The Garbage unit awarded the NGSS-Design Badge

The SAIL garbage unit was awarded the NGSS Design Badge and was rated as an “Example of High Quality NGSS Design.”

Garbage Unit Overview:

Rating: Example of High Quality NGSS Design

Discipline: Physical Science, Life Science

Length: 9 week unit

Awarded the NGSS Design Badge

Unit Description: The anchoring phenomenon of this unit is that the school, home, and neighborhood make large amounts of garbage every day. In answering the driving question of the unit, “What happens to our garbage?”, students investigate a series of subquestions (e.g., “What is that smell?” and “What causes changes in the properties of garbage materials?”) that address a targeted set of physical science and life science performance expectations. Over nine weeks of instruction, students develop a coherent understanding of the structure and properties of matter to make sense of the anchoring phenomenon and to answer the driving question.

This unit was developed with a specific focus on English learners by using an engaging, local phenomenon and design principles that capitalize on the mutually supportive nature of science and language learning.

Access The yearlong fifth-grade curriculum MATERIALS