Sparta Township School District
Unit Overview
Content Area: Science
Unit Title: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
Unit: 1
Grade Level: Second Grade
Timeline: 1st Marking Period
Unit Summary: In this unit, the students identify the basic needs for plants and animals to survive within a
specific habit. They will observe how animals interact and are interdependent within the habitat. Students will
also study the effects of change on the ability/inability of certain organisms to survive in different ecosystems.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: English Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology, Character Ed.
21st Century themes and skills: Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving,
Communication and Collaboration
Unit Rationale: This unit builds upon prior knowledge of life cycles of plants and animals. Students will
explore ecosystems in greater depth to determine the health and future of all living things. This will provide
more opportunities to use critical thinking. Students will also have the opportunity to evaluate the effects of
human behavior on the general health of each ecosystem explored during the unit study.
Learning Targets
Standards:
Sparta Township School District
Unit Essential Questions
 What do living things need to survive?
 How do the adaptations of living things help
them to survive?
Unit Enduring Understandings
 There are certain components of living and nonliving
things.
 Ecosystems are made up of climate, plants, soil, and
animals.
 Within each ecosystem there is a relationship between
living things and nonliving things.
 Energy can change from one form to another, starting with
the Sun.
 Organisms have basic needs (animals need air, and food;
plants need air, water, nutrients and light.) though the
amount of these needs may vary.
 When the environment changes, plants and animals adapt,
move or die.
 Each plant and animal adapts in their own way to their
environment.
Sparta Township School District
 All animals depend on plants to survive (some animals eat
plants; others eat animals that eat plants.)
 All ecosystems are affected by human interaction requiring
conservation.
 Some organisms can survive in multiple ecosystems due to
their adapting abilities.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
 Identify the characteristics of each animal group.
 Investigate to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
 Research, comprehend and teach relevant ecosystem vocabulary.
 Locate where various ecosystems are on a map.
 Identify ecosystems indigenous to New Jersey.
 Associate organisms’ basic needs with how they meet those needs within their surroundings.
 Identify basic needs of plants and animals and recognize the interdependence of these organisms.
 Explain a food chain in one or more ecosystems.
 Examine the adaptations that plants and animals have to live in their environment.
 Name plants and animals in various ecosystems.
 Recognize that different types of plants and animals live in different parts of the world due to the adaptations
the species has made to adapt to the ecosystem.
 Compare and contrast different ecosystems based on climate, plants, soil & animals.
 Synthesize characteristics of an animal into a specific ecosystem.
 Recognize the contribution of various ecosystems to the health of our planet.
 Determine positive ways humans can affect different ecosystems.
Teacher Instructional Resources
Is a Camel a Mammal by Tish Rabe
Salamander Roo, by Anne Mazer
Yum Yum (food chain)
Who Eats What? (food chain/web) by Holly Keller
I See a Kookabura, by Steve Jenkins
Magic School Bus: Hops Home, by Pat Relf
Gets Eaten, by Pat Relf
Dependent on assigned habitat:
Desert
Cactus Hotel, by Brenda Guiberson
Alejandros Gift, by Richard E. Albert
Desert Food Chain, by Bobbie Kalman, Kelley MacAulay
Desert Giant, by Barbara Bash
Desserts, by Gail Gibbons
Sparta Township School District
Life in the Desert, by Melvin Berger
Alone in the Desert, by David Drew
Welcome to the Sea of Sand, by Jane Yolen
Magic School Bus: All Dried Up, by Joanna Cole
Polar
Life in the Polar Region, by Melvin Berger
Welcome to the Ice House, by Jane Yolen
Penguins, Eyes on Nature, by Jane P. Resnick
Playing with Penguins, by Ann McGovern
Where Do Polar Bears Live, by Sarah L. Thomson
Artic Babies, by Kathy Darling
Polar Lands, by Joy Palmer
