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Life Science Kit Resources Vancouver School District
In this unit, students investigate the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as a model, they create hills, build dams, and grow vegetation. Miniature valleys, waterfalls, and canyons form in the stream table as water flows over and through the soil. From these firsthand observations, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how features in the land, in turn, affect the flow of water. Students begin to appreciate the vastness of stream systems by creating aerial diagrams of their stream table results. The stream table also serves as a basis for investigations of the water cycle. Through observing the model, manipulating certain parts of it, and testing interactions under various conditions, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how land formations, in turn, affect the flow of water. They apply the concepts they have learned to photographs of land and water on earth. By observing various properties of soils, you'll help students
begin to understand the diversity of land and water models in
the environment around them. With the activities in Land and
Water, you'll encourage your students to observe and detail This is a very exciting unit for young students because they have a chance to observe, touch, test, analyze, build models and see science in action as they · Interpreting test results and to draw conclusions
about land formation. This is a rich unit for students. They learn to use models to study the interactions of land and water and to test these interactions under various conditions. They are challenged to make comparisons on the basis of their own results and those of their classmates. They relate their models to the real world as they apply learned concepts to photographs of land and water on earth. Through these applications, students will be encouraged to observe land and water each day and to search for evidence of land and water interactions in the world around them. Essential Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 In doing each of the essential lessons, all content and performance standards will be met for the Washington State EALR's and Benchmarks. The lessons can be done in clusters or combined grouping. To ease Kit usage the following lessons should be done in the above sequence. The instructional approach to enhance student inquiry and discovery is to combine the lessons in clusters (1-3) , (5-7,) , 10 , (12-14) and then culminate the unit with final project assessment. The grayed lessons should be done if time is available. This will assure that you will be able to accommodate all EALR and WASL requirements. If time is not available the grayed lessons could be eliminated, but this means that you will need to assure that the remaining lessons are done in breadth and depth.
The final two lessons serve as an embedded assessment that challenges students to design their own landscapes, predict how their land will be affected by runoff, propose optimal homesites in their landscapes, test their predictions, and evaluate their homesites. These final lessons provide information you can use to assess student growth in the concepts and skills of the unit.
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Most children have had some experience
with land and water. For example, a child plays on a sandy beach
or runs along the banks of a stream. Another marvels at the variety
of clouds or creates mud pies after a gentle rain. Whenever children
play outdoors and explore the environment, they have informal
experiences with some of the concepts included in Land and Water.