Unit 1: Adding, Subtracting and Working with Data 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How is adding and subtracting like counting? 

What is the best way to represent data I collect in a survey so that it is clear? 

How does data help me to explain or describe real life situations? 

What does it mean to be a member of a mathematical community? 

In this unit, students in grade 1 deepen their understanding of addition and subtraction within 10 and extend what they know about organizing objects into categories and representing quantities.  Activities in this unit reinforce kindergarten understandings of addition and subtraction word problems and initiate the year-long work of developing fluency with sums and differences within 10.  Students also extend their understanding of engaging in data by using drawings, symbols, tally marks, and numbers to represent data, as well as ask and answer questions about the data.  

Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction Story Problems 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How can I use addition or subtraction to show how to solve a story problem where I can add to/take from a total or where I need to figure out the change? 

How can I use equations to show different ways to make a total amount? 

How can I show “how many more” and “how many fewer” using addition and subtraction equations? 

How can I write and solve story problems using drawings, pictures, words, or equations? 

Students expand on their understanding of story problem types that were established in Kindergarten and work to solve the majority of story problem types.  The focus in this unit is for students to interpret and understand the meaning of the story problem and build their fluency of addition and subtraction within 10.  A large focus of this unit is for students to represent story problems with multiple equations, deepening their understanding of addition and subtraction, and to explain the relationship between their equations and the story problem. 

Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting Within 20 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How can I use what I know about tens and ones to add and subtract two-digit numbers? 

How do I recognize what strategy to use for a specific problem? 

How can using number relationships help me solve addition and subtraction problems? 

In this unit, students develop an understanding of 10 ones as a unit called “a ten” and use the structure to add and subtract within 20.  Students decompose and recompose addends to find the sum of two or three numbers, for example to find the value of 6 plus 9, they may decompose 6 into 1 and 5, compose the 1 and 9 into 10, and find 5 plus 10.  Students work on subtraction by using their knowledge of addition to find the difference of two numbers and learn two new story problems through the unit. 

Unit 4: Numbers to 99 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

How can we find the total when we join two quantities? 

How can we find what is left when we take one quantity from another? 

How can we represent a number using tens and ones? 

What do less than, greater than, and equal to mean? 

What is estimating and when can you use it? 

Students develop an understanding of place value for numbers up to 99 as well as an understanding of the structure of numbers in our base ten system, allowing them to see that two digits of a two-digit number represent how many tens and ones there are.  As they develop their understanding of tens and ones, they will learn to transition from counting by one to counting by ten and then counting on for numbers greater than 10.  Students will use drawings and mathematical tools to represent numbers up to 99 and will compare two-digit numbers.  

Unit 5: Adding Within 100 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

How can I estimate the answers for operations involving two-digit numbers? 

How can I use what I know about tens and ones to add two-digit numbers? 

What strategies do I use to compute sums mentally? 

Students use place value and properties of addition to add within 100.  They make sense of methods for adding, like composing a ten when adding ones and ones, and work with a variety of representations- connecting cubes, drawings, expressions, and equations.  The focus for students is to make sense of the numbers and ways of adding rather than applying an algorithm. 

Unit 6: Length Measurements Within 120 Units 

Essential Questions 

Unit 6 Overview 

How do I measure length using non-standard units of measure? 

How do I choose the appropriate tool and unit when measuring? 

How can objects be measured, compared, and ordered by length? 

In this unit, students extend their knowledge of linear measurement while continuing to develop their understanding of operations, algebraic thinking, and place value.  Students compare the length of objects by lining them up at their endpoints and explore ways to compare lengths of two objects that cannot be lined up.  Students develop precision with different measuring tools, solve story problems and are introduced to new story problem types, and reason how to count and represent groups of objects over 99 up to 120.   

Unit 7: Geometry and Time 

Essential Questions 

Unit 7 Overview 

How can I tell time on an analog and digital clock? 

How can we break shapes into equal shares and what these shares are called? 

How do I distinguish shapes between defining and non-defining attributes? 

In this unit, students focus on geometry and time, expanding their knowledge of two and three-dimensional shapes, partition shapes into halves and fourths, and tell time to the hour and half an hour.  Students extend the foundation they build about shapes in Kindergarten to develop more precise vocabulary to sort shapes into categories and use shapes to begin to learn the language of fractions.  Students also learn to use the circle as a clock and how hour and minute hands partition the clock to the hour and to “half past” or __:30. 

