10 sessions. This unit, with five main activities, takes off from childhood delight with ladybugs to present key science and math concepts. The children engage in a series of activities that help them learn more about ladybug body structure and symmetry, life cycle, defense behavior and foods. Math is an important part of this unit and role-playing is interwoven in the activities. Colorful posters of ladybugs are included. In the last session, "Ladybugs Rescue the Orange Trees," children learn about the environmental role of ladybugs.
Students put the world into motion in this module, balancing cardboard shapes and pencils, investigating motion with tops, zoomers and whirlers, and studying wheel-and-axle systems and rolling cups.
Students care for plants to learn what they need to grow and develop. They observe structures of flowering plants and discover ways that new plants can develop from mature plants.
In this module, students learn about rocks by sorting, washing, comparing and seriating them. They separate mixtures of rocks with screens and then investigate clay and soil. In the end, they do projects that demonstrate how people use earth materials in their daily lives.
Students use their hands and eyes to classify and sort by color, size, shape and texture. They work with balances and other equipment to compare and contrast objects by weight, buoyancy, magnetic attraction, and material composition.