This Environment and Traits 5E Unit Plan is an inquiry-based unit that focuses investigating acquired and learned traits from the environment. Throughout the unit, students use evidence to explain how traits can be influenced by the environment, including diet and learning. Students explore the cause and effect relationship of environmental factors on animal and plant traits. The unit includes three parts for each of the 5E’s (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, and Evaluate) and more.

FREE UPGRADE TO GOOGLE DIGITAL RESOURCES:

• Google Slides Teacher Presentation that supports the student resources
• Google Slides Student Resources for a paperless option
• Google Form Exit Cards

Included in this Environment and Traits Science Resource

• Teacher Notes that provide an overview of the resource and explanation of the NGSS standard for Environment and Traits 3-LS3-2
• Common Misconceptions about the Environment and Traits
• Teaching Timeline available with four different options, including a correlation with the Third Grade Science Stations
• Vocabulary Cards to reinforce key terms of environment and traits throughout the unit. These are the same vocabulary cards available in the Third Grade Science Stations
• Big Idea Posters that illustrate the main concepts students will learn
• Exit Tickets in three formats: short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and multiple choice
• Google Slides Teacher Presentation that supports the student resources
• Google Slides Student Resources for a paperless option
• Google Form Exit Cards

What is the 5E Instructional Model?

The 5E Model is student-led, with the teacher acting mainly as the facilitator. Through open-ended questions, real-life experiences, guided investigations, and research, the students gain a deep understanding of the scientific topics that are covered in the lessons. Each stage of the model serves as a foundation to the next, creating a coherent model that frames lessons, activities, and units.

Find out more about the 5E Unit Plans in this blog post.

Objectives and Timeline for Each Section of the 5E Environment and Traits Unit

Engage

Objectives:

• Students will access their prior knowledge about how the environment affects the traits of living things.
• Student interest in environmental effects on traits will be elicited.
• The teacher will be able to identify student misconceptions about trait change from environmental factors.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What Is This?): 10 minutes
• Part 2 (My Experiences): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (Introducing): 20 minutes

Explore

Objectives:

• Students will work together to investigate traits of living things. They will do this by observing different types of plants and animals, comparing and contrasting traits.
• Students will gather general information about traits that are acquired from their surroundings.
• Students will begin to think about traits that organisms inherit versus those that are acquired over time.
• Students will analyze and interpret data to provide evidence that organisms have traits that are acquired from their environment.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (Check It Out): 20 minutes
• Part 2 (Watch and Read This): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (You Try It): 20 minutes

Explain

Objectives:

• Students will work collaboratively to observe and discover more traits acquired from the environment.
• Students will listen to the teacher’s explanation about the acquisition of traits.
• Students will use the new information to revise their explanations about traits acquired from the environment.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What Does It Mean?): 20 minutes
• Part 2 (How Do Traits Change?): 20 minutes
• Part 3 (Putting It All Together): 20 minutes

Extend

Objectives:

• Students will apply what they have learned about traits to a new situation.
• Students will deepen their understanding of traits, gaining a more generalized knowledge of these specific scientific concepts.
• The teacher will resolve all persisting student misconceptions about how traits are acquired versus inherited.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (Where Are the Traits?): 20 minutes
• Part 2 (Show What You Know): 20 minutes
• Part 3 (Have Fun With It): 20 minutes

Evaluate

Objectives:

• Students will evaluate their own understanding of how traits can be changed by the environment.
• Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the concepts and vocabulary.
• The teacher will encourage students to ask questions that could lead to future investigations.

Parts and Duration:

• Part 1 (What I Know): 15 minutes
• Part 2 (Showing Variation): 15 minutes
• Part 3 (Going Forward): 15 minutes