Unit 8: Putting it All Together 

Essential Questions 

Unit 8 Overview 

How can using number relationships help me solve addition and subtraction problems? 

How can I use an addition or subtraction equation to show how to solve a story problem where I can add to/take from a total or where I need to figure out the change? 

How can I use numbers to 120? 

In this last unit for Grade 1 math, students will work on solidifying their understanding of the major concepts and skills for the year to prepare them for Grade 2.  The sections in this unit include adding and subtracting within 20, and fluently within 10.  Students will also practice solving story problems they were introduced to during the year.  Additionally, they will count and represent numbers within 120.  

Unit 1: Adding, Subtracting, and Working with Data 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How can the number 10 help me to add and subtract quickly with larger numbers? 

How do picture and bar graphs help me to organize my data? 

How does knowing ‘how many more’ and ‘how many less’ help me determine quantities between two groups? 

In this first grade 2 unit, students build on concepts of addition and subtraction from grade 1 and begin the year-long work to develop fluency with sums and differences within 20.  Students work with new ways to represent data, picture graphs and bar graphs and ask and answer questions described by the data.  This unit also focuses on introduction to mathematical routines and structures for centers, and developing a shared understanding of what it means to do math and to be part of a mathematical community. 

Unit 2: Adding and Subtracting Within 100 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How can I use base-ten blocks to help me add and subtract? 

Why do you have to decompose a ten sometimes when you subtract? 

How does using a diagram help me make sense of story problems? 

Students in this unit build onto their understanding of adding within 100 from grade 1 by using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and relationship between addition and subtraction.  Students use mathematical tools such as base-ten blocks and work to understand composing and decomposing tens to flexibly add and subtract.  They apply this knowledge to solve one- and two-step story problems using a variety of mathematical tools. 

Unit 3: Measuring Length 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How can different tools be used to estimate and measure different lengths 

How can we solve one- and two- step story problems involving addition and subtraction of lengths? 

How does the structure of a line plot relate to the tools we used to measure lengths? 

In this unit, students learn about standard units of length (centimeters, meter, inches, and feet).  They learn how to measure with different length units as well as how to estimate the length of objects. Through the unit, students continue to solve one- and two- step story problems using addition and subtraction of lengths.  This unit also has students creating and interpreting line plots that show measurement data and use them to answer questions about the data. 

Unit 4: Addition and Subtraction on the Number Line 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

How can number lines help us solve addition and subtraction problems? 

How do we represent an equation on a number line? 

Students are introduced to essential representation of the number line.  In this unit, they learn to use the number line to represent whole numbers, sums, and differences.  Students will use the number line for representing addition and subtraction, decomposing a number to get to a ten, and estimate on the number line without having each labeled with a numeral. 

Unit 5: Numbers to 1000 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

How can we show a number using different tools? 

What strategies can we use to order numbers on a number line? 

What is the difference between a one-digit number, a two-digit number, and a three-digit number? 

Students extend their knowledge of the base-ten system to include hundreds.  They learn that a hundred is a unit made up of 10 tens, and three-digit numbers are formed using units of hundreds, tens, and ones.  Students build their flexibility in reasoning with a variety of representations (base-ten blocks, base-ten diagrams or drawings, number lines, expressions, and equations).   

Unit 6: Geometry, Time, and Money 

Essential Questions 

Unit 6 Overview 

What strategies do you use to count groups of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to find the total value? 

How do you read and write time to 5-minute intervals using a clock? 

How can I partition a circle or a rectangle? 

Students spend time in this unit to reason with shapes and partition them into equal shares (halves, fourths, and thirds) to set the foundation for fractions.  They look at attributes of shapes to see that shapes can be identified by the number of sides and vertices (corners). Using their understanding of halves and fourths, students extend it to their understanding of time (“quarter past” and “quarter to”) and skip-count to tell time in 5-minute intervals.  The last part of this unit includes money, building on the fluency of addition and subtraction within 100 by skip-counting, adding and subtracting to find the value of a set of coins, and solving one- and two-step money story problems. 

Unit 7: Adding and Subtracting Within 1,000 

Essential Questions 

Unit 7 Overview 

What are the ways to add and subtract three-digit numbers? 

How do we understand place value and use properties of operations to add and subtract? 

