Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS: SummaryThe bundle organizes performance expectations around the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals and the places they live. Instruction developed from this bundle should always maintain the three-dimensional nature of the standards but recognize that instruction is not limited to the practices and concepts directly linked with any of the bundle performance expectations.Connections between unit Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)  The concept that all animals need food and plants need water and light (LS1.C as in K-LS1-1) connects to the idea that living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need (ESS3.A as in K-ESS3-1). These ideas also connect to the concept that plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs (K-ESS2-2). The concept that humans use natural resources for everything they do (ESS3.A as in K-ESS3-1) connects to the idea that the things people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them, but they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things (ESS3.C as in K-ESS2-2 and K-ESS3-3)Weather—which is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time (ESS2.D as in K-ESS2-1) —connects to the idea that living things need water (ESS3.A as in K-ESS3-1) and the idea that plants need light (LS1.C as in K-LS1-1). Also, the concept of the needs of living things connects to weather through making observation to notice and describe patterns as: observations can be used to describe the patterns of what plants and animals need (K-LS1-1) and observations and measurements of weather conditions can be used to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time (ESS2.D as in K-ESS2-1). The concepts of weather and patterns of weather (ESS2.D as in K-ESS2-1) also connect to the idea that some kinds of severe weather are more likely than others in a given region (ESS3.B as in K-ESS3-2).The idea that a situation that people want to change or create can be approached as a problem to be solved through engineering (ETS1.A, K-2-ETS1-1) could connect to several concepts such as plants need water and light to live and grow (LS1.C as in K-LS1-1), humans use natural resources for everything they do (ESS3.A as in K-ESS3-1), or that people can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things (ESS3.C as in K-ESS3-3). These connections could be made through tasks such as designing a solution to the problem of plants in a garden not getting enough water or sunlight or identifying ways to reduce their class’s impact on the local water system. Alternatively, students could be challenged with a different design task involving creating products out of natural resources that are abundant in their area. In both tasks, students need an opportunity to reflect on the situation to be changed and that it can be approached as a problem to be solved through engineering.Unit Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)Instruction leading to this bundle of PEs will help students build toward proficiency in elements of the practices of asking questions and defining problems (K-ESS3-2 and K-2-ETS1-1); developing and using models (K-ESS3-1); analyzing and interpreting data (K-LS1-1 and K-ESS2-1); engaging in argument from evidence (K-ESS2-2); and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating Information (K-ESS3-2 and K-ESS3-3). Many other practice elements can be used in instruction.Unit Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs)Instruction leading to this bundle of PEs will help students build toward proficiency in elements of the concepts of Cause and Effect (K-ESS3-2 and K-ESS3-3); and Patterns (K-LS1-1 and K-ESS2-1); Systems and System Models (K-ESS2-2 and K-ESS3-1). Many other crosscutting concepts elements can be used in instruction. All instruction should be three-dimensional.

Students learn about isometric drawings and practice sketching on triangle-dot paper the shapes they make using multiple simple cubes. They also learn how to use coded plans to envision objects and draw them on triangle-dot paper. A PowerPoint® presentation, worksheet and triangle-dot (isometric) paper printout are provided. This activity is part of a multi-activity series towards improving spatial visualization skills.

The purpose of this task is to have students think about the meaning of multiplying a number by a fraction, and to use this understanding of fraction multiplication to make sense of the commutative property of multiplication in the case of fractions.

Students are introduced to the idea of improving efficiency by examining a setting that is familiar to many teenagers fast food restaurants. More specifically, they learn about the concepts of trade-offs, constraints, increasing efficiency and systems thinking. They consider how to improve efficiency in a struggling restaurant through delegating tasks, restructuring employee responsibilities and revising a floor plan, all while working within limitations and requirements. Finally, students summarize and defend their suggested changes in argumentative essays.

Students use simple household materials, such as PVC piping and compact mirrors, to construct models of laser-based security systems. The protected object (a "mummified troll" or another treasure of your choosing) is placed "on display" in the center of the modeled room and protected by a laser system that utilizes a laser beam reflected off mirrors to trigger a light trip sensor with alarm.

