Scarsdale Public Schools

Forces and Interactions

• Create a model to demonstrate an understanding of the different strengths and directions of forces needed to balance an object.

• Plan and conduct an investigation to demonstrate how friction can affect the motion of an object.

• Investigate the motion of a pendulum and make predictions of its future motion.

• Discover the cause and effect relationship responsible for magnetic attraction and repulsion. 

• Design a magnetic device to solve a real-world problem.

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

• Demonstrate an understanding that fossils may have formed a very long time ago.

• Analyze and interpret data about animals, plants, and habitats to develop a model that shows whether a species is suited for one or more habitats.

• Use data to support a claim that being a part of a group helps some animals obtain food, water, shelter, and protection from predators.

• Use evidence from a model of an ecosystem to argue that a change in a habitat will affect the organisms living there in specific ways.      

• Balancing the constraints of time, cost, and materials, evaluate the merit of a solution to a problem caused by an environmental change that may affect the organisms in a habitat.   

Weather and Climate

• Gather and interpret weather and climate data over periods of time to predict future patterns.

• Plan and conduct an investigation to discover the relationship between the water cycle and the weather.

• Represent data in a bar graph and predict patterns in weather.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of design solutions for various weather hazards and support claims with evidence.

• Analyze and interpret climate/weather patterns of four vacation destinations to support an argument for which city is most desirable to visit.

Inheritance and Variation of Traits

• Develop a model to demonstrate an understanding that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents.

• Identify and explain how variation in traits of the same species can be beneficial for survival.  

• Use data to identify environmental factors that can change some traits of organisms and determine if the new trait gives the species a survival advantage.

• Develop models demonstrating the unique and diverse life cycles of plants and animals.

Engineering is Elementary - The Attraction is Obvious:  Designing a Maglev System

• Identify that everyday objects designed by people as solutions to problems are examples of technology

• Investigate properties of magnets

• Use the Engineering Design Process to design, test, and improve their own tabletop maglev transportation systems

• Troubleshoot and learn from failure

• Understand the central role of materials and their properties in engineering solutions