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Grades 3–5 · Semester 1 · 52 readings

Start with familiar ideas

Begin with wholes and parts. Follow the connected explanations through sorting and material change, keeping each small group together and taking time to understand its illustrations.

Start reading →

One possible pace is 3–4 explanations a week over 16 weeks. Keep each small unit together, revisit its pictures and allow more time whenever an idea needs it.

Unit 1Wholes and parts4 readings ⌄

Fractions, arrays, regrouping and area describe different relationships between a whole and its parts.

  1. Why does a fraction depend on the whole?Mathematics
  2. How do rows and columns show multiplication?Mathematics
  3. Why does regrouping tens and ones keep the same value?Mathematics
  4. Can equal areas have different perimeters?Mathematics
Unit 2The surprises inside play2 readings ⌄

Follow a returning toy and the hidden patterns in game scores.

  1. How can a yo-yo fall and climb the same string?Machines
  2. Why do two dice make seven more often than two?Mathematics
Unit 3How sentences carry meaning4 readings ⌄

Pronouns, conjunctions, meaningful word parts and word order give a sentence its meaning.

  1. Who or what does a pronoun mean?Language
  2. How do conjunctions connect ideas?Language
  3. How do meaningful word parts help us read?Language
  4. How does word order show who does what?Language
Unit 4Representing and sharing language2 readings ⌄

Writing conventions and interpreters help meaning travel between people.

  1. Why can one Japanese sentence use several kinds of characters?Language
  2. How can an interpreter help people follow a meeting in another language?Language
Unit 5Shapes and pictures4 readings ⌄

Perspective, overlap, repeated motifs and reflection organize a picture in different ways.

  1. How can lines make a flat drawing look deep?Arts & Music
  2. How does overlap suggest front and back?Arts & Music
  3. How can a motif build a repeating border?Arts & Music
  4. What makes two sides reflection-symmetric?Mathematics
Unit 6Organized information4 readings ⌄

Pixels represent an image. Folders, library records and ordered lists make stored information easier to find.

  1. How do tiny pixels make a digital picture?Computing
  2. How does a folder path find the right file?Computing
  3. How does a catalog connect a book title with its shelf?Societies
  4. How does binary search shrink an ordered list?Computing
Unit 7Force and motion4 readings ⌄

Levers, pulleys, screws and gears change how a force or movement is passed between parts.

  1. How does a lever make lifting easier?Machines
  2. How can a pulley make lifting easier?Machines
  3. How does a screw turn rotation into travel?Machines
  4. How do bicycle gears change the ride?Machines
Unit 8Contact changes the game3 readings ⌄

See how bats, water, and skateboard wheels change motion.

  1. How does a bat send a ball back the other way?Everyday Life
  2. How can a swimmer move forward without touching the bottom?Everyday Life
  3. How does leaning make a skateboard turn?Everyday Life
Unit 9Moving a load through the world2 readings ⌄

Follow a turning drum and a bending truck to see how motion guides a load.

  1. Why does a concrete truck keep its barrel turning?Machines
  2. Why does a long truck need so much room at a corner?Machines
Unit 10Guided movement and stored energy4 readings ⌄

A circuit connects an energy source; cams, springs and pump valves guide different kinds of movement.

  1. How does a switch turn a bulb on?Machines
  2. How does a turning cam move a follower?Machines
  3. How can a wound spring move a toy?Machines
  4. How does a piston pump move water one way?Machines
Unit 11Plants and soil4 readings ⌄

Plant growth, water storage, decomposition and earthworms connect living things with their surroundings.

  1. How does a plant make sugars?Organisms
  2. How can a desert cactus store water and lose less?Organisms
  3. What happens to matter in dead leaves?Organisms
  4. How can earthworms move and mix soil material?Organisms
Unit 12Why variety matters3 readings ⌄

Different organisms and inherited features keep a garden or crop collection full of possibilities.

  1. How can one garden insect reduce another?Organisms
  2. How can a seed bank keep tomorrow's crops alive?Systems
  3. Why does a meadow need more than one kind of living thing?Organisms
Unit 13Water and heat4 readings ⌄

Changes of state, evaporation, insulation and the water cycle connect familiar changes to energy transfer.

  1. How can water change between ice and liquid?Materials & Matter
  2. Why can salt remain after saltwater evaporates?Materials & Matter
  3. How does insulation slow cooling?Everyday Life
  4. How does water move through the water cycle?Systems
Unit 14Water routes4 readings ⌄

Runoff and rivers move water and sediment; treatment systems use different processes to handle water before and after use.

  1. How does stormwater move through a neighborhood?Systems
  2. Why can a river bend lose soil on one bank and gain sand on the other?Earth & Space
  3. How does a utility treat drinking water?Systems
  4. What happens after wastewater leaves a building?Systems
Unit 15Sorting and material change4 readings ⌄

Size and magnetic response can separate materials. Recycling and rusting involve different kinds of change.

  1. How does a sieve separate a mixture?Materials & Matter
  2. Which tested pieces can a magnet separate?Materials & Matter
  3. How do recycling systems sort and reuse materials?Systems
  4. How does rust change an iron sample?Materials & Matter