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  • Kindergarten

    From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. K-LS1-1

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

Science and Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy

  • W.K.7 - Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them). (K-LS1-1)

Mathematics

  • K.MD.A.2 - 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. (K-LS1-1)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  • Habitat to Habitat

    In this lesson, students will build a plant and an animal habitat to learn that plants and animals have common needs. There is also a discussion of ecosystems. The link below leads to a main page where you can find the pdf for the activity, Habita ...

  • The Poetry of Plants

    This resource is divided into two sections, one for  grades K-2 and one for grades 3-5. The K-2 lesson uses a rhyming picture book, Do You Know Which Will Grow? as a springboard to discuss  the differences between living and nonliving thing ...

  • What's Your Habitat?

    Students explore basic survival needs of humans and wildlife and draw their own homes (habitats) and neighborhood. Background information is given for the teacher to preview before the lesson is taught.

  • Wild Kratts: Creaturepedia

    This online, interactive activity combines animation and informative text to teach about a variety of animals and how they meet their needs in their environments. This activity is based on the popular PBS animated show, Wild Kratts. Students can acce ...

  • Let's Plan an Experiment: What do Plants Need?

    Students learn the needs of plants by designing and conducting experiments that control the amount of water and light the plants receive. They measure plant growth over time using non-standard measurements and record their findings using comparative ...

  • Cats and Their Coats

    Students view pictures, listen to sounds, and gather information from the National Geographic website to learn how the coats of big cats; lions, tigers, and leopards, help them survive in their habitats. Students then illustrate a coat for themselves ...

  • The Needs of Living Things

    Students watch video clips of animals and plants in their natural environments to determine what living things need to survive. They will then complete an illustration of their own real or imagined plant or animal fulfilling one or more of their need ...

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Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.