Benjamin Bergman

Curriculum Planning Charts

Concept
Enduring
Understandi
ng:
Water is
vital to
human life.
Essential
Questions:
Why is
water
necessary
for life?
Why do
people tend
to live near
bodies of
water?

Standard
s

CC.1.2.1.
E Use
various
text
features
and
search
tools to
locate
key facts
or
informati
on in a
text.
CC.1.2.1.
H Identify
the
reasons
an author
gives to
support
points in
a text.

Assessment

Can students
explain why
people live near
water and how
water affects the
daily life of
humans and
shapes entire
societies?

Analyze student
writing: Are
students making
conjectures based
on their science
experiment in
order to inform
their writing? Are
students critiquing
and analyzing the
various uses of
water in order to
determine its most
significant uses.

Facts

Skills

Students
will
know:

Students will
be able to:

Humans,
as
animals,
must
consume
water to
live.
Cities
(like
Philly
and
Nigers
capital)
develop
near
water
bodies.

Explain
multiple
ways water
affects their
own lives.
Theorize
why people
live near
water.
Group
similar ideas
into
paragraphs.
Use keys to
read maps.

Problems to
pose

Activities

Why is water
important to
your own
life?

Population density
map lesson:
Students will look
at population maps
of the US and Niger
and infer that
people live near
bodies of water.
Students will learn
that cities develop
near water because
of transportation,
among other
reasons.

How is water
used in
transporting
goods and
people?
What bodies
of water are
near
Philadelphia?
Where do
you think
most people
live in Niger
(in the desert
north or
savannah
south)?

Writing an
informative piece:
Students will write
on the importance
of water. Students
will present and
publish their work.
Compare the

ingredients of
water with other
drinks.

Concept
Enduring
Understandi
ng:
Access to
water
affects how
people live.
Essential
Question:
How does
water affect
your life?
How does

Standard Assessment
s
CC.1.2.1.
B Ask and
answer
questions
about key
details in
a text.

Are students
able to write
or talk about
their
understandin
gs?

CC.1.4.1.
O Include
thoughts
and
feelings
to
describe
experienc
es and
events.

Can
students
compare and
contrast
their own
relationship
with water to
that of
Nigeriens

Facts

Skills

Students will
know:

Students
will be able
to:

Water
affects how
people live.
Not
everyone
has easy
access to
clean water.
Certain
geographic
regions, like
northern

Explain the
benefits of
having easy
access to
clean water.
Explain
what a
desert is.

Problems to
pose

Activities

Where does
your water
come from?

Observe YouTube
videos depicting
how Nigeriens
interact with water.

How is your
water
cleaned?
What do you
have to do to
get water?

What do
Analyze the Nigeriens
main idea of have to do to
informationa get water?

Write about the

uses of water in
daily life.
Read and learn
about deserts,
especially with
regards to Niger
and the United
States.

access to
water affect
the lives of
Nigeriens.

and/or other
Americans.

Niger, are
dry because
they receive
little rainfall.

l texts.
What is a
drought?

Learn about Phillys

water purification
process.
Invent (draw and
write about) a way
to retrieve water
from the ground.

Concept
Enduring
Understan
ding:
Water is
necessary
for
growing/m
aking
food.
Essential
Question:
Why is

Standards

CC.2.4.1.A.1
Order
lengths and
measure
them both
indirectly
and by
repeating
length units.

LS2.A:
Interdepend
ent

Assessmen
t
Are
students
able to
record
scientific
data?
Can
students
write about
and/or
discuss
what they
have

Facts

Skills

Students
will know:

Students
will be able
to:

Plants
need
water to
grow.
Plants
absorb
water
through
their
roots.

Take
scientific
observation
notes
describing
the
appearance
of plants.
Measure
and

Problems to
pose

Activities

What would
we eat if
there were
no water?
And what if
there were
no plants?

The main activity will

be a science
experiment in which
the students give
plants different
amounts of water to
see how water affects
growth.

How do
plants
absorb
water?
What plants

Read alouds
/discussions /activities
about how:

Plants need

water so
important
?
How does
water
affect our
food?

learned?
Relationship
s in
Ecosystems

Plants
depend
on water
and light
to grow.

Can
students
make
connection
s and
inferences
between
ideas?
Can
students
measure
plants?

Without
water,
there
would be
no food.

compare
the heights
of plants.
Draw
scientific
conclusions
based on
experiment
al results.

provide us
with food?

water to grow.
Plants produce
fruits and
vegetables and
are the base of
food chains.
Water is used to
make synthetic
foods too.
Water is
important for
food sanitation.