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Grade 3
Program Authors

Michael A. DiSpezio Chris Emdin

Global Educator Professor of Education
North Falmouth, Massachusetts University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, California

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Marjorie Frank Peter McLaren
Science Writer and Content-Area Executive Director of
Reading Specialist NextGen Education, LLC
Denver, Colorado Providence, Rhode Island

Karen Ostlund
Assistant Professor Emerita,
UTeach, College of Natural Sciences
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

ii
 Neal Schick Cary Sneider, PhD
Science Teacher Visiting Scholar
Bay Ridge Preparatory School Portland State University
Brooklyn, New York Portland, Oregon

Program Consultants
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Emergent Bilingual Differentiation Safety Consultant

Consultant Consultant Sandra Sturdivant West
Elena Izquierdo Ariel Taylor Professor of Biology and
Professor, Teacher Education Assistant Professor of Practice Science Education Emerita
University of Texas at El Paso and Director of UTeach Texas State University
El Paso, Texas Accelerate San Marcos, Texas
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

iii
Engineering...................................................... x
Safety in Science............................................. xii

TEKS 3.1–TEKS 3.5 can be found throughout the TEKS lessons.

Matter and Energy

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©HMH, (c) ©TeamDaf/Adobe Stock, (b) ©yanikap/Shutterstock
Investigate Properties of Matter
TEKS 3.6.A ............................................................... 1

Hands-On Measuring Mass................................. 5

Hands-On Measuring Temperature................... 11
Hands-On Measuring with Magnets................. 16
Hands-On Sink or Float..................................... 20

States of Matter TEKS 3.6.B ...................... 27

Hands-On Solids Are Solid................................ 31

Hands-On Liquids Flow..................................... 36
Hands-On Up Goes the Cup.............................. 41

Changes in States of Matter

TEKS 3.6.C ............................................................. 53

Hands-On
Temperature Takes a Dive!, Part 1........................ 57
Temperature Takes a Dive!, Part 2........................ 62
Hands-On Water in the Air!............................... 68

iv
 Using Properties of Materials
TEKS 3.6.D ............................................................. 83

Hands-On
Better Glue, Part 1............................................... 87
Better Glue, Part 2............................................... 92
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Better Glue, Part 3............................................... 98

Force, Motion, and Energy

Types of Forces TEKS 3.7.A  .................... 107

Hands-On Move the Car................................. 111

Hands-On Exploring Gravity........................... 117
Hands-On Magnets, Oh My............................ 125

Changes in Position and Motion

TEKS 3.7.B ........................................................... 139

Hands-On Explore Pushes and Pulls............... 143

Hands-On Combining Forces.......................... 149

v
 Types of Energy TEKS 3.8.A ................... 165

Hands-On

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Communicate with Energy, Part 1...................... 169
Communicate with Energy, Part 2...................... 172

Energy and Speed of Objects

TEKS 3.8.B ........................................................... 195

Hands-On Slow Walk, Fast Walk...................... 199

Hands-On
Let’s Race!, Part 1.............................................. 205
Let’s Race!, Part 2.............................................. 209

Earth and Space

Orbits of the Sun,
Earth, and Moon TEKS 3.9.A ............... 219

Hands-On Let’s Travel Through Space!............ 223

Hands-On
©Tetra Images/Getty Images

Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System, Part 1........ 228

Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System, Part 2........ 231
Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System, Part 3........ 235

vi
 Our Solar System TEKS 3.9.B ................ 245

Hands-On Modeling the Solar System............ 249

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Changes in Weather TEKS 3.10.A ....... 265

Hands-On
Weather All Around, Part 1................................ 269
Weather All Around, Part 2................................ 273
Weather All Around, Part 3................................ 278

How Soil Forms TEKS 3.10.B ................... 295

Hands-On Dig It!............................................ 299

Hands-On Breaking It Down........................... 305

Fast Changes to Earth’s Surface

TEKS 3.10.C .......................................................... 317
Shutterstock, (b) ©a3701027/iStock/Getty Images

Hands-On Shake It Up!................................... 321

Hands-On Landslide!...................................... 326
Hands-On A Model Volcano............................ 332
Hands-On
Earthquake Safe, Part 1..................................... 337
Earthquake Safe, Part 2..................................... 342

vii
 Ways Human Use Natural
Resources TEKS 3.11.A ............................. 353

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Hands-On Using Natural Resources................ 357
Hands-On
Clean It Up!, Part 1............................................. 364
Clean It Up!, Part 2............................................. 369

Conserving Natural Resources

TEKS 3.11.B & 3.11.C ............................................ 383

Hands-On Conservation of Resources............. 387

Organisms and Environments

Organisms and Their
Environments TEKS 3.12.A . .................. 411

Shutterstock, (b) ©Image Source/Getty Images

Hands-On
Growth and Behavior, Part 1.............................. 415
Growth and Behavior, Part 2.............................. 419
Growth and Behavior, Part 3.............................. 422
Growth and Behavior, Part 4.............................. 426

Energy Flow in Food Chains

TEKS 3.12.B ......................................................... 433

Hands-On Food Chains................................... 437

viii
 Effects of Natural Changes
on Organisms TEKS 3.12.C ................... 457
Hands-On Will They Grow?............................. 461
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Hands-On Dear Deer Game............................ 466

Texas Fossils TEKS 3.12.D  ........................ 483

Hands-On Observe Fossils.............................. 487

Structures and Functions of

Animal Parts TEKS 3.13.A ...................... 507
Hands-On
Just Pecking, Part 1............................................ 511
Just Pecking, Part 2............................................ 516
Hands-On Battle of the Bean........................... 523
(bc) ©John McKenna/Alamy, (b) ©stanley45/Getty Images

Life Cycles TEKS 3.13.B  .............................. 535

Hands-On Exploring Plant Changes................ 539

Hands-On
Observing Mealworm Metamorphosis............... 546
Hands-On Comparing Life Cycles................... 554

Interactive Glossary........................................G1

ix
Engineering
Engineers develop solutions for problems. They use an
engineering design process to help them make a good
solution to a problem. This design process has three main
parts, or phases.

EXPLORE
Find out more about a problem by asking questions and
doing research. Then state the problem clearly. Analyze the
problem, and identify criteria, which are desirable features
of a solution. Also, identify limits on acceptable solutions.
The problem is defined when you state the problem and
identify criteria and limits.

MAKE and TEST

Develop a good solution. This phase can include the

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

following steps:
• Brainstorm solutions
• Make models
• Make prototypes
• Test prototypes
• Evaluate test data
• Change prototypes

x
 Think of as many ideas as you can. These ideas may or may
not solve the problem you defined. Choose which solution
you think will solve the problem. Develop a model of the
solution. A model shows what something is like or how
something works. Then, make a prototype, which is a
specific kind of model that can be tested.
Testing a prototype helps you know how well a solution
works. If a solution does not solve the problem, change
the solution or choose another solution. Test a solution
after each change so you know if the change worked as
expected. More than one solution may solve a problem.
Use the criteria to evaluate and choose between solutions.
The solution that best meets the criteria within the limits is
the better solution.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Comstock/Getty Images

IMPROVE and TEST

Change a good solution to make it better. You may replan,
redesign, and retest many small changes. You may even
return to an earlier phase if needed. Always communicate
with others to share information or learn more. At the
end of the process you should have as good a solution as
possible, given the limits.

xi
Safety in the Science Classroom
Review the following safety tips before conducting
investigations inside the classroom.

• Wear appropriate clothing

when told to do so: goggles,
apron, gloves.
• Know where you can find water in
case of something in your eyes or
on your skin.
• NEVER work alone on science
activities in the classroom or
elsewhere.
• Only items needed for the activity
should be out.
• Read the entire activity before • Report all accidents to the
starting it. teacher.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

• Use safety symbols. • Exercise caution when working
with electrical equipment.
• NEVER taste materials in an
activity. Do not touch chemicals • Keep work areas and equipment
or allow them to contact areas clean and neat.
of bare skin. Don’t eat during
• Follow directions for cleaning up
an activity. Let your teacher materials and equipment.
knowfast if something gets in or
near your mouth. • Always thoroughly wash
your hands.
• Know what to do in case of a fire.
• Report all spills to your teacher
immediately.
• Use extreme CAUTION when
working with hot plates or other
heating devices.

xii
 Safety for Activities Outside the Classroom
Review the following safety tips before conducting
investigations outside the classroom.

• Know your mission.

• Find out about risks before setting out.
• Wear protective clothing such as hats and sunscreen.
• Do not approach or touch wild animals.
• Do not touch wild plants
• Do not wander away from others.
• Report all accidents to your teacher immediately.
• Carry a first-aid kit.
• Maintain the safety of the environment.
• Be aware of the weather.
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xiii
Notes

xiv
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Name
TEKS 3.6.A • DAY 1

Investigate
Date

Properties of Matter

1
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about matter.
Matter is anything that takes up space. Explore some of the
different physical properties that matter has.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©HMH, (tr) ©Alamy, (b) ©Magryt/Adobe Stock.
Temperature is a property you can feel. Color is a property that can be seen.
This ice cube is cold to the touch. The liquid inside the glass is orange.

Texture is what a material feels like. It is a property you can feel.

2
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Liquidlibrary/Jupiterimages/Getty Images, (tr) ©AS Food studio/Shutterstock,

matter mass
Anything that takes up space. The amount of matter in an object.
(cl) ©Magryt/Adobe Stock, (br) ©txking/Shutterstock. (bl) tk

physical property
Anything that you can observe about an
object by using one or more of your
senses.

temperature
The measure of the energy of motion in
magnetism the particles of matter, which we feel as
The physical property of being magnetic. how hot or cold something is.

3
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you compare different types of matter?

Look at the fruit at this

produce stand.
Are fruits matter? Of course
they are! Matter is anything
that takes up space.
The fruits at this produce stand
are alike and different. We can
compare matter in many ways.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carrie Garcia/HMH

What do you notice about the different types of matter at the produce stand?

What do you wonder about matter and its different properties?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

4
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Anything that takes up space is made of matter. The
mass of an object affects how easy or hard it is to move.
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Ask a question about how you measure the mass of

an object.

Materials
• digital metric scale
• various solids
5
 Hands-On Activity

Measuring Mass
Step 1
Fill in the Measure
Mass chart on the
next page to collect
data when you
measure the mass
of each object.

Step 2
“To estimate” means to guess without measuring.
Estimate the mass of each object by holding it in your
hand. Line up the objects from least mass on the left

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

to greatest mass on the right. Record this order in
your chart.

Step 3
W
 ith your group, discuss how you can help
someone if they are not sure how to estimate
mass.

6
 Step 4
Use a digital scale to measure the mass of each object.
Be sure the scale is set to grams (g). Measure the
objects in the same order you used in Step 2.

Step 5
Record the mass of each object. Analyze what
you notice.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

Measure Mass

Objects Mass (g)

7
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
How did you make your estimates? Were your estimates
correct? Why?
Compare your results with other classmates. How do
they compare?

Do the Math: Which object had the most amount

of mass? Which object had the least amount of
mass? What is the difference in mass between
the two objects?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

How does the physical property of mass help you

classify different types of matter?

8
 Patterns
What patterns in the data do you notice? How do these
patterns help you in real-life situations?

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the physical property of mass.
Support your claim with evidence from your
investigation. Explain your reasoning to connect your
claim to your evidence.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

9
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

You measure the mass of a paper clip. When you record

your measurement, which is the likely result?

A. 1,000 g
B. 100 g
C. 10 g
D. 1 g

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

10
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Temperature is a physical property of matter.
Temperature is how warm or cool
something feels. A thermometer
is a tool you can use to measure
temperature.
Ask a question about how to
measure temperature using a
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©imagesbykenny/Adobe Stock

thermometer.

Materials Safety
• Celsius thermometer Make sure to clean up
(non-mercury) any spills that happen.

• beaker of rice  andle glass carefully

H
during classroom
• beaker of sand investigations.
• beaker of warm water
(Water #1) • Immediately alert your
teacher if the glass in the
• beaker of cold water thermometer breaks.
(Water #2)
• Do not use the
thermometer to stir the
materials.

11
 Hands-On Activity

Measuring Temperature
Step 1
Use the table below to record data for each beaker.

Measuring Temperature
Cold Warm
Rice Sand
Water Water

Temperature

Step 2

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Review with your teacher how to
measure with a Celsius
thermometer.

Step 3
Use the thermometer to measure
the temperature of the material in
the beaker. Collect and record the data.
Write the temperature under the correct header.

Step 4
Repeat for each beaker. Analyze the data you collected.

12
 Analyze Results
How did the temperatures you measured compare with
the temperatures measured by other students? Why?
Identify some sources of error that could occur when
you compared results with your classmates.

Patterns
Suppose you heated the warm water in a microwave
and measured the temperature again. What pattern
would you observe?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

13
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the physical property of
temperature. Support your claim with evidence from
your investigation. Explain your reasoning to connect
your claim to your evidence.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

14
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Navaeh is reading a recipe. She needs one cup of warm

water. What physical property of the water is important
for her recipe?

A. color
B. shape
C. texture
D. temperature
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

15
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Magnetism is another physical property of matter.
Magnets can be used to sort magnetic objects from
non-magnetic objects.
Ask a Question about how you can use magnets to test
and measure the magnetism of an object.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Rawpixel.com/Adobe Stock

Materials
• bar, horseshoe, or
circular magnet
• various classroom objects

16
 Measuring with Magnets
Step 1
Use the data table below. List each object you will test.
Predict whether you think each one is magnetic.

Measuring with Magnets

Object Predict: Is It Magnetic? Test: Is It Magnetic?

Step 2
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Use a magnet to test each

object to determine whether or
not it is magnetic. Record your
results.

Step 3
Analyze the information from
Step 2. Sort the objects into
two groups: magnetic
and non-magnetic.

17
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
How does determining if an object is magnetic help you
compare different types of matter?

Patterns
What patterns did you observe when you grouped the
objects by the property of magnetism?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about the physical property of
magnetism. Support your claim with evidence from
your investigation. Explain your reasoning to connect
your claim to your evidence.

18
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Jose has a bag filled with metal paper clips and paper
confetti. He wants to separate the paperclips from the
confetti. How could a magnet help him?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

19
DAY 5

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Some things can float on water. Other things sink.
This is a physical property that can be observed.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Wiz Saputro/Shutterstock

Ask a question about how you can test whether
an object will sink or float.

Materials Safety
• 1 beaker Notify your teacher
immediately if there
• water is a spill.
• various small objects  ake sure to wear safety
M
• paper towels goggles so water doesn’t
splash in your eyes.
• safety goggles
20
 Sink or Float
Step 1
Use the Sink or Float chart on
the next page to record your
data. Lay out the small objects
from your teacher. Predict
whether each object will sink or
float. Record your prediction in
the Will It Float? column.

Step 2
Fill one cup or beaker one-third of the way with water. You will
use the lines, or scale, on the beaker to collect information
about how much objects float. Read the number on the beaker
at the top of the water. Write down this number.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 3
Place each object in the water, one at a time. Record whether
the object sinks or floats in the Did It Float? column.

Step 4
If it floats, read the number on the beaker’s scale that lines up
with the bottom of the object. Use subtraction to find the
difference between this number and the number from Step 2.
Record the difference in the Amount of Float column.

Step 5
Dry each object when you are done.

21
 Hands-On Activity

Sink or Float

Object Will It Float? Did It Float? Amount of Float

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

22
 Analyze Results
Which objects floated? Which sank?

Of the objects that floated, which had the greatest distance

between the starting line of scale and where the bottom
ended up?

With your group, discuss how you might explain the

difference between the words sink and float to a
classmate.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the physical properties of objects that
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

sink and objects that float. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation. Explain your reasoning to connect
your claim to your evidence.

23
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

What patterns did you observe that can help you

predict whether an object will sink or float?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

24
DAY 6

People in Science
Shirley Ann Jackson
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson studies matter.
Dr. Jackson tests and measures different
physical properties of matter to find out what
is the best material to use to build objects.
She has done research on materials that are
used in electronics. Her interests include the
properties of these materials and how they
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Graylock/ABACAUSA.COM/NewsCom

work in lasers, computer chips, and many

other machines.

Language SmArts: The

materials that Dr. Jackson
studies are often used to
make computer chips. The
most common material used
in building computer chips is
a substance called silicon.
Silicon has physical
properties that make it very
useful in electronic devices.
Research the physical
properties of silicon found in electronic devices.
Describe those physical properties and explain
why they are useful.

25
Can You Explain It?
Think about all the physical matter you tested and
measured throughout the lesson. Now, use what you
have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you compare different types of matter?

Make a claim about how you

can compare matter using
physical properties. Use
evidence from the lesson
and give reasoning to

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carrie Garcia/HMH

connect the evidence to
your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 6.

26
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©TeamDaf/Adobe Stock

Name
TEKS 3.6.B • DAY 1

States of Matter
Date

27
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about matter.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Gennadiy Poznyakov/Fotolia, (bl) ©HMH, (r) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Color is a physical property that can be
observed. Matter comes in many
different colors.

Another physical property you can Matter can be classified by whether or

observe is whether or not a kind of not it is magnetic. What type of material
matter sinks or floats. can be magnetic? Most metal objects
are magnetic.

28
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©urbanbuzz/Alamy, (tr) ©TunedIn by Westend61/Shutterstock,

solid liquid
The state of matter that has a definite The state of matter that has definite
shape and definite volume. volume but has a shape that can change.
(bl) ©Shutterstock, (br) ©Moment/Getty Images

gas states of matter

The state of matter that does not have a A form of matter such as a solid, liquid,
definite shape or volume. or gas.

29
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How does filling the float toy with air affect it?

A man blows up a floating toy for a day on the

river. What state of matter is filling the float?
What do you notice about the
float toy?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carrie Garcia/HMH

What do you wonder about the float toy?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

30
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
What do a shoe, a bar of soap, and a shovel have in
common? They are all solids. A solid has a shape and
volume that stay the same. How can we demonstrate
solids have a shape that stays the same?
Ask a question about how you know the shape of a
solid always stays the same.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Guy Bell/Alamy

Possible Materials
• metric ruler
• various solids
• plastic container or box

31
 Hands-On Activity

Solids Are Solid

Step 1
Use the table on the next page to
record your data for each step.
Classify each of the objects using
properties of matter. Describe the
objects as solid, liquid, or gas.

Step 2
Use a metric ruler to observe,
measure, test, and analyze each
object. Record the length of each object.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 3
Demonstrate that each solid has a definite shape.
Place each object into a box. Observe. Does it
change shape?

Step 4
Use the ruler to measure the length of each object
after it has been in the box. Record the length of each
object again.

Imagine that a friend has never used a ruler. With a

partner, discuss how you might demonstrate how to
use a ruler.

32
 Solids Are Solid

Solid, Does Object Length

Length
Object Liquid, or Change After in
(cm)
Gas Shape? Box (cm)
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

33
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
Compare your measurements of each object. Did they stay
the same or change?

