(Elementary School Grades 1 - 8 Science and Technology Curriculum)
Primary (Grades K–3)
Science and Technology Curriculum
Understanding Life Systems
Grade 1 - Needs and Characteristics of Living Things
Grade 2 - Growth and Changes in Animals
Grade 3 - Growth and Changes in Animals
All livings things are linked together. Students can observe how living and nonliving things work in conjunction with one another. For example, take a walk through the Amazon Jungle and see the birds are in the trees; the trees offer the birds shelter. These two things are connected
Taking a walk through the African Savannah or the Amazon Jungle and seeing how things are without the introduction of humans. After the VR tour discuss how things would look different if humans were introduced into the environment, what would happen? (Can “take a walk” as a class - instruct students to go to the left, straight, to the right).
Take your class on a tour of the Australian Outback, African Savannah and/or Amazon Jungle and have students discuss the differences and similarities between the animals and/or plants in each of the environments
Have students select an animal and/or a plant and observe that animal/plant in its natural habitat. Have the student create a booklet that acknowledges where it lives, what its needs and characteristics are.
Junior (Grades 4–6)
Understanding Life Systems
Grade 4 - Habitats and Communities
Grade 6 - Biodiversity
Students will learn that living things (including humans) rely on other living things for the energy and resources they need to live. They will also investigate factors that alter various habitats and communities, including those factors that occur naturally and those that result from human action. Have students take tours of any of the destinations of the Destination disk or the Wildlife disk to further examine and review these relationships
When assessing human impacts on habitats and communities, students may be given the task of considering human actions from a variety of viewpoints pertaining to a specific VR disk
Allow students to spend a period using the cardboard viewmasters to observe either a habitat of the teachers choice or their own choice. Have students classify the organisms they come into contact with and to expand on the roles and interactions of individual species within the whole
Understanding Earth and Space Systems
Grade 6 - Space
As an opening unit exercise, have students take a tour of space using the Space disk and take a tour of the Solar System to get familiar with objects that are in the sky, looking at their form, movements and interelationships
Intermediate (Grades 7–8)
Understanding Life Systems
Grade 7→ Interactions in the Environment
Students will take a virtual tour of the existing ecosystems using the Wildlife disks. They will walk through the ecosystems on their own, exploring the entire ecosystem while taking notes of what they see (both the biotic and abiotic elements). Once this has been done, they will investigate outside forces that may disturb the balance within the ecosystem. From there students will come up with ways they can make it their personal responsibility of protecting the environment.
Understanding Earth and Systems
Grade 7 → Heat in the Environment
Students will take a tour of any area that they can enter virtually on the Destinations disks or Wildlife disks. While taking the tour, students will need to come up with possible ways in which heat can affect that environment; what would it look like, who would it affect the most, how?, what would change and how?, etc.