Science with Mrs.

Giardina
November 2018

Third Grade:
Students work to figure out the question Why does the train fall? Students
investigate what makes objects fall, and find out about gravity, a second non-
touching force. Students conduct investigations and make observations, and they
obtain and evaluate information from two books. The evidence helps them
discover that an object falls because Earth pulls the object toward it with the force
of gravity. Students reflect on what they have learned about touching forces,
magnetic force, and gravity by creating chain reactions that involve all three types
of forces, by diagramming examples of forces, and by writing to compare
magnetic force and gravity. At the end of the chapter, students apply what they
learned about gravity to explain and model why the train falls.

Fourth Grade:
Students focus on energy sources in order to answer the question Where does
the electrical energy for the devices in Ergstown come from? Through a
combination of working with the Energy Conversions Simulation, gathering
information from the unit’s reference book, and hands-on investigations,
students discover that the energy for an electrical system must come from a
source, and that source energy is converted to electrical energy by a converter
(such as a fuel-burning power plant, solar panel, or wind turbine). Toward the
end of the chapter, students have an opportunity to use the design cycle as
they design, build, and test their own wind converters.