Ask Questions
Ask a question based on your observations.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim to describe the relationship between the
structure and function of solids. Support your claim with
evidence from your investigation. Explain your reasoning.

34
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Tamara measures a book with a ruler and finds the book

is 16 cm long. She measures the book each day for
7 days. She compares her data for the week. What is
she likely to find? Choose all correct answers.

A. The length of the book stays the same.

B. The length of the book grows to 20 cm.
C. The length of the book is 16 cm on Day 5.
D. The length of the book is 14 cm on Day 3.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

35
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Oh no! A spilled cup
of water can make
the entire floor wet.
A liquid is matter
that has a fixed
volume but no fixed
shape. Liquids can
flow even if we don’t
want them to!

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tim Hall/cultura/Corbis

Ask a question
about how you can use volume to demonstrate that
liquids change shape.

Materials Safety
• measuring cup Spills happen! Have paper
towels handy to clean up
• beaker any spilled water.
• graduated cylinder
• plastic cup

36
 Liquids Flow
Step 1
Measure out 200 mL of water
with the measuring cup.

Step 2
Use the beaker to observe,
measure, test, and analyze
liquids. Carefully pour all of the water into the beaker.
Place a piece of tape at the water line. Make sure the
bottom edge of the tape is at the top of the water line.

Step 3
Use the graduated cylinder to observe, measure, test,
and analyze liquids. Carefully pour all of the water into
the graduated cylinder. Place a piece of tape at the
water line. Make sure the bottom edge of the tape is
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

at the top of the water line.

Step 4
Use the plastic cup to observe, measure, test, and
analyze liquids. Carefully pour all of the water into the
plastic cup. Place a piece of tape at the water line.
Make sure the bottom edge of the tape is at the top
of the water line.

Step 5
Compare the water lines of each container.

37
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
Describe the height of the water in each container. Describe
why the height looks different in each container.

Do the Math
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: In one apartment, the
bathtub faucet and the bathroom sink faucet provide the same
amount of water in a given time. Explain why it will take longer
for the tub to have water three inches deep than the sink.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

38
 Ask Questions
Ask a question based on information gathered in
this investigation.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim to describe the relationship between the
shape of water based on the volume of the container.
Support your claim with evidence from your
investigation. Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

39
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

A measuring cup contains 50 mL of water. All of the

water is transferred to a graduated cylinder. What is the
reading on the graduated cylinder?

A. 100 mL
B. 50 mL
C. 200 mL
D. 0 mL

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

40
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Have you ever blown
bubbles underwater?
How does the air not mix
with the water? Air is a
gas. A gas has no fixed
shape or volume.
Ask a question about
how you can use volume
to demonstrate that
gases take the shape of
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©lev radin/Shutterstock

their container.

Materials Safety
• small, plastic cup Spills happen! Have paper
towels handy to clean up
• a piece of paper any spilled water.
• aquarium or clear Wear goggles to keep
plastic container water out of your eyes.
• water
• bendable drinking straw
• safety goggles

41
 Hands-On Activity

Up Goes the Cup

Step 1
Fill an aquarium or clear
plastic container half full of
water.

Step 2
Ball up a piece of paper, and
place it in the bottom of the
cup. Be sure the paper
doesn’t fall out when the
cup is upside down.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 3
With the cup’s opening
facing straight down, push
the cup completely under
the water. Lift it back up, and observe the paper.

42
 Step 4
Remove the paper. Place the cup back in the water,
and allow it to fill up with water.

Step 5
With the cup’s opening facing straight down, put the
short end of the bent straw into the cup. Hold the cup so
it doesn’t float away. Keep the long end of the straw out
of the water. Blow air through the straw into the cup and
observe what happens.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

43
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
What did you observe about the paper after it was in
the water?
How did this investigation demonstrate that gas takes the
shape of its container?

Use Models
Pockets of air can be found in underwater caves.
How did this investigation model a pocket of air?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

44
 Collect Data
Construct a Venn diagram to compare the two parts of
this investigation: when the paper was in the cup and
when the straw was in the cup. How were they the
same? How were they different?

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how you can use volume to
demonstrate that gases take the shape of their
container. Support your claim with evidence from your
investigation. Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

45
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Which properties of gases depend upon the container

the gas is in?

A. volume and color

B. shape and smell
C. size and color
D. shape and volume

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

46
 DAY 5

States of Matter
You have experimented with three states of matter. A state of
matter is a form matter can take. Three states of matter are
solid, liquid, and gas.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Oktay Ortakcioglu/E+/Getty Images, (tr) ©ESOlex/Shutterstock,

Describe and classify each example as a solid, a liquid, or a gas.

What state of matter is an interlocking

building block? Describe and classify it.
(br) ©Mr.smith Chetanachan/Dreamstime

What state of matter is the air inside a What state of matter is water from a
bounce house? Describe and classify it. garden hose? Describe and classify it.

Describe and classify examples of matter. Fill in the blank

with the correct state of matter.
I can classify orange juice, syrup, and cooking oil as examples
of .

47
Let’s take a closer look at each
state of matter.
Solids have a volume and shape
that stay the same. Solids stay
solid unless something, such as
heat, changes them. Buildings,
cars, and even animals are
examples of solids.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©ESOlex/

How can you describe the properties of a solid like these
interlocking building blocks? Be sure to include words about
their shape and volume.

Shutterstock, (b) ©Rose_Carson/Shutterstock

Liquids have a volume that stays the same but a shape that
can change. A liquid takes the shape of whatever container it
is in. The volume of a glass of juice can look deep in a tall, slim
container. In a short, wide container it can look shallow. In
each case, the volume is the same, though.
How can you describe the properties of a liquid like this
juice? Be sure to include words about its shape and
volume.

48
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Oktay Ortakcioglu/E+/Getty Images

A bounce house is full of air. Air is a gas. A gas takes the shape
of its container. It has no definite shape or volume. As the
bounce house is blown up, you can see that the air spreads
out to fill it. The air we breathe is a mix of different types of
gases. An example of a gas that is not a mixture is the natural
gas used in some stoves to cook food.
How can you describe the properties of the air in this bounce
house? Be sure to include words about its shape and volume.

49
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.
You can construct a graphic organizer, like a tree map, to
organize data about solids, liquids, and gases. For each state
of matter, cross out the phrases that are not true and add
connectors between the name of the state of matter and the
phrases that are true about it.

Volume Volume Volume

does NOT does NOT does NOT
depend on depend on depend on
container container container
Volume Volume Volume
depends on depends on depends on
container container container

Shape Shape Shape

does NOT does NOT does NOT
depend on depend on depend on
container container container

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Shape Shape Shape
depends on depends on depends on
container container container

Solid Liquid Gas

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

50
DAY 6

Science in Careers
Firefighter
Firefighters need tools to help them stay safe. Firefighters use
solids, liquids, and gases. The tools they use are solids. Water
from the fire hose is a liquid. Firefighting foam is used to
smother flames that release solids and gases into the air.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Arne9001/Dreamstime

Identifying patterns in how different states of matter are used

is important. Firefighters rely on different states of matter to
do their job. People rely on firefighters to keep them safe in
an emergency.
Use your understanding of different states of matter to
complete the statements.
A firefighter uses water to put out a fire. Water is a
. When entering a building, a firefighter might
use an axe to break down a door. An axe and a door are both
examples of . Firefighters wear oxygen tanks
when going into a building. Oxygen is a .

51
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding
question from the start of this lesson. Now, use what
you have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How does filling the float toy with air affect it?

Look at the picture. A man blows up

a floating toy for a day on the river.
Think about how matter comes in
different forms.
Make a claim about the guiding

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carrie Garcia/HMH

question. Use evidence from the
lesson, and give reasons to connect
the evidence to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

52
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©yanikap/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.6.C• DAY 1

Changes in
States of Matter
Date

53
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about the states of matter.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©LUNAMARINA/Shutterstock, (tr) ©TunedIn by Westend61/Shutterstock,
Solids, like these piñatas, have a These liquids have a volume that stays the same,
volume and a shape that stays but they change shape depending upon the
the same. shape of their container.

(b) ©lev radin/Shutterstock

The gas that makes this balloon float takes the shape of its container.
This gas does not have a definite volume or shape.

54
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©matteodestefano/istock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images,

change of state
A physical change that occurs when
matter changes from one state to
another.
(bl) ©Robert Glusic/Corbis, (r) ©Lisovskaya Natalia/Shutterstock

evaporation condensation
A liquid changes into a gas. A gas changes into a liquid.

55
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

What causes the water to change?

Think about the guiding question while you look at the

pictures. A wet leaf is covered in drops of water. After a while,
the leaf will appear dry with fewer drops of water on it.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Yakobchuk Vasyl/Shutterstock

This wet leaf is in Now the sun is shining. The leaf looks
the shade. What is happening to different after sitting
the water? in the sun for a while.

What do you notice about how the water changes?

What do you wonder about how the water changed?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

56
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
On a warm day, you may want a drink
with ice in it to cool off. As the ice melts
on a warm day, it goes through a
change of state. Can we predict,
observe, and measure how quickly the
ice changes state from a solid to a liquid?
Ask a question about how the ice will
change state.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Materials Safety
• warm water Make sure to clean up
any spills that happen.
• Celsius thermometer
(non-mercury) Handle glass carefully
during classroom
• 4 ice cubes investigations.
• beaker • Immediately alert your
• timing device teacher if the glass in the
(stopwatch or clock thermometer breaks.
with second hand) • Do not use the
• paper towels or thermometer to stir the
newspaper to contain ice water.
water spills

57
 Hands-On Activity

Temperature Takes a Dive!, Part 1

Step 1
Add 200 milliliters (mL) of
warm water to a beaker. Use
a thermometer to collect the
temperature of the water.
Record the temperature in
the table below.

Step 2
Add the ice cubes to the water. Predict the change in the state
of matter that will happen. Will heating from the water melt
the ice, or will cooling from the ice freeze the water?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Record the time and temperature in the table on the next page.

Step 3
Use the timing device to observe, collect, measure, and
analyze the temperature of the water every 5 minutes for
20 minutes. Observe and record the change in the state
of matter in the table on the next page.

58
 Water Temperature Data Table
Temperature in °C Predictions/Observations
Water
Water with ice
Start Time:
After 5 minutes

After 10 minutes

After 15 minutes

After 20 minutes

Do the Math: Construct a bar graph to collect your data.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Analyze your data. What is the temperature at which all of the

ice melted?

59
Stability and Change
Explain what factors or conditions impacted the ice and
caused it to change.

Temperature Changes
How might the temperature change if you repeated the
process with water that began at a higher temperature?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

60
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Complete the sentences. Circle the correct answer.

What happens to an ice cube after you take it from
the freezer?

• As the ice cube warms, it begins to melt / freeze.

• Melting is a change of state from a liquid / solid
to a liquid / solid.
• Ice melts at the same temperature that liquid
water freezes.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©MirkoStock/Alamy

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

61
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
When water continues to be
heated, it will undergo a
change of state again. It will
become a gas in a process
called evaporation. Can we
predict, observe, and measure
how quickly the water changes
state from a liquid to a gas?
Ask a Question about how the water will change
from one state to another.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Robert Glusic/Corbis

Materials Safety
• warm water Always ask for adult help
when using hot surfaces.
• Celsius thermometer
(non-mercury) Handle glass carefully
during classroom
• beaker investigations
• hot plate • Immediately alert your
• timing device teacher if the glass in the
(stopwatch or clock) thermometer breaks.
• paper towels or • Do not use the thermometer
newspaper to stir the materials.

62
 Hands-On Activity

Temperature Takes a Dive!, Part 2

Step 4
Add 200 mL of warm water to a beaker. Use
a thermometer to collect the temperature
of the water. Record the temperature in
the data table on the next page.

Imagine that a friend wants to help

with the hot plate. With a partner,
discuss what you might say to this
friend to help them understand
why only the teacher should use
the hot plate.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 5
Ask your teacher to place the beaker on the hot plate. Ask a
question about what will happen as the water heats up,
based on Part 1 of this investigation.

63
 Step 6
Use the timing device to collect and record information in
your table every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.

Water Temperature Data Table

Readings Time Water Temperature in °C

Initial reading

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

7th

8th

9th

10th

64
 Step 7
Analyze the information you collected from the thermometer
and the timing device by comparing how the temperature of
the water changed over time.

Step 8
 o the Math: Construct a bar graph using the data that you have
D
collected.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

65
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Data
Compare the bar graph from Part 1 to the bar graph from
Part 2. What trends do you observe?

Cause and Effect

It is hot outside and you dropped ice on the floor. Explain how
the temperature of the ice changes.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how the temperature of the water
changes. Support your claim with evidence from your
investigation. Explain your reasoning.

66
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

How can you change liquid water into a gas?

A. Melt it.
B. Freeze it.
C. Boil it.
D. Condense it.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Robert Glusic/Corbis

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

67
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Have you ever seen water forming
on the outside of a cold glass? The
droplets are called condensation.
Did you ever wonder where that
water came from?
Ask a question about how
condensation forms.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Suparat Malipoom/EyeEm/Getty Images
Materials Safety
• 2 tall, clear plastic cups Be careful when
working with scissors
• graduated cylinder during classroom
• cold water investigations.

• ice cubes
• quart sized zip-top bag
• coffee filter
• scissors

68
 Water in the Air!
Step 1
Put ice cubes into two
clear plastic cups until
they are about half-full.

Step 2
Use the graduated
cylinder to measure the
water. Pour 200 mL into
each cup.

Step 3
Quickly place one of the cups in a zip-top plastic bag.
Try to get as much air out as you can and then close
the bag. Wait ten minutes.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 4
Use scissors to cut the coffee filter into two pieces.

Step 5
Rub one piece of the coffee filter on the outside of
the cup that has been exposed to the air. What do
you notice?

69
 Hands-On Activity

Step 6
Rub the other piece of coffee filter on the outside of the cup
that has been in the bag and not exposed to the air. What
do you notice?

Analyze Data
Compare the two coffee filter pieces. Where does the water
come from? What change of state did you observe?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Energy and Matter

How does this investigation show matter cycling through
a system?

70
 Define Problems
Define a problem that can be solved based on your
observations from this investigation.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how condensation forms. Support your
claim with evidence from your investigation. Explain your
reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

71
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Match the sentences with the vocabulary.

During this
process, a gas solid
changes to a liquid.

During this
process, a liquid gas
changes to a gas.

Boiling changes
liquid water to evaporation
this state.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Ice is water in
condensation
this state.

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

72
DAY 5

Changes of State
Observe the following examples of changes in states of water.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Volodymyr Shevchuk/Adobe Stock, (tr) ©LWA/Dann Tardif/Digital Vision/Getty
Images, (bl) ©lavizzara/Adobe Stock, (br) ©Christopher Futcher/iStock/Getty Images

On windy days, snow can change state Snowflakes are solid water, but they
into a gas, instead of melting into a melt into a liquid soon after landing
liquid first. on anything warm.

Hail starts as a drop of liquid rain A layer of water too thin to be seen
freezes, and more moisture freezes makes ice slippery, so ice skating
onto that drop. is possible.

73
If you heat a pot of water on the stove, the temperature of the
water increases. The water boils, or changes rapidly to a gas
called water vapor. You can’t see water vapor. It’s invisible.
Place numbers beneath the images to order them from
coldest to hottest.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©MirkoStock/Alamy, (m) ©Lucian Coman/Shutterstock, (r) ©David Chasey/
3      2      1

Predict the changes to an ice cube as it is heated.

Photodisc/Getty Images

74
 Liquid water does not have to boil to become a gas. When
you sweat on a hot day, the water on your skin disappears.
The liquid water turns into a gas. This is called evaporation.
Water can evaporate from other places, such as a puddle.

What happens to a puddle as it evaporates? Look at the two

pictures below.

Write about and draw the changes that you see.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

75
 Language SmArts: A gas can change back to a liquid.
Water vapor that is a gas condenses as it cools and loses
energy. Water vapor in the air condenses on a cold car
window. The outside of a cold soft drink can become
wet on a hot day. The grass on a cool morning may have
dew on it. These are all examples of condensation.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Olya/Adobe Stock

Look at this picture. Write a sentence about what
happened to the water vapor in the girl’s breath as it
cooled on the cold window.

76
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Select all the changes of state that can

happen to water when a cold cup of ice
meets warm air.

A. condensation
B. evaporation
C. freezing
D. melting
E. spreading
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • ©Lisovskaya Natalia/Shutterstock

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

77
DAY 6

Engineering in Careers
Geothermal Engineer
Some homes and businesses are heated with oil. Others are
heated with natural gas. Geothermal engineers use energy
from the earth to warm or cool buildings, or even generate
electricity. This type of energy is called geothermal energy.
Most homes in Iceland receive their electricity from
geothermal energy stations. Earth’s heat is easy to find there
because there are many volcanoes and hot springs. Here in
the U.S.A, nearly two million homes and businesses have
geothermal heat pumps.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Mint Images Limited/Alamy

78
 Where Does the Energy Come From?
Several feet below the ground, the temperature stays
almost constant. Depending upon location it can be
7–24° C (45–75° F). During winter, the temperature
below ground is warmer than the air temperature. In
summer, the ground is cooler than the air. These
differences can be used to warm or cool buildings.
Geothermal engineers design heat pumps to make use
of these temperature differences. The pump is
connected to pipes buried underground. A liquid inside
moves through the pipes to the pump and back. The
pump brings heat from the ground into the house in the
winter. In the summer, heat from the house is carried out
by the liquid to the underground pipes.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

79
Heat pumps use the energy inside Earth.

How else could geothermal energy be used?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

80
 Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your exploration, revisit
how matter changes from the start of the lesson.

As you look at the photos, think about the changes in

states of matter you tested and measured throughout
the lesson. A wet leaf is covered in drops of water.
After a while, the leaf appears dry with fewer drops
of water on it.
This wet leaf is in the shade.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Yakobchuk Vasyl/Shutterstock

Now the sun is shining. What is

happening to the water?

The leaf looks different after

sitting in the sun for a while.

81
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding
question from the start of this lesson. Now, use what
you have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

What causes the water to change?

Make a claim about how states of matter can change when

heated or cooled. Use evidence from the lesson, and give
reasoning to connect the evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Yakobchuk Vasyl/Shutterstock

Great job! You have finished Day 6.

82
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©georgeclerk/iStock/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.6.D• DAY 1

of Materials
Date

Using Properties

83
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about matter.
Explore the properties of matter.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©HMH, (tr) ©MirkoStock/Alamy, (b) ©NZPIX/Getty Images
Matter has properties. This model truck is blue, is Matter can change state. This ice
small, and has parts that are shiny. is melting.

Can you find an example of a solid, a liquid, and a gas in this picture?

84
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Hero Images/Getty Images, (tr) ©Sophon_Nawit/Adobe Stock, (cl) ©Dmytro

engineering problem
The process of designing new or Something that needs to be fixed or
improved technology. made better.
Titov/Adobe Stock, (cr) ©Avatar_023/iStock/Getty Images, (b) ©Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock

solution criteria
Something that fixes a problem. The features of a solution.

prototype
A model used for testing a solution.
85
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you use properties of matter to build a

strong structure?

