Curriculum
TEEMSS has produced 15 units aligned to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) that take full advantage of computers, sensors, and interactive models. Five units are available for each grade level (3-4, 5-6, and 7-8) that target NSES standards for Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Technology and Engineering. The Inquiry thread runs throughout all the activities. The activities for each grade level, though written for a specific age, are adaptable to other grade levels if ones curriculum requires it. Each unit contains two investigations, each with a discovery question, materials list, several trials, analysis, and further investigations. Technical hints are customized for each sensor type and manufacturer. A teacher’s version of each activity also contain discussion guides and background material.
| Standard | Grades 3-4 | Grades 5-6 | Grades 7-8 |
| Inquiry | | 1.
Sound | | Explore sound and vibrations | | sensors: microphone |
| | 6.
Water and air temperature | | Mix fluids and measure temperature changes | | sensors: temperature |
| | 11.
Air pressure | | Explore soda bottles, balloons and lungs | | sensors: gas pressure |
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|---|
| Physical Science | | 2.
Electricity | | Explore light bulbs, batteries, and wires | | sensors: voltage |
| | 7.
Levers and machines | | Learn about and design and test your own simple machines | | sensors: force |
| | 12.
Motion | | Graph, describe, and duplicate motion | | sensors: motion |
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|---|
| Life Science | | 3.
Sensing | | Compare electronic and human sensing of your environment | | sensors: temperature, light |
| | 8.
Monitoring a living plant | | Monitor a living plant in a plastic bag | | sensors: relative humidity, light |
| | 13.
Adaptation | | Explore population, selection pressure, and adaptation | | sensors: computer model |
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| Earth and Space Science | | 4.
Weather | | Observe and measure weather-related changes | | sensors: temperature, relative humidity |
| | 9.
Seasons | | Connect planetary motion to day/night cycles and seasons | | sensors: light |
| | 14.
Water Cycle | | Study water phase changes and relate to terrestrial phenomena | | sensors: relative humidity, temperature |
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| Technology and Engineering | | 5.
Design a Playground | | Study your playground and build models of several pieces of playground euipment | | sensors: force, motion |
| | 10.
Design a greenhouse | | Build and monitor a working greenhouse model | | sensors: temperature, light, relative humidity |
| | 15.
Design a measurement | | Choose something to measure and devise a way to do it | | sensors: temperature, light, force, motion, air pressure |
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View the actual curriculum units integrated with particular probeware vendors. Please note that these are web-only preview units. Go to the Portal to download the actual software for use in your class.
Customize your own activity
The new “Do It Yourself” (DIY) unit allows teachers to create, save, and share activities.
With a simple fill-in-the-blank authoring system, teachers choose from any of the sensors and standard activity tools (predictions, drawing tool, data collection, analysis, and assessment tools) to write customized activities for their curriculum,classrooms and students.
Teacher support
Each activity has a Teacher Guide that includes a discussion guide, background about the content, assessment ideas, technology information, and a suggested timeline. Teacher guides are available online and in PDF format for easy printing.
A web-based teacher reporting tool allows a teacher to review student portfolios and gather student responses for assessment and class discussion.