In this unit, students add and subtract within 1,000 by applying methods they have learned previously as well as their understanding of place value and three-digit numbers.  Students progress to composing and decomposing one or more units in a two- to three-digit number.  Students learn to recognize when composition or decomposition is a useful strategy when adding or subtracting by place and are encouraged to think flexibly to use strategies that make sense to them.   

Unit 8: Equal Groups 

Essential Questions 

Unit 8 Overview 

How can you work with equal groups of objects to understand multiplication? 

How can you use the array model to explain multiplication? 

How can you show even and odd numbers? 

This unit has students developing an understanding of equal groups, to gain foundation for multiplication and division in grade 3 and beyond.  Students use visual patterns to identify whether numbers of objects are even or odd, describe rectangular arrays as rows and columns, and see the total number of objects as a sum of the objects in each row and the sum of the objects in each column.  They write equations with equal addends to describe arrays (4 + 4 + 4) as well as build arrays.   

Unit 9: Putting It All Together 

Essential Questions 

Unit 9 Overview 

How can the number 10 help me to add and subtract quickly with larger numbers:? 

Why do you have to decompose a ten sometimes when you subtract? 

How do we understand place value and use properties of operations to add and subtract? 

In this unit, students revisit the major work and fluency goals of grade 2, applying their learning of the year.  They solidify their fluency with addition and subtraction within 20, add and subtract numbers within 100, and compose and decompose three-digit numbers in different ways, using methods based on place value to work with numbers within 1,000.  Students also interpret, solve, and write story problems with numbers within 100, furthering their fluency of addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers.   

Unit 1: Introducing Multiplication 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What are different meanings for multiplication? 

How are multiplication and addition related? 

How do graphs and arrays relate to multiplication? 

Students expand on their grade 2 knowledge of representing data with graphs as they are introduced to multiplication with one picture in a picture graph equaling 2 or 5 units.  As students expand on their understanding of equal size groups and multiplication, they relate the idea of a x b through both groups of objects and amount in each group as well as rows and columns of arrays.  Students also make sense of the meaning of multiplication expressions before solving them. 

Unit 2: Area and Multiplication 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How can we find the area of a shape? 

How does finding the area of a rectangle relate to multiplication? 

How can I find the missing side lengths of shapes composed of rectangles? 

In this unit, students focus on area as the measure of how much a shape covers.  They explore rectangles and connect the understanding of area of rectangles to multiplication- a product of the number of rows and squares per row.  Through the unit, students develop the understanding of abstract representations of area and learn how to use what they know of area and multiplication to find missing side lengths of figures. 

Unit 3: Wrapping up Adding and Subtraction Within 1,000 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How can I use place value to round whole numbers? 

How are different ways that we add and subtract similar and different? 

How can I represent and solve two-step word problems with addition and subtraction? 

This unit progresses students toward a third grade goal of fluently adding and subtracting within 1,000.  Students build on their knowledge of addition and subtraction strategies that they learned in second grade.  Students will use place value understanding to round, estimate, and build their fluency in adding and subtracting whole numbers.  They also use expanded form to add and subtract within 1,000 as they move toward the standard algorithm. 

Unit 4: Relating Multiplication to Division 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

What is Division? 

How can we describe the relationship between Multiplication and Division? 

How can I use Multiplication to Divide? 

How do I Multiply a larger number? 

In this unit, students learn about and use the relationship between multiplication and division, place value, and properties of operations to multiply and divide whole numbers within 100.  Previously, students used equal-sized groups to form the basis for their sense of multiplication; this unit has them also use equal-sized groups to make sense of division. Students work toward a grade level goal of fluency in multiplication and division throughout the unit, and learn to decompose numbers greater than 10 into tens and ones to help them multiply.   

Unit 5: Fractions as Numbers 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

What is a fraction? 

How are fractions used in our daily lives? 

What are equivalent fractions? 

How do we know if one fraction is larger or smaller than another fraction? 

In this unit, students work to make sense of fractions, with a focus in modeling and using diagrams to represent and compare fractions and relate them to whole numbers.  Students use different representations to identify 1 whole and reason about the size of fractional parts.  Later in the unit, students compare fractions with the same denominator as well as those with the same numerator to recognize that as the numerator gets larger, more parts are being counted and as the denominator gets larger, the size of each part in a whole gets smaller. 

Unit 6: Measuring Length, Time, Liquid Volume, and Weight 

Essential Questions 

Unit 6 Overview 

How can length of time be measured and found?   

What are the customary units for measuring capacity and weight?   

What are the metric units for measuring capacity and weight?   

