Science · Unit 5 · Weeks 25–30
Forecasting, Adaptation & Traits
The big idea
Your child reads clouds, air pressure and weather-map symbols to make and check a forecast, then sees how plants and animals are suited to their climates and how people design clothing and homes for theirs. After the Quarter 3 review, the unit turns to traits: living things inherit many traits from their parents, some behaviors are learned, and individuals of the same kind vary in ways that can help some of them survive.
Standards in plain words
- 3-ESS2-1 Shows weather data in tables and graphs to describe the weather usually expected in a season.
- 3-ESS2-2 Gathers and combines information to describe climates in different regions of the world.
- 3-ESS3-1 Judges how well a design solution reduces the harm from a weather hazard.
- 3-LS4-3 Argues from evidence that in a given habitat some living things survive well, some survive less well and some cannot survive at all.
- 3-LS3-1 Uses data to show that plants and animals inherit traits from their parents and that traits vary within a group of similar living things.
- 3-LS3-2 Uses evidence to explain that the environment can affect traits.
- 3-LS4-2 Uses evidence to explain how differences among individuals of the same kind can help some survive, find mates and have young.
What mastery looks like
- Names cirrus, cumulus, stratus and cumulonimbus clouds and uses clouds, pressure and wind to make a forecast.
- Reads H, L and cold and warm front symbols on a weather map.
- Explains how a body part or behavior helps an animal or plant survive in its climate.
- Sorts examples, such as a spider spinning a web or a dog learning a trick, into inherited traits and learned behaviors.
- Measures variation among leaves or beans of one kind and explains how a difference can help some individuals survive.
Materials
- Cotton balls, dark paper and glue for cloud models
- Today's weather map from a newspaper or weather website
- Blank U.S. map with red and blue markers
- Two zip-top bags, shortening and ice water for a blubber glove
- Leaves or dry beans of one kind and a ruler
- Animal picture cards
- Science notebook
Anchor texts
- Reading About Our World passages: 'Reading the Sky' (Week 25), 'Built for Where They Live' (Week 27), 'Like Parent, Like Offspring' (Week 28) and 'Same Kind, Different Looks' (Week 30)
- Video hub topics: cloud types, how animals adapt to climate, traits passed from parents to offspring, and variation within a species
Watch across the unit
Watch for: Thinking every dark cloud is a storm cloud, or forecasting what they hope will happen.
Try: Compare a flat gray stratus layer with a tall cumulonimbus tower, and ask 'Which clue tells you that?' before accepting a forecast.
Watch for: Believing an animal grows or chooses a trait because it needs it ('giraffes stretched their necks').
Try: Say, 'A baby giraffe has a long neck the day it is born,' and ask where it came from to point back to the parents.
Watch for: Calling every action an animal does 'learned.'
Try: Ask, 'Did a baby spider have anyone to teach it?' Spiders spin webs without being taught, so some behaviors are inherited.
Pacing
Short week: Keep the forecast day in Week 25 and the sorting day in Week 29, and the Friday checks. The blubber glove and cloud models can be done as quick demonstrations instead of full activities.
Flex week: This unit has no flex week. Week 27, the Quarter 3 review, does the same job for weather tools, climate regions, severe weather, forecasting and adaptations: use its practice set to find gaps, and reteach the weakest one before traits begin in Week 28.
Week by week
| Week | Topic | Investigation |
|---|---|---|
| Week 25 | Clouds, air pressure & forecasts | Read a weather map and forecast |
| Week 26 | Adapting to climate | Plant and animal climate adaptations |
| Week 27 | Quarter 3 review | Performance task |
| Week 28 | Inherited traits | Compare traits in families and animals |
| Week 29 | Inherited vs. learned | Sort traits and behaviors |
| Week 30 | Variation in a species | Measure variation; Unit 5 test |