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Grades K–2 · Semester 5 · 46 readings

Connect people, places and ideas

Begin with making useful things. Follow the connected explanations through what changes as we keep noticing, keeping each small group together and taking time to understand its illustrations.

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One possible pace is 2–3 explanations a week over 16 weeks. Keep each small unit together, revisit its pictures and allow more time whenever an idea needs it.

Unit 1Making useful things4 readings ⌄

Paper fibers, a casting mold, changing wood and overlapping roof pieces reveal how materials and arrangements become useful.

  1. How can tiny plant fibers become a sheet of paper?Materials & Matter
  2. How does liquid metal become a solid part with a special shape?Materials & Matter
  3. Why can a wooden door fit tightly in damp weather?Materials & Matter
  4. Why does a roof have overlapping shingles?Everyday Life
Unit 2How everyday shapes are made3 readings ⌄

Discover how pushing, pressing and matching help people make useful objects.

  1. How does a lump of dough become long spaghetti?Everyday Life
  2. How does a coin get its raised picture?Everyday Life
  3. How can a new wheel fit a toy made long ago?Everyday Life
Unit 3Changes around us5 readings ⌄

Ripening fruit, autumn leaves, moving air, ocean waves and a melting treat connect familiar changes with their causes.

  1. Why does a green banana turn yellow and sweeter?Organisms
  2. Where do autumn leaf colors come from?Organisms
  3. What makes the wind blow?Earth & Space
  4. Does the same water travel with every ocean wave?Earth & Space
  5. Why does a scoop of ice cream soften in a warm room?Materials & Matter
Unit 4Small wonders before lunch2 readings ⌄

Watch ordinary food and school routines change.

  1. How does a drink become an ice pop?Everyday Life
  2. How does a school get so many lunches ready?Everyday Life
Unit 5Marks, joins and loops4 readings ⌄

A pencil, crayon, glue stick and knitted fabric work through different interactions between small parts.

  1. How does a pencil leave a dark line?Everyday Life
  2. How does a crayon color paper?Everyday Life
  3. How does a glue stick join two papers?Everyday Life
  4. How do yarn loops make knitted fabric?Materials & Matter
Unit 6Small parts with useful jobs4 readings ⌄

Comb teeth, eyelashes, feather branches and petal cells make familiar changes possible.

  1. How does a comb help untangle hair?Everyday Life
  2. How do eyelashes help protect your eyes?Organisms
  3. Why does a bird smooth its feathers with its beak?Organisms
  4. Why do some flowers open and close?Organisms
Unit 7Everyday designs that help us4 readings ⌄

A hand fan, textured paving, page numbers and crushable foam help people in very different ways.

  1. How does a hand fan help you feel cooler?Everyday Life
  2. Why are some sidewalk tiles covered in bumps?Societies
  3. How do page numbers help us find our place?Language
  4. How can the foam inside a helmet soften a bump?Materials & Matter
Unit 8Motion from small parts3 readings ⌄

A seesaw, a toy boat and a pinwheel connect familiar shapes with turning, floating and moving air.

  1. How does a seesaw move one end up when the other goes down?Machines
  2. Why can a hollow toy boat float?Everyday Life
  3. How does wind make a pinwheel spin?Machines
Unit 9Flexible parts and useful routes3 readings ⌄

A zip tie, a rubber band and a funnel work because of their internal shapes and paths.

  1. How does a zip tie tighten and stay tight?Everyday Life
  2. Why does a stretched rubber band pull back?Materials & Matter
  3. How does a funnel guide water into a bottle?Everyday Life
Unit 10Bodies, mixtures, puddles and trades4 readings ⌄

Sensory messages, settling grains, evaporating water and shared money explain different changes in everyday life.

  1. How can your skin notice warmth and cold?Organisms
  2. Why can muddy water become clearer when it stands still?Materials & Matter
  3. How can a puddle disappear without boiling?Earth & Space
  4. How does money help people trade with different people?Societies
Unit 11Sky pictures and ancient tools2 readings ⌄

Viewpoint makes star patterns; shaped material makes a useful edge.

  1. How can scattered stars make a picture in the sky?Earth & Space
  2. How could a broken stone become a useful tool?History & Evidence
Unit 12A moving body, a moving instrument2 readings ⌄

Nervous messages coordinate a startled body, while collisions make a shaker sound.

  1. Why can a sudden fright make your heart beat faster?Organisms
  2. Why does a shaker rattle when it moves?Arts & Music
Unit 13Paths and marks on the Moon2 readings ⌄

Gravity curves a planet’s path; a collision leaves a crater.

  1. Why do planets keep going around the Sun?Earth & Space
  2. Why does the Moon have so many round dents?Earth & Space
Unit 14Tools that carried ink and movement2 readings ⌄

A quill guides liquid and a mill passes water’s movement into a useful job.

  1. How could a feather become a pen?History & Evidence
  2. How could flowing water help a mill grind grain?History & Evidence
Unit 15What changes as we keep noticing2 readings ⌄

A repeated smell and a moving viewpoint reveal different features of perception.

  1. Why can a smell become less noticeable after a while?Organisms
  2. Why can a faraway mountain seem to follow the car?Organisms