.

• SYS-E2. In Grade 5, Unit 3, Lesson 3, Exploration 1: Modeling Matter Moving Within an Ecosystem, students describe the interactions among the component organisms in an ecosystem through creating a model.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations that they incorporate connections to the nature of science (NOS) and engineering. The NOS and engineering elements are represented and attended to in multiple instances throughout the grade band. They are typically present in the teacher guidance, where the materials provide a prompt to the teacher to ask a question about or explain to students the connection to NOS or engineering.

Examples of grade-band connections to NOS elements associated with SEPs present in the materials:

• BEE-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Patterns in Speed and Direction, students read, watch videos, and answer questions on patterns of motion. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Explain to students that empirical evidence is evidence that results from testing and observation.”

• BEE-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 2, Exploration 3: Adapted Organisms, students read, watch videos, and answer questions on organism adaptations. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Emphasize that scientific knowledge is based on evidence and reasoning.”

• ENP-E2. In Grade 4, Unit 4, Lesson 1, Exploration 3: Earth’s Surface, students read and answer questions about the ways that the earth’s surface can be changed. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Have students work in small groups to discuss how science addresses questions about the natural world. Have them describe evidence they have observed of animal life, such as paw prints or holes in trees or buildings that have changed Earth’s surface. Then have them outline a scientific process for identifying what type of organism is responsible.”

• VOM-E2. In Grade 5, Unit 6, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: How Does Distance Affect the Apparent Size of Objects?, students read and answer questions about the distance of various stars and their apparent size. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Explain that scientists often have to make very precise measurements and they have different tools for doing so.”

Examples of grade-band connections to NOS elements associated with CCCs present in the materials:

• WOK-E1. In Grade 4, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: Nerves and Receptors, students read and answer questions about human senses and the nervous system. The teacher notes guide the teacher to explain to students that “there are other senses, such as the senses of motion, equilibrium, and position in space,” and that “We know about these thanks to scientific inquiry and study.”

• AOC-E1. In Grade 5, Unit 2, Lesson 3, Exploration 3: When Matter Changes, students read and answer questions about physical and chemical changes. The teacher notes guide the teacher to ask students “Do you think the freezing point of orange juice will be closer to 0 °C or 100 °C?” and then “Point out to students that they can answer the question because they think like scientists. They assume the properties of a system of matter and energy—orange juice and a freezer—will be orderly and consistent, or the same, everywhere.”

Examples of grade-band connections to ENG elements associated with CCCs present in the materials:

• INTER-E1. In Grade 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 3: Exploring Engineering Problems, students read and answer questions about the design process. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Encourage students to brainstorm the possible history of a high-tech or low-tech technology,” and “Discuss each technology to identify how it uses scientific principles to solve problems.”

• INTER-E2. In Grade 4, Unit 3, Lesson 4, Exploration 3: History of Information Transfer, students read and answer questions about the history of sending messages via technology. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Point out that inventors such as Morse need prior scientific knowledge and engineering know-how when inventing new technologies.”

• INFLU-E2. In Grade 3, Unit 5, Lesson 2, Exploration 4: Reducing Risk, students read, watch videos, and answer questions about the ways that people reduce the risk of severe weather. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Remind students that everything they see made to overcome natural hazards was designed by an engineer,” and “Ask: What caused engineers to design snowplows?”

• INFLU-E3. In Grade 4, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Exploration 3: What is Engineering?, students read and answer questions about engineering and technology. The teacher notes guide the teacher to “Emphasize the concept of how engineering and technology are based on the needs and wants of people in society. Explain how engineering and technology also shape the way society works.”