Identify arguments that are supported by evidence.

Distingush between explanations that account for all gathered evidence and those that do not.

Analyze why some evidence is relevant to a scientific question and some is not.

Listen actively to arguments to indicate agreement or disagreement based on evidence, and/or to retell the main points of the argument.

Construct an argument with evidence to support a claim.

Make a claim about the effectiveness of an object, tool, or solution that is supported by relevant evidence.

Read grade-appropriate texts and/or use media to obtain scientific and/or technical information to determine patterns in and/or evidence about the natural and designed world(s).

Describe how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) support a scientific or engineering idea.

Obtain information using various texts, text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) and other media that will be useful in answering a scientific question and/or supporting a scientific claim.

Communicate information or design ideas and/or solutions with others in oral and/or written forms using models, drawings, writing, or numbers that provide detail about scientific ideas, practices, and/or design ideas.

Make observations (firsthand or from media) to construct an evidence-based account for natural phenomena.

Generate and/or compare multiple solutions to a problem.

Students learn that events have causes that generate observable patterns. They design simple tests to gather evidence to support or refute their own ideas about causes.

Students understand objects and organisms can be described in terms of their parts; and systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together.

Plants and animals can change their environment. Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do.

Things people do can affect the environment but they can make choices to reduce their impacts.

Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings, or physical models. These representations are useful in communicating ideas for a problem’s solutions to other people. To design something complicated, one may need to break the problem into parts and attend to each part separately but must then bring the parts together to test the overall plan.