We design and create objects to make our lives easier and more comfortable. The houses in which we live are excellent examples of this. Depending on your local climate, the features of your house have been designed to satisfy your particular environmental needs: protection from hot, cold, windy and/or rainy weather. In this activity, students design and build model houses, then test them against various climate elements, and then re-design and improve them. Using books, websites and photos, students learn about the different types of roofs found on various houses in different environments throughout the world.

Is the food chain shown above accurate? Does the first link depict a producer, the second link a herbivore, and the third link an omnivore / carnivore? Students must correctly determine whether a species is a producer or consumer, and what type of consumer; herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore. Students are provided with a list of Sonoran Desert species and asked to construct, within their groups, several food chains. These food chains are then be used to construct a food web. In order to complete this activity, students must first research the individual species to understand their feeding habits.

Students work in pairs to create three simple types of model bridges (beam, arch, suspension). They observe quantitatively how the bridges work under load and why engineers use different types of bridges for different places. They also get an idea of the parts needed to build bridges, and their functions. The strength of model bridges is mainly a factor of the quality of materials used, and therefore they do not provide a clear visual representation of tension and compression forces involved. Yet, students are able to see these forces at work in three prototype designs and draw conclusions about their dependence on span, width and supporting structures of the bridge designs.

The construction of the perpendicular bisector of a line segment is one of the most common in plane geometry and it is undertaken here. In addition to giving students a chance to work with straightedge and compass, the problem uses triangle congruence both to show that the constructed line is perpendicular to AB and to show that it bisects AB.

This activity proposes different small experiments and discussions to show that in the summer it is cooler by the sea than on the land and that water cools off more slowly than soil.

Students use the robot paths they documented during the associated Robots on Ice Engineering Challenge activity to learn about and then make artwork. During the previous activity, students recorded the path of their robots through a maze in order to collect data during a remote research simulation. Now, they take a new look at the robot paths, seeing them from an art perspective as continuous line drawings. Students learn about Picasso’s famous works of art that used the same technique. Then they learn the artistic definition of a line and see examples of how it is used in different art pieces; they practice making continuous line drawings and then create sculptures of their drawings using colorful wire. A PowerPoint® presentation is provided to guide the activity.

Students gain a deeper understanding of how sound sensors work through a hands-on design challenge involving LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT taskbots and sound sensors. Student groups each program a robot computer to use to the sound of hand claps to control the robot's movement. They learn programming skills and logic design in parallel. They experience how robots can take sensor input and use it to make decisions to move and turn, similar to the human sense of hearing. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post quizzes are provided.

Bluetooth is everywhere—from smartphones to computers to cars. Even though students are exposed to this technology, many are not aware of how they can use it themselves to wirelessly control their own creative projects! For this challenge, students build on what they learned during a previous Arduino maker challenge, Make and Control a Servo Arm with Your Computer, and learn how to control a servo with an Android phone (iPhones do not work with the components used in this challenge). By the end of the exercise, expect students to be wirelessly controlling a servo with a simple phone application!

In this activity, students use a variety of materials to design and create headphones that absorb sound.

A compilation of video scenarios of people interacting with each other in Portuguese. Conversations include dialogs, questions, turn taking exchanges, clarifications, false starts, hugs, laughter, asides. The scenarios are enhanced by transcriptions, translations, content analysis, and notes and discussion blogs.

This task is for instruction purposes. Part (b) is subtle and the solution presented here uses a "dynamic" view of triangles with two side lengths fixed. This helps pave the way toward what students will see later in trigonometry but some guidance will likely be needed in order to get students started on this path.

Students teams design and build shoe prototypes that convert between high heels and athletic shoes. They apply their knowledge about the mechanics of walking and running as well as shoe design (as learned in the associated lesson) to design a multifunctional shoe that is both fashionable and functional.

Standard 8.NS.1 requires students to "convert a decimal expansion which repeats eventually into a rational number." Despite this choice of wording, the numbers in this task are rational numbers regardless of choice of representation. For example, 0.333 and 1/3 are two different ways of representing the same number.