What is mass and how does it relate to weight?  

Students measure length, weight, liquid volume and time in this unit.  They begin with length measurement, building on their previous units' work of fractions, by exploring length in halves and fourths of an inch on a ruler, learning about mixed numbers and equivalent fractions as they work.  Next, students learn about standard units for measuring weight (kilograms and grams) and liquid volume (liters), finishing the unit by measuring time to the minute.  In the final section of the unit, they solve problems related to all of the measurements learned through the unit.   

Unit 7: Two-dimensional Shapes and Perimeter 

Essential Questions 

Unit 7 Overview 

How do you find the perimeter of a 2-dimensional shape?  

How is geometry apparent in everyday life?  

How can two-dimensional shapes be described, analyzed and classified? 

In this unit, students reason about attributes of two-dimensional shapes and learn about perimeter, building on their previously built geometric knowledge from earlier grades.  Students learn to classify geometric shapes into sub-categories based on their attributes (rhombuses, rectangles, squares, quadrilaterals, triangles), while learning the meaning of perimeter and finding the perimeter of shapes.  As the unit progresses, the focus is for students to distinguish situations that involve perimeter and those that involve area (commonly confused) and apply what they have learned to design concepts.   

Unit 8: Putting it All Together 

Essential Questions 

Unit 8 Overview 

How are fractions used in our daily lives?    

How can we find the area of a shape?   

How do you find the perimeter of a 2-dimensional shape?   

Describe the relationship between Multiplication and Division?   

In this unit, students revisit major work and fluency goals of 3rd grade, applying their learning from the year.  This includes fraction size and location (number lines), perimeter, area, and solving problems about measurement and data through graphs, and multiplication and division fluency.  The last section of the unit prepares them for the major work they will do in 4th grade with comparing, adding, and subtracting fractions, multiplying and dividing within 1,000, and using the standard algorithm to add and subtract within 1 million. 

Unit 1: Factors and Multiples 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What does it mean to be a factor or multiple of a whole number? 

What does it mean to be a prime or composite number? 

How does knowing factors and multiples better help me multiply and divide whole numbers? 

The first fourth grade math unit has students extending their knowledge of multiplication, division, and area of a rectangle to deepen their understanding of factors and to learn about multiples.  Students expand on their knowledge of area from third grade to make sense of factors and multiples.  They use rectangle areas and side lengths to build understanding of factor pairs and multiples and learn about prime and composite numbers using factor pairs. 

Unit 2: Fraction Equivalence and Comparison 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How do we show and create equivalent fractions?  

How does finding equivalent fractions help you compare?  

What tools are available to help determine equivalent fractions?  

In this unit, students expand on their fractional understanding.  They use fraction strips, tape diagrams, and number lines to make sense of the size of fractions, generate equivalent fractions, and compare and order fractions with denominators 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 100.  Students generalize that a fraction’s equivalency can be represented with expressions and the concepts that link the mathematical models to the mathematical expressions.   

Unit 3: Extending Operations to Fractions 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

What are different ways we can use visual models to demonstrate multiplication between a whole number and a fraction?  

How can decomposing fractions help add and subtract fractions with like denominators including mixed numbers?  

How can equivalent fractions help you add tenths (1/10) and hundredths (1/100)?  

In this unit, students deepen their understanding of how fractions can be composed and decomposed, and learn about operations on fractions.  Students multiply fractions by whole numbers, add and subtract fractions with the same denominators, and add tenths and hundredths, using familiar concepts and representations (ex: tape diagrams and number lines).  Students will then apply these skills in the context of measurement and data by analyzing line plots with fractional lengths, answering questions about data. 

Unit 4: From Hundredths to Hundred-Thousands 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

What is the relationship between fractions and decimals?  

How does our base ten number system work?  

What effect does the location of a digit have on the value of the digit?  

Why is it important for me to be able to compare numbers?  

In this unit, students learn to express both small and large numbers in base ten, extending their understanding to include numbers from hundredths to hundred-thousands.  Students take a closer look at the relationship between tenths and hundredths and learn to express them in decimal notation, reason about the size of tenths and hundredths written as decimals, locate decimals on a number line, and compare and order them.  Students also explore large numbers beyond 1,000 and find the place value relationships while comparing, rounding, and ordering numbers through 1 million as well as add and subtract using the standard algorithm. 

Unit 5: Multiplicative Comparison and Measurement 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

How can I use multiplication and division fact families to show the relationship between multiplication and division?  