Think about the guiding question. Look at the picture of the

student working to build a structure with blocks.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

What do you notice about how you can use properties of matter to
combine materials and build a strong structure?

What do you wonder about how you can use properties of matter to
combine materials and build a strong structure?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

86
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
How can you construct a model
tower with blocks by more than
just stacking them? To figure out
what might hold the blocks
together, explore the problem,
make and test a solution, and
improve your solution. The best
way to explore is to investigate!
Ask a question about how Materials
materials can be combined based
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©Adobe Stock/kuchina

• tablespoon
on their physical properties.
• spoon
• 3–4 small mixing bowls or
containers
• baking flour
• table salt
• water
• plastic wrap
• various materials for building
towers such as craft sticks,
index cards cut in half, etc.
• computer or tablet

Safety
• Don’t eat anything in the lab,
even if the materials are food.

87
 Hands-On Activity

Better Glue, Part 1

Engineering Phase 1 — Explore
Have you ever had a toy not work quite right? What if
you could engineer it to be better? Engineering is the
process of improving something or making it brand
new. You can use engineering practices to design
solutions to problems.

A problem is something that needs to be fixed. Consider this

problem: A student wants to construct a model of a tower but
needs a material to act as the glue. The only available
materials are flour, water, and salt. We can use the physical
properties of matter to change objects and find a solution.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

A solution is a way to solve a problem. To find a solution to an
engineering problem, the student can:
• Explore
• Make and test
• Improve and test
With a partner, discuss the differences between the words
problem and solution and how the words are related.

88
 Step 1
Make a salt dough by mixing these in a
small mixing bowl: 1 tablespoon flour,
1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon water.
Observe the properties of the dough.

Step 2
Record your observations using a digital device like a
tablet, or the space below.

Step 3
Choose one of the three ingredients to investigate
further. Make a second dough with less of your
chosen material. Observe and record the properties of
the second dough.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©HMH

Step 4
Make a third dough with more of your chosen
material.

Step 5
Observe and record the properties of the third dough.

89
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
How did increasing or decreasing the amount of an
ingredient change the dough?

Communicate Solutions
How might the setting of your environment impact your
glue? What if the room is very warm or very cold?
Communicate with another student in your class about how
your glue is impacted by the setting, and listen to their ideas.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

90
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Why is water needed to make an ideal dough?

A. Water is lightweight, so it makes the mixture light.

B. Water is clear, so it makes the mixture colorless.
C. Water is a liquid, so it helps mix all the ingredients
together.
D. Water is warm, which helps the mixture pour like
glue.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

91
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Define the problem of designing
and building a tower using salt
dough. Base your definition on
information and observations
from the model tower you saw in
the photo at the start of the lesson.
Ask a question about how your
model is a prototype for a tower.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©Take Photo/Shutterstock

Materials Safety
• flour Investigations can be
messy. Clean up spills
• water when they happen.
• salt • Don’t eat anything in
• tablespoon the lab, even if the
materials are food.
• bowl or plate
• newspaper or paper
towels
• various materials such
as toothpicks, playing
cards, foil, or pencils

92
 Better Glue, Part 2
Engineering Phase 2 — Make and Test

With the glue made, now we have all the materials to

construct a model of a tower. The tower is a prototype,
or a model used to test a solution.
We can’t build just any model of a tower to solve the
problem, however. Let’s look back at the problem and see
if there are any criteria listed. Criteria are features of a
good solution. A criterion of this tower is that it must use
glue made of flour, salt, and water.
The second step of the engineering design process is to
make and test a prototype. Let’s start!
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

93
 Hands-On Activity

Step 6
Determine what criteria you will use to evaluate your
salt dough. For example, should the mixture be solid
or crumbly? Identify at least three criteria.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 7
Based on the model of the tower, propose a salt dough
mixture. You may select one of the mixtures you investigated
in Part 1, or you may propose a new mixture.

94
 Step 8
Make your salt dough.

Step 9
Use your salt dough as glue to build a tower using
playing cards, toothpicks, foil, or pencils.

Step 10
Record your observations of how well the salt
dough worked to build the tower.

Step 11
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Use the criteria to evaluate your salt dough mixture.

95
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
How did the physical properties of the materials help
you build the tower?

Stability and Change

Explain what factors impacted the stability of
your tower.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Develop Models
How is your model a prototype for a tower?

96
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

How does the model of a tower you built relate to how

scientists come up with innovative solutions? Think of
your results as you describe how structure and function
impact science and society.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©J. Catalano/Splash/NewsCom

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

97
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Define the problem of improving
a salt dough to build a better
tower. Base your definition on
information and observations
from your Investigation in Part 2.
Ask a question about how
evaluating your prototype’s

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©Adam Gault/OJO Images/Getty Images
design can make the best
solution to a problem.

Materials Safety
• flour Be careful when using
sharp objects like
• water scissors to cut
• salt materials.
Investigations can be
• tablespoon messy. Clean up spills
• bowl or plate when they happen.
• newspaper or paper • Don’t eat anything in
towels the lab, even if the
• various materials such materials are food.
as toothpicks, playing
cards, foil, or pencils

98
 Better Glue, Part 3
Engineering Phase 3 — Improve and Test

The final step of the engineering design process is to

improve and test a prototype. Many prototypes are tested
and improved before a product such as a toy is sold in a
store. Are there ways your first prototype can be improved?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

99
 Hands-On Activity

Step 12
Develop an idea for a better
salt dough solution. Use
what you learned in Part 2
to improve your recipe.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©HMH

Step 13
Use your idea to design a prototype for a better model
tower solution.

Step 14
Build a model tower with your new salt dough.

Step 15
Record your observations of how well the salt dough
worked to build the model tower.

100
 Step 16
Use your criteria from Part 2 to evaluate your salt dough
mixture.

Analyze Results
How did the physical properties of the materials help you
build the tower? Justify your choices.

Structure and Function

What is the relationship between the materials in the
tower structure and the function of those materials in the
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

final prototype?

101
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the how the properties of the
ingredients impacted the dough. Cite evidence from
this investigation. Explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Language SmArts: Communicate your solution
with another group of students. Be creative and select
a format that will show your solution and the
engineering process.

102
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

In a brick factory, workers often add sand to clay to

make stronger bricks. How is your salt dough model
tower like strong bricks?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Echo/Cultura/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

103
DAY 5

Engineering in Careers
Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical engineers design and build machines. They know
about physical science and how energy works. They are also
experts on how to make machines easy for humans to use.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©skynesher/E+/Getty Images

Nearly everything you use began as a mechanical engineer’s

idea. Think about an ordinary day. You wake up in a bed that
was made by machines. You walk to school on sidewalks or
ride on a bus or in a car. All of those were either made by
machines or are machines. Every machine you use was
designed and built by mechanical engineers.

104
 List objects that you use every day that were designed by
mechanical engineers. Can you think of at least five?
Objects Made by Mechanical Engineers

Orlando Figueroa
Orlando Figueroa is a mechanical
engineer. While growing up in Puerto
Rico, he was always interested in how
things worked—first toys, then more
complex devices. He earned an
engineering degree and later completed
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credit: ©NASA

advanced coursework in mechanical

engineering. After that, he went to work
for the U.S. space agency NASA. While
there, he was the Director of Mars
Exploration when the robot rovers Spirit
and Opportunity landed on the planet Mars.
How do you think Mr. Figueroa’s early interests relate to his
lifetime career?

105
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question.
Now, use what you have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you use properties of matter to build a

strong structure?

The girl is putting a tilted block The girl’s tower collapsed.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

across two block towers.

Make a claim about how you can use properties of matter to combine
materials and build a strong structure. Use evidence from the lesson,
and give reasons to connect the evidence to your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

106
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Margo Harrison/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.7.A • DAY 1

Type of Forces
Date

107
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about forces.

Explore the forces in this pillow fight.

The student’s arm puts

a force on the pillow.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Cristim/Dreamstime

The student’s feet put

a force on the bed.

108
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (tr) ©Glow Images, (br) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

force
A push or a pull, which may cause
a change in an object’s motion.

gravity magnet
A force that attracts all objects in the An object that attracts iron and a
universe toward one another; near Earth’s few other—but not all—metals.
surface, a force that pulls things toward the
center of Earth.

109
Can You Explain It?
This question will guide your learning throughout the lesson.

GUIDING QUESTION

What forces are acting on the rings that touch

each other and on the ones that are not touching?

These rings have very interesting

properties. When you stack them, you
can see them react and move. Why do
they react this way? Some of them seem
to be floating. If you try to push them
together, they push back. If you push
hard enough, you might make them
touch, but as soon as you let go, they
would push away again.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

What do you notice about how the rings interact when they touch
each other and when they are not touching?

What do you wonder about how the rings interact when they are
touching each other and when they are not touching each other?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

110
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
A lot of people like to watch car races.
Forces make these race cars move
very fast! Some move at speeds of
over 320 km/hr (200 mph)! A force
is a push or a pull on an object.
Forces can be investigated by looking
at how they affect objects. In this
activity, you will explore the effects
of forces using a meterstick, which
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Michael Forrest/Alamy

is a tool scientists use to measure

length or distance. You will use a
meterstick to demonstrate pushes
and pulls on a toy car.
Ask a question about how forces
affect the toy car.

Possible Materials Safety

• meterstick Be careful when walking
around the classroom.
• toy car
Stepping on a meterstick
• other materials provided or toy car could cause
by your teacher someone to slip and fall.

111
 Hands-On Activity

Move the Car

Step 1
How can you use a meterstick to observe, measure,
and test how a push or pull affects a toy car? Plan
an investigation to demonstrate pushes and pulls on a
toy car.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Imagine a friend does not know what a

meterstick is. How would you explain how to use
a meterstick?

112
 Step 2
Review your plan with your teacher. Make sure you can carry
out your investigation with the materials you have.

Step 3
Carry out your investigation according to your plan.
Record your observations, which you will use as evidence
during your analysis.

Step 4
Observe, test, and measure the greatest distance traveled
by your toy car. Use the chart. When you record your data,
make sure your measurements are in centimeters (cm).

Car Test
Trial Distance (cm)
1
2
3
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

113
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Information
Describe how pushes and pulls affected the toy car. Use your
meterstick to analyze the information you gathered.

Develop and Use Models

Develop a model in the form of a diagram showing
the push or pull forces that acted on your toy car.
Use an arrow in your model to show the effect that
the forces caused.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

114
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim to describe how pushes and pulls can
affect objects they are touching, or in contact with. Support
your claim with evidence from your investigation. Explain
your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

115
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Think about the push forces that happen while a car is

driving down the road. Draw a line from each force to
what the force acts on.

The road
the driver’s body.
pushes on

The seat belt

the gas pedal.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Michael Forrest/Alamy

pushes on

The driver’s foot

the car.
pushes on

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

116
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
All objects, no matter how big they are,
have gravity. The lighter the object is,
the less gravity it has. Very large, heavy
objects, such as planets and moons, have
enough gravity to keep things on their
surface. For instance, the force of Earth’s
gravity is keeping your chair on the floor.
Suppose an object was not touching,
or in contact with, Earth’s surface.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Rami_Gil/iStock/Getty Images

Imagine it was tossed into the air.

Then, the object would be at a distance
from Earth’s surface. You will conduct an
investigation to demonstrate how the
force of gravity acts on objects in contact
and at a distance.
Ask a question about how the force of gravity acts
on objects on or near Earth’s surface.

Materials Safety
• objects to drop or throw,
such as crumpled paper, Wear safety goggles.
paper clips, or balls
• Do not throw objects at other students.

117
 Hands-On Activity

Exploring Gravity
Step 1
Make a plan to demonstrate how the force of gravity
affects objects at a distance. Your plan should only use
the materials provided by your teacher. Write your
plan below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

118
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH
Step 2
Carry out your plan. Collect and record your observations.

119
 Hands-On Activity

Develop Models
Make a sketch to show what you observed. Add an arrow that
shows the direction of Earth’s gravity.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim to describe how the force of gravity affects

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

objects at a distance. Include whether gravity acts as a
pushing force or a pulling force. Use the observations from
your investigation as evidence to support your claim.
Explain your reasoning.

120
 The force of gravity pulls on all objects near Earth’s
surface. You can feel how the force of gravity pulls
objects in contact with Earth’s surface. Try to pick up
something around you that is slightly heavy, such as a
full water bottle or a book. Your muscles had to work to
pull that object away from Earth’s surface. This
demonstrates that the force of gravity was pulling on
the object.
Continue your exploration of the force of gravity by
thinking about this pizza maker.

As the pizza cook rolls out

the dough, the force of the
countertop pushes against
the rolling pin and the
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t, b) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

dough. The force from the

countertop also prevents
gravity from pulling the
pan and the other
ingredients to the floor.

The pizza maker used too

much force to toss this
dough. The force
between the sticky pizza
dough and the ceiling are
strong enough that the
force of gravity can’t make
the dough fall down.

121
 Hands-On Activity

The force of gravity is just one of many forces involved in

making a pizza. Use what you observed in the images of the
pizza maker to complete this item.

Circle the word to complete the sentences to describe the

push and pull forces affecting the pizza dough.
• The pizza maker applies a push / pull force to the
pizza dough when he throws it up in the air.
 is hand is in contact with / at a distance from
• H
the dough when it applies the force.
• Gravity applies a push / pull force down on the pizza.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

122
 Look at the objects on the desk. The force of gravity is
pulling on them, but they are not falling to the floor.
Another force is keeping them from falling to the ground.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©designhouse/PortForLio/SIRIOH Co., LTD/Alamy

Use evidence from the image to describe how the force of

gravity is acting on objects on the desk. Explain what forces
keep the objects from falling to the ground.

123
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Which of the following statements describes how the

force of gravity acts on objects? Select all that apply.

A. The force of gravity can pull on objects that are at a

distance from Earth’s surface.
B. The force of gravity can push on objects that are at
a distance from Earth’s surface.
C. The force of gravity can pull on objects that are
touching, or in contact with, Earth’s surface.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
D. The force of gravity can push on objects that are
touching, or in contact with, Earth’s surface.

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

124
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Magnets are objects that can
apply pull forces on some objects
made of metal. These forces can
work with objects in contact with
a magnet, and at a distance from
the magnet. As you may know,
some objects are affected by
magnetic force. Others are not.
What kinds of forces are involved
when a magnet interacts with
another magnet instead of just
another object? In this activity,
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

you will demonstrate the forces between magnets

in contact and at a distance.
Ask a question about how magnetic forces can
act on other magnets.

Materials Safety
• 2 bar magnets • Be careful to avoid pinching
your hands or fingers in
between the magnets.

125
 Hands-On Activity

Magnets, Oh My
Step 1
You can demonstrate how
magnetic forces push and
pull between two magnets
in contact and at a distance.
Make a prediction about
the patterns you expect
to observe. Record your
observations on paper.

Step 2
Bring two magnets together with the ends labeled with the

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

letter N facing each other. Keep the magnets so they are
not touching each other. Observe whether the forces push
or pull. Record your observations about the forces.

Step 3
Now bring the magnets closer together so that they make
contact. Notice if the forces push or pull. Record your
observations about the forces.

Step 4
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to observe the forces with the ends of
the magnets labeled with the letter S facing each other.

Step 5
Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to observe the forces. This time, bring
together the end of one magnet labeled with the letter N
and the end of the other magnet labeled with the letter S.

126
 Identify and Use Patterns
Identify patterns you observed when the magnets were in
contact and at a distance.
Explain the patterns you observed when the forces between
the magnets were pulled and when they were pushed.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim to describe how magnetic forces push and pull
in contact and at a distance. Support your claim with
evidence from your investigation. Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

127
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

For each situation, label whether the force will be a push or a

pull. Then label whether the situation describes a force in
contact or a force at a distance.

Contact or
Push or Pull?
Distance?
The N end of one
magnet is held near
the N end of
another magnet

The S end of one

magnet is held
touching the S end
of another magnet

The S end of one

magnet is held

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

touching the N end
of another magnet

The N end of one

magnet is held
near the S end of
another magnet

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

128
DAY 5

Exploring Contact and Distance

Forces are pushes and pulls. When you push something, you
use force to move it away from you. When you pull
something, you use force to move it toward you.
Often, more than one push or pull happens to an object at
the same time. Also, different forces may be applied in
different directions.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©DoublePHOTO studio/Shutterstock

129
Explore the push and pull forces in this everyday example of
dogs playing. Dogs, like people, put forces on objects they
are touching, or in contact with.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Glow Images

Which statements correctly describe the forces the dogs put on
the toy while they are in contact with it? Select all that apply.

A. Both dogs are applying force by pulling on the toy.

B. Only the stronger dog is applying force by pulling on the toy.
C. The motion happens in the direction of the stronger force.
D. The dog pulling with the stronger force might also
pull the other dog toward it.

130
 Just like dogs can push and pull while playing, magnets can
apply push and pull forces. Magnets can pull on—or attract—
each other. Or they can push away—or repel—each other.
Magnetic pushes and pulls are different from many other
forces because these forces can affect objects at a distance. In
other words, a magnet does not need to be in contact, or
touching, an object in order to apply a force.
Magnets can push or pull on each other. What happens
depends on which ends of the magnets face each other.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl, tr, b) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

The poles labeled with an N are alike. The poles labeled S are alike. Do they
Do they push or pull each other? push or pull each other?

The poles labeled N and S are opposite. Do they push or pull each other?

131
Now that you have explored magnetic forces, use the
patterns you have identified to explain the forces magnets
put on other magnets.

Label each picture to correctly summarize what it shows about

the forces between two magnets.

S to S poles N to N poles N to S poles

push apart. push apart. pull together.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t, c, b) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

132
 Language SmArts: Magnets are sometimes used as a
solution to keep objects together. For example,
magnets can hold pieces of paper against a refrigerator
or whiteboard.

Collaborate with a partner to write a script for a 15-second

radio commercial. Your commercial should communicate
how magnets can be a solution to the problem of holding
things together.

In addition to a commercial on the radio, describe another

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

format and setting where you could advertise magnets.

133
You have investigated many different forces in this lesson.
Some forces act between objects in contact, such as when
you use your hand to touch and push a marker. Other forces
can act at a distance, even when objects aren’t touching.
Label each example to identify whether each force is acting in
contact or at a distance.

at a distance    in contact

Example Type of Force

A pizza maker’s hand pushes a

piece of pizza dough to throw it in
the air.

The force of gravity pulls a piece of

thrown pizza dough so it falls from
the air back down onto the counter.

The end labeled with an N of one

magnet pulls the end labeled with
an S of another magnet.

The end labeled with an S of one © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

magnet pushes the end labeled S

of another magnet.

A team of horses pulls a piece of

farming equipment across a field.

A soccer player’s foot pushes a

soccer ball.

