Science
Engineering and Technology
This quarter begins with a focus on the engineering and technology behind the microscope. Students will begin by investigating the design, use, and impact of the microscope on the study of concepts and topics in science.
In conjunction with social studies during earlier weeks, students will also explore how individuals and groups of people can influence or shape the development of technology. Students will experiment with troubleshooting as it applies to the use of a microscope in order to observe the microscopic details of a plant and animal cell. It is through the use of a microscope as well as other technology that students will identify the characteristics that make some cells different from others. This will lead to the understanding that some cells are specialized in their form and function.
Next, students will continue to build their understanding of the role of troubleshooting using technology to observe and describe unicellular organisms. Students will then be introduced to genetics. They will explore the differences between inherited traits and learned behaviors, and why offspring resemble their parents, but are not identical to them. This will provide students with opportunities to look at how technological development has improved scientific understanding of explanations for how inherited traits are passed from generation to generation. Later, students will explore how technology has impacted the inherited traits and characteristics of plants and animals to meet human wants and needs.
These are objectives that students will do to understand this unit.
1. Use a microscope to identify the detailed parts of an object
2. Describe and compare the detailed parts of objects using a microscope
3. Discuss and compare plants, animals, and the specialized cells of multicellular organisms
4. Observe, describe, and compare unicellular organisms using a microscope and prepared slides
5. Identify characteristics in animals and plants that are transferred from generation to generation
6. Explore the role of DNA on the inherited traits of an individual organism
Web sites:
Using the Microscope
Microscope Simulation
Cells Alive (animation)
Cell Games (animation)
What Are Cells? (video)
Engineering and Technology
This quarter begins with a focus on the engineering and technology behind the microscope. Students will begin by investigating the design, use, and impact of the microscope on the study of concepts and topics in science.
In conjunction with social studies during earlier weeks, students will also explore how individuals and groups of people can influence or shape the development of technology. Students will experiment with troubleshooting as it applies to the use of a microscope in order to observe the microscopic details of a plant and animal cell. It is through the use of a microscope as well as other technology that students will identify the characteristics that make some cells different from others. This will lead to the understanding that some cells are specialized in their form and function.
Next, students will continue to build their understanding of the role of troubleshooting using technology to observe and describe unicellular organisms. Students will then be introduced to genetics. They will explore the differences between inherited traits and learned behaviors, and why offspring resemble their parents, but are not identical to them. This will provide students with opportunities to look at how technological development has improved scientific understanding of explanations for how inherited traits are passed from generation to generation. Later, students will explore how technology has impacted the inherited traits and characteristics of plants and animals to meet human wants and needs.
These are objectives that students will do to understand this unit.
1. Use a microscope to identify the detailed parts of an object
2. Describe and compare the detailed parts of objects using a microscope
3. Discuss and compare plants, animals, and the specialized cells of multicellular organisms
4. Observe, describe, and compare unicellular organisms using a microscope and prepared slides
5. Identify characteristics in animals and plants that are transferred from generation to generation
6. Explore the role of DNA on the inherited traits of an individual organism
Web sites:
Using the Microscope
Microscope Simulation
Cells Alive (animation)
Cell Games (animation)
What Are Cells? (video)
