(3-4) M4

Science Curriculum Preview Committee Clarification of Learning Results

Revised 07/01/04

3-4

M4: Explain practices for conservation in daily life, based on recognition that renewable and nonrenewable resources have limits.

Curriculum Organizing Questions

Why should we turn the lights off when there is no one in a room?

Why should we turn off the water while we are brushing our teeth?

Elaboration
Central ideas related to health, populations, resources, and environments provide the foundations for students' eventual understandings and actions as citizens.

Specific Ideas

Discarded products contribute to the problem of waste disposal. Sometimes it is possible to use the materials in them to make new products, but materials differ widely in the ease with which they can be recycled.Benchmarks 8B3.

People try to conserve energy in order to slow down the depletion of energy resources and / or to save money.Benchmarks 8C4.

Resources are things that we get from the living and nonliving environment to meet the needs and wants of a population.NSES F3a.

Some resources are basic materials, such as air, water, and soil; some are produced from basic resources, such as food, fuel, and building materials; and some resources are nonmaterial, such as quiet places, beauty, security, and safety. NSES F3b.

The supply of many resources is limited. If used, resources can be extended through recycling and decreased use.NSES F3c.

Developmental & Instructional Implications
Children at this age do not consider harm to plants as part of environmental problems; however, recent media attention might have increased students' awareness of trees in the environment. In most cases students recognize scarcity as a resource issue, pollution as an environmental issue, and crowded classrooms or schools as population problems. However, most young students conceive of these problems as isolated issues that can be solved by dealing with them individually. However, understanding the interrelationships is not the priority in elementary school.NSES p.139.

Examples

Back to Big Ideas Grid M Back to Standard M Back to Index

Curriculum Organizing Questions	Why should we turn the lights off when there is no one in a room? Why should we turn off the water while we are brushing our teeth?
Elaboration	Central ideas related to health, populations, resources, and environments provide the foundations for students' eventual understandings and actions as citizens.
Specific Ideas	Discarded products contribute to the problem of waste disposal. Sometimes it is possible to use the materials in them to make new products, but materials differ widely in the ease with which they can be recycled.Benchmarks 8B3. People try to conserve energy in order to slow down the depletion of energy resources and / or to save money.Benchmarks 8C4. Resources are things that we get from the living and nonliving environment to meet the needs and wants of a population.NSES F3a. Some resources are basic materials, such as air, water, and soil; some are produced from basic resources, such as food, fuel, and building materials; and some resources are nonmaterial, such as quiet places, beauty, security, and safety. NSES F3b. The supply of many resources is limited. If used, resources can be extended through recycling and decreased use.NSES F3c.
Developmental & Instructional Implications	Children at this age do not consider harm to plants as part of environmental problems; however, recent media attention might have increased students' awareness of trees in the environment. In most cases students recognize scarcity as a resource issue, pollution as an environmental issue, and crowded classrooms or schools as population problems. However, most young students conceive of these problems as isolated issues that can be solved by dealing with them individually. However, understanding the interrelationships is not the priority in elementary school.NSES p.139.
Examples