Inquiry (Natural Sciences)

Unit 3: Who We Are

What is FORCE?

A force is a push or a pull, that means, If I push on something or pull on it, then I am applying a force to it. When the wind pushes a sailing boat through the water, it is exerting a force. When gravity pulls an apple towards the ground,  that is a force as well. Forces can make things move, change their speed, or change their shape. Some forces act when two things touch, for example when a person kicks a football. Other forces act over a distance, such as the pull of gravity, or a magnet pulling a piece of metal. 

Here are some common examples of forces which you see in your everyday:

• A football is kicked harder. It moves faster later after some time its force decreases due to friction.
• A moving bike stops when brakes are applied.
• A bull is pulling the cart due with force.
• Two team of the players are pulling with enough force the rope in a tug of war game.
• A man pulls the door of the room.

Do you want to know more about Force? You can watch these videos!

Force 

Magnetic Force

Gravity, Force and Work

 Newton's 3 Laws of Motion

  

Let’s play different games about Force HERE!

What is GRAVITY?

Gravity represents the attraction between objects. All objects with mass are affected by gravity. Gravity acts like a magnet — pulling objects together. 

The Earth has gravity. Gravity holds everything close to this planet. Trees, water, animals, buildings, and the air we breathe are all held here by gravity. All of the planets, their moons, and the stars in the universe have gravity. Even our own bodies have gravity!. The Earth's gravity is far stronger than our own so we don't notice the gravity our bodies possess.

You can watch videos about gravity in these links:

Defining Gravity 

What is Gravity? 

These are some interesting facts about gravity:

• Objects with mass are attracted to each other, this is known as gravity.
• Gravity keeps Earth and the other planets in our solar system in orbit around the Sun. It also keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth.
• Tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational effects of the Moon and Sun.
• Because Mars has a lower gravity than Earth, a person weighing 90 kilograms on Earth would only weigh 34 kilograms on Mars.

Do you want to know more interesting facts about Gravity? Check them out HERE!

 Lifestyle Choices

Central Idea: Lifestyle decisions affect how body systems work, impacting health and survival.

In this Unit of Inquiry, we will learn more about how the body works and focus on the skeletal, muscular and nervous system. 

Let's start with the skeletal system! 

The skeletal system refers to the bones and joints in the human body. On the right you can see a human skeleton. 

Did you know that..?

• that babies at birth have more bones than an adult? We are born with 300 bones and some of these fuse together to end up with 206 bones.

• The human skeletal system has six major functions including the production of blood cells, for support, for movement, for protection, for storage of ions and regulation of hormones. 

• The longest bone in the human body is the thigh bone called femur. The smallest one is found in the (middle) ear and is called the "staples bone". It is only 2,8 millimeters long.

• The area of our body with the most bones is the hand where we can find 54 bones.  

• Our teeth are part of the skeletal system, but not counted as bones.

• Bones mostly have a strong and dense outer layer, followed by a spongy and light layer. The middle contains a soft and flexible substance called bone marrow.

• The area where our bones meet are called joints. Some joints have no movement (for example in our cranium), while others allow a wide range of movement like the hip joints.

• Between two bones we find a tissue called ligament.

Now, learn more about the bones in our body by clicking on THIS link!

Skeleton Game 1

Skeleton Game 2

Skeleton Quiz

Skeleton Quiz 2

Now let's continue with the muscular system...

Watch this video about muscles! 

Why do we need muscles?

There are over 650 muscles in the human body. We not only need muscles to move, but also for our organs to work. Some muscles are controlled by our thoughts, while others are involuntary, that means, they work even if we don't control them by our thoughts. 

How do muscles work?

Muscles work by expanding and contracting.
They have long, thin fibers that are grouped into bundles. When a muscle fiber gets a signal from the brain, energy is released to
either contract or relax the muscle.

Many of our muscles come in pairs. They allow us to move back and forth. An example is the biceps and triceps in our arms:

When the biceps contracts, the muscle fibres slide together to make a fatter shape. When this happens, the triceps will relax and the muscle fibers get longer and thinner. This process allows our arm to bend. When we want to straighten our arm back out, the biceps will relax and the triceps will contract. 

Types of Muscles:

• smooth muscles - These muscles are also called involuntary muscles. You cannot control these muscles. Your brain and body tell these muscles what to do without you even thinking about it. Smooth muscles work all over your body, for example in your stomach or bladder.

• cardiac muscles - This is the muscle that makes up the heart. Like smooth muscles, this one also works by itself with no help from you. It contracts to pumpl blood out and then relax to let blood back in after it has circulated through the body.

