TREMENDOUS TREES ALIGNMENT WITH
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
The activities in this unit help children understand the basic concepts in the Disciplinary Core Ideas listed here. You can use the following list as a guide for lesson planning. These Disciplinary Core Ideas are taken from Grade Band Endpoints in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Additionally, our activities give children opportunities to engage in many of the Science and Engineering Practices and reflect on the Crosscutting Concepts as identified in the Next Generation Science Standards.
Grades K-2 Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1A: All organisms have external parts. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive, grow, and produce more plants. p.144
LS1B: Plants and animals have predictable characteristics at different stages of development. Plants and animals grow and change. p.146
LS1C: All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or other animals. Plants need water & light to live & grow. p.147
Grades 3-5 Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1A: Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior and reproduction. p.144
LS1B: Reproduction is essential to the continued existence of every kind of organism. Plants and animals have unique and diverse life cycles that include being born (sprouting in plants), growing, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. p.146
LS1C: Animals and plants alike generally need to take in air and water, animals must take in food, and plants need light and minerals; anaerobic life, such as bacteria in the gut, functions without air. Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water and process matter they have formed to maintain their internal conditions (e.g., at night). p.148
Grades 6-8 Disciplinary Core Ideas
LS1B: Plant growth can continue throughout the plant’s life through production of plant matter in photosynthesis. p.146
LS1C: Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. p.148
TREMENDOUS TREES ALIGNMENT WITH
COMMON CORE STANDARDS
In addition to science content, activities in this unit also can help students to practice the following mathematics and language arts concepts. The Common Core Standards listed here are in addition to the ones that our activities typically address, as listed in the Four Winds document, The Nature Program: Alignment with Learning Standards.
Grades K-2 Common Core Standards
Mathematics Standard K.CC: Count to 100 by ones and tens. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting
to cardinality. Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many as 20 things.
Mathematics Standard K.MD: Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has “more of”/”less of” the attribute, and describe the difference.
Mathematics Standard 2.MD: Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes. Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.
Grades 3-5 Common Core Standards
Reading for Informational Text Standard 7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams,
time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages).
Mathematics Standard 5.NBT: Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.
Mathematics Standard 5.NBT: Add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals to hundredths.
Mathematics Standard 6.NS: Fluently divide multi-digit numbers using the standard algorithm.
Nearby Nature 