Insights: An Inquiry-Based Elementary School Science Curriculum
Second Grade/Third Grade
Rocks, Minerals, and Soils
In
this module, students collect, categorize, and describe various
materials they find in and on the ground. They extend
their own personal classification systems by using geologists’ tests
to describe rocks, minerals, and soils in new ways. Finally,
students use what they know about the properties of these
materials to think about how each can be used for building
or in landscaping.
Lifting Heavy Things
As this module begins, students are asked to think about what it means to make work easier. They then try out experiences and challenges using levers, planes and pulleys, and explore the advantages and disadvantages of each. At the end of the module, they are challenged to analyze a construction site that has no power and decide which simple machine is most appropriate for each task.
Habitats
Students examine their own basic needs and the needs of other living things around them. They explore the school building and neighborhood to determine how these areas meet their own needs. They then study some of the small creatures they find on the school grounds and the physical factors that affect these creatures' habitats. Finally, students "invite" an organism into the classroom for several days of close observation to determine what behaviors and adaptations of the organism allow it to meet its needs in its particular habitat.
Liquids
Students explore the unique characteristics of liquids, compare different liquids, and explore how solids and liquids interact with each other. They discover how three liquids-corn syrup, oil and water-behave in isolation and how these liquids behave when mixed. Students then investigate floating and sinking and some of the variables that affect how solid objects behave in liquids of different density.
Sound
This module helps students become more aware of the nature of sound and of the diversity and abundance of sounds around them. They begin by listening to sounds on tape. They then make their own sounds with their bodies, with drums, and with other instruments-exploring vibration, pitch and volume, and the transmission of sounds. Throughout the module, students are also asked to compare the qualitative characteristics of the sounds they hear.
Growing Things
This module starts with a tour of the school neighborhood, giving students a chance to observe the variety of plants growing around them. Then, as students grow their own plants, they observe the development of germinating seeds, measure and record growth and change, and design and conduct simple experiments to explore the factors that affect plant growth.