How do you determine which operation to use when converting measurements in a measurement word problem?  

How can I apply what I have learned about measurement?  

Can I construct, model, or illustrate forms of the same multiplication equation?  

In this unit, students make sense of multiplication as a way to compare quantities. They use this understanding to solve problems about measurement. They use the key question, “How many times as many” to help them with this concept of multiplication comparison.  Through this unit, they use their new knowledge to apply their learning to various units of length, mass, capacity, and time to convert units within the same system of measurement. 

Unit 6: Multiplying and Dividing Multi-Digit Numbers 

Essential Questions 

Unit 6 Overview 

How can multiplication and division help me to solve multi-step problems?  

How can I show models to represent multiplication and division?  

How can I use different algorithms to solve math problems and generate a pattern?  

In this unit, Students multiply and divide multi-digit whole numbers using partial products and partial quotients strategies, and apply this understanding to solve multi-step problems using the four operations.  Students multiply up to four digits by single-digit numbers, and to multiply a pair of two-digit numbers, transitioning from using diagrams to using algorithms to record partial products.  In division, students see that it helps to decompose a dividend into smaller numbers and find partial quotients, relying on place value application and understanding.  Students apply their knowledge to solve multi-step problems about measurement in various contexts.   

Unit 7: Angles and Angle Measurement 

Essential Questions 

Unit 7 Overview 

How can I reason about geometric figures?  

How are triangles classified by their angles and sides?  

How can geometric shapes be described and classified?   

How can I solve problems about missing angle measurements?  

In this unit, students deepen and refine students’ understanding of geometric figures and measurement. Students learn to draw and identify points, rays, segments, angles, and lines, including parallel and perpendicular lines. Students also learn how to use a protractor to measure angles and draw angles of given measurements, and identify acute, obtuse, right, and straight angles in two-dimensional figures. 

Unit 8: Properties of Two-Dimensional Shapes 

Essential Questions 

Unit 8 Overview 

What are the attributes of two-dimensional shapes?  

How do properties of geometric shapes help me solve problems?  

In this unit, students deepen their understanding of the attributes and measurement of two-dimensional shapes. Students classify triangles and quadrilaterals based on the properties of their side lengths and angles, and learn about lines of symmetry in two-dimensional figures. They use their understanding of these attributes to solve problems, including problems involving perimeter and area.  

Unit 9: Putting it All Together 

Essential Questions 

Unit 9 Overview 

How can I apply what I have learned in fourth grade?  

How can I create warm-up activities that show my learning?  

In this unit, students revisit major work and fluency goals of the grade, applying their learning from the year. Students consolidate and solidify their understanding of various concepts and skills related to major work of the grade. They also continue to work toward fluency goals of the grade: fractions (comparison, adding and subtracting, and multiplying by whole numbers), whole number addition and subtraction with standard algorithm, multiply and divide using place value strategies, and reasoning with multiplication and division. 

Unit 1: Finding Volume 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What is volume and how is it used in the world around me? 

How do you determine the volume of a cube or a rectangular prism? 

How can three-dimensional shapes be represented and analyzed? 

How do you solve problems related to volume? 

The first 5th grade math unit introduces students to the concept of volume by building on their understanding of area and multiplication.  Students first measure volume by counting unit cubes in a solid shape, then move onto looking at and building right rectangular prisms, paying attention to structure and volume as the prisms become more abstract and less concrete.  They represent their prisms with numerical expressions and, discovering the rules for finding volume.  Toward the end of the unit, students apply their understanding of volume to find the volume of complex shapes as well as apply their knowledge to real-world problems. 

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Unit 1: Math in Our World 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How do math tools help me understand mathematics? 

How can I tell how many or how much is in a group? 

How can I tell if there are enough objects needed for a situation? 

What does it mean to be a member of a mathematical community? 

Students explore and use mathematical tools while teachers gather information through observations and questions about students’ counting knowledge and skills.  Students also have opportunities to work with math tools and topics related to geometry, measurement, and data through a variety of centers.  In the last section of the unit, students are expected to count up to 10 using various mathematical tools as support. 

Unit 2: Numbers 1-10 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How do numbers and quantities relate to each other? 

How do I write numbers 1-10? 

How do I know if a number is less than another number? 

