Life on the Farm Level: Kindergarten Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description: The farm topic selected for this unit relates to all three primary science content areas (life science, earth science, and physical science). It can therefore be viewed as an integrated science content unit.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Activity List What is Agriculture Soil Those Amazing Earthworms Farm Machinery From Grain to Bread: Getting Corny Apples Pumpkins Animals Animal, Plant, or Non-living Pizza Anyone? optional activity

Learning Objectives

Students will observe and know that:

• agriculture is the growing of crops (certain kinds of plants) and/or raising of livestock (certain kinds of animals)

• recognize that farms are places where people raise plants and animals, and that they often have special buildings for this purpose

• observe three types of soil (topsoil - clay, potting soil - silt, and sandy soil)

• name three layers of soil (bedrock, subsoil, topsoil)

• understand that different soil types are suitable for different plants.

• observe earthworms and learn how they are beneficial to our environment.

• identify and describe several characteristics of earthworms.

• identify various kinds of farm machinery.

• learn about how different types of equipment work.

• understand how machines help make work easier and faster.

• invent a machine to help with work.

• identify wheat as a grain that is processed into flour from which we make food items.

• identify the parts of the corn plant.

• identify four types of corn and the uses of each.

• recognize the substitution possibilities of renewable resource (plastic from corn) for non-renewable resource (plastic from oil).

• make plastic from raw materials and observe change

• describe an environmental reason for using corn as a source for the production of plastics

• identify stages of apple growth.

• compare/contrast four types of apples.

• estimate number of seeds in an apple.

• count and record actual number of seeds in an apple.

• identify apple products.

• identify stages of pumpkin growth.

• name attributes of pumpkin.

• identify pumpkin products.

• identify and name animals on the farm.

• name byproducts from the cow, pig, and chicken.

• observe process of changing one food form to another.

• define a living thing.

• define animals as living things that can move around, get food for fuel, and reproduce.

• define plants as living things that make their own food, reproduce, but cannot move around.

• identify the ingredients of pizza.

• classify where the pizza ingredients come from (crust: wheat->flour; cheese: cow->dairy product; sauce: tomato plant -> tomato sauce, etc.)

Students will practice:

• Describing observed events.

• Developing questions on scientific topics

• Collecting data for investigations.

• Recording data.

• Arranging data into logical patterns and describing patterns.

• Comparing observations of individual and group results.

*One or more of these objectives is addressed in each activity, so to avoid repetition, they are not listed in the activity objectives.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Early Elementary-  As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12A. Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt and change.

• Identify and describe the component parts of living things (e.g., birds have feathers; people have bones, blood, hair, skin) and their major functions.

• Categorize living organisms using a variety of observable features (e.g., size, color, shape, backbone).

12B. Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

• Describe and compare characteristics of living things in relationship to their environments.

12E. Know and apply concepts that describe the features and processes of the Earth and its resources.

• Identify components and describe diverse features of the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems.

13B. Know and apply concepts that describe the interaction between science, technology and society.

• Identify and describe ways that science and technology affect people's everyday lives (e.g., transportation, medicine, agriculture, sanitation, communication occupations).

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry

• Describe an observed event.

• Develop questions on scientific topics.

• Collect and record data for investigations.

• Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.

• Compare observations of individual and group results.

National Science Education Standards: Fundamental Concepts and Principles-  As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of fundamental concepts and principles:

• Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light.

• Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms.

• Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.

• Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms.

• All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.

• An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations.

• Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.

• Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Some animals and plants are alike in the way they look and in the things they do, and others are very different from one another.
• Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.
• Stories sometimes give plants and animals attributes they really do not have.
• Most living things need water, food, and air.
• Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants (or even other animals) for shelter and nesting.
• Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.
• Plants and animals both need to take in water, and animals need to take in food. In addition, plants need light.
• Many materials can be recycled and used again, sometimes in different forms.

Resources                

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800