• skeletal muscles - These are the muscles we use to move around. They are voluntary muscles, because you can control them. For example, when you decide to kick the ball, your brain sends a signal and your leg will bend. Skeletal muscles are connected to the bone by tendons.   

When we practice an action over and over again, we get what is called muscle memory. It allows us to become more skilled at certain activities such as sports and music. As we practice, our muscles tune themselves to become more precise in their motions and to do exactly what our brain wants them to do. So remember, practice makes perfect! Muscles and Exercise When we exercise we work our muscles allowing them to become bigger and stronger. Exercise helps keep your muscles strong and flexible. If you don't use your muscles they can atrophy, or shrink and become weak.

Read more at: http://www.ducksters.com/science/muscles.php
This text is Copyright © Ducksters. Do not use without permission.

For more facts about the different systems in the human body, click here!

Sources: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/humanbody/skeletonbones.html

http://www.ducksters.com/science/muscles.php

http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=152&id=2457

And, what about the Nervous System?

Tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, thinking, dreaming, breathing, heart beating, moving, running, sleeping, laughing, singing, remembering, feeling pain or pleasure, painting, writing … you couldn’t do any of these things without your Nervous System!

What is the Nervous System?

 
Believe it or not,it’s the control center for your entire body! It is made up of your brain, your spinal cord, and an enormous network of nerves that thread throughout your body.

Your brain uses information it receives from your nerves to coordinate all of your actions and reactions. Without it, you couldn’t exist!

What are nerves? 

They’re the thin threads of nerve cells, called neurons that run throughout your body. Bundled together, they carry messages back and forth, just the way that telephone wires do!.  

Sensory nerves send messages to the brain and generally connect to the brain through the spinal cord inside your backbone. Motor nerves carry messages back from the brain to all the muscles and glands in your body.

  Click HERE if you want to know more about it!

Enjoy learning about the Nervous System through these games

Brain Jigsaw

Nervous System game 1

Nervous System game 2 

Test your knowledge HERE!

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Unit 2: How the World Works

Central Idea: Changes in the Earth´s structure affect landscapes and peoples´ life.

Tectonic Plates

Ice Age Video

Group work

Find information about your topic:

TSUNAMI 1

TSUNAMI 2

ICE MELTING 1

ICE MELTING 2

TORNADO 1

TORNADO VIDEO

FLOODS 1

FLOODS 2

LANDSLIDE 1

LANDSLIDE 2

EARTHQUAKE

EARTHQUAKE VIDEO

 

Structure of the Earth:

The Earth is made up by 4 layers: The inner and outer core, the mantle and the crust. 

The inner core is a 2,500 km wide “metal-ball”, mainly made out of iron. The temperature ranges from 5,000 °C to 6,000 °C. Its state of matter is solid and it stays that way because of the enormous pressure surrounding it.

The outer core consists of iron, nickel, sulphur and oxygen and is 5,150 km deep. This layer is liquid and it flows around the center of the Earth. The temperature varies from 4,000 °C to 6,000 °C. 

The mantle is made of iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium and aluminum and the temperature is between 1,400 °C and 3,000 °C. It is found 2,890 km below the surface. The lower part is made from solid rock and the upper part is made from both, solid and melted (liquid) rock. 

The thinnest layer of the Earth is called the crust, the layer that humans live on. The temperature is around 22 °C. The layer between the ocean is the oceanic crust and about 8 km thick, made mainly from a rock called basalt. Under land masses we find the continental crust, which is 8 km to 70 km thick and made from a rock called granite. 

Source: http://www.ngkids.co.uk/science-and-nature/structure-of-the-earth 

The Components of Our Planet

Everyday, just in this moment you are in contact with the three principal components of the Earth:

The Atmosphere, the Hydrosphere and the Geosphere.

The Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is a gaseous covering around our planet. It is about 500 km thick and is formed by a mixture of several gases. This includes oxygen, a gas necessary for life for the majority of living things on Earth.

The Hydrosphere: 
The hydrosphere is all the water on our planet. This includes oceans, rivers, lakes, lagoons, underground water, polar ice, and the water found as vapor in the atmosphere. Water is our most abundant resource, and it covers most of the Earth's surface.

The Geosphere:
The geosphere is the solid part of the Earth. It is made up of the continents, islands, mountains, and all the land at the bottom of rivers, lakes, and oceans. The geosphere includes the interior of our planet, too.

States of Matter:

Watch this video about states of matter!

Matter is all around us. Matter is the air you are breathing. Matter is the computer you are reading from now. Matter is the stuff you touch and see. And it is more. Matter is defined as anything that has mass and takes up space.