Students continue to develop counting concepts and skills, including comparing, while learning how to write numbers.  Students use fingers and five frames as well as familiar activity structures to build their counting skills and concepts.  Students build their math vocabulary as they start to use the terms “fewer” and “more” when comparing the numbers of objects or images.  

Unit 3: Flat Shapes All Around Us 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

What shapes are in my environment? 

How can shapes connect to make different changes? 

In this unit, students will be introduced to the foundational concept of geometry, with a focus on flat (two-dimensional) shapes.  Students will explore differences in shapes and use informal language to describe, compare, and sort them.  Students reinforce counting and comparison skills by using pattern blocks to make larger shapes as well as positional words (above, below, next to, beside) to describe the shapes they compose.   

Unit 4: Understanding Addition and Subtraction 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

Why do I need to add? 

Why do I need to subtract? 

How can I represent and solve problem situations using objects, pictures, words and numbers? 

Students develop their understanding of addition and subtraction as they represent and solve story problems within 10.  They relate counting to either putting objects together or taking objects away.  Students develop understanding of mathematical expressions and connect expressions to pictures and story problems and find the value of addition and subtraction expressions within 10. 

Unit 5: Composing and Decomposing Numbers to 10 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

How can I use place value to decompose numbers to find sums or differences? 

How do I take apart and recombine numbers in a variety of ways for finding sums and differences? 

Students will explore different ways to compose and decompose numbers within 10 and how to represent the compositions and decompositions.  Students link 10 frames and their fingers as tools to think about pairs of numbers that make 10.  Students will also practice writing numbers and develop the understanding of balanced equations, “5 is 3 plus 2”.   

Unit 6: Numbers 11-20 

Essential Questions 

Unit 6 Overview 

How can you know a quantity without counting each object? 

How do you know how many objects you have? 

What is an efficient way to count an amount greater than ten? 

In this unit, students count and represent collections of objects and images within 20.  They use the 10-frame as a tool to see teen numbers as 10 ones and some more ones, with emphasis on the structure of the numbers 11-19.  Students practice tracing and writing numbers 11-20 and practice equations with the addend first, using mathematical tools to reinforce understanding.  

Unit 7: Solid Shapes All Around Us 

Essential Questions 

Unit 7 Overview 

How can shapes help us count and compare numbers? 

What shapes are around us? 

How can we compose shapes using smaller shapes? 

Students explore solid shapes (three-dimensional) while reinforcing their knowledge of counting, number writing and comparison, as well as flat shapes.  They compose figures with pattern blocks and continue to count up to 20 objects, write and compare numbers, and solve story problems.  Students use their own language to describe attributes of solid shapes as they identify, sort, compare, and build them, while also learning the names for cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders. 

Unit 8: Putting it All Together 

Essential Questions 

Unit 8 Overview 

How do numbers and quantities relate to each other? 

What does it mean to be a member of a mathematical community? 

How do I take apart and recombine numbers in a variety of ways for finding sums and differences? 

How can I represent and solve problem situations using objects, pictures, words and numbers? 

In this culminating unit, Kindergarten students revisit major work and fluency goals of the grade, applying their learning from the year.  They revisit concepts of counting and comparing, math in the community, practice composing and decomposing within 5 as well as within 10.  This unit lays the foundation for grade 1, where students add and subtract fluently within 10 and count and compare larger quantities.   

Unit 1: Mystery Class Pet 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How do plant and animal needs help us pick an appropriate class pet? 

What are living and nonliving things? 

What do plants need to survive? 

What do animals need to survive? 

How do plants and animals get what they need from their habitat? 

How do plants, animals, and humans impact their environment? 

What does our class pet need to survive and thrive? 

Through the engagement of a mystery (real or virtual) class pet, students learn what animals and plants need to live and grow.  They also investigate how living things change and are impacted by their environment. 

Unit 2: Waiting for Weather 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How does weather affect our everyday choices? 

How does weather help me know what to wear each day? 

How do we know what the weather will be each day? 

How does the sun affect our lives? 

Through this year-long unit, kindergarteners learn about how weather affects and impacts their lives using observational skills and data collection. The overall focus for students is how weather affects what we wear and what we do. Students will also understand that some weather can be considered severe and how scientists follow weather patterns to help communities to prepare. 

Unit 3: Push, Pull Play! 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How do we use pushes and pulls during play? 

What happens when you change the force of a push or pull during play? 

What happens when play objects crash into one another? 

How can weather make things move?  Why do some play objects (toys) fly in the wind better than others? 

