Season 4 Curriculum Connections

Transcription

1 Season 4 Curriculum Connections Finding Stuff Out addresses topics from all strands of the Ontario Curriculum for grades 1-6. Specifically the show addresses: Understanding Life Systems 12 episodes (Grades 1-6) Understanding Matter and Energy 6 episodes (Grades 2-6) Understanding Earth and Space Systems 6 episodes (Grades 1, 2, 6) Understanding Structures and Mechanisms 2 episodes (Grades 1, 2, 4) Ep1 - NATURE S BRIGHT IDEAS The Big Question: If fireflies glow in the dark, why can t we? Synopsis: From lightning to lightning bugs, nature creates its own light in a spectacular variety of ways. Zoey discovers that we humans have also learned to harness nature s elements to light up our lives. My Great Challenge: In the dark, challengers have to use black lights to find bioluminescent fish. In the Field: Zoey goes to a bioluminescence lab to understand how creatures glow in the dark. Big Idea in STEM: Living things and the environment create light in a spectacular variety of ways. Even though humans can t produce light like fireflies do, we ve learned to harness nature s elements to light up our lives. Grade 6: Understanding Earth and Space Science: Space Grade 6: Matter and Energy: Electricity and Electrical Devices Ep2 - WHERE DOES FOOD COME FROM The Big Question: Where would we get food from if there were no grocery stores? Synopsis: Zoey in her quest to make her own egg-salad sandwich from scratch finds out where different foods come from, and how consumer choices (such as eating locally) can help the environment. But her biggest challenge is taking care of all the egg-laying chickens she borrows!

2 My Great Challenge: Challengers compete to see who can guess where edibles like cinnamon, salt, and chocolate come from. In the Field: Zoey visits a rooftop urban farmer to learn how we can grow our own food in the city. Big Idea in STEM: By understanding where food comes from and how it s made, people can make better environmental choices when it comes to food. Ep3 - POISON AND VENOM The Big Question: What is poison? Synopsis: Zoey braves scorpions and tarantulas to discover why some animals have poison or venom and to learn how we humans can protect ourselves. My Great Challenge: In a carnival-style arcade game, teams use tarantulashaped squirt guns to knock down prey with their liquid venom. But like actual tarantulas, they have to be careful about how much venom they use, so they don t run out. In the Field: Zoey goes mushroom hunting with an expert who shows her how to identify poisonous fungi. Big Idea in STEM: Many animals and plants have poison or venom for survival. We humans need to be careful around plants and animals that contain these substances. Grade 6: Understanding Life Systems: Biodiversity Ep4 - EXTREME COLD The Big Question: Can I freeze myself and then come back to life? Synopsis: Why do things change when they re frozen? Zoey risks ice cream brain freeze to find out with a little help from her friends in the Arctic and a scientist who works at the North Pole. She finds out that some animals can survive being frozen, and that Inuit have invented ingenious strategies to help us humans survive in extreme cold.

3 My Great Challenge: To understand how blubber keeps animals warm, challengers put on gloves filled with lard and go fishing in a tub of ice water. In the Field: Zoey visits a sub-zero climate chamber where machines are tested for their endurance in the cold. (And of course, there may be a few snowballs thrown along the way.) Big Idea in STEM: Extreme cold can be dangerous, but some animals and plants can adapt to it. Throughout human history, our species has used ingenuity to adapt to cold as well. Grade 1: Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Daily and Seasonal Changes Ep5 - HOT STUFF The Big Question: Why does heat make food cook? Synopsis: After burning a batch of cookies, Zoey is determined to find out why heat makes some things melt and others burn or even explode! A scientist guest will explode Gummi bears and shoot a tennis ball from a cannon, while Zoey finds out why cooking makes food easier to digest. My Great Challenge: Challengers compete to see who can generate the most heat using friction. In the Field: Zoey visits a confectioner to understand how sugar melts and hardens into candy. Mmmm Big Idea in STEM: Heat can change things in amazing ways from changes of state and explosions to the heating of our atmosphere. Heat energy affects many aspects of life on Earth. Grade 2: Understanding Matter and Energy: Properties of Liquids and Solids Grade 2: Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Air and Water in the Environment Grade 3: Understanding Matter and Energy: Forces Causing Movement Grade 5: Understanding Matter and Energy: Properties of and Changes in Matter

4 Ep6 - CREEPY CRITTERS The Big Question: Can animals be evil? Synopsis: Scary animals might seem evil, but after meeting a bunch of creepy critters close up, Zoey finds out that they re just doing what they need to do to survive. My Great Challenge: Challengers pretend to be cockroaches gathering food but they can only move safely while the lights are off. Once Zoey turns on the lights, they have to race back to base. Last roach back to base is out! In the Field: Zoey goes to the aquarium where she swims with stingrays and feeds piranhas. Big Idea in STEM: Many of the Earth s scariest creatures are actually just trying to survive but their unique adaptations can make them seem pretty creepy to us! Ep7 - SQUISHY ANIMALS The Big Question: What would we look like without bones? Synopsis: How does an octopus walk? Why do snails have shells? Zoey investigates a variety of soft-bodied invertebrates including leeches! -- to find out how squishy animals get along without bones. My Great Challenge: It s a slug race! Challengers cover themselves in slime and compete to see who s the fastest slug. In the Field: At the aquarium, Zoey handles jellyfish and meets an octopus that can squish itself into tight spaces. Big Idea in STEM: Soft-bodied invertebrates have unique adaptations that help them to survive, but there are also some major challenges to being squishy.