134
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Look at the location of the object in the image. Find examples

of forces acting on the object in contact and at a distance.
Observe how the forces affect the object.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carrie Garcia/HMH

Identify two forces. Tell how they affect the object. On a

separate piece of paper, construct an input-output table to
show cause and effect between the forces and object.

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

135
DAY 6

Engineering in Careers
Now investigate the careers of engineers who use their
understanding of forces to solve problems.
Safety Engineer
A safety engineer makes products safer for people.
Safety engineers test items that people use at home.
For example, a safety engineer might use a machine to
drop a bowling ball over and over onto a chair. That puts
force on the chair seat, as if a person sat in it many
times. Safety engineers understand that forces have
strength and direction. They use that knowledge to
make things that are safer and last longer.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

This a bike helmet impact lab. A test is These tests make sure that helmets
being done by a safety engineer. keep people safe. Here is an example of
a helmet that failed the test.

Safety engineers sometimes work with toy companies.

Think about a toy or game you have. When children
play with toys, they put forces on the toys. If the toys are
not tested, they could break when children play with
them. A broken toy might hurt someone.

136
 Describe a toy or game that you choose. Identify the forces
on the toy or game during play.

Identify one way your chosen toy or game could be unsafe.

Plan a test a safety engineer could conduct to make sure the
toy or game is safe.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

137
Can You Explain It?
As you look at the image, think about the
forces on the rings as they interact in
contact and at a distance.
Go back and review your ideas about the
Guiding Question from the start of this
lesson. Now use what you have learned to
answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

What forces are acting on the rings that touch

each other and on the ones that are not touching?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence
from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

138
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Name
TEKS 3.7.B • DAY 1

and Motion
Date

Changes in Position

139
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about forces.
Explore how forces affect a soccer ball.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©DoublePHOTO studio/Shutterstock

2

1
3

1 A kick is a push.
2 The kick will move the ball.
3 Gravity keep it on the ground.

140
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Glow Images, (tr) ©Olga/Adobe Stock,

force position
A push or a pull, which may cause a The location of an object in relation to a
change in an object’s motion. nearby object or place.
(b) ©Blend Images/Erik Isakson/Getty Images

motion
A change of position of an object.

141
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How does the juggler change the positions and

motions of the balls?

Look at the photo. This juggler keeps

the three balls moving. As one ball is
falling, he throws another up in the air.

What do you notice about how the

juggler changes the positions and
motions of the balls?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
What do you wonder about how the juggler changes the
positions and motions of the balls?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

142
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
You likely push and pull many
different objects every day. You
pull or push doors to open them.
You pull out chairs to sit in them,
and you push them in when you
leave. Pushes and pulls are types
of forces. When the man and
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Blend Images/Erik Isakson/Getty Images

the child play with the beach

ball, they are using forces.
In this activity, you will
investigate cause-and effect-
relationships to demonstrate
how pushes and pulls change
position and motion.
Ask a question about how pushes and pulls
change position and motion.

Possible Materials Safety

• chenille sticks Do not use objects that
have sharp points for your
• toy cars investigation.
• balls
• dominoes

143
 Hands-On Activity

Explore Pushes and Pulls

Step 1
On a separate sheet of paper, plan an investigation to
demonstrate how pushes and pulls change the
motion and position of an object, such as a ball. Your
plan should include investigating cause-and-effect
relationships. You will answer these questions:

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

• How does a pull change the motion of an object?

How does it change the position of that object?
• How would a push change the motion of an object?
How does it change the position of that object?

144
 My Plan

Step 2
Review your plan with your teacher. Make sure your plan
includes testing with multiple objects. Your plan should also
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

include both pushes and pulls.

Step 3
Conduct your investigation. Record your observations.

145
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Data
Evaluate your plan. How did your investigation
demonstrate how pushes and pulls affect objects?

Cause and Effect

Identify and explain a cause-and-effect relationship in
the data you collected.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Ask Questions
Review the information you collected in your
investigation. Ask two questions about something you
still want to understand about pushes and pulls.

146
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how pushes and pulls change the motion
and the position of an object. Support your claim with
evidence from your investigation. Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

147
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

What changes when you push or pull an object?

Circle all that apply.

A. matter
B. motion
C. position

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Great job! You have finished Day 2.

148
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
An object in motion changes position.
It does not stay in the same place.
People can describe how an object’s
position has changed by talking about
distance and direction. For instance,
this student will move back and forth
in an arc.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©LWA/Jay Newman/Getty Images

So far, you’ve investigated the effect of

a single force on an object’s motion.
In the case of the swing set, multiple
forces are on the student at the same time.
You will plan and conduct an investigation to
explain how pushes and pulls combine to change
the position and motion of an object.
Ask a question about how pushes and pulls combine
to change the position and motion of an object.

Possible Materials Safety

• can, metal Do not use objects that
have sharp points for
• weights, small your investigation.
• string
• scissors
149
 Hands-On Activity

Combining Forces
Step 1
On the next page, plan a
descriptive investigation to
explain how pushes and pulls
combine to change the
motion and position of a can.
Use scientific practices in
your planning by making sure
your plan includes these
things:
• the materials you will need
• the steps you will take

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

• the observations you will collect

Step 2
Review your plan with your teacher. Make sure your
investigation will include pushing and pulling forces
both in the same direction and in different directions.

Step 3
Conduct your investigation. Use scientific practices in
your investigation by following your plan and recording
your observations on a sheet of paper.

150
 My Plan

Analyze Data
How did the pushes and pulls affect the position of the can?
Describe any significant features you see in your data.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

151
 Describe one success and one challenge you had while
planning and conducting your investigation.

Develop Models
Make a model, such as a diagram, of one of the setups
you investigated. Be sure to include the can and the
arrows that show the directions of the pushes and the
pulls. Add an arrow that shows how the can moved.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Use Models
Use your model to explain how pushes and pulls
combine to cause objects to change motion
and position.

152
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim to explain how combined pushes and pulls
change an object’s position and motion. Support your
claim with evidence from your investigation. Explain
your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

153
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Explain how the forces cause the object’s position and motion
to stay the same or change.
Complete the paragraph by circling the correct word choice to
explain how pushes and pulls combine to affect the position
and motion of objects.

A student holds an apple in her hand. The force of

gravity pushes / pulls and her hand pushes the

apple up / down . The apple’s position stays the same

/ changes . Then, the student lets go of the apple. Because

of the force of gravity, the apple moves / is still, so its

position and motion will / won’t change.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

154
DAY 4

Stability and Change with Forces

Objects that are not moving have stable positions. A force
can cause the position of an object to change. For instance, a
soccer ball’s position is stable when it is just sitting on the
field. When an athlete’s foot applies a push force, the ball’s
position changes.
Look at the photo to explore another example of a
force changing the position of an object. The player shoots
the solid white ball into the triangle of colored balls. Because
the balls in the triangle are all touching, the collision with one
ball transfers the energy to all of the balls.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©John Z/Shutterstock

The player hits the

solid white ball with
the stick. The white
ball rolls away from
the stick.

The balls in the

traingle are all
touching. When the
white ball hits the
triangle, it transfers
energy to all of the
balls.

155
 The colored balls all
roll across the table.
They bounce off the
sides. Eventually,
they stop moving.

Think about the balls on the pool table.

Which statements correctly explain stability and change?

A. A ball’s position and motion change when another ball

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©John Z/Shutterstock

pushes it.
B. A ball’s position and motion are stable when another ball
pushes it.
C. A ball’s position and motion change when it is sitting on
the table, before anything hits it.
D. A ball’s position and motion are stable when it is sitting on
the table, before anything hits it.

156
 When an object is in motion, it moves with stable speed in a
stable direction until a force causes its motion to change. For
instance, a hockey puck moving across the ice will keep
moving with its same speed and direction.
A force can change the motion of an object. When the hockey
puck hits the wall, it will change direction. A player can
change the speed or direction of the puck by hitting it. Each
of these hits puts a force on the hockey puck.

In the game of air hockey, players use mallets to apply forces

to the puck, attempting to send it into the other player’s goal.
What are some examples of forces causing changes in this
model of an air hockey game.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Adobe Stock/Adobe Stock

Hitting the puck with the

mallet sends the puck
sliding away. When the puck
hits the wall, it bounces off.
It starts traveling back in the
opposite direction.

Write two observations and pieces of information from

the model.

157
 Language SmArts: Think about the animated model of
the air hockey game you just watched.
Based on your observations and information from the
model, write two questions about the forces involved in
air hockey. Use the words push, pull, position, and
motion in your questions.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Frank Rothe/Getty Images
Forces are very important in sports and games, and they are
also important in everyday activities. Often more than one
force is acting on an object. The forces combine to affect the
object’s position and motion. Children and adults apply forces
to pick up and move clothes when getting dressed. The force
of gravity pulls on the clothes at the same time.
A baby jumps in the bouncer by moving his legs up and down.

158
 Use the word bank to complete this paragraph to
explain how forces cause stability and change in the
baby’s position and motion. Words may be used more
than once.

stable changing push pull motion position stronger weaker

As the baby plays in the bouncer, his position is .

His motion is . When the baby’s legs

against the ground, the force of his legs changes

the speed and direction of his . The baby can jump

up because his legs can push up with a force than

the force of gravity pulling down.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

159
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Which statements correctly describe the forces that affect the

position and motion of the wagon? Select all that apply.

A. The force of gravity pulls the wagon, keeping it on the ground. © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

B. The force of gravity pulls the wagon, causing it to move forward.

C. One student pulls the wagon, keeping it on the ground.
D. One student pulls the wagon, causing it to move forward.

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

160
DAY 5

Engineering in Careers
Now investigate the careers of professionals who use forces
to change the position and the motion of objects.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Take Photo/Shutterstock, (b) ©Oleksandr Kalinichenko/Shutterstock

Crane Operator
A crane operator is a professional who controls a crane.
Sometimes objects are too large or too heavy for humans to
move them on their own. One kind of machine that helps
move such heavy objects is a crane.
There are different types and different sizes of cranes that
move objects in different ways. Some use hooks or claws to
lift objects. Others may use powerful magnets.
Explore these images to learn more about cranes.

This crane lifts heavy

items to make this
building.

Cranes can lift objects

from or build things
under water.

161
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Linus Strandholm/Shutterstock
A crane operator needs to know how each control will affect the crane’s
motion and position.

Crane Operator
Most employers require crane operators to have a high school
diploma and training. A person who applies for a job as a
crane operator usually has to work as an apprentice with a
trained operator. An apprentice is someone who learns how
to do something from a worker who is already skilled at it.

162
 In some places, crane operators must have a license to work.
In these cases, they must first complete classes or other
special training. They then have to take a test to prove they
can operate the crane correctly and safely.
Language SmArts: A business in your community
needs to hire a crane operator. Write an advertisement
for a job opening. Be sure to include a description of
the job. You can use your creativity to imagine what
kind of building project a crane operator would work
on in your community. A good job posting will also
explain what training, experience, and qualities a
person needs to do the job well.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Andriy Blokhin/Adobe Stock

163
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your exploration in this lesson,
think about how the juggler changes the positions and the
motions of the balls.
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question
from the start of this lesson. Now, use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How does the juggler change the

positions and the motions of the balls?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Make a claim about the guiding question.
Use evidence from the lesson and give
reasoning to connect the evidence to
your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

164
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©William Church/Moment/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.8.A• DAY 1

Date

Types of Energy

165
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about sound and vibration.

The vibration of the speaker causes these beads to move.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

166
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Stockbyte/Getty Images, (tr) ©Elisabeth Schmitt/Moment/Getty Images,

energy mechanical energy

The ability to do work or cause changes The total energy of motion and position of
in matter. an object.

thermal energy light energy

(m l, r) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (bl) TK

The energy of a system related to the Energy that lets you see.
system’s temperature and mass.

sound energy
A kind of energy you hear when something
vibrates.
167
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

What kinds of energy could be dangerous to a construction

worker and cause her to need different kinds of safety gear?

The construction worker wears

different kinds of safety gear.
They wear dark safety glasses to
protect their eyes. Headphones
are used to protect their ears.
They wear a hard hat to protect
their head. Heat-safe gloves are
worn to protect their hands.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

What do you notice about how energy relates to the
construction worker’s safety gear?

What do you wonder about how energy relates to the

construction worker’s safety gear?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

168
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
People can experience sore throats
for many reasons. They might have
spent too much time yelling, or
they might have a cold. Either way,
their throat might hurt when they
try to speak. This student needs to
communicate with someone on
the other side of the room, but she
does not want to talk.
In this activity, you will define and solve the student’s
problem. You will propose and test a solution to
communicate the ZIP code of your school.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Define a problem: Using your information and

observations, define the problem you need to solve.

Possible Materials Safety

• flashlight or other device for • Do not shine a
signaling with light flashlight directly at
anyone’s eyes.
• rhythm sticks or other device
for signaling with sound
• flag or other device for
signaling with motion

169
 Hands-On Activity

Communicate with Energy,

Part 1
Step 1
Determine which kind of
energy you will use for
your solution. Explain
why you selected this
kind of energy.
• light
• sound
• mechanical energy

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 2
Propose a solution for how you will use energy to
communicate your ZIP code to a friend on the other
side of the classroom.

Step 3
Develop a model to support your solution. Draw your
model on a separate sheet of paper. Your model
should include how you would communicate all the
numbers from 0 to 9 that might be in a ZIP code.

170
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Why do engineers make models when

designing solutions? Use your experiences in
the Hands-On Activity to explain your thinking.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

171
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Sometimes people need to communicate using
light, sound, or motion. Traffic lights are one
example of how people use light to communicate.
In the last activity, you defined a problem:
A student needs to communicate without using
their voice. Then you planned a solution for how
this communication might happen. Now you
will test your solution.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Filipe Frazao/Shutterstock

Ask a question about when people may need
to communicate without using their voices.

Possible Materials Safety

• flashlight or other • Do not shine a flashlight
device for signaling directly at anyone’s eyes.
with light
• rhythm sticks or other
device for signaling
with sound
• flag or other device for
signaling with motion

172
 Communicate with Energy,
Part 2
Continue to solve the problem of
communicating with energy by
testing your solution from Part 1.

Step 4
Test your solution. Have one team
member stand on the far side of the
classroom. They should use your
solution to communicate the ZIP
code of your school, one number at
a time. Record each number.

Step 5
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Review your test results. Does the message that was sent match the
message that you received?

Step 6
Test again with a different message. This time, have a team
member communicate their birthdate using numbers.

Step 7
Review your test results. Were you successful in
communicating a message without speaking?

173
 Hands-On Activity

Evaluate Designs
What are the strengths of your communication
solution? What are the weaknesses of your
communication solution?
Partner with another team who used a different kind of
energy. Compare your solutions and your test results.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using
each kind of energy to communicate?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

174
 Language SmArts
Communicate Solutions
Working individually, communicate your solution in
two formats by using separate sheets of paper to write
a description and to draw a model.
Turn in your description and model to your teacher.
Propose a way you could communicate your solution
to a different audience.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how a person can use everyday
examples of energy to communicate without speaking.
Support your claim with evidence from your activity.
Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

175
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

sound   light   mechanical energy

Toys can show different kinds of energy. Identify the kind of

energy each toy demonstrates.

Toy Energy

Colorful lights flash on the toy.

Parts on the toy move and spin.

The toy plays a song.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

176
DAY 4

Everyday Energy
In your Hands-On Activity, you explored how people
can communicate with energy. People talk about
energy all the time. A coach probably told these
soccer players to eat a snack before a game to give
them energy. Someone watching the game might tell
the players, “You have lots of energy!” So, what does
energy mean in science?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Stockbyte/Getty Images

Energy is the ability to make something move or

change. If you want to put a book on a shelf, it takes
energy to move it up there. What about melting
snow? It takes energy to change snow to liquid water.

177
You experience light every day, but you might not think about
light as energy. Light is energy that lets you see. What
examples of light energy might you see in a bedroom?

Explore everyday examples of light energy in a bedroom.

The window The lamp

lets in sunlight. lets you see.

The clock
lights up.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

At night, the nightlight
helps you see.

Identify two different examples of light energy

you see in the room around you.

178
 Sound is another kind of energy. Musicians make art
with sound. Sound is a kind of energy you can hear
when something vibrates. When a musician strums a
guitar, for example, you hear the energy from the
strings vibrating. Explore everyday examples of sound
energy in the form of music.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Identify which of these everyday things are examples of

sound energy. Circle all that apply.

A. A bus driver honks a bus horn.

B. A student picks up a water bottle.
C. An alarm clock rings to wake a student.
D. A teacher calls out, “Time to go inside!”

179
Thermal energy is another kind of energy you
experience every day. The amount of thermal energy
systems and objects have is related to their temperature
and mass. Warm things have more thermal energy than
cool things. Large things have more thermal energy
than small things.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (tr) ©Corbis, (bl) ©Shaw Photography Co./Moment/
Explore these everyday examples of thermal energy.

Thermal energy in a toaster changes Thermal energy in a flame melts the

bread into toast. candle wax.

Getty Images (br) ©HMH

When snuggling with a dog, a child feels Ice has thermal energy, even though it
warmth because of thermal energy. feels cool.

180
 Identify two different examples of thermal energy you
experience on a daily basis.

Continue your exploration of everyday energy by looking at

the next page. Mechanical energy is energy related to the
motion and position of an object. You may be used to
thinking about your body having energy when you are
running and playing. Non-living things can also have
mechanical energy.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

181
Explore how mechanical energy is involved in riding a bike.

The bike moves along

the road. The whole bike
has mechanical energy.
The pedals move the
wheels. The wheels
have mechanical energy.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Elisabeth Schmitt/Moment/Getty Images
The rider’s feet move the pedals.
The feet have mechanical energy.
The pedals have mechanical energy.

Identify which of the following everyday occurrences are

examples of mechanical energy. Circle all that apply.
A. An adult burns her tongue drinking hot tea.
B. A student turns a doorknob and opens a door.
C. The bell rings to tell students that school is over.
D. A person uses a flashlight to see outside at night.
E. A baseball player throws the ball to his teammate.

182
 Language SmArts: Use your language arts skills to
reflect on the information you have explored.

Ask two questions about energy in everyday life based

on the information and observations you gathered from
the text and images today.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

183
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Identify the kind of energy involved in each example.

thermal mechanical

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

sound light
energy energy

The toaster pushes the toasted

bread up.

The microwave beeps when

food is done.

The oven light lets you see

food baking.

A hot stove makes water boil.

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

184
DAY 5

Energy in Systems
Energy exists in objects and
in systems all around you.
A system is a set of connected
things forming a complex
whole. Different systems are
different sizes, also called
scales. A classroom is a
system made of many desks
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Bananastock/Jupiterimages/Getty Images

and other items. At a smaller

scale, a desk and the things
with it, such as a chair and a
book, are another system.

Identify two systems in your classroom that are examples

of sound. Model each system, paying attention to scale.