In this unit, students investigate the direction of motion in pushes and pulls through their bodies at play as well as how their motion and force affects objects.  As play engineers, students will design and test a flying toy and observe its interaction with weather. 

Unit 1: Playground Shadows 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What causes a shadow’s length and position to change? 

What do you need to make a shadow? 

How can we change the direction of light?  If we change the direction of light, what happens to our shadow? 

Why doesn’t the moon’s appearance change? 

How does the amount and intensity of daylight change with the seasons? 

In this first unit, students investigate and learn about how light interacts with objects.  They begin by exploring their own shadows and investigate how shadows change in length and location relative to the position of the sun.  They use data recording to examine patterns of sunlight and shadow throughout the day. 

Unit 2: Film Animation 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How do sound and light communicate information? 

What causes sound? 

How can light be used to communicate a message? 

How can we use shadows to tell a story? 

How are light and sound used to communicate across a distance? 

Is light necessary to see?  How can we see in the dark? 

Students spend this unit investigating how light and sound to understand how they can be used to communicate a message.  They investigate what is needed to produce sound, what mediums allow light to pass through them to varying degrees (or not at all), and what people use to communicate over long distances.  To end the unit, students become engineers of sound and light to create a soundtrack for a simple animation to share with their class.  

Unit 3: Senses in Nature 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How do the external parts of the Venus flytrap, star nosed mole, and tulip help them grow and survive? 

How do external parts and sunlight help living things grow and survive? 

How do plant parts help the plant meet its needs? 

How do animal body structures help it meet its needs for growth and survival? 

How have humans used nature to solve their problems?  How can I mimic nature to develop a solution to my problem? 

Through this unit, first grade students become plant and animal scientists who use their powers of observation and curiosity to develop their understanding of how plants and animals grow and survive.  Students learn about structures and functions of animals and plants as well as their survival needs.  Students also use observations to develop initial theories on why organisms look and behave the way they do and work to create a solution for a problem. 

Unit 4: Seasonal Changes 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

How do living things prepare and behave in order to survive in their different seasons? 

How can seasonal patterns be described? 

How do living things prepare and behave in order to survive in the different seasons? 

How are offspring similar and different from their parents? 

In this last unit, students will learn what it is like to be a field biologist.  They will explore how living things respond to seasonal changes on Earth and the influence of sunlight on living things' actions and survival.  Using a variety of media, students will investigate how living things change and record their findings as a field biologist.   

Unit 1: 4th Little Pig 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What materials are best suited to design a home for the 4th Little Pig? 

How do you sort and classify objects based on their properties? 

What happens when materials are heated or cooled? 

Why are different materials better suited for certain purposes than others? 

How can objects be made and remade into new objects using existing pieces? 

Students in second grade begin with an engineering unit that centers around matter and its properties.  They are faced with a design problem where they plan for and construct the 4th Little Pig’s shelter.  Using what they learn about the types and properties of matter, they design and test a structure for the 4th Little Pig. 

Unit 2: Koa Tree 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

How does the Koa tree grow in two places 10,000 miles apart? 

Do all plants need the same amount of water and sunlight? 

Can the Koa tree survive and grow in Connecticut? 

How do plants depend on animals? 

How does water and temperature determine if a Koa seed survives? 

In this unit, second grade students explore plants and animals and their interdependent relationship with each other and their environment.  This is focused around the scenario of the Koa tree, located both in Hawaii and off the western coast of Africa.  Like scientists before them, students hypothesize how the Koa seed traveled from island to island and are focused on a real-life science mystery that gives purpose to their study on plants, animals, and habitats.  

Unit 3: Beavers 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

How do beavers change the landscape? 

How do we prevent wind or water from changing the land? 

Why do beavers need dams? 

What is an engineer? How are beavers nature’s engineers? 

How do rivers and dams change the land? How quickly does this happen? 

What are the other ways that landforms can be created, besides erosion along river beds? 

This unit engages students on natural engineers, beavers, and the impact they have on the ecosystems around them.  Students will use investigation and observation to describe the impact beavers have on the environment as well as the impact of erosion on landforms.   

Unit 1: Playground Engineers 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How can the motion on the playground be changed and/or improved? 

How can force be used to make an object move? 

How does the direction of force impact the direction of motion? 

How can motion be predicted? 

What are magnetic forces and how could they impact motion on the playground? 

What are electrostatic forces and how do they impact motion on the playground? 

