Mission Library

Living Proof
Environment Change to Meet Needs
Kindergarten

The Mission

Storyline

Students investigate how beavers, prairie dogs, and woodpeckers change their environments to meet their needs, then deliver the photographic evidence to prove it.

The UCE Mining Division has flagged unusual surface damage on a nearby planet and wants it stopped. Students are dispatched to investigate. At each location (a beaver dam, a prairie dog town, and a grove of woodpecker trees) they discover that the "damage" is just animals changing their environment to meet their needs. After each investigation, the crew captures a polaroid as evidence. With their proof in hand, they transport to the Mining Division and set the record straight: this isn't destruction. It's life.

3-Dimensional Science

Phenomenon

Animals are changing a planet's surface.

Science and Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

  • Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s).

  • Ask and/or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation.

Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

  • Make predictions based on prior experiences.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns and/or relationships in the natural and designed world(s) in order to answer scientific questions and solve problems.

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

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

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

  • Construct an argument with evidence to support a claim.

Crosscutting Concepts

Systems and System Models

  • 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.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS2.E: Biogeology

  • 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.

Targeted Standards
Timeline
Skills in Action