185
Review and analyze your models of the two systems.
Describe and compare the scale of the two systems you
modeled and the sounds they produce.

Suppose a teacher needed to get the attention of the whole

class using one of the two objects you modeled. The teacher
would pick the best solution based on a set of criteria, which
are the desirable features of a solution.

Evaluate and describe how well each object you modeled meets
each criterion.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Criteria

Loud enough to get

people’s attention

Easy to turn on and off

Won’t make a mess

186
 Make a recommendation for which object the teacher should
use. Base your recommendation on how well the objects
meet the criteria.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Gregory Urquiaga/Contra Costa Times/ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy

187
A school cafeteria is another
example of a system. Look at
the image of the school
cafeteria line and think about
your own experiences in the
cafeteria. Examine the parts
of the system to learn more
about how the system works.
The cafeteria line system is
made up of multiple parts.
Model the system based on
your examination.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Steve Debenport/Getty Images
Model the parts of the cafeteria line system. Label
examples of energy in the system using this key.
• L–light • T–thermal energy
• S–sound • M–mechanical energy

188
 Scientists discovered that light and warmth from the sun
were energy that could be collected and used. This discovery
was used to develop solar panels. Now satellites that study
the sun use solar panels to collect the energy they need to
run their science equipment.
Explain how past scientific discoveries about energy from the
sun impact current science.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

189
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Look closely at the picture of the playground. Think about

times you have played on a playground. Identify one
example each of light, sound, thermal energy, and
mechanical energy that you might find at a busy playground.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Pamela Moore/E+/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

190
DAY 6

Engineering in Careers
Now investigate the careers of engineers who work
with sound in systems.
Acoustic Engineer
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Gizmo/E+/Getty Images, (b) ©Reuters Photographer/Reuters

Engineers work in many fields.

An acoustic engineer solves
problems related to sound or
hearing. From concert halls to
quiet cars, acoustic engineers
design sound-related objects and
systems. They study engineering,
physics, and math to be successful.
The tools they use include
microphones, computers, and Acoustic engineers design concert halls
their ears. Like all engineers, so that in any seat, you can hear sound
acoustic engineers make and test from the stage.
multiple solutions. Then they find
the best solutions within design
constraints and criteria.
Study the pictures to discover
more about acoustic engineers.

This is an acoustic lab. The computer

shows the result of a sound test.

191
Acoustic engineering is also related to musical instruments.
William Cumpiano
William Cumpiano is a luthier, or a guitar maker and guitar
repairman. He learned about acoustics at several colleges
and through working with two
master guitar makers in the 1970s.
Later he received a patent for a
carbon-fiber board that makes
guitars sound better.
William Cumpiano uses his
knowledge about acoustics to build
guitars. His instruments are used by
people around the world. Some
have been on display at the
Smithsonian Institute in

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©William Cumpiano

Washington, DC.
Describe two problems that an
acoustic engineer might help solve.

192
 Continue exploring sound and acoustic engineering by
thinking about the materials acoustic engineers use for
different purposes.
Look around you. List at least three different materials that the
room itself and objects within it are made of. Write the materials
on the lines in the table. Speak softly with your mouth about
three inches away from the material. Listen for differences in the
sound of your voice. Record your observations.

Materials

Observations

it is clear

the sound is muffled

it is fluttery

Which materials would you use for the walls of a music

hall so sound can’t be heard outside? Base your answer
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

on your observations of how the materials affected the

sound of your voice.

193
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question from
the start of this lesson. Now use what you have learned to answer
the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

What kinds of energy could be dangerous to a construction

worker and cause her to need different kinds of safety gear?

The construction worker wears

different kinds of safety gear including
dark safety glasses, headphones, heat-
safe gloves, and a hard hat. What kind
of energy is each piece of safety gear
protecting her from?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Make a claim about the guiding question. Use
evidence from the lesson, and give reasoning to
connect the evidence to your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 6.

194
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©SteveStone/iStockPhoto.com

Name
TEKS 3.8.B • DAY 1

of Objects
Date

Energy and Speed

195
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about energy.
Explore these examples of mechanical energy.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©billberryphotography/istock/Getty Images, (bl) ©Dirk Freder/iStockPhoto.com
A

(tr) ©Patz Imaging/Alamy, (br) ©Brian McEntire/iStockphoto/Getty Images

D

Water from a waterfall splashes into a pond.

A  

The hammer hits the nail and drives it into the wood.
B  

The cheetah uses its legs to run at top speed through a field.
C  

The pitcher throws the baseball to the catcher.

D  

196
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the word you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©kuriputosu/iStock/Getty Images

speed
The measure of an object’s change in
position during a certain amount of time.

197
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How is the speed of a roller coaster related to its

mechanical energy?

When a rollercoaster car starts up high and

goes down a steep hill, it moves very fast.

When a rollercoaster car moves across a

flat track, it moves more slowly. When it
goes uphill, it slows down even more.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©In Green/Shutterstock

What do you notice about how the speed of
the roller coaster changes during the ride?

What do you wonder about how the speed

of the roller coaster is related to its energy?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

198
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
You think you are walking
quickly. Your friends think
you are walking slowly. No
one can agree on what it
means to walk fast or to walk
slow. How can you all agree
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tom Merton/OJO Images/Getty Images

about a person’s speed?

Speed is how fast or slow an
object is moving.
Ask a question about how
you know a person is moving
fast or slow.

Materials Safety
• meterstick • Stay with your group. Be
sure your teacher can see
• masking tape
you at all times.
• timing device, such as
a stopwatch

199
 Hands-On Activity

Slow Walk, Fast Walk

Step 1
Use a meterstick to measure and masking tape to
mark off a distance of 10 meters (m) outside.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t, b) ©HMH

Step 2
Use your timing device to observe, measure, and
record data. How long does it take each person in
your group to walk 10 m? Walk slowly. Collect
measurements as evidence.

200
 Step 3
Use the data table below to record your results. Write each
person’s time in second(s) in the data table.

Step 4
Now time each person walking the same 10 m as
fast as possible. Use the stopwatch to measure the
time again.

Step 5
Record each person’s time in your data table.

Slow Walk, Fast Walk

Name of Person in
Slow Walk Time Fast Walk Time
Group
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

201
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Measurements
Analyze the measurements you collected from the
stopwatch and meterstick. Use the data as evidence to
answer these items.
• Describe and compare your movements when you are walking
and running.
• What is the difference in mechanical energy between walking
and running?

Ask Questions
Based on your investigation, write two new questions

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

about how speed changes.

202
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how people can agree on speed. Support
your claim with evidence from your activity. Explain your
reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

203
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this item.

Use the evidence from the activity to complete

the sentences.

When a person walks fast, mechanical energy is

lower / higher and the speed is higher / lower
compared to when they walk slow.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tom Merton/OJO Images/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

204
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Are you ready? It’s time for you to
investigate! Design your own investigation
to demonstrate how the speed of an
object is related to its mechanical energy.
Ask a question about how the height of a
ramp affects the speed of an object.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©ymgerman/Shutterstock

Possible Materials Safety

• goggles Watch your eyes. Tell your
teacher right away if
• books anything gets in your eyes.
• ramp Wear goggles when your
teacher tells you.
• metric ruler
• different objects like
a penny, a block, a
pencil, or an eraser
• stopwatch

205
 Hands-On Activity

Let’s Race!, Part 1

Step 1
Plan an investigation to
identify how speed changes
when height changes.
Explore how the height of a
ramp can change an object’s
speed. Make sure your plan
includes these things:
• the materials you will need
• the steps you will take
• the data and observations you will collect

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

You can write or sketch your plan on a sheet of paper.

Step 2
Review your plan with your teacher.

Step 3
Use the chart on the next page to record your data.
Choose and record three heights you will use for the
ramp.

Step 4
Mark the start and finish lines.

206
 Step 5
Conduct your investigation by
setting up a ramp and choosing an
object. Measure the height of the
ramp with a metric ruler. To
measure the height of the ramp,
use centimeters. A centimeter
(cm) is a unit of length. Follow your plan, and don’t
forget to record your observations in your data table.

Step 6
Use a stopwatch to record the speed of the object
traveling down the ramp for your first chosen height.
Use words such as fast, slow, and did not move.

Let’s Race, Part 1

Height of the Speed Fast, Slow,
Ramp (cm) (stopwatch) Did not move
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Height 1
Height 2
Height 3

Step 7
Change the height of the ramp to match your plan.
Repeat Step 6 for each ramp height you choose.
Did everyone in your group participate during
the investigation? If not, what can be done to
improve that in the future?

207
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Why is it important to have a plan before you conduct

your investigation? Circle all the correct answers.

A. Planning an investigation helps you prepare

the materials.
B. Planning an investigation helps you write the steps
needed for the procedure.
C. Planning an investigation helps you think about
how the data and observations will be recorded.
D. Planning an investigation helps you find
the results.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

208
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In Part 1, you designed your own
experiment and then tested the speed of a
single object on ramps of different heights.
Now you will test the speed of different
objects on a ramp at a single height.
Ask a question about what might affect
the speed of different objects sliding down
the same ramp.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Donald Pye/Alamy

Possible Materials Safety

• goggles Watch your eyes. Tell your
teacher right away if anything
• books gets in your eyes. Wear goggles
• ramp when your teacher tells you.

• metric ruler
• different objects like
a penny, a block, a
pencil, or an eraser
• stopwatch
209
 Hands-On Activity

Let’s Race!, Part 2

Step 8
Choose three different objects you
will test with your ramp. Use paper to
construct a table to collect your data
and record the names of your objects.

Step 9
Choose your materials to build the ramp. Stack books
until they are 10 cm high. Lay one end of the ramp on
the books.

Step 10

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Work with a partner. Place one object at the top of the
ramp’s start line. Use the stopwatch to record the time
it takes for the object to cross the finish line.

Step 11
Repeat Step 10 for each object. Record the time in the
data table.

Let’s Race, Part 2

Objects Speed

210
 Step 12
Analyze the data collected from the stopwatch and compare
the speed of the sliding objects. Record your observations.

Analyze Data
Which object do you think has the greatest mechanical
energy? How do you know? Use your data to explain
your answer.
Are there possible sources of errors in your investigation?
Why or why not?

Patterns
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What patterns did you observe as the height of the

ramp increased?

211
 Hands-On Activity

Energy in Systems
How did your investigation show the flow of energy
through the system of the ramp and objects?

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the speed of an object. Support
your claim with evidence from your activity. Explain
your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

212
 Language SmArts: Write a scientific explanation
using one of the sentence starters.
My evidence shows that ...
My data shows that ...
Based on the investigation, I can conclude that ...
Explain how energy affected an object’s speed down
the ramp.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

213
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

How does the height of the ramp relate to the speed of

the object?

A. The higher the ramp, the faster the object moves.

B. The lower the height of the ramp, the faster the
object moves.
C. There is no connection.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Donald Pye/Alamy

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

214
DAY 5

People in Engineering
Engineer Al Qöyawayma
Would you rather be a scientist or
an artist? You can be both!
Alfred Qöyawayma (koy-AH-wy-
muh) is a Hopi engineer and artist.
As an engineer, Al Qöyawayma
helped develop systems for
airplanes and spacecraft. His
systems use sensors and
computers to tell the position,
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Courtesy of Al Qöyawayma

speed, and direction of a

flying vehicle.
Al Qöyawayma honors his Hopi Al Qöyawayma is a Native
background through art. He blends American engineer.
his native culture with his science
and engineering knowledge to
make sculptures and pottery.
Qöyawayma has even made art that went into space.
He made a piece of pottery that flew into orbit
with the first Native American astronaut, John
Herrington. Art designed to travel into space
must meet engineering constraints.

215
Engineer Al Qöyawayma

On November 18th, 2002 the space

shuttle Endeavor was launched to the
International Space Station. The
commander of this flight was
astronaut John Herrington. As a
Chickasaw, Commander Herrington
became the first Native American to
fly in space.

Qöyawayma prepared a small piece of

pottery for Commander Herrington’s
official flight kit. It was a small Hopi
pot prepared according to ancient
Chickasaw traditions.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Courtesy of Al Qöyawayma

Commander Herrington wanted to
honor his ancient traditions. Artist,
potter, and engineer, Al Qöyawayma
helped him achieve that goal.

Think about a rocket’s energy and speed. Describe what happens when a
rocket launches.

216
 Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your exploration in this lesson, think
about how speed relates to mechanical energy.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©In Green/Shutterstock

When a rollercoaster car starts up high and goes down a

steep hill, it moves very fast.

When a rollercoaster car moves across a flat track, it moves

more slowly. When it goes uphill, it slows down even more.

217
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the Guiding Question
from the beginning of this lesson. Now use what you have
learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How is the speed of a roller coaster related to its

mechanical energy?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©In Green/Shutterstock

Make a claim about the guiding question. Use evidence
from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

218
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tetra Images/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.9.A • DAY 1

Date

Earth, and Moon

Orbits of the Sun,

219
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about objects in the sky.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Kirill Putchenko/iStockPhoto.com, (tr) ©stevecoleimages/E+/Getty Images,
Earth is not the center of the solar system. The moon is smaller than the sun.

(bl) ©Dan Collier/Adobe Stock

All stars are different distances from Earth.

220
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.

orbit
The path of one object in space around another object.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

revolution
The movement of Earth one time around the sun.

221
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question
from the start of this lesson. Now, use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How do orbits of the sun, Earth,

and moon relate to each other?

Answer the guiding question

by describing motion in the sun-
Earth-moon system. Use evidence
from your modeling activities in
not to scale
your answer.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

222
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Let’s travel through space! Earth travels
through space around the sun one time
in one year. This trip is called a
revolution. The word revolution can
also be used to refer to the movement
of the moon around Earth. The moon
takes about one month to travel around Earth one
time. In this activity, you will construct a model of the
sun, Earth, moon system to see how the objects move.
Ask a question about how the sun, moon, and
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Sebikus/Dreamstime

Earth move in space.

Safety
Watch out for objects on the
floor or uneven surfaces
when moving around so you
do not slip and fall.
• Make sure to work far enough
apart from other groups that
Materials
you will not run into each
• cardstock
other when moving around.
• markers
• If you do this activity outside,
• string, 24-inch pieces stay near your teacher, and do
• tape not look directly at the sun.

223
 Hands-On Activity

Let’s Travel Through Space!

Step 1
Make a nametag for each
object in space that will
be in your model. Using a
marker, write “sun” on a
piece of cardstock. Then,
tape each end of a piece
of string to the cardstock.
Repeat the process to
make nametags for
“Earth” and “moon.”

Step 2

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Have three members of your group wear the
nametags, acting as models to represent the three
objects in the system. The fourth person will observe
and take notes for the group.
• The person acting as the sun stands far away from Earth and
the moon and does not move.
• The person acting as Earth moves around the sun very slowly
in an almost circular path called an orbit.
• The person acting as the moon moves around Earth in an
almost circular orbit.

Step 3
Observe the sun, Earth, and moon in relation to each
other in your system model.

224
 Analyze Data
Analyze information from the sun, Earth, moon system
model. How did you model the way Earth moves in space?

Ask Questions
Ask two questions about the sun-Earth-moon system based
on information and observations from your model.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

225
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how the movement of the moon
is similar to the movement of Earth. Support your
claim with evidence from your investigation.
Explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

226
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Draw a sun, Earth, moon system. Use arrows to show

how the objects move.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

227
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you modeled the
sun-Earth-moon system. It showed how
the objects move, but you could only
observe the system from the side. Now,
develop a plan for a model that will let
you study the orbits and revolutions
in the system. It will show the sun,
A constructed model of the sun,
Earth, and moon. You will measure and Earth, and moon.
test scale in your system model.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Dyachenko/Adobe Stock

Ask a question about how you can construct a model
of the sun-Earth-moon system.

Possible Materials • scissors

• building materials (options • string
include cardstock, paper
brads, modeling clay, foam • tape
balls, and other items) Safety
• markers (or colored Use caution when
pencils), assorted colors working with sharp
• meterstick objects like scissors.

• objects for tracing circles, Pick up any objects

assorted sizes, such as that are dropped on
the floor so people do
container lids not slip and fall.
228
 Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System,
Part 1
Step 1
Working as a team, develop a plan for how you will
model the sun-Earth-moon system.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Write a list of the steps of your plan below.

229
 Hands-On Activity

Step 2
Decide what materials you will use to build your model.
List your materials below.

Step 3
Make a sketch of your model below. Label the materials
you will use. Identify what parts of your model will be
still and what parts will be moveable.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Step 4
Review your plan with your teacher.
230
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Which statement correctly describes the orbits of the

sun, Earth, and moon in relation to each other?

A. Earth and the moon both move in orbits around

the sun.
B. The sun and the moon both move in orbits
around Earth.
C. Earth moves in an orbit around the sun, and the
moon moves in an orbit around Earth.
D. The sun moves in an orbit around Earth, and
Earth moves in an orbit around the moon.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

231
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you planned a model. Now
use classroom materials to make your model.
Then study the orbits and revolutions in the
sun, Earth, and moon system.
Ask a question about revolutions in the sun-
Earth-moon system.

Possible Materials Safety

• building materials Use caution when
(options include working with sharp
cardstock, paper brads, objects like scissors.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

modeling clay, foam Pick up any objects
balls, and other items) that are dropped on
• markers (or colored the floor so people do
pencils), assorted colors not slip and fall.

• meterstick
• objects for tracing
circles, assorted sizes,
such as container lids
• scissors
• string
• tape
232
 Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System,
Part 2
In Part 1 of the Hands-On
Activity, you developed a model
of the sun-Earth-moon system.
Today, you will construct and
evaluate your model.

Step 5
Construct your model according to your plan.

Step 6
In space, distances and the sizes of objects are so large that they
can be hard to understand. Scale models use math to make bigger
or smaller examples of the things you want to study.
Use the table below to figure out your scale to build the Earth-
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

moon part of your model. On the next page, draw the table and
add a column to show how large the object should be. For
example, if the moon is 1 unit across and you decide 1 unit = 1 cm,
the moon would be 1 cm in diameter. Use this scale to complete
the other measurements.

Step 7
Make a plan to modify your model to make the scale more accurate
for the Earth-moon part of the system.
Solar System Relative Scale
Size of moon 1
Size of Earth 4
Distance from Earth to moon 120

233
 Hands-On Activity

Draw your table showing how large each object should

be below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

234
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Complete the paragraph to explain the orbits of the sun,

Earth, and moon in relation to each other.

• Earth moves on a(n) orbit / revolution around the sun.

• One revolution of Earth around the sun takes one
year / month .
• The moon moves around the sun / Earth .

• The moon completes one revolution around Earth in about

one year / month .
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

235
DAY 5

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Sometimes models need to be
adjusted to more accurately
reflect the true scale of the real-
life objects. You made a
modification plan in the last
activity to help you adjust to a
more accurate scale. Now let’s

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Santhosh Varghese/Shutterstock

put your plan into action!
Ask a question about how you can use scale to
improve a model.