In this unit, students become playground engineers to investigate a variety of forces and interactions that affect motion.  Students learn a variety of ways that motion is affected (balanced and unbalanced forces, gravity, friction, etc) and use their learning to design a dream playground model that incorporates their understanding.   

Unit 2: Harper’s Fossil Find 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

What can we learn from Harper’s fossil find? 

What can we learn from fossils? 

How are organisms today similar and different from their ancestors? 

What patterns can you see in an organism within its life span? What patterns can you see between different organisms’ life spans? 

Why do offspring look similar to their parents?  How can we use traits to identify parents and offspring in fossils? 

Why are flamingos pink? How do environmental conditions impact an organism’s traits? 

Students pose as secret agents from the paleontology unit using fossils to uncover the diet and environment needed for Harper’s fossil to survive.  Students develop their understanding of life cycles and apply their understanding of traits and inheritance to make determinations about eggs and fossils. 

Unit 3: Case of the Missing Monarchs 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

Why are the monarch butterflies disappearing? 

What are the monarch butterfly’s survival secrets? 

How has the monarch population changed?  What factors influence this change? 

What features do monarchs have to promote survival? 

Why does the monarch butterfly migrate? Is migration necessary for survival? 

What are the seasonal climate patterns in the different regions of North America? If the climate patterns change, how will the monarch butterflies be affected? 

How do characteristic variations help an organism survive, find a mate and/or reproduce? Does this connect to the monarch butterfly population decline? 

Why do some animals live in groups? 

Students explore the causes and effects behind the declining monarch butterfly population.  Students use analysis to look at weather and climate data, use observation to predict differences between male and female butterflies, and identify needs for monarch survival.   

Unit 4: Grand Canyon Seashells 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

How did marine fossils end up in the Grand Canyon? 

What types of evidence do we look for to determine a fossil’s story? 

How might a change in the environment affect the organisms living in it? 

How does a region’s location impact its climate? 

How do severe weather events impact the environment and the organisms living there? 

How could the Grand Canyon environment change so drastically over time? 

This unit anchors student investigation to a mystery of marine fossils that have been found in the Grand Canyon.  Students will learn how different environments affect living things and research and compare different environments.  Students ultimately use their knowledge to create theories on how the marine fossils came to be in the desert environment of the Grand Canyon. 

Unit 1: Big Bang 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

What are the origins of our universe and how do we know that?  

What is sound and what affects sounds?  

What can light tell us about the universe? How do different types of radiation affect matter?  

What can a beam of light tell us about where it came from?  

How can astronomers know what stars are made of? What else can astronomers deduce from starlight?  

How do observations today allow astronomers to determine the origins of the universe?  

Today’s “Universe Creation Story” describes an event from over 14 billion years ago, namely a great explosion in which the universe came into being as we now know it – the “Big Bang.” In this bundle students will explore and relate how oscillations or vibrations in various massive or energy mediums are related and provide the understandings that have led us to these conclusions, or the “Big Bang Theory.” In six sequential explorations, students will build on their knowledge of waves and what waves can tell scientists about the nature of stars and galaxies well beyond our possible physical exploration.  

Unit 2: Apophis Asteroid 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 3: Pangea 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 4: Extreme Weather 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 5: Water Bottles 

Essential Questions 

Unit 5 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 1: Asteroid Collisions 

Essential Questions 

Unit 1 Overview 

How can we protect the Earth from asteroid collisions?  

What happens in a collision? What would happen if an asteroid hit Earth?  

How do we protect ourselves from collisions?  

How do objects move in space?  

Where did all of the objects that could be threats come from?  

How can we protect the Earth from asteroid collisions?  

In this unit, students will answer the question, “How do we protect ourselves from collisions?” through the framing phenomenon of an asteroid crashing into the Earth. Using an online asteroid simulator called Impact EARTH!, students will gain initial experience with using computational data to understand cause and effect and begin to formulate ideas about the phenomenon. At a smaller scale, students will use car crashes to understand the basic mechanics of collisions, such as momentum and Newton’s Second Law, through laboratory explorations and activities.  Students will work through this unit to understand where spaceobject come from, learning the Big Bang Theory and applying Kepler’s Law.   

Unit 2: Natural Disasters 

Essential Questions 

Unit 2 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 3: Battery Fires 

Essential Questions 

Unit 3 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon 

Unit 4: Global Communication Failure 

Essential Questions 

Unit 4 Overview 

Coming soon 

Coming soon