This blog is focused on the contents of Science in the current Spanish curriculum. It contains the Science subject contents for the 2nd cycle (3rd and 4th Grade) of Primary Education.
The main idea of this blog is to help teachers and students to understand that teaching Science can be more fun.
The Universe The universe is a name for all matter and energy. It includes The Earth (our planet), other planets, stars, satellites and comets, the Solar System and other galaxies. It has other names such as the cosmos or the world.
The Universe is full of astronomical bodies. We can classify them in two big groups:
luminous astronomical bodies: They give off light and heat. For example: Stars.
non-luminous astronomical bodies: They don't give off light; they only reflect the light from the stars. For example: planets, satellites and comets reflect light from the Sun and other stars.
Sometimes people name the Universe like Solar System or The Milky Way, but they are not the same. Universe, The Milky Way and The Solar System. Do you understand the difference between them? No? Ok. We will try to explain the differences: The Earth is our planet. It is one of the planets of our Solar System; The Solar System is a small part of our Galaxy (the Milky Way); and the Milky Way is a Galaxy of the Universe. Our Earth orbits the Sun in our Solar System. Our Sun is one star among the billions in the Milky Way Galaxy. Our Milky Way Galaxy is one among the billions of galaxies in our Universe. You are unique in the Universe!
Do you understand it now? Not yet? Ok, we will learn more... The Universe is made up of billions of galaxies. NASA's telescopes allow us to study these galaxies in detail. The Hubble Space Telescope made the one of the most beautiful images of the universe called the Hubble Extreme Deep Field. Soon the James Webb Space Telescope will be exploring galaxies forming at teh very beginning of the universe. This is the famouse Hubble Extreme Deep Field made by the NASA. Every spot is a galaxy.
One of these Galaxies is The Milky Way (Vía Láctea in Spanish). It is made up of between 200 and 400 billion stars. The Milky Way is a big galaxy but there are some galaxies much bigger, like our neighbour Andromeda Galaxy (Galaxia de Andromeda in Spanish).
One of these hundreds of billions of stars is our Sun. the Sun is the centre of our Solar System.
The Solar Systemis a part of the Milky Way. It consists of: the Sun and other astronomical bodies like planets (including the Earth), asteroids and comets that orbits the Sun and other like satellites that orbit the planets.
For example: The Earth is a planet that orbits the Sun, and the Moon is a satellite that orbits the Earth.
Here, there is a picture of our galaxy, The Milky Way. Can you find the Solar System?
What we used to study is our Solar System, so here there are some basic notions about it: There are eight planets orbiting the Sun:
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet of the Solar System.
Venus is a rocky planet and teh second closest planet to the Sun.
The Earth is our planet. It is called the Blue Planet because it has a lot of water.
Mars is a rocky planet and it is called "The Red Planet" because it has a lot of iron oxide.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is a gaseous planet.
Saturn is the second larges planet in the Solar System. It is a gaseous planet and it is famous by its ring system, that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with rocks and dust.
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System.
Neptune: is the farthest planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous planet and it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass.
Pluto was considered a planet between 1845 and 2006. In 2006 Pluto was not considered a planet anymore. However, in the 19th Century (between 1807 and 1845) some astronomical bodies such as Ceres, Pallas and Vesta were considered as planets.
Here you can find a song about the planets for children. It is very easy to understand.
Mineralsare natural materials. They can be part of rocks, animal bones and shells.
There are minerals on the Earth's surface and under the ground.
Minerals have different:
Shape:Some minerals have a regular hsaape, like pyrite. Others have an irregular shape,like turquoise or quartz.
Colour: Each mineral has a typical colour or colours.
Malachite is green, marble is white and others can be severeal colours, like quart.
Shiny or dull: Some minerals are shiny, like pyrite. Others are dull, like chalk.
Hard or soft (hardness):Diamond is the hardest mineral. Gypsum is the softest.
There is a scale of hardness for minerals called the Mohs scale.
Some examples of classification of minerals are:
Gypsum is a white or red mineral. It is dull and soft.
Pyrite is a cube shaped mineral. It is grey and shiny.
We use minerals like gypsum to build buildings.
We use minerals like diamonds, gold or silver to make jewellery.
Pyrite is known as fool's gold because it looks like real gold.
Minerals are very useful in everyday life.
If tou look around your home and on the street you can find minerals everywhere.
There are minerals in your bathroom (talcum powder), in your pencil (graphite), we can find gold, silver and quartz in our digital watches, rubies, emeralds and diamonds in our jewellery. We use gypsum to make plaster casts for broken bones and copper to make pans, electric cables and coins.
Rocks are materials made up of minerals.
They form the solid part of the Earth.
Some examples of rocks are clay, marble, clay and granite
Some rocks are made up on fonly one mineral. For example, marble is made up of calcite.
Many rocks are made up of a mixture of minerals. For example, granite is made up of feldspar, mica and quartz.
Rocks can be hard, like marble, or soft, like clay.
They can be different colours: coal is black, Marble can be several different colours. Petroleum is a liquid rock
We dig mines to obtain rocks that are under the ground. For example, coal.
We dig quarries to obtain rocks, that are on the surface. For example, granite.