Hidden in the Snow, by Barbara Taylor
Life in the Polar Lands, by Monica Byles
Ocean
Sea Life, Giant Picture Gallery
The Mighty Ocean, by Melvin Berger
How Do Fish Live, by Heather Jenkins
The Survival of the Fish, by Fred & Jeanne Biddulph
Is It a Fish? By Brian & Jillian Cutting
Life in a Coral Reef, by Melvin Berger
Magic School Bus: Takes a Dive, by Joanna Cole
Forest
One Small Place in a Tree, by Barbara Brenner
Seasons of Arnolds Apple Tree, by Gail Gibbons
A Tree Can Be, by Judy Nayer
From Acorn to Oak, by Charles W. Kush
Gotta Go, Gotta Go, by Sam Swope
Clara Caterpillar, by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Monarch, by Gail Gibbons
Life in a Temperate Forest, Newbridge
United Streaming: Forest Habitats
Integration of Technology:
SMARTBoard, Computer
Technology Resources:
Click the links below to access additional resources used to design this unit:
http://www.earthrangers.com
Sparta Township School District
http://www.abpischools.org.uk/activescience/module2/home.html
http://www.switchzoo.com/games/habitatgame.htm
Materials / Equipment Needed:
Opportunities for Differentiation:
-Graphic organizers
-Any additional research students choose to complete on their own
-Utilize pairing and grouping activities
-Deliver instruction in a variety of modalities (VAKT)
Teacher Notes:
Unit Overview
Content Area: Science
Unit Title: Processes that Shape the Earth
Unit: 2
Grade Level: Second Grade
Timeline: 2rd Marking Period
Unit Summary: This unit provides students with knowledge of the Earth’s surface and the many changes it
undergoes. The results of these movements are landforms such as volcanoes, faults, and mountains. A variety
of hands-on activities with substances such as wind, sand, and water demonstrate the processes of erosion and
weathering. By the end of the unit the students can correctly identify which forces are constructive and which
are destructive.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: English Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology, Character Ed.
21st Century themes and skills: Global Awareness, Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem
Solving, Communication and Collaboration
Unit Rationale: Understanding that different forces shape the landforms on Earth’s surface will assist
students with recognizing why and how people try to control the forces that shape the Earth’s surface.
Learning Targets
Standards:
Sparta Township School District
Sparta Township School District
Unit Essential Questions
 What forces act on the Earth and cause its
crust to move?
 How do erosion and weathering change the
Earth’s surface?
 How do we build and refine models that
describe and explain the natural and designed
world?
 What constitutes useful scientific evidence?
 In what ways can people control the effects
of forces that shape Earth’s surface?
Unit Enduring Understandings
 The Earth’s crust is the outermost layer of the planet and is
composed of many plates. These plates lay on top of the
Earth’s mantle which is solid, but can still flow like a hard
liquid. Movement in the mantle causes the plates to move.
The plates can go through compression, tension, and shear
movements. These movements can cause volcanoes and
earthquakes.
 Earth’s surface changes in different ways through
weathering and erosion. Weathering breaks down materials
of the Earth’s crust into smaller pieces. It can “eat away”
at rock and create landforms such as caverns. Erosion is
the process of picking up and carrying away of pieces of
rock. Erosion can create landforms such as deltas and can
destroy parts of the land such as a large boulder.
 Different forces shape the landforms that make up Earth’s
surface.
 People try to control, or understand the effect of forces that
shape Earth’s surface, by building levees, dams and flood
control channels to try to control the damage.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
 Compare the three forces that act on Earth’s crust and relate these forces to the creation of different
landforms on the Earth.
 Define constructive force and recognize that crustal deformation and volcanic eruptions are constructive
forces.
 Recognize that moving water, wind, and ice continually shape the Earth’s surface by weathering or eroding
rock and soil in some areas and depositing it in other areas.
 Illustrate the effects of erosion and weathering on elements of the Earth’s crust.
