1. Atmosphere, Climate, and Weather

Classroom Toolkit

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:1.1 Describe and make predictions about local and regional weather conditions using observation and data collection methods.

S:ESS1:6:1.2 Identify weather patterns by tracking weather related events, such as hurricanes.

S:ESS1:6:1.3 Explain the composition and structure of the Earth’s atmosphere.

S:ESS1:6:1.4 Describe weather in terms of temperature, wind speed and direction, precipitation, and cloud cover.

S:ESS1:6:1.5 Describe how clouds affect weather and climate, including precipitation, reflecting light from the sun, and retaining heat energy emitted from the Earth’s surface.

S:ESS1:8:1.1 Identify and describe the processes of the water cycle and explain their effects on climatic patterns.

S:ESS1:8:1.2 Identify and describe the impact certain factors have on the Earth’s climate, including changes in the oceans’ temperature, changes in the composition of the atmosphere, and geological shifts due to events such as volcanic eruptions and glacial movements.

2. Composition and Features

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:2.1 Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources.

S:ESS1:6:2.2 Describe and define the different landforms on the Earth’s surface, such as coastlines, rivers, mountains, deltas, canyons, etc.

S:ESS1:6:2.3 Identify and distinguish between various landforms using a map and/or digital images.

S:ESS1:8:2.1 Describe the layers of the Earth, including the core, mantle, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

3. Fossils

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:3.2 Identify connections between fossil evidence and geological events, such as changes in atmospheric composition, movement of tectonic plates, and asteroid/comet impact; and develop a means of sequencing this evidence.

S:ESS1:8:3.1 Explain how fossils found in sedimentary rock can be used to support the theories of Earth’s evolution over geologic time; and describe how the folding, breaking, and uplifting of the layers affects the evidence.

4. Observation of Earth from Space

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:4.2 Explain that satellites can be used to view and track storms and Earth events, such as hurricanes and wild fires.

5. Processes and Rates of Change

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:5.2 Explain how some changes to the Earth’s surface happen abruptly, as a result of landslides, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; while other changes happen very slowly as a result of weathering, erosions and deposition of sediment caused by waves, wind, water and ice.

S:ESS1:6:5.3 Recognize that vibrations in materials set up wavelike disturbances that spread away from the source, as with earthquakes.

S:ESS1:8:5.1 Explain that the Earth’s crust is divided into plates which move at extremely slow rates in response to movements in the mantle.

6. Rock Cycle

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:6.1 Explain how soil is formed from combinations of weathered rock and decomposed plant and animal remains, and that it contains living organisms.

S:ESS1:6:6.2 Identify the components of soil and other factors, such as bacteria, fungi and worms, which influence its texture, fertility, and resistance to erosion.

S:ESS1:6.6.3 Describe the properties of soil, such as color, texture, capacity to retain water, and its ability to support plant life.

S:ESS1:8:6.1 Describe the processes of the rock cycle.

S:ESS1:8:6.2 Explain that sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks contain evidence of the minerals, temperatures, and forces that created them.

S:ESS1:8:6.3 Explain how sediments of sand and smaller particles, which may contain the remains of organisms, are gradually buried and cemented together by dissolved minerals to form solid rock.

7. Water

5-6

7-8

S:ESS1:6:7.2 Explain that water quality has a direct effect on Earth’s life forms.

S:ESS1:8:7.1 Describe how water flows into and through a watershed, falling on the land, collecting in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, until much of it flows back into the ocean.

S:ESS1:8:7.2 Identify the physical and chemical properties that make water an essential component of the Earth’s system.