Possible Materials • scissors

• building materials • string
(options include
cardstock, paper brads, • tape
modeling clay, foam
balls, and other items) Safety
• markers (or colored Use caution when
pencils), assorted colors working with sharp
objects like scissors.
• meterstick
Pick up any objects
• objects for tracing that are dropped on
circles, assorted sizes, the floor so people do
such as container lids not slip and fall.
236
 Model the Sun-Earth-Moon System,
Part 3
In Part 2 of the Hands-On Activity, you constructed your
model and made a plan to modify your model based on
scale. In this activity, you will carry out your plan and
modify your model.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 8
Follow your plan and use scale to model objects and
distances in the Earth-moon system.

Step 9
Partner with another team. Use scale to compare
the systems in your models.

237
 Hands-On Activity

Systems and System Models

Compare the system model you built in this activity
with the system model you used in the first activity in
this lesson (Let’s Travel Through Space!). What did you
observe in the scale model that you could not observe
in the model from the first activity? What could you
observe in the first activity that you could not observe
in the model in this activity?

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Describe the scale of the Earth-moon system. Which
objects are similar in size or very different in size?

238
 Identify and describe any challenges you had while
making your model. Discuss the successes you had.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the orbits of the sun, Earth, and moon in
relation to each other. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation and modeling activities.
Explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

239
 Hands-On Activity

Scale in the Sun-Earth-Moon System

You can compare the sun, Earth, and the moon in many
ways, including their scale.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©GSFC/SDO/NASA, (r) ©Scientific Visualization Studio/NASA
Explore the images to learn more about scale in the
sun-Earth-moon system.

Earth is larger than the moon. Earth’s

width is about 3.5 times the moon’s
The sun is much larger than Earth. width. The moon is so far from Earth
The sun’s width is about 109 times that 30 Earth-sized objects could fit
Earth’s width. between the moon and Earth.

Place the objects in the correct order based on their size.

moon sun Earth

smallest

largest

240
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Explain the orbits of the sun, Earth, and moon in relation to

each other. Use ideas of scale to describe distances in the
sun-Earth system and the Earth-moon system.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

241
DAY 6

Science in Careers
Now, investigate the careers of scientists who study
the physical world, including systems in space.
Physicist
Look around you. What do you see? The physical
world. You see matter and some forms of energy, as
well as parts of space. But there are also parts of the
physical world you can’t see.
Physicists are the scientists who study every part of
the physical world. These parts include things you
can’t see, such as time and some forms of energy. A
major part of physicists’ studies is math. Math helps

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Miguel Alcubierre

us to better understand the world around us, from
the smallest particle to the largest stars.

242
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Miguel Alcubierre

Miguel Alcubierre

Dr. Miguel Alcubierre is a physicist from Mexico.

Dr. Alcubierre is most famous for proposing a warp
drive in which spacecraft could travel faster than light
under certain conditions. He has appeared in radio and
on television programs to discuss his warp drive theory.
What makes this hypothetical is that it has yet to be
proven possible, though there’s evidence to suggest
that it is.
Why is it important for physicists to study and
discover more about the sun-Earth-Moon system
and other systems in space? Discuss your ideas
with a partner.

243
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do orbits of the sun, Earth, and moon relate

to each other?

This model shows how

objects move in space. The
moon, the smallest circle,
moves around Earth, the
medium-sized circle. Earth
moves around the Sun,
which is represented by the
large circle.

not to scale

Think about the guiding question. What do you notice about

the movement of the sun, Earth, and moon?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What do you wonder about the movement of the sun, Earth,

and moon?

Great job! You have finished Day 6.

244
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Elvele Images Ltd/Alamy

Name
TEKS 3.9.B • DAY 1

Date

Our Solar System

245
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about the sun as a star that
provides heat and light.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Igor Krasnov/Dreamstime

The Sun is a star that is very bright and

very hot. The Sun is located at the
center of Earth’s solar system. The Sun
is very far away. But it still provides
light and heat to Earth.

246
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Elvele Images Ltd/Alamy, (b) ©Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock

solar system
a star and all the planets and other objects that revolve around it

planet
a large, round body that revolves around a star

247
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

Why does the planet Mercury appear to move in

front of the sun?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©allexxandarx/Adobe Stock

The planet Mercury appears to move in front of the sun. Scientists call this a transit.
Against the large bright sun, the planet Mercury looks like a small black dot.

Think about the guiding question. What do you notice about

Mercury, Earth, and the sun in the solar system?

What do you wonder about Mercury, Earth, and the sun in the
solar system?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

248
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Earth’s solar system
includes eight planets. You
are already familiar with one
of the planets, Earth.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

In this activity, you will use

math to determine the order
of the planets in relation to
the sun. Then, you will make
a model of the solar system, showing the planets in order.
Ask a question about how you can determine the
order of the planets.

Materials Safety
• tape, masking or Pick up any objects
painter’s that fall on the floor so
they do not cause
• marker anyone to slip and fall.
• ball, large, such as a
whiffle ball
• 8 balls, small, such as
table tennis balls

249
 Hands-On Activity

Modeling the Solar System

Do the Math: You can use information about the
distance of planets from the sun to put them in order.
Examine the data table about the parts of the solar
system. Determine which planets are closest to and
farthest from the sun.

Distance from the sun

Planet
(in millions of kilometers)
Earth 150

Jupiter 778

Mars 228

Mercury 58

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Neptune 4,498

Saturn 1,427

Uranus 2,871

Venus 108

250
 Based on the distances in the table, identify the order of
the planets in relation to the sun.

Uranus   Mars   Venus   Mercury   Saturn
Jupiter   Mercury   Earth   Neptune

Order Planet

Closest to the sun

Second from the sun

Third from the sun

Fourth from the sun

Fifth from the sun

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Sixth from the sun

Seventh from the sun

Farthest from the sun

251
 Hands-On Activity

Modeling the Solar System

Step 1
Use a piece of tape to label the large ball “sun.”

Step 2
Model the parts of the solar system. Use pieces of
tape to label each of the smaller balls with the names
of the eight planets in Earth’s solar system.

Step 3
Place the planets in order, from closest to the sun to
farthest from the sun.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 4
Explain your model to a classmate. Tell them about
any challenges you had. Answer any questions
they have.

252
 Systems and System Models
Use information from your model to describe the objects in
the solar system.

Ask Questions
Ask two questions about the solar system based on
observations and information from the model you made.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

253
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the order of the planets in
Earth’s solar system in relation to the sun. Support
your claim with evidence from your investigation.
Explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

254
 Earth’s solar system is only one of many solar systems
in the universe. This image shows models of eight
other solar systems. The dots represent planets, and
the rings represent the orbits of those planets around
stars at the center of each system. Examine the
quantity, or number, of planets in the different systems.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©NASA/Ames UC Santa C/NASA Johnson Space Center

Compare the number of planets in these solar systems to

the number of planets in Earth’s solar system. What is the
most common number of planets for the solar systems in
the model? How does this compare to the number of
planets in Earth’s solar system?

255
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

What is the correct sequence of the planets in Earth’s

solar system, starting with the closest planet to the sun?

A. Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn,

Uranus, Venus

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
B. Mercury, Mars, Earth, Venus, Neptune, Uranus,
Saturn, Jupiter
C. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune
D. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

256
DAY3

People in Engineering
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (lt) ©revers_jr/Adobe Stock, (rt) ©Stockbym/Alamy, (lb) ©Anton Sharai/Adobe Stock,

Scientists and engineers work together to study the

planets that are parts of Earth’s solar system.
Spacecraft are often used to study planets up close.
Explore examples of how people have gathered
information about the planets.

The planet Mercury is closest to the sun. The planet Venus is the second planet
NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft flew from the sun. NASA’s Magellan spacecraft
around the planet Mercury and gathered used radar to map the surface of the
information for more than four years. planet Venus through its thick clouds.
(rb) ©StockTrek/Photodisc/Getty Images

Human beings live on the planet Earth, The planet Mars is the fourth planet from
the third planet from the sun. Scientists the sun. NASA scientists have used many
use satellites around Earth to study different spacecraft to study Mars. Some,
clouds, weather, climate, and many other like Curiosity, gather data about the planet
areas of Earth Science. by driving around on its surface. Others,
like MAVEN, fly around the planet from
space and gather data from a distance.
257
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (lt) ©Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock, (rt) ©IMAGEMORE Co., Ltd./Corbis, (lb) © Elvele
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. The planet Saturn is sixth from the sun.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft gathers NASA’s Cassini spacecraft studied Saturn
information about Jupiter. from 2004 to 2017.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun.
sun. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft Like Saturn, the planet Neptune has only
gathered information about Uranus as it been studied up close by one NASA
flew by the planet. spacecraft, Voyager 2.

Images Ltd / Alamy, (rb) ©Sabino Parente/Shutterstock

Let’s learn about a person who designs and builds spacecraft
to gather information about planets.

Christine Bland
Have you ever wondered what
Mars is like? Christine Bland will
help you find out. She first became
interested in space travel as a child.
She was fascinated by the Apollo
missions to the moon. Bland is now
an engineer for a company that Christine Bland graduated from the
designs and builds spacecraft. She University of Colorado in 1986. She
has designed electronics for has a degree in electrical and
numerous space missions. electronics engineering.

258
 One of the many missions Bland is proud to have
worked on is Orion. Orion is a spacecraft that is
designed to take humans farther into space than ever
before. Bland worked on Orion’s data and power units.
She also designed its electrical plans. Engineers must
consider constraints, or limits, when they design
vehicles for space journeys. The size of the items that
must be carried in the vehicle is one constraint.
The Orion space capsule has to carry a lot of technology
in a small space. Explore the images to see how Orion’s
limited space is packed with all the things it must carry.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (lt, rt, lb, rb) ©NASA

The hull of the spacecraft contains and Compartments surrounding the crew
protects the crew and cargo. area carry supplies.

The area in the center of the capsule All available space is carefully planned for
carries the crew. the best use.

259
Bland has worked on many projects. One project, the
Phoenix Lander, was a robotic probe sent to the coldest,
darkest part of Mars. The conditions on Mars made it hard
for the probe to do its work. Bland had to solve many
problems to keep it functioning. Another project was the
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Its purpose was to circle
Mars and investigate the history of water on the planet.
Language SmArts: Write an email or a letter
asking two questions about how humans explore
and gather information about space. Your message
should include a greeting, an introduction, your
questions, a closing, and your name.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©FatCamera/E+/Getty Images

260
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Identify the order of the planets in Earth’s solar

p_body
system in relation to the sun. Use the number 1 for
the planet closest to the sun. Use increasing numbers
so that number 8 is the planet farthest from the sun.

Order from Sun Planet

Earth

Jupiter

Mars

Mercury

Neptune
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Saturn

Uranus

Venus

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

261
DAY 4

Engineering in Careers
Space Exploration
Many people work in the field of space exploration. Their
careers require knowledge of science, technology,
engineering, and math. They collaborate with other people.
Some of them work on electronics engineering. Some are
astronomers.
Research resources to investigate careers in space
exploration. Record information about two different careers.
For each piece of information, record the resource you used
to do your research.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

262
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:
Career
Resource
Information

263
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your exploration in this lesson,
think about the order of the planets in Earth’s solar system.
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question
from the start of this lesson. Now, use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

Why does the planet Mercury appear to move in

front of the sun?

Use evidence from your modeling investigation to answer © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©allexxandarx/Adobe Stock
the guiding question.

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

264
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©gadag/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.10.A • DAY 1

Date

Changes in Weather

265
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about severe weather.

Look at the images of severe weather below. Think about what you

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Mike Hill/Alamy, (c) ©Oksana Struk/Getty Images, (b) ©Warren Faidley/Corbis
already know about these types of weather.

Hurricanes can bring strong winds

and flooding rains.

In an ice storm, trees and power

lines become coated with ice. The
heavy ice can cause trees and
branches to fall.

Tornadoes bring the strongest

winds on Earth’s surface. They can
be very destructive.

266
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Comstock/Getty Images, (tr) ©Praisaeng/Shutterstock,

thermometer wind vane

A thermometer is a tool used to A wind vane is a tool that measures
measure temperature. Air the direction of the wind.
temperature is measured in degrees
Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit.
(bl) ©Christopher Murray/Getty Images, (br) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

precipitation rain gauge

Precipitation is water that falls A rain gauge is a tool for collecting
from the air to Earth’s surface. and measuring precipitation.
Precipitation is measured in
centimeters or inches.

267
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you describe and compare weather from

day to day across different places?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nikita Maykov/Dissolve

What do you notice about the weather?

What do you wonder about the weather?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

268
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity

Weather is always happening and can

change quickly. Precipitation, wind,
and temperature are parts of weather
that change. All three can be used to
describe and compare weather.
Ask a question about how weather
can be described and compared.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©stuartbur/Getty Images

Materials Safety
• Celsius thermometer Demonstrate safe practices
• wind vane during field investigations by:

• rain gauge Washing your hands

• computer or tablet with after coming in from an
Internet connection outdoor investigation.

• Staying with your group.

Work in the area as directed
by your teacher.

269
 Hands-On Activity

Weather All Around, Part 1

Weather tools can be used to
observe and measure different
parts of weather.
Before you begin this
investigation, study the data
table in Step 8 on the next page.
This is where you will record
your data for wind direction,
temperature, and precipitation.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Step 1
Examine the weather tools your teacher provides.
Record the air temperature in the classroom using the
Celsius thermometer.

Step 2
Visit each station that your teacher set up outside to
observe and measure the weather. Collect the data
you measure, and record it in the data table in Step 8.

Step 3
Use the rain gauge to observe any precipitation.
Measure the amount using the rain gauge.

Step 4
Use the wind vane to observe wind direction. Is it
blowing in a constant direction, or is it changing a lot?
Use the wind vane to measure the wind direction.
270
 Step 5
Use the Celsius thermometer to observe the air temperature.
Is it warmer or cooler than the temperature in the classroom?
Use the Celsius thermometer to measure the air temperature.

Step 6
Record your observations and measurements. Then return
to the classroom.

Step 7
Choose two locations from this list:
• Dallas, Texas
• Springfield, Illinois
• Boise, Idaho
• Miami, Florida
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Concord, New Hampshire Currently
Use a tablet or computer to find and record the
wind direction, air temperature, and precipitation

60 ˚F
for each area you chose.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Step 8
16 ˚C
Collect and record the data you measured. You Rainfall: 1 inch
will use this data in the next activity. Wind: From the South

Day 1 Precipitation Wind Air warmer/

direction temperature cooler
Stations
Location 1
Location 2

271
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.
Look at the data you collected for air temperature, precipitation, and
wind direction. You can use the data to describe today’s weather.

Describe today’s weather in each of the different locations for

which you collected data. Be sure to include air temperature,
wind direction, and precipitation in each description.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christopher Murray/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

272
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity

Weather can change from

day to day. Remember that
precipitation, wind, and
temperature can be used to
describe and compare
weather. Let’s compare
yesterday’s weather to
today’s weather.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Sergey Novikov/Shutterstock

Ask a question about how weather can be

described and compared.

Possible Materials Safety

• Celsius thermometer Demonstrate safe practices
• wind vane during field investigations by:

• rain gauge Washing your hands

• computer or tablet with after coming in from an
Internet connection outdoor investigation.

• Staying with your group.

Work in the area as directed
by your teacher.

273
 Hands-On Activity

Weather All Around, Part 2

Weather can change. You can compare
the weather from day to day to see how
it has changed and to look for patterns.
You can look at the rain gauge to
compare it to yesterday’s measurement.

Step 9
Return to the weather stations outside. Today you will
make measurements again. Record your measurements

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
in the table below.
Wind Air warmer/
Day 2 Precipitation direction temperature cooler
Stations

Location 1

Location 2

Step 10
Use the rain gauge to analyze the amount of
precipitation. Record the precipitation
measurement from the rain gauge. Is there more or
less rain today than yesterday?

274
 Step 11
Use the wind vane to analyze the wind direction. Record the
wind’s direction. How does it compare to yesterday’s wind
direction?

Step 12
Use the Celsius thermometer to analyze the air temperature
data. Record the temperature from the thermometer. Is it
the same as it was yesterday?

Step 13
Return to the classroom and use the tablet or computer to
analyze information about today’s weather at the same
locations you researched yesterday.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

275
Sources of Error
You’ve been using tables and bar graphs to AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION
collect your data as you measure and research Monday 2 cm
weather. Tuesday 0 cm

Wednesday 4 cm
Data collected in a table can often be used to
Thursday 2 cm
make a bar graph. A student used the
information in the table “Amount of
Precipitation” to make the bar graph.

Analyze the data in the table and bar graph. Identify the error that
was made when making the graph.

A. The student made an error when recording the days of the week

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

from the table in the bar graph.
B. The student made an error when recording the units of
measurement from the table in the bar graph.
C. The student made an error when recording the amount of
precipitation from the table in the bar graph.
D. The student made an error recording the number of days of
data.

276
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Do the Math
Use Mathematical Calculations Addition and subtraction can be
used to compare patterns and find relationships. Examine the data
in the table below to find and compare the relationship between the
two locations.
Use addition or subtraction to find the pattern in the temperatures
at each location in the table. Compare the pattern to fill in the two
empty cells in the table.

Temperatures in degrees Celsius for two locations

Areas Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Area 1 27 23 19 15

Area 2 2 5 8 14
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Complete the statement to describe the pattern in the

temperature table.

For each 4 °C drop / 3 °C drop / 3 °C rise in temperature in

area 1, there was a 4 °C rise / 3 °C rise/ 2 °C drop in
temperature in area 2.

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

277
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity

In the last two activities, you have

seen how the weather changed from
day to day. Now let’s compare
today’s weather to the weather from
the last two days.
Ask a question about how weather
changes over time.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Barry Blackburn/

Possible Materials Safety
• Celsius thermometer Demonstrate safe practices
during field investigations by:
• wind vane
• rain gauge Washing your hands
after coming in from an
• computer or tablet with
Internet connection outdoor investigation.

• Staying with your group.

Shutterstock

Work in the area as directed

by your teacher.

278
 Weather All Around, Part 3
Look at the data you have gathered over two days. Turn
to a partner. Describe the day-to-day weather for the
different locations. Include air temperature,
precipitation, and wind direction in your description.
Celsius thermometers
can be used to measure
air temperature.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

279
 Hands-On Activity

Step 14
Look at the data you collected for your school over the past
two days. Look for patterns and make a prediction about
today’s weather.

Step 15
Go outside to each weather station. Test your predictions,
then record the data for today. Use the data table below to
record your measurements.

Wind Air warmer/

Day 3 Precipitation direction temperature cooler
Stations

Location 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Location 2

Step 16
Use the rain gauge to test your
prediction of the amount of
precipitation.

280
 Step 17
Use the wind vane to test your prediction about
today’s wind direction.

Step 18
Use the Celsius thermometer to test your prediction
about today’s temperature.

