K-2

H2: Explain why living things need energy.

Curriculum Organizing Questions	What happens to plants that don't have sunlight? What happens to animals that don't have enough food? Can organisms survive without energy?
Elaboration	Students at this grade level are not yet ready for the use of energy as a scientific concept. (See Standard H, PreK-2 #1.) Students may associate the idea of energy only with humans or movement, in particular with growing, fitness, exercise, and food.Driver pgs. 133-134. Students of all ages tend to use the term "food" in ways that are consistent with the everyday meaning of the term, not the biological meaning. They see food as substances (water, air, minerals, etc.) that organisms take directly in from their environment. In addition, some students think that food is a requirement for growth, rather than a source of matter for growth.Driver p. 27.
Specific Ideas	Plants need sunlight to provide energy to live and grow.Benchmarks 5E1. Animals all need energy from food to stay alive and grow.Benchmarks 5E1.
Developmental & Instructional Implications	The idea of energy, as a scientific term, is beyond students at this grade level. Investing time and effort in developing energy concepts can wait... Until students have reached a certain point in their understanding of bits and pieces of the world, they gain little by using the idea of "energy." Benchmarks p. 83 (3-5). The key step that plants make their own food is very difficult for elementary students and should be saved for middle school. Benchmarks p. 119.
Examples

Back to Big Ideas Grid H

Back to Standard H

Back to Index