Laura J. Namnoum
This unit is designed to build primary students' confidence and ability to ask questions while focusing on living organisms' life cycles. The unit is intended for students in grades kindergarten through second. Students will learn about organisms using an inquiry-based method to foster their natural sense of wonder. Students will learn that living things go through stages as part of a life cycle. First, students will focus only on plants' life cycles, including needs for survival. The teacher will model questioning by asking questions and prompting inquiry discussions. Students will ask questions and make hypotheses as well. They will conclude the unit by using their knowledge about plants' life cycles to study another organism's life cycle. This will allow students to compare and contrast life cycles and will generate questions and hypotheses about other organisms, based on what they already observed with plants. As a result of this unit, students will have the skills to ask questions in all areas of life and seek answers independently.
(Developed for Science, grade 1; recommended for Science, grades K-2)