Step 19
Return to the classroom. Write a prediction below of
today’s weather for your two locations. Use your
tablet or computer to test your predictions by
comparing them to today’s weather data. Record the
data in the table on the previous page.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

281
 Hands-On Activity

Identify Patterns
Review the data you collected each day for all locations.
Compare the air temperature, wind direction, and
precipitation. What patterns can you see in the data?

Use Patterns
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Discuss your patterns with another student. Use
friendly language to explain how your patterns can
help people to better understand and predict weather.

282
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about weather in different locations at the same
time. Support your claim with evidence from your collected
measurements. Explain your reasoning to connect your
evidence to your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

283
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.
Location 1
Air Temperature Wind Precipitation
Day (Celsius) Direction (cm)
1 1 Northwest 0.5

2 1.2 North 1.5

3 1.1 Northwest 2

Location 2
Air Temperature Wind Precipitation
Day (Celsius) Direction (cm)
1 22 South 0
2 23 Southwest 0
3 19 South 0

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Use the tables to help you to complete the statements
that compare the weather for location 1 and location 2
over the 3 days.

The weather is coldest in location 1. / location 2.

Location 1 / Location 2 has the lowest level of precipitation.
For both locations 1 and location 2, wind direction changes. /
never changes.

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

284
DAY 5

Patterns and Maps

You have observed and measured the weather. Different parts
of weather can affect each other. The table shows air
temperature and type of precipitation for one location.
Identify the pattern in the data to explain the difference in the
type of precipitation.

7 days of weather data

Day Temperature Precipitation Type
(degrees Celsius)
1 0 °C snow
2 0 °C snow
3 15 °C rain
4 17 °C rain
5 0 °C snow
6 12 °C rain
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

7 2 °C rain

Tell how you used the pattern in the data to explain the
differences in type of precipitation.

285
Sometimes people want to see weather conditions for many
places at one time. One way to do this is to use a weather
map. The weather maps below show weather for many
different locations at the same time.
These maps show temperature and precipitation for parts
of the United States.

This map shows

temperatures for
specific cities and areas
between those cities.

This map shows

precipitation for
specific cities and areas

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

between those cities.

286
 Analyze the data from both of the maps by identifying
any significant patterns. Use your analysis to circle the
correct choices below.

A. Most of the temperatures across the United States

are in the 40s.
B. St. Paul is in the same temperature range
was Richmond.
C. Austin is warmer than Atlanta.
D. Lansing is getting less rain than Nashville.
E. Jefferson City and Lincoln are getting similar
amounts of rain.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

287
Reading Weather Maps
Weather systems bring different kinds of weather to
different areas. A weather map can compare day-to-day
weather in different locations at the same time. Weather
in the United States is typically reported in Fahrenheit
as shown on this map.

64° Portland

46° Buffalo

Temperatures (in °F) 77° New Orleans

10s 60s
N
20s 70s
30s 80s W E
40s 90s
S
50s 100s

The map shows Fahrenheit temperatures for several locations at

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

the same time.

Compare the air temperature of the locations on

the map. What is the difference in temperature
between the hottest city and the coldest city on
the map? Use your comparison to choose the best
answer to the question.

A. 31 ºF
B. 18 ºF
C. 13 ºF

288
 Use Quantity
A precipitation map like this one shows where precipitation
is falling. The different colors show different quantities, or
amounts, of rain. In the United States, precipitation is usually
measured in inches as shown here.

This map shows how different

Portland
amounts of precipitation fall in
different areas at the same time.
Buffalo
Different weather systems in the
areas cause this.

Precipitation (in inches)

More than 2—12 inches New Orleans
2–2—12
1—21 –2 N

1–1—12 W E
1
2 –1
—

Less than —12 inch S

Examine the quantity of rain shown in the weather systems near New
Orleans and Portland on the map. Use the map to describe and
compare the systems by selecting the true statements.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

A. The middle part of the United States has the system that is
bringing the most rain.
B. The system near Portland has less precipitation but covers a
larger area.
C. The system near New Orleans has more precipitation and covers
a larger area.
D. The system near New Orleans has areas with more than 2½
inches of rain.
E. The most rain shown in the system near Portland is 1 inch.

289
A weather map is a model of what type of weather is
occurring and where.

Use quantity to model another weather system. Draw one

more weather system on the map that shows precipitation.
Use the colors from the key to show the quantity of rainfall in
your system.

Portland

Buffalo

Precipitation (in inches)

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

More than 2—12 inches New Orleans
2–2—12
1—12 –2 N

1–1—12 W E
1
2 –1
—

Less than —12 inch S

290
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Would a weather map that shows air temperature over a large

area look the same from day to day? Explain your answer.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

291
DAY 6

People in Science
Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd
Meteorology is the study of weather.
J. Marshall Shepherd is a
meteorologist at the University of
Georgia. He has worked for the
United States government and
hosts a weekly television program
about weather.
When Shepherd was in sixth grade,

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©John Amis/AP Images for HMH
he was assigned a science project.
He wanted to study bees, but he
discovered that he was allergic to
them. He changed his subject to the
weather. It interested him so much
that he later made it a career.

J. Marshall Shepherd became a

meteorologist in the 1990s.

292
 In 2017, Shepherd wrote an article about hotter weather and
airplanes. Weather in some places gets hotter and stays
hotter during the warmer seasons. It is more difficult for
planes to lift off of the ground in very hot air. Shepherd
described how the weather in some places now gets hot
enough that planes cannot safely take off and land. His work
impacts society.
Language SmArts: Recall Information from
Experience

Describe three times that weather affected something

you did. When you have finished, share one of your
experiences with the class.

What kind of How did it affect

weather was it? what you did?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

293
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question
from the start of this lesson. Now, use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How can you describe and compare weather from

day to day across different places?

Make a claim about the guiding question. Use evidence

from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nikita Maykov/Dissolve

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

294
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Inga Gedrovicha/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.10.B • DAY 1

How Soil Forms

Date

295
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about the properties
of soil.
Look at the images below to review the color, grain size, and
texture of different soils.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl, bl) ©Guy Jarvis/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (tr) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
This sandy soil is light in color. It has This silty soil has a dark brown color.
large grains and a rough texture. It has grains of soil that are smaller
than sand and a softer texture than
the sandy soil.

This soil containing clay is reddish-

brown. Clay has a very small grain size,
which makes the texture of this soil
smoother than the two other soils.

296
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Madlen/Shutterstock, (tr) ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images,

humus soil
soil made of once-living things small pieces of rock and once-
living things
(bl) ©Courtesy of National Park Service

weathering
the breaking down of rocks on Earth’s
surface into smaller pieces

297
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How does soil form?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Add New Photographer/Dreamstime
What do you notice about the soil in the field?

What do you wonder about how soil forms?

Great job! You have finished Day 1.

298
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity

Soil can be found all around the

world. Different places have
different types of soil. Some soils
are very sandy, and some soils
have more clay. What can you
find in soil?
Ask a question about how
different types of soils form.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Sandra Burm/Adobe Stock

Possible Materials Safety

• metal spoon or trowel Demonstrate safe practices
during field investigations:
• goggles
Follow your teacher’s
• plastic gloves
outdoor safety
• beaker or clear cup instructions.
• hand lens Demonstrate the use of safety
equipment during field
investigations:
Wear plastic gloves and
goggles while
completing this
investigation.

299
 Hands-On Activity

Dig It!
Complete this activity to
investigate how sandy soils
and clay-rich soils are, in part,
formed by the decomposition
of plant and animal remains.

Step 1
Go outside with your teacher.
Be sure to work in your
assigned area.

Step 2
Use your tool to gently dig up some soil and place it

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

in the beaker.

Step 3
Use the hand lens to observe the soil and analyze what
you see. Draw to record your observations. Identify any
small plant or animal pieces in your drawings.

300
 Step 4
Take a pinch of soil from the beaker and roll it between your
fingers. Note what you observe.

Step 5
Use the hand lens to observe, measure, and analyze the
relative size of the rock grains. Compare the size of the
grains. Note whether all grain sizes are the same or
different.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

301
 Hands-On Activity

Develop Explanations
Look at the drawings you made from your observations.
Consider how the soil felt between your fingers. What kinds
of materials were in the soil? What do you think will happen
to those materials over time?

Communicate Explanations
Label the different parts of the soil sample you drew.
In your labels, include whether the part came from rocks

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

or from plants and animals.
Share your explanation with a classmate or present
to the whole class. Share your pictures or describe
what you saw. Tell about any difficulties you had.
Listen as other classmates share their ideas. Ask
thoughtful questions.

302
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
How does this investigation help you understand the
parts of soil? Make a claim to explain how sandy soils
and soils with a lot of clay are formed by the breaking
down of plant and animal remains. Support the claim
with evidence from your investigation. Explain your
reasoning to connect your evidence to your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

303
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Circle the answer that correctly explains how

decomposed plant and animal remains help form soil.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©cjp/E+/Getty Images

A. Plants and animals move soil around.
B. Plant and animal parts break down and become
a part of the soil.
C. Animals and plants drop rocks in the soil.

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

304
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Weathering is the process by
which large rocks are broken
down into smaller rocks.
These smaller pieces of rock
can become part of the soil.
Scientists use models to help
explain what they see. In this
activity, you’ll develop and
use a model to show the process of weathering.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©simonXT2/Adobe Stock

Ask a question about how large rocks can

become part of the soil.

Possible Materials Safety

• goggles Do not run in the
classroom. Clean any
• colored chalk
messes quickly.
• salt
Wear goggles while
• container with a lid completing this
• teaspoon investigation.
• hand lens

305
 Hands-On Activity

Breaking It Down
Use a model to investigate how parts of soils such as sand
and clay are formed by weathering of rock.

Step 1
In the space below, draw three rectangles to construct a
sequence map for collecting your data.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

306
 Step 2
Use the hand lens to examine the chalk and the salt. Draw
what you observe in the first rectangle of the sequence map
on the previous page.

Step 3
Make a Prediction
What will happen when the salt and the chalk are shaken together?

Step 4
Add the chalk and one teaspoon of salt to the container.
Then place the lid on the container.

Step 5
Shake the container for 30 seconds. Use the second rectangle
of your sequence map to describe how the chalk and the salt
interacted in this step.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Step 6
Use the hand lens to observe the chalk and salt. Draw what
you observe in the last rectangle of your sequence map.

307
 Hands-On Activity

Predict
Use the hand lens to test your prediction
from Step 3 of the activity. Examine the salt
and the chalk with the hand lens. Did the
material change the way you had predicted?

Cause and Effect

Look back at your sequence map. What caused the
change in appearance from the first square to the last?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

308
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim that explains how rock particles in soil
are formed by weathering of rock. Support your claim
with evidence from your model investigation and explain
your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

309
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.
The process of weathering shown in the pictures below is in the
wrong order. Number the pictures in the correct order (1, 2, 3, 4)
to show how weathering helps rock become part of the soil.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

310
DAY 4

How Soil Forms

Soils are made up of more than just weathered
rock. Soils also contain air, water, and humus.
Humus is broken-down material from once-living
things. Many plants and animals become part of
the soil after they die. Animal waste also becomes
part of the soil over time.
When plants or animals die, their parts are broken down into
smaller pieces until, like rock, the broken-down pieces mix
with the soil until they become a part of it.

How does a once-living thing become part of the soil? Write

the numbers 1 through 4 to show the order of this process.

Process step Correct Step Order

The remains of the once-living

thing break down.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

The once-living thing is now

part of the soil.

A living thing dies.

The broken down remains of

the once-living thing mix with
small pieces of rock.

311
Each type of soil is a result of the place where it forms. Soils
that form in an ecosystem with more plants and animals, such
as a grassland, will usually have more humus than areas with
fewer living things, such as a desert.
If a soil has more sand or clay depends upon the type of rock
in the area and how it was weathered.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl, tr) ©Guy Jarvis/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Soil that contain a lot of clay grains is Sandy soils dry out quickly. They are
heavy and sticky. usually light and easy to dig.

Think about sandy soils and soils that contain a lot of

clay. How could you tell the difference between each
type of soil?

312
 You know that different systems produce different types
of soils. Use the space below to model two soil systems with
rock materials of different proportions.
Draw a line down the middle of the space to divide it into two halves.
On one side, draw sandy soil. On the other side, draw soil that is mostly
clay. Draw the soils in a way that others can correctly identify each type
by observing the particle size.

Do the Math: The proportion of sand, clay, and humus in a

soil can make it look and feel different. Two different types of
soil are described below.

Soil A is made up of 4/7 sand grains, 2/7 clay grains, and 1/7 humus.
Soil B is made up of 1/7 sand grains, 5/7 clay grains, and 1/7 humus.
Circle the two correct choices below to describe the look of each soil
system and to compare the feel of these soil systems.

A. Soil A would have mostly visible rock grains in it.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

B. Soil B would have mostly visible rock grains in it.

C. Soils A and B would both be made up mostly of decaying plant
or animal materials.
D. Soils A and Soil B would feel the same when rubbing them
between your fingers.
E. Soil A would feel rougher than Soil B when rubbing it between
your fingers.
F. Soil A would feel smoother than Soil B when rubbing it between
your fingers.

313
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Explain how soil and clay are formed from rock, plant,
and animal remains.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©DatenschutzStockfoto/Adobe Stock

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

314
DAY 5

Science in Careers
Soil Scientists
Soil scientists called pedologists study the
differences in soil types. They investigate what
causes different types of soil to form. They also
explain how the different properties of soil
make them useful for different things such as
farming. Often they can give advice about how
to make the soil better for farming without
causing harm to the environment. This helps
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Courtesy Defense Visual Info Center

everyone in society eat better!

Soil Scientist
Research resources such as professional organizations,
private companies, and universities to investigate the careers
of soil scientists. Use these questions to guide your research.

As you conduct research, record your findings in this table.

Research Question Research Findings

How does someone become

a soil scientist?
What are some different types
of science that soil scientists
need to understand?
Why do soil scientists work
with in doing their job?

315
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review your ideas about the guiding question
from the start of this lesson. Now use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How does soil form?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Add New Photographer/Dreamstime
Make a claim about the guiding question. Use evidence from
the lesson and give reasoning to connect the evidence to your claim.

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

316
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©a3701027/iStock/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.10.C • DAY 1

Earth’s Surface
Fast Changes to
Date

317
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about how water can
move rock and soil particles from one place to another.
Read each letter to explore how water affects rocks.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©damedias/Adobe Stock

A
B

A  These rocks have been smoothed over time by water

pushing them against each other.
B  When water moves rapidly, it can pick up small rocks,
sand, and soil and move them downstream.

318
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©deepspace/Shutterstock, (tr) ©Kedsirin.J/Shutterstock,

earthquake landslide
A sudden shaking of the ground that The sliding down of rocks and soil on or
causes land to rise and fall. from a hill, mountain, or other slope.
(b) ©Ammit Jack/Shutterstock

volcano
An opening in Earth’s surface where lava,
gases, and bits of rock erupt.

319
Can You Explain It?
Think about the Guiding Question while you watch the video.

GUIDING QUESTION

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Enrique Pacheco Rawis/Verve+/Getty Images, (b) ©Enrique Pacheco Rawis/
What are some ways that Earth’s surface changes rapidly?

Earth’s surface is always changing. Sometimes those

changes happen quickly. Othertimes they happen
slowly. Volcanoes like this one can cause big
changes to Earth’s surface. Volcanic eruptions may
send hot lava and ash into the air. This changes the
area around the volcano.

An earthquake happens
on the seafloor. Two This forms a huge wall of A tsunami can be taller
pieces of the ocean floor water. It travels at great than buildings. It can
break apart. One piece is speed. This is called a hit a city like a freight
pushed up rapidly. tsunami. train.

Verve+/Getty Images, (bc,br) ©NOAA / Ocean Explorer

What do you notice about how Earth’s surface is changing?

What do you wonder about how Earth’s surface is changing?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

320
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
A factor is a part of an event.
A condition is the situation that
allows an event to happen.
Various factors and conditions
can affect when and if systems
change. Earthquakes happen
when large pieces of Earth’s
surface that touch each other
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©a3701027/iStock/Getty Images

suddenly move. You can model

an earthquake with two spiral
notebooks. Think about what
the pieces of paper in your
model represent.
Ask a question about how earthquakes quickly
change Earth’s surface.

Possible Materials Safety

• 2 newish spiral notebooks Wear safety goggles in
case the notebooks slip.
• 1" x 2" paper slips folded
in half
• goggles

321
 Hands-On Activity

Shake It Up!
Step 1
Use two spiral notebooks
to model a rapid change
to Earth’s surface.

Step 2
Cut four strips of paper
that are one inch long
​​  12 ​​inch wide. Then
and __
fold the strips in half.

Step 3
Place the spiral sides of each notebook facing each

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

other so that the spirals are between each other.

Step 4
Model buildings by placing one flat side of the folded
slips of paper on the notebooks.

Step 5
Gently push the two notebooks in opposite directions.

Step 6
Repeat Steps 2 through 4 again, but push
the notebooks in opposite directions with a
stronger force.

322
 Analyze Models
Think about the two notebooks in the activity. How
did they help model an earthquake? Based on your
model, describe the rapid change caused to Earth’s
surface by an earthquake.

Cause and Effect

What happened to the model buildings when you pushed
the notebooks in opposite directions? What caused this
to happen?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

323
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how the notebooks model an
earthquake. Cite evidence to support your claim and
use reasoning to connect your evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

324
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

A factor is a part of an event. A condition is the situation that allows an

event to happen. Explain how the factor and condition listed below
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company: • Image Credits: ©NASA Earth Observatory images by Robert Simmon and Jesse Allen, using

can cause the area near where two pieces of Earth’s surface meet to
change.

Cause Effect

Factor a place where

two pieces of
Earth’s surface
rest next to
each other

Condition movement of
Earth’s surface
Landsat data from the USGS Earth Explorer.

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

325
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Areas with steep hills or mountains
can go through quick changes.
Gravity is always pulling things
toward Earth. That pull is a factor in
landslides. When conditions
change, gravity can cause a landslide.
Ask a question about how the
conditions on a hill or mountain can
cause a landslide.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Stone36/Adobe Stock

Possible Materials Safety
• piece of cardboard • Stay in the area where your
teacher tells you to work.
• box, block, or other item to
prop up cardboard Use gloves when
working with soil.
• soil
• pebbles
• water
• paper towel

326
 Landslide!
Step 1
Develop and use a model to represent
landslides. In the space below, construct
a flow chart to show the steps of your
cause-and-effect data.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

327
 Hands-On Activity

Step 2
Go outside to the area designated by your teacher.

Step 3
Set up your ramp and spread the soil evenly across it.
In the first part of your flow chart on the previous page,
describe or draw what you see.

Step 4
Raise the ramp until soil begins to move, then stop. In
the next part of your flow chart on the previous page,
describe or draw what you see.

Step 5
Slowly pour water on the top of the ramp. Observe and
record what happens in your flow chart.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

Step 6
I magine that a classmate had trouble with this
activity. Describe a way you might have helped
them with their model.

