K
Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.
Recognize that some books and other media portray animals and plants with characteristics and behaviors they do not have in real life.
Make observations of the natural world and know that they are descriptors collected using the five senses.
Recognize that learning can come from careful observation.
1
Make observations of living things and their environment using the five senses.
Differentiate between living and nonliving things.
Distinguish common living and nonliving things in the environment.
Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
Using the five senses as tools, make careful observations, describe objects in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion, and compare their observations with others.
Ask “how do you know?” in appropriate situations.
2
Observe and describe major stages in the life cycles of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.
Observe and recognize the sequence of stages in the life cycles of common animals.
Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival.
Recognize and explain that living things are found all over Earth, but each is only able to live in habitats that meet its basic needs.
Raise questions about the natural world, investigate them in teams through free exploration and systematic observations, and generate appropriate explanations based on those explorations.
Explain how scientists alone or in groups are always investigating new ways to solve problems.
3
Classify animals into major groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, arthropods, vertebrates and invertebrates, those having live births and those which lay eggs) according to their physical characteristics and behaviors.
Describe how animals and plants respond to changing seasons.
Recognize that words in science can have different or more specific meanings than their use in everyday language; for example, energy, cell, heat/cold, and evidence.
4
Explain that although characteristics of plants and animals are inherited, some characteristics can be affected by the environment.
Recognize that animal behaviors may be shaped by heredity and learning.
Compare and contrast the major stages in the life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seed-bearing plants.
Recognize ways plants and animals, including humans, can impact the environment.
Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers.
Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them.
5
Compare and contrast the function of organs and other physical structures of plants and animals, including humans, for example: some animals have skeletons for support — some with internal skeletons others with exoskeletons — while some plants have stems for support.
Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations.
Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics.
