Unifying Concepts and Processes
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop understanding and abilities aligned with the following concepts and processes:

• Systems, order, and organization
• Evidence, models, and explanation
• Constancy, change, and measurement
• Evolution and equilibrium
• Form and function.

Unifying Concepts and Processes
During Theme 1: Finding Patterns as Evidence, Theme 2: Doing Experiments to Describe and Compare Materials, Theme 3: Building and Testing Models, and Theme 4: Form and Function, students gain experiences aligned with the following unifying concepts and processes:

• Systems, order, and organization
• Evidence, models, and explanation
• Constancy, change, and measurement
• Evolution and equilibrium
• Form and function

A: Science as Inquiry
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry

A: Science as Inquiry
Scientific inquiry in the S.N.O.O.P.S classrooms mimics that employed in the larger scientific community. Students ask questions about objects, organisms, or events in their world; they plan and conduct investigations; they use simple lab tools to gather data, and they construct their own concepts or explanations from their observed data. An important aspect of the GALAXY curriculum is the sharing of data and ideas among students in GALAXY classrooms around the country. This gives a larger pool of information and experiences for understanding their investigations.

4th grade-Investigation and Experimentation

Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

1. differentiate observation from inference (interpretation), and know that scientists' explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe and partly from what they think about their observations.
2. measure and estimate weight, length, or volume of objects.
3. formulate predictions and justify predictions based on cause and effect relationships.
4. conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between results and predictions.
5. construct and interpret graphs from measurements.
6. follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.

5th grade-Investigation and Experimentation

5. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content the other three strands, students should "develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

1. classify objects (e.g., rocks, plant, leaves) based on appropriate criteria.
2. develop a testable question.
3. plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question, and write instructions others can follow in carrying out the procedure.
4. identify the dependent and controlled variables in an investigation.
5. identify a single independent variable in a scientific investigation and explain what will be learned by collecting data on this variable.
6. select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks, balances, and graduated cylinders) and make quantitative observations.
7. record data using appropriate graphical representation (including charts, graphs, and labeled diagrams), and identify inferences based n those data.
8. draw conclusions based on scientific evidence and indicate whether further information is needed to support a specific conclusion.
9. write a report of an investigation that includes tests conducted, data collected or evidence examined, and conclusions drawn.

B: Physical Science
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of

• Properties of materials and objects
• Position and motion of objects
• Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of

• Properties and changes of properties in matter
• Motions and forces
• Transfer of energy

B: Physical Science
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• Properties of materials and objects
• Changes of properties in matter.
• Transfer of energy
• Motion and forces

Observation, comparison, communication about, and organization of properties occur throughout the year's investigations. Students create and observe exothermic reactions, describe a mixture that appears as both a solid and a liquid, and investigate the separation properties of pigments by chromatography. They create self-propelled carts capable of traveling a set distance. Students explore and investigate the relationship between the motion, force, and momentum of small carts that they design and build.

5th Grade-Physical Sciences
1. Elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

a. when two substances react the reactants form products with properties that are different from the original reactants.

e. When substances react the atoms in the reactants are rearranged in the process of forming products.

j. scientists use differences in chemicals and physical properties of substances to separate mixtures and use substances such as dyes and acid indicators which can be extracted from natural products such as leaves.

C: Life Science
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of

• The characteristics of organisms
• Life cycles of organisms
• Organisms and environments

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of

• Structure and function of living things
• Reproduction and heredity
• Regulation and behavior
• Populations and ecosystems
• Diversity and adaptations of organisms

C: Life Science
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• The characteristics of organisms
• Organisms and environments
• Structure and function of living things
• Regulation and behavior
• Ecosystems
• Diversity and adaptations of organisms

Students describe the structures and functions of various animals, such as crayfish, that are maintained in the class. They describe stimulus and response behavior of a variety of animals. Students help solve a mystery of a "dying" marsh. An urban habitat of peregrine falcons is observed and possible adaptations by falcons to the loss of a mate while raising their young are proposed.