328
 Cause and Effect
As you completed this activity, the soil and
the pebbles slid down the cardboard twice.
Explain what factor and changing
condition caused the motions of the soil
and pebbles to go from being stable to
changing each of the two times.

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how rainy conditions can lead to
a landslide. Support your claim with evidence and
use reasoning to explain how the evidence proves
your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

329
 Hands-On Activity

You have used two models in this lesson. Models have

advantages, or ways that can help us learn about the real
thing. Models also have limitations, or ways that they are not
like the real thing. Think back to the two models from this
lesson as you complete the table below.

Read each model description and write if it is an “advantage” or

“limitation” in the space provided.

Advantage   Limitation

Model Description Advantage or Limitation?

The earthquake model only

showed one way that pieces of
Earth’s surface move against
each other.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

The landside model showed
how rainy conditions can cause
soil to move downhill.
The landside model did not
show how soil is really
connected to the ground.
The earthquake model showed
how pieces of earth move next
to each other.

330
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this item.

Describe the rapid change to Earth’s surface caused by

landslides. Circle all of the choices that are true.

A. Rain is a factor that can make conditions that cause

a landslide.
B. Landslides are changes that happen slowly.
C. Gravity is not a factor that helps cause landslides.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Mike Kipling Photography/Alamy

D. Landslides occur when large amounts of rock and

soil move quickly down a mountain or hillside.

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

331
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
A volcano is a place where big
changes can happen! When a
volcano erupts, lava, rock, ash, and
smoke can be thrown into the air.
Ask a question about how
volcanoes can cause rapid
changes to Earth’s surface.

Possible Materials Safety

• safety goggles Be sure to wear goggles
• plastic gloves to keep your eyes

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

protected during this
• large tray investigation.
• wax paper
Be sure to wear gloves
• plastic jar as you work with the
• flour soil and other materials
• baking soda in this activity.
• measuring spoons
• red food coloring
• dropper
• soil
• water
• vinegar
• measuring cup
332
 Hands-On Activity

A Model Volcano
Step 1
CAUTION: Put on the gloves
and goggles. Cover the tray
with wax paper. Put a jar in
the middle of the tray.

Step 2
​​  12 ​​tsp flour and 1 tsp
Mix __
baking soda in the jar. Add 10
drops of red food coloring.

Step 3
Dampen the soil a little with water and pack it around
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

the jar in a cone shape. Make the top of the soil even
with the top of the jar.

Step 4
Slowly pour ​​ __14 ​​cup vinegar into the jar.

Step 5
Record your observations of what happens. Be sure to
include how it changes the model.

333
 Hands-On Activity

Stability and Change

When you poured the vinegar into the jar, you
made a mixture. What did the mixture
represent? Describe how the rapid change
caused by a volcano affects the area near it.

Analyze Models
Think about the size, properties, and materials for your

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

model. Can you identify any limitations of your model?

334
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim that explains how volcanic eruptions can
quickly change Earth’s surface. Use evidence from your
model to support your claim. Explain your reasoning to
connect your evidence to your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

335
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

How are the ways that a volcanic eruption and a

landslide change Earth’s surface different?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tom Pfeiffer/VolcanoDiscovery/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

336
DAY 5

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
You have modeled rapid changes to
Earth’s surface. Sometimes these
changes happen near where people
live. Think back to the Shake It Up!
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Compassionate Eye Foundation/DigitalVision/Getty Images

activity. What happened to the model

buildings as you moved the notebooks?
Define the problem of keeping people
safe during an earthquake.

Possible Materials Safety

• two spiral notebooks Be sure to demonstrate safe
practices during classroom
• posterboard
investigations.
Optional Materials
Be careful when using
• folded slips of paper sharp objects like scissors
(from earthquake activity) to cut materials.
• scissors Not running as you move
• marshmallows around the classroom.
• toothpicks
• straws
• tape
• glue
• other classroom materials

337
 Hands-On Activity

Earthquake Safe, Part 1

Step 1
In the space below, draw the design of a model
building that can stand during an earthquake.
• How will you evaluate your model?
• What features will your model have?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

338
 Step 2
Research buildings that have been designed to survive
earthquakes. Consider the features that those buildings
have. Decide if you can build those features into your
solution.

Step 3
Propose a solution for a model building. You may improve
the paper slips from the Shake It Up! activity or design a new
model. You can use only materials in your classroom. Sketch
your possible solution.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 4
Discuss your proposed solution with a partner.

339
 Hands-On Activity

Language SmArts
W
 rite a short paragraph to describe your design.
Give details about the parts that help your
structure withstand earthquake movement.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

340
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Draw a rough sketch of your plan below. Circle the parts of

your structure that are designed to prevent damage from
the earthquake.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

341
DAY 6

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you researched
buildings that are designed to survive
earthquakes. Then you proposed a
solution for a model building that can
stand during an earthquake. Now let’s
test your solution!
Ask a question about what sorts of
features might help make a building stronger.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Andrey Burmakin/Adobe

Possible Materials Safety
• two spiral notebooks Be sure to demonstrate safe
practices during classroom
• posterboard
investigations.
Optional Materials
Be careful when using
• folded slips of paper (from sharp objects like
earthquake activity) scissors to cut
• scissors materials.
• marshmallows Do not run as you move
around the classroom.
• toothpicks
• straws
• tape
• glue
• other classroom materials
342
 Earthquake Safe, Part 2
Step 1
Use the sketch you made in Part 1 to build your
solution.

Step 2
When you have finished your prototype, use the two
spiral notebooks to test it.

Step 3
Make notes about how well your solution worked.
Include areas that may need to be improved.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 4
Discuss your results with your partner and work
together to improve the solution.

Step 5
Build your redesigned model, then test it. Share your
results with the class.

343
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze a Model
What parts of the model did you improve between
your first and second test?
How did your changes affect how the model
performed?

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how testing your solution helped
you improve your model. Use evidence to support your
claim. Explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

344
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Think about your landslide and your volcano models. Select one of
those rapid changes to Earth’s surface and describe a possible
solution to keeping people safe during that change. Explain how you
might use the design process to improve your solution.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©dblight/E+/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 6.

345
DAY 7

Other Changes
Earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes are not the only way
that Earth’s surface can change quickly.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Corbis, (tr) ©C. Lee/PhotoLink/Getty Images, (bl) ©Melissa Brandes/
Study these images and their captions to learn about the
effects of floods, tsunamis, and fires.

Hurricanes bring strong winds and heavy The damage from hurricanes can include
rains to an area. broken trees, damaged homes, and
flooding.

Shutterstock, (br) ©Rick Wilking/Reuters/Alamy

Floods don’t only happen because of Flooding can leave a lot of damage
hurricanes. Floods can happen almost behind when it’s over.
anywhere.

346
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images, (tr) ©Fly_and_Dive/Adobe Stock,

A tsunami can cause major damage to A tidal wave came ashore here and
areas along a coast. pushed these houses into each other.
(br) ©Janet Foster/Radius Images/Getty Images, ©habari1/iStock/Getty Images

Fires can start in many ways. A lightning An area can be very different when the
strike can cause fires in dry areas. fire is over.

You saw photos of a tsunami and the damage it can cause.

This is one way a tsunami can form.
An underwater earthquake can cause a tsunami.
A tsunami can be taller
than buildings. It can hit a
city like a freight train.
When a tsunami reaches
a shoreline, it can cause
terrible damage and
flooding.

347
 Do the Math
Use the information below about the Smith River to
answer the question.

The Smith River overflows its banks after at least

30 cm of rainfall in one day. Rain is falling at 5 cm
each hour. The weather forecast is for the rain to be
steady all day long. Will the river flood? If so, how
many hours will it take to overflow?

A. No, the river will not overflow.

B. Yes, the river will overflow in 3 hours.
C. Yes, the river will overflow in 6 hours.
D. Yes, the river will overflow in 9 hours.
E. Yes, the river will overflow in 12 hours.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

348
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Select one of the events from the photos you just

studied. In the space below, describe how you could
model the rapid change to Earth’s surface caused by
that event.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Corbis

Great Job! You have finished Day 7.

349
DAY 8

People in Science
Carol Reiss
Carol Reiss is a scientist who studies the coasts and the ocean

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl, tr) ©Thomas Reiss, USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center,
floor to discover more about underwater earthquakes,
tsunamis, and volcanoes. She works for the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS), learning how Earth’s plates move to better
understand earthquakes below and above the oceans.

Carol Reiss got her start at the

USGS in 1975, going on
research cruises and dives to
study the ocean floor.

Studying hidden landscapes

(b) ©Photograph by U.S. Navy personel/USGS

beneath the ocean provides
important information about
Earth’s patterns and structure.

350
 Some research can be gathered
at a distance by sound waves,
but geologists also use vehicles
that can go deep underwater to
explore the ocean floor.

Carol Reiss is a geologist who studies the ocean floor. Explore

resources such as libraries, professional organizations, online
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Photograph by U.S. Navy personel/USGS

platforms, and mentors to investigate the careers of

geologists. Consider the following questions in your research:
• What do geologists study?
• What types of careers are related to geology?
• What kinds of questions do geologists try to answer?

Select the question below that is not one a geologist

would try to answer.

A. Why do earthquakes often happen along coasts?

B. What caused the mountains to form?
C. How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?
D. What causes a volcano to erupt?

351
Can You Explain It?
Go back and review
your ideas about the
Guiding Question from
the start of this lesson.
Now use what you have
learned to answer the
question.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Enrique Pacheco Rawis/Verve+/Getty Images
GUIDING QUESTION

What are some ways that Earth’s surface

changes rapidly?

Choose and describe two ways Earth’s surface changes rapidly. Use the
examples from the lesson.

Great Job! You have finished Day 8.

352
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©mj0007/iStock/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.11.A • DAY 1

Date

Natural Resources
Ways Humans Use

353
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about natural or human
made resources. Use the word bank to connect each picture
to whether it is natural or human made.

natural  human made

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(b) ©photoworld/Adobe Stock

354
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson
by exploring the words you’ll need.
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natural resource
Anything from nature
that people can use

pollution
Any waste product
or contamination
that harms or dirties
an ecosystem and
harms organisms

355
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do humans use natural resources, such as

water, wood, and rocks?

Think about the Guiding Question. Look at the photo below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©evgenii_v/Adobe Stock

Water is a natural resource. People may use this
water for drinking, boating, or fishing. As water
flows through this dam, it generates electricity.
That is another resource people use.

What do you notice about the water and the dam?

What do you wonder about the water and the dam?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

356
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Natural resources are things found in nature that can
be used for different purposes. Natural resources can
be found all around us. Water, trees, rocks, and air are
all natural resources that people use. The properties of
resources determine how they are used.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Kochneva Tetyana/Shutterstock

Ask a question about how humans use natural

resources to make products.

Possible Materials Safety

• pencil Be careful when
moving around the
• classroom object
classroom.

357
 Hands-On Activity

Using Natural Resources

Step 1
Find an object in the
classroom to examine.

Step 2
Place the name of the
object in the center of
the concept map.

Step 3
Examine the object to explore how humans use
natural resources to make products. In the concept
map, around the object’s name, identify the materials

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

the object is made out of.

Step 4
Think about why those materials were used. Around
each material on the concept map, identify features
that make the material good for making the object
you observed.

358
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Step 5
Draw a concept map.

359
 Hands-On Activity

Structure and Function

Look back at your concept map. Think about the
properties of the materials used in the object you
chose. Explain how those properties affected the
way those materials were used.

Patterns

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Explain the pattern of when or how a particular material
in the object was used.

360
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how a specific natural resource,
such as rock, might be used. Use evidence to support
your claim and reasoning to connect your evidence to
your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

361
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Wood, rocks, soil, water, cotton, and wool are all natural
resources. Choose a natural resource and explain how
humans use that natural resource to make products,
such as the object you observed.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company ©somkak/Adobe Stock

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

362
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
What is pollution? Pollution is harmful
substances in the environment. Pollution
can result from people using natural
resources. Water is a natural resource that
humans need to live. Many times, water is
polluted because of trash that washes into
rivers and streams and chemicals.
Define a problem based on your
observations and information from the text
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©krisana/Adobe Stock

and imagery about clean water.

Materials Optional Safety

• cups Materials Practice safe classroom
• water • screens investigations by
• cooking oil • cloth Quickly cleaning up
• coffee filters any water spills.
• sand
Do not run as
• plastic tablecloths • sponges you move around
• craft stick • droppers the classroom.
• aprons Wearing
• goggles appropriate
• plastic gloves safety equipment.

363
 Hands-On Activity

Clean It Up!, Part 1

Step 1
Cover the surface you will be
working on with the plastic table
cloth. Put on goggles, gloves,
and an apron before you start the
activity.

Step 2
Fill the cup about 1/2 full with
water. Add enough sand to cover
the bottom of the cup. Put one
capful of oil in the water.

Step 3
Stir the water with a craft stick.

Step 4

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Observe the water for your group and other groups.
What did you notice about the sand and oil in the
cups from different groups? How were they the
same in each of the cups?
• Image Credits: ©HMH

364
 Step 5
Use the pattern you identified to design a solution
for cleaning the water in the cup. As a group, decide
on two criteria for a successful solution.

Step 6
Solutions
On your own, develop a model sketch to design
a prototype for your solution. Then, propose your
solution to your group using the data from your
observations to support the solution. Use your sketch
to communicate the main features of your solution.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

365
 Hands-On Activity

Step 7
As a group, evaluate your designed solutions
using the criteria that you identified earlier. Select
the solution that best meets the criteria. Record the
solution you choose. This is the solution you will use
in Part 2 of the activity.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

366
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Describe the patterns that you identified in the way the sand
and oil interacted with the water.

Pollutant Pattern

Sand
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©luoman/istock/Getty Images

Oil

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

367
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you observed the
pollution caused when oil gets into water,
and you planned a solution to remove
the oil. Now let’s test your solution!
Ask a Question about how humans can
test their solutions.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Materials Optional Materials
• cups • screens
• water • cloth
• cooking oil • coffee filters
• sand • sponges
• plastic tablecloths • droppers
• craft stick
• aprons Safety
• goggles
Practice safe classroom investigations by
• plastic gloves
Quickly cleaning up any water
spills. Do not run as you move
around the classroom.
Wearing appropriate
safety equipment.

368
 Clean It Up!, Part 2
Step 8
Use your model from Part 1 to build a prototype
of the solution you designed.

Step 9
Test your prototype and record your results.

Step 10
Use the results of your test to make improvements
to your solution. Then test it again.

Step 11
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Communicate Solutions
Share your solution with the rest of the class.
Describe what worked well and what didn’t.

Step 12
Listen as your classmates
share their ideas. Ask
thoughtful questions.

369
 Hands-On Activity

Evaluate Designed Solutions

Think about the different engineering solutions you saw
during this activity. Which solution was most effective
at cleaning the polluted water? What made the solution
so effective?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

370
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how identifying and using patterns to
design solutions helps make those solutions more effective.
Use evidence from this activity to support your claim. Explain
your reasoning to connect your evidence to your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

371
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

Why is it important in engineering to have a prototype

of your solution? Select all of the correct answers.

A. Having a prototype allows the solution

to be tested.
B. Having a prototype lets us know if our solution
looks good.
C. Having a prototype helps us identify problems
with the solution.
D. Having a prototype shows that the solution
was correct.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company ©Distergeft/Dreamstime

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

372
DAY 5

Natural Resources
Have you ever wondered what is inside the walls of a house
or tall skyscraper? Natural resources such as wood, rock,
and iron are used to build structures. During construction,
engineers and architects choose the best material for the
type of structure they are building.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock,

B
(tc) ©Photodisc/Getty Images, (bc) ©MarcelC/iStock/Getty Images, (b) ©Ollo/E+/Getty Images,

wood: Wood is a natural resource that is used to

A
build homes. Wood is very sturdy and easy to cut
into pieces that fit different types of homes.

iron: Iron is a natural resource that is mixed with

B other things found in nature to form steel. Steel is
used to build tall buildings because it is very sturdy.

C rock: Rock is a natural resource that is used to make

concrete. Concrete is a very strong material that
hardens when dry. Concrete is used to create a flat
surface where a building is built.
373
Farmers rely on natural resources such as soil and water to
grow crops and take care of animals. They also use natural
resources to build structures and farming equipment in order
to take care of their crops and animals.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©recep aktas/Adobe Stock
Humans use natural resources in agriculture. Agriculture is another word for farming.
The sprinklers on this farm provide water to the plants. Water is a natural resource.
Soil is also a resource that plants need to grow. The Sun is also a natural resource.
It provides energy for the plants.

374
 All types of transportation are made using natural resources.
The resources are selected based on their characteristics.
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Before motorized sailing, people used One of the earliest forms of

wooden ships with sails to travel around transportation was horseback. People
the world. Wood, a natural resource, was then began building wagons out of wood
used to build the structure because it is and metal. Horses could pull the wagons,
sturdy and helps the ship float. Ships which allowed people to carry more
also use energy from wind to move. things with them. Family members could
also travel together in wagons.
(bl) ©jgorzynik/Shutterstock, (br) ©Hakan Jansson/Maskot/Getty Images

Steam engines also use natural Today, most people use cars as their
resources. A steam engine heats up main form of transportation. The metal
water to move certain parts. The use of in the cars and the gasoline used in many
water transformed how people could of them are both natural resources.
travel on land.

375
 Do the Math: Wood is a natural resource. Wood is
used to build different things, such as tree houses.

Marcos wants to build a square tree house with his

mom. They draw a model to figure out how many
pieces of wood they would need to buy. Each wall uses
25 boards. The floor uses 25 boards also. How many
total boards do they need to buy for the walls and
the floor?

A. 50
B. 75
C. 100
D. 125

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

376
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

In the table, give an example of a resource used in each

human activity. Explain how each resource is used.

Human Natural
Activity Resource

construction

agriculture
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Branko Jovanovic/Fotolia

transportation

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

377
DAY 6

People in Science
Olivia Lum
People need clean water to live.
Plants also need clean water. Many
people live near oceans, but ocean

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Bloomberg/Contributor/Getty Images, (b) ©xPACIFICA/Alamy
water is too salty for drinking,
bathing, or for plants. A chemist
in Singapore, Olivia Lum, saw the
problem of not enough clean water.
Her solution was to start a
company that develops ways
to remove salt from ocean water,
as well as other kinds of water, so
that it can be used.
Her company now builds new ways
to make ocean water more usable.
Because of her work, people in
Central and South America,
Europe, China, India, and Africa
now have access to clean water.

378
 Desalination is a process in which excess salt and other
minerals are removed from water. This is done to obtain
fresh water for drinking or irrigation. Then nearly all the
salt is removed so that humans can drink the water. Another
result of the process is that table salt is formed. This process
occurs in a desalination plant. Desalination is much more
affordable than developing a new fresh water source.

Explain how Olivia Lum’s solution to a problem

impacted science and society.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Andy Sotiriou/Alamy

379
Can You Explain It