5 Ep8 - DARKNESS The Big Question: Do carrots really help you see in the dark? Synopsis: To overcome her fear of the dark, Zoey investigates why it gets dark, and learns how animals and plants have evolved to adapt to darkness. My Great Challenge: To understand how owls hunt at night, Zoey blindfolds the challengers and has them hunt for squeaky stuffed animals. In the Field: Zoey and a bat expert go on a nighttime bat-finding expedition. Big Idea in STEM: Darkness means there is little to no light. Darkness influences all life forms on Earth. Grade 1: Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Daily and Seasonal Changes Grade 6: Understanding Earth and Space Science: Space Ep9 - STUFF THAT STICKS The Big Question: Why is there sticky stuff? Synopsis: We often think that sticky is icky, but Zoey finds out that nature and technology use stickiness in all sorts of useful ways. From snot and glue to burrs and Velcro, the world needs sticky stuff. My Great Challenge: Challengers compete to make their gecko mascots climb a wall using different-sized magnets. In the Field: Zoey visits an aeronautics lab to find out about glue so strong it can hold an airplane together. Big Idea in STEM: Sticky substances and materials have many uses both in nature and by humans. Grade 2: Understanding Matter and Energy: Properties of Liquids and Solids Grade 5: Understanding Matter and Energy: Properties of and Changes in Matter

6 Ep10 - INTO THE WOODS The Big Question: Do we need forests? Synopsis: Zoey zip-lines through the woods to discover how forests are important for animals, provide raw materials for useful products, and keep our planet healthy. Some forest critters even come visit her in her studio! My Great Challenge: Challengers compete to identify which everyday items from Ping-Pong balls to electric guitars come from the forest. (Hint: all of them do!) In the Field: Zoey goes to the woods of British Columbia, where a forest expert helps her understand why the earth has different kinds of forests. Big Idea in STEM: forests are a home for many plants and animals, a source of oxygen to breathe, as well can be a source of wood and paper and even medicines. Grade 1: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms: Materials, Objects and Everyday Structures Grade 2: Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Air and Water in the Environment Ep11 - DID I REALLY SEE THAT? The Big Question: How do illusions occur? Synopsis: From camouflage to placebo effects to mirages in the desert, the world is full of things that trick our brain. Zoey investigates the science behind the illusions with help from twin scientists who make her think she s seeing double. My Great Challenge: Kid magicians compete to see who has the better illusion tricks. In the Field: Zoey visits a professional magician to understand how our eyes can deceive us. Big Idea in STEM: There is a lot of cool science that can fool our senses and trick our brains.

7 Ep12 - OUCH! The Big Question: Why is there pain? Synopsis: Cuts, bee stings, broken bones no one likes pain. But Zoey discovers that pain is actually useful it s our body s way of telling us if we re hurt, sick, or in danger. My Great Challenge: Challengers pretend to be doctors as Zoey quizzes them about how to treat different kinds of pain (whether with ice, heat, lotion, or knock-knock jokes.) In the Field: At the hospital, Zoey and her brother meet a doctor specializing in anesthesia and pain management. It s a sibling competition to see which of them is more resistant to pain. Big Idea in STEM: Pain is the body s way of telling us that we are hurt, sick, or in danger. Ep13 - INVENTIONS The Big Question: Is there anything left to discover or invent? Synopsis: Not only is the world full of ingenious inventions many of them were invented by kids! Zoey meets the next generation of Einsteins, to find out what they re inventing or discovering. My Great Challenge: Team Newton and Team Archimedes compete to see who can discover the purpose of weird and unusual inventions. In the Field: Zoey goes to a national science fair to meet kid inventors who definitely do think there s plenty left to discover and invent. Big Idea in STEM: Humans have been discovering and inventing things since the dawn of our species, there's still lots more to discover and invent, and best of all: kids can make great inventions and discoveries too! Grade 2: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms: Movement Grade 4: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms: Pulleys and Gears Grade 6: Understanding Earth and Space Science: Space Grade 6: Matter and Energy: Electricity and Electrical Devices Produced by Apartment 11 Productions Available in Canada from: McNabb Connolly info@mcnabbconnolly.ca