Our vision in APS is to have ALL students engage in science and engineering units at each grade level that allow students to think deeply about science ideas through natural, engaging phenomenon and then apply that knowledge to solve authentic design challenges. 


Elementary Grade Level Outcomes and Unit Resources

The standards in kindergarten help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

By the end of kindergarten students are expected to develop understanding of patterns and variations in local weather and the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather. Students will be able to apply an understanding of the effects of different strengths or directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object to analyze a design solution. Students are also expected to develop understanding of what plants and animals need to survive and the relationship between their needs and where they live. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; systems and system models are organizing concepts for kindergarten.

The standards in FIRST grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

By the end of first grade students develop understanding of the relationship between sound and vibrating materials as well as between the availability of light and ability to see objects. Students are also expected to develop understanding of how plants and animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs as well as how behaviors of parents and offspring help the offspring survive. The understanding is developed that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly the same as, their parents. Students are able to observe, describe, and predict some patterns of the movement of objects in the sky. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; and structure and function are organizing concepts for first grade.

The standards in second grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

By the end of second grade students will develop an understanding of what plants need to grow and how plants depend on animals for seed dispersal and pollination. Students are also compare the diversity of life in different habitats. An understanding of observable properties of materials is developed by students at this level through analysis and classification of different materials. Students are able to apply their understanding of the idea that wind and water can change the shape of the land and create design solutions to slow or prevent such change. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; energy and matter; structure and function;  and stability and change are organizing concepts for second grade.

The standards in third grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion; systems and system models are organizing concepts for third grade.

The standards  in fourth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

by the end of fourth grade students will be able to use a model of waves to describe patterns of waves in terms of amplitude and wavelength, and that waves can cause objects to move. Students are expected to develop understanding of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. They apply their knowledge of natural Earth processes to generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of such processes on humans. Fourth graders are expected to develop an understanding that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. By developing a model, they describe that an object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eye. Students are expected to develop an understanding that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents or from object to object through collisions. They apply their understanding of energy to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; energy and matter; systems and system models are the organizing concepts for fourth grade.

The standards in fifth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: 

By the end of fifth grade students will be able to 

The crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; energy and matter; and systems and systems models are organizing concepts for fifth grade.