Unit Plan 23 (Grade K Science): How Living Things Change Earth
Kindergarten science unit where students build arguments using evidence to show how plants, animals, and humans change environments to meet needs.
Focus: Construct an argument with evidence that plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs (digging, building, growing, shelter-making).
Grade Level: K
Subject Area: Science (Earth & Space Science • Life Science)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Young scientists explore a big idea: living things don’t just live in environments—they can change them. Students observe and discuss real examples (worms making tunnels, birds building nests, people planting gardens, beavers building dams) and learn to support a simple claim with evidence. Across the week, students gather observations from photos, videos, classroom mini-investigations, and a small model-building task to explain how an organism’s needs (food, water, shelter, space) connect to the changes it makes in its environment.
Essential Questions
- How do plants and animals change their environment to meet their needs?
- What is evidence, and how does it help us make a strong argument?
- How can we use a model to show how an organism changes its environment?
- How do humans change the environment in helpful and harmful ways?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Identify examples of how plants and animals change the environment (digging holes, building nests, growing roots, making shelters).
- Describe how an organism’s needs (food, water, shelter, space) connect to the changes it makes.
- Use pictures, videos, and classroom observations as evidence to support a claim.
- Create a simple model (diorama/drawing/build) showing an organism changing its environment.
- Construct and share a short argument: “___ changes the environment by ___ to meet its need for ___. My evidence is ___.”
Standards Alignment — Kindergarten (NGSS-Aligned)
- K-ESS2-2 — Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
- Example: Use observations and photos to explain how roots change soil, how animals build shelters, and how humans create gardens or roads.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can name a plant or animal and tell how it changes the environment.
- I can explain which need the change helps meet (food, water, shelter, space).
- I can use evidence (a photo, video, or observation) to support my idea.
- I can make a model that shows the change clearly.
- I can say my claim and my evidence in a complete sentence.