Teacher Instructional Resources
Earthquakes and Volcanoes, by Nash Kramer
Wind, by Nash Kramer
Water, by Nash Kramer
Brainpop Jr- Landforms
Looking at Earth How Does it Change? by Jackie Gaff
The Superstorm, Hurricane Sandy, by Josh Gregory
Map Essentials Student Book (Landforms)
Magic School Bus: Blows Its Top
United Streaming: A First Look, Earth
Integration of Technology:
SMARTBoard, computer
Sparta Township School District
Technology Resources:
Click the links below to access additional resources used to design this unit:
http://www.discoveryeducation.com
Interactive Dynamic Earth
http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/
http://geography.mrdonn.org
www. Kineticcity.com/mindgames/warper/
www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_img_erosion
You Tube: Study Jams Weathering and Erosion
http://www.theeducationcenter.com/TextFiles/Email/te_newsletter_int_011912.html (Erosion: The Great
Race)
www.pebblego.com Earth and Space/Earth Science
Materials / Equipment Needed:
Opportunities for Differentiation:
-Graphic organizers
-Any additional research students choose to complete on their own
-Utilize pairing and grouping activities
-Deliver instruction in a variety of modalities (VAKT)
Teacher Notes:
Sparta Township School District
Unit Overview
Content Area: Science
Unit Title: Structure and Properties of Matter
Unit: 3
Grade Level: Second Grade
Timeline: 2nd Marking Period
Unit Summary: In this unit students will explore the structure and properties of matter. They will discover
words to describe the properties of matter. They will also discover that temperature is the catalyst that changes
one state of matter to the next. To observe the changing states of matter, students will conduct experiments
with water.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: English Language Arts, Math, Technology, Character Education
21st Century themes and skills: Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving,
Communication and Collaboration
Unit Rationale: All objects and substances in the natural world are composed of matter. Matter exists in
different states: the most commonly encountered are solids, liquids, and gases. Liquids take the shape of the
container they occupy. Solids retain their shape regardless of the container they occupy.
Learning Targets
Sparta Township School District
Standards:
Unit Essential Questions
 What is matter?
 What are the properties of a solid, liquid and
gas?
 How can states of matter be changed?
 How do the properties of an object affect its
use?
Unit Enduring Understandings
 The structures of materials determine their properties.
 Everything is matter – solids, liquids, and gases.
 Water can exist in any of three states.
 The state of matter is primarily determined by its
temperature.
 Changing the temperature of matter, may change its state.
Sparta Township School District
 Some properties of matter can change as a result of
processes such as heating and cooling. Not all materials
respond the same way to these processes.
 Scientists use inquiry skills and science tools to find out
information.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
•
Identify and categorize objects into proper states of matter.
•
Describe objects according to their physical properties.
•
Draw or write the three states of matter with water.
•
Engage in activities that use terms like evaporation and condensation.
•
Predict outcome of solid when heated.
•
Explore how changes in our environment could create a change in matter that would affect our
world (melting of iceberg, water not being absorbed in the ground.)
•
Hypothesize and conduct an experiment to see how various substances react when heated or cooled.
Collect data to support findings. (Water freezes but rubbing alcohol will not, ice cream will melt
when heated but water will evaporate.)
Teacher Instructional Resources
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The World of Matter, Newbridge, Ron Cole
States of Matter, Delta Science Readers
Water Can Change by Briana Birchall
Big Book: What is Matter, Newbridge
Big Book: Matter is Everything by Becky Gold
Solids and Liquids, Delta Education
Water Cycle, Delta Sciece Readers
The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola
Water, Delta Education
Integration of Technology:
SMARTBoard, computers
Technology Resources:
Click the links below to access additional resources used to design this unit:
http://www.fossweb.com/modulesK-2/SolidsandLiquids/index.html (states of matter)
http://www.quia.com:80/hm/40795.html (states of matter)
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/states_of_matter/ (states of matter)
http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/ (states of matter)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/materials/ (matter)
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_intro.html (matter)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/solid_liquids.shtml
http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/matter/solidsliquidsandgases/preview.weml
Sparta Township School District
Materials / Equipment Needed:
Opportunities for Differentiation:
-Graphic organizers
-Any additional research students choose to complete on their own
-Utilize pairing and grouping activities
-Deliver instruction in a variety of modalities (VAKT)
Teacher Notes: