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Grades 3–5 · Semester 4 · 54 readings

Discover living and designed systems

Begin with marks, melodies and messages. Follow the connected explanations through turning information into something useful, keeping each small group together and taking time to understand its illustrations.

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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 1Marks, melodies and messages4 readings ⌄

A music box, a flute, Morse timing and carbon paper turn physical arrangements into sound or a record.

  1. How can little metal pins remember a tune?Machines
  2. Why does opening a flute hole change the note?Arts & Music
  3. How can short and long signals carry words?Language
  4. How could one handwritten line make a second copy?History & Evidence
Unit 2Useful parts and changing materials4 readings ⌄

A sewing machine, a drawing linkage, churning cream and a water surface produce useful results through different interactions.

  1. How does a sewing machine join two threads inside cloth?Machines
  2. How can linked rods make a larger drawing?Mathematics
  3. How does moving cream turn it into butter?Everyday Life
  4. How can a tiny metal object rest on water without sinking?Materials & Matter
Unit 3Flow, regions and living structures4 readings ⌄

A river delta, a filter-feeding mussel, a cuttlebone and a digital fill command each depend on a particular structure or boundary.

  1. How can a river build new land at its mouth?Earth & Space
  2. How does a mussel gather food from passing water?Organisms
  3. How can a cuttlefish hover without constantly swimming?Organisms
  4. How does a paint bucket find the inside of a shape?Computing
Unit 4Structures that guide a change3 readings ⌄

A pine cone, a clicking pen and a word suggestion each depend on an arrangement that guides what can happen next.

  1. How can a pine cone open without muscles?Organisms
  2. How does a click pen remember whether its tip is out?Machines
  3. How can a search box finish the word I started?Computing
Unit 5Moving, keeping and recording3 readings ⌄

Wind moves sand, a flask slows heat transfer and knots record quantities through different physical structures.

  1. How can a hill of sand travel?Earth & Space
  2. How can an almost empty gap keep a drink warm?Everyday Life
  3. How can knots keep a record of numbers?History & Evidence
Unit 6Movement, passages and openings4 readings ⌄

Muscles move an elbow, swallowing guides food, tiny ear bones carry vibration and an iris changes the pupil opening.

  1. How can the same arm bend and straighten?Organisms
  2. How does swallowed food find the right tube?Organisms
  3. How do tiny ear bones carry sound inward?Organisms
  4. Why does the black circle in your eye change size?Organisms
Unit 7Feeling motion and carrying weight2 readings ⌄

Follow everyday experiences into the hidden processes that make them possible.

  1. Why can the room seem to move after you stop spinning?Organisms
  2. Why can the same backpack feel different when its load moves?Everyday Life
Unit 8Things that spray and bend2 readings ⌄

A trigger bottle guides liquid through a pump and nozzle, while a straw’s folds let its shape change.

  1. How does a trigger bottle turn liquid into a spray?Machines
  2. Why can the wrinkled part of a straw bend?Everyday Life
Unit 9Holding, fastening and rolling3 readings ⌄

Knots, suction cups and ball bearings use contact and forces in three distinct ways.

  1. How can a shoelace knot hold and still come undone?Everyday Life
  2. What keeps a suction cup on a smooth surface?Everyday Life
  3. How can tiny steel balls help a wheel turn?Machines
Unit 10Heat around the home4 readings ⌄

A toaster, dishwasher, cooked egg and sprinkler head show different results of transferring heat.

  1. How does a toaster brown bread and pop it back up?Machines
  2. How does a dishwasher wash dishes without filling to the top?Machines
  3. Why does a runny egg turn firm when it cooks?Everyday Life
  4. Why doesn’t every fire sprinkler spray at once?Systems
Unit 11A kitchen full of invisible motion2 readings ⌄

Follow bubbles and scents beyond what eyes can see.

  1. Why does pancake batter become fluffy instead of staying flat?Everyday Life
  2. How can you smell cooking from another room?Everyday Life
Unit 12Changes in food and materials4 readings ⌄

Microbes change yogurt, heating changes glass and fired clay, and twisting helps fibers become yarn.

  1. How do tiny bacteria turn milk into thick yogurt?Everyday Life
  2. How can grains of sand become a glass bottle?Materials & Matter
  3. Why does firing turn a clay pot into a different material?Materials & Matter
  4. How can short fibers become a long yarn?Materials & Matter
Unit 13Making with crossings, pressure and folds3 readings ⌄

Follow materials as a braid, a copied mark and a folding fan take shape.

  1. How can three loose strands become one braid?Arts & Music
  2. How can carbon paper copy writing without a scanner?History & Evidence
  3. How can a folding fan become wide and then fit in a pocket?Arts & Music
Unit 14Daily body functions4 readings ⌄

Sleep, hunger, temperature regulation and intestinal absorption support different parts of everyday life.

  1. How does your body know when to feel sleepy?Organisms
  2. How do you know that you are hungry or getting full?Organisms
  3. Why do we sweat when hot and shiver when cold?Organisms
  4. How do nutrients cross from your intestine into your body?Organisms
Unit 15Light and growing2 readings ⌄

A growing shoot responds to light, while a garden greenhouse changes the surroundings of its plants.

  1. How does a young shoot grow toward light?Organisms
  2. Why can a garden greenhouse be warmer than outside?Systems
Unit 16The ground beneath useful structures3 readings ⌄

Foundations, pavement and volcanic eruptions explain different interactions with the ground.

  1. How can the ground hold up a whole building?Machines
  2. What is the black material in a road?Materials & Matter
  3. What makes a volcano erupt?Earth & Space
Unit 17Turning information into something useful3 readings ⌄

A hearing aid changes a sound signal, dispatchers coordinate a response, and a browser turns downloaded descriptions into a visible page.

  1. How does a hearing aid help someone hear?Machines
  2. How does an emergency call become coordinated help?Societies
  3. How does a browser turn downloaded files into a page?Computing