Unit 1 Observing Nature

Essential Question: How do we respond to nature?

Knowledge Focus

In this unit, students will read firsthand accounts of writers’ interactions with nature and novel excerpts in which characters encounter nature. They will build schema around the following concepts:

Science

• Plants and animals, including humans, interact with and depend upon each other and their environment to satisfy their basic needs.
• Plant and animal characteristics can be affected by environment.
• Knowledge of the natural world is based on observation and inquiry.

Literature

• Nature’s beauty and conflicts with nature are recurring themes in literature. Characters reveal themselves through their responses to nature.

Enduring Understanding

The natural world elicits strong feelings and emotions in people.

Read 1: “A Bird’s Free Lunch”

Read 1: “Starting Off