Some kind of rocks (like slate, marble and granite) are used for building (in constructions). For example, granite is used to make walls. Clay is used to make bricks. Slate is used to make roof tiles.
Other materials, like coal or petroleum, is used for fuel. When they burn they give off heat.
In industry. Petroleum is transformed into plastics, paint and fertilizers.
For decoration. Marble is used to make statues and ornaments.
For example the famous statue David of Michelangelo Buonarotti is made up of a huge block of marble.
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
Another classification of animals could be by the way they move. Animals can:
Walk:
Almost all mammals move walking. We have to except some aquatic mammals, like dolphins, sharks or whales; and the bat, maybe the only mammal who can fly.
Some amphibians
Some birds.
Fly:
Almost all birds move flying. Some birds, as for instance the penguin cannot fly. We have mentioned before the bat (a mammal).
Swim:
All fishes move swimming.
Some aquatic mammals move swimming.
Some anphibians can swim.
Crawl along the ground:
Some anphibians move crawling along the ground. They do not have legs
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
All animals need to eat food. We can classify animals, according to the food they eat, into three groups:
Herbivores: These animals eat plants. They eat different parts of plants: roots, leaves and fruits. They have special teeth to help them cut and cheww plants. For example: Deer, cows, horses, ponnies and rabbits are herbivores.
Carnivores: These animals eat other animals. They hunt and eat meat. They have sharp teeth. They have excellent eyesight. For example: Foxes, eagles, pumas and lions are carnivores.
Omnivores: These animals eat plants and other animals. Bears and chimpanzees are omnivores.
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
One way for classificating animals can be the way they are born. In that way, we can classify animals into two groups:
Viviparous: They are born from their mother's womb.
Oviparous: They are born from eggs.The female animals lay the eggs. Some animals, like birds, then keep their eggs warm; others, like sardines and flies do not keep their eggs warm.
Viviparous animals depends on their mothers when they are a babies. They need to drink their mother's milk.
However, some oviparous animals are independent when they are born. For examples snakes leave their eggs and baby snakes have to move around and find some food.
Other oviparous animals, like birds, cannot lookafter themselves. The adult animals stays with their babies. They feed and protect them.
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
Vertebrates are animals with a skeleton. The skeleton is made up of bones. The bones are joined together to hold the body up. They protect some parts of the body.
Vertebrate bodies have several parts:
The head: Vertebrates have a skull to protect their brain.
The trunk: They have a spinal column, ribs, shoulders and hips in the trunk.
The limbs: Some vertebrates have legs. Others have wings or fins. Some vertebrates like snakes, have no limbs. Limbs' bones should be long.
The tail: This is an extension of the spinal column. Very small vertebrae make up the tail.
Have a look to the following videos:
Invertebrates
Invertebrates animals have no bones (no skeleton).
Some invertebrates have a protective covering:
Shells are hard and strongs. For instance: a mussel
Exoskeleton can be thick or thin: For instace:
Crabs have thick exoskeletons
Beetles have thin exoskeletons
Other invertebrates, like jellyfish and worms have no protective covering.
Watch the video:
Insects
Insects are a kind of invertebrates.
All of them have:
A head : with two eyes, a mouth and two antennae.
A thorax : In the thorax we can find almost always two or more wings (there are some insects without wings). However all insects will have six legs. If they do not have six legs, they are not insects.
An abdomen : It is always joined to the thorax.
Insects are born from eggs.
Young insects are called larvae. Some larvae are caterpillars. They have no wings or antennae.
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
Plants live in places where they find the things they need:
All plants need:
Water: They absorb water through their roots. Some plants, like catus can survive with only a little water. Other plants, like ferns, need a lot of water. Some plants, like water lilies, live in water.
Ferns live in wet, shady places.
Soil:The roots of the plant fix it to the soil. Plants absorb water and other substances from the soil. They use these substances to make their own food.
Wipping willows need a lot of water. They have long roots to absorb as much water as possible.
Sunlight:They make their food using sunlight. Some plants need a lot of sunlight. Other plantes, like moss, live in very shady places.
Moss needs very little light.
The right temperature: Most plants need a warm temperature. Now many plant grow in very cold places
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
Water: All animals need water. Most animals live on land although some of them live in water; they are aquatic animals like fishes and dolphins.
Food: All animals eat other living things. Depending of what kind of food they eat, we can classify animals in Herbivores (eat plants), carnivores (eat other animals) and omnivores (eat plants and animals).
The right temperature: Some animals live in very hot places and other animals live in very cold places. Their bodies are adapted to this habitat
Classification of animals We can classify animals using different criteria:
If they have skeleton: Vertebrates or Invertebrates
the way they are born: viviparous or oviparous
The food they eat: herbivores, carnivores or omnivores.
The way they move: walk, fly, swim or crawl along the ground
Most part of information and images are taken from the book: Essential Science 4. Science, Geography and History (2006). Santillana Education, S.L / Richmond Publishing
This Blog has been created to learn how teaching Science can be more fun. Sometimes our Spanish students complain about how difficult and sometimes boring is studying Science.In this Blog there are some resources for English teachers and students to make the Science lessons more enjoyable and easy to learn and understand (do not only learn by heart).