4th grade-Life Sciences
2. All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most food chains.
2. matter may change forms as it moves through the environment.
3. producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs, and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.

3. Living things depend on one another and their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. ecosystems can be characterized in terms of their living and nonliving components.
2. for any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3. organisms, including humans, can change the physical condition of the environment, and these changes may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental.

D: Earth and Space Science
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of

• Properties of earth materials
• Objects in the sky
• Changes in earth and sky

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of

• Structure of the earth system
• Earth's history
• Earth in the solar system

D: Earth and Space Science
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• Properties of earth materials
• Objects in the sky o Changes in earth and sky
• Structure of the earth system
• Earth's history
• Earth in the solar system

Students explore and investigate soil stratification. The relationship between Earth's history and stratification is focused on. The effect of tidal changes in a marsh is examined. Changes in the position of the real moon and stars are observed. Students create models to explain moon phasing, passage from day to night, and eclipses.

4th grade-Earth Sciences
4. The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. how to differentiate among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks by their properties and methods of formation (the rock cycle).
2. how to identify common rock-forming minerals (including quartz, calcite, feldspar, mica, and hornblende) and ore minerals using a table of diagnostic properties.
3. the composition of soils or sand helps to tell the geologic history of a region.

5. Waves, wind, water and ice shape and reshape the Earth's land surface. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. some changes in the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion (weathering, transport, and deposition), and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
2. natural processes, including freezing/thawing and growth of roots, cause rocks to break down into smaller pieces.
3. moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away in places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places.

5th grade- Earth Sciences
3. Water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. almost all of the Earth's water is present as salt water in the oceans which cover most of the Earth's surface.
2. when liquid water evaporates, it turns into water vapor (invisible) in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled, or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water.
3. water moves in the air from one place to another in the form of clouds or fog, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and falls to the Earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
4. the amount of fresh water, located in rivers, lakes, underground sources, and glaciers, is limited, and its availability can be extended through recycling and decreased use.
5. the origin of water used by their local communities.

4. Energy from the sun heats the Earth unevenly, causing air movements resulting in changing weather patterns. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

1. uneven heating of the Earth causes air movements (convection currents).
2. the influence of the ocean on weather, and the role of the water cycle in weather.
3. causes and effects of different types of severe weather.
4. how to use weather maps and weather forecasts to predict local weather, and that prediction depends on many changing variables.
5. the Earth's atmosphere exerts a pressure that decreases with distance above the Earth's surface, and is the same in all directions.

E: Science and Technology
As a result of activities in grades K-8, all students should develop

• Abilities of technological design
• Understanding about science and technology
• Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans.

E: Science and Technology
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• Abilities of technological design
• Understanding about science and technology
• Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans.

In the context of exploring a midden, students discuss the differences between human created and natural objects. Students have opportunities to design many scientific applications. They design space ships that can land on a fluid, bubble makers, tools for removing an oil spill, self propelled carts, an early warning system, and more. Computers and faxes can be used weekly to communicate results, ideas, and share designs.

F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of

• Personal health
• Characteristics and changes in populations
• Types of resources
• Changes in environments
• Science and technology in local challenges

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of

• Personal health
• Populations,resources, and environments
• Natural hazards
• Risks and benefits
• Science and technology in society

F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• Science and technology in local challenges
• Populations, resources, and environments

Students observe and explore relationships between humans and natural environments. They investigate the effects of oil pollution on an aquatic environment, and design and test ways to remove oil form water.

G: History and Nature of Science
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of

• Science as a human endeavor
• Nature of science
• History of science

G: History and Nature of Science
S.N.O.O.P.S. students develop an understanding of

• Science as a human endeavor
• Nature of science

S.N.O.O.P.S. students, on TV and in the classroom, assume the role of scientists in a variety of realistic. They ask questions, design investigations and experiments, collaborate to collect and analyze data, meet in mock scientific conventions, apply knowledge, and identify new questions throughout the year.

Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.

Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation), and know that scientists' explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe and partly from what they think about their observations.

Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question