Matter is found in 3 States of Matter: solid, liquid and gas.

So what is matter made of? All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are the smallest particle of matter. They are so small that you cannot see them with your eyes or even with the standard microscope.

Solids: 

Solids are composed of atoms packed tightly together (see picture below). The matter is packed so tight that it prevents you from moving through it, for example you cannot walk through a solid wall. 

Liquids:

In liquids there is a space between the atoms and they move slightly all of the time. Liquids flow or pour and can take on the shape of a container. Even water in a river or a lake has a kind of container, so that the water stays inside of it and floods don't occur. 

Gasses:

Gasses are always moving. There is so much space between the atoms in gas that you can move around them easily. When you walk from one side of the room to the other, you have walked through many different gases that make up our air. Gases can be compressed (that means put) into a smaller space, like when you compress air into a balloon.

Source: http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/matter/facts.cfm

Unit 1: Sharing the planet

 

Central Idea: Living organisms including humans depend on natural resources and transform them to meet their needs.

What is an ecosystem?

The first thing you need to have clear is what an ecosystem is. Watch this video to get a first idea!

The plants and animals that are found in a particular location are referred to as an ecosystem. These plants and animals depend on each other to survive. Not only do they interact with each other, they also interact with the non-living parts of the environment like the sun or soil. In an ecosystem, each organism has its own role to play. 

Ecosystems come in indefinite sizes. It can exist in small areas such as underneath a rock, a pond or lake, or it can exist in large forms such as an entire rain forest. Technically, the Earth can be called a huge ecosystem.

By the way, scientist have made a list of the most important and biggest ecosystems on Earth. Have a look here! 

Food chains:

In food chains we describe in which way living things interact between each other. On the photo on the right hand side for example, you can see how the flowers provides food for the caterpillar, the frog eats the caterpillar, the snake eats the frog and finally the owl eats the snake.

In a food chain, we can differantiate between producers and consumers.

Do you remember from last year? Now take a moment to think.

Are plants producers or consumers? And animals... Are they producers or consumers?  

....
...
.

I hope you got it right! Here's the answer:

Plants are producers, because they produce their own food. They do this by photosynthesis, a process you got to know in Forms 3.

And of course, animals are consumers, because they cannot produce their own food (they consume). 
There are three types of consumers: 

1. herbivores: animals that only eat plants.
2. carnivores: animals that only eat other animals.
3. omnivores: animals that eat both, plants and animals.

 

Take this quiz to check what you have learned about food chains!

Natural resources:

Natural resources are the basis of life on earth. They include water, land, fruit, vegetables, animals, soils, rocks, forests, minerals - basically everything that comes from the earth. That is why we say that they are natural which means they were not created or transformed by humans. 

Every item in your home was once made from a natural resource: The tea cup, table, clothes, ...

Natural resources are all connected in a way. Therefore if one is taken away, it will affect the quality of all others. For example, if water is eliminated from an area, the vegetation, soils, animals and even the air in that area will be affected negatively.

You can divide natural resources in two groups: 
Renewable and non-renewable resources    

Renewable resources:

We call a natural resource renewable, when it is constantly available or if it can be renewed, that means replaced. Animals for example belong into this group, because they reproduce, but also the sun or the winds are renewable resources.


Renewable resources that come from living things are called organic renewable resources.

The ones that come from non-living things are called inorganic renewable resources. 

  
Non-renewable resources:

Non-renewable resources are the ones that cannot be easily replaced once they are destroyed. They take a very long time to form naturally. In the diagram you can see that fossil fuels are part of this group (What are fossil fuels?). These, for example, take up to centuries! 

Non-renewable resources that come from living things are called organic non-renewable resources.

The ones that come from non-living things are called inorganic non-renewable resources. 

Raw materials:

Nowadays we use natural resources and transform them into raw materials. For instance, we use a sheep (a natural resource) and take its wool (= raw material) to produce clothes. The end product depends on the needs of the consumers. Consumers are the ones that consume or use the end product - you for example!

Natural resource   raw material end product

Natural Resources Game

Animal adaptations:

Game 1 - Animal Needs

Game 2 - Mission Adaptation
Adaptation Game
Adaptation Game 2

Animal classification:

Click here for an overview of how to classify animals. 

Game 1 - Producers & consumers

Sources:

http://www.kidport.com/reflib/science/animals/animalindexinv.htm

http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-an-ecosystem.html

http://www.ducksters.com/science/ecosystems/food_chain_and_web.php
http://www.eschooltoday.com/natural-resources/what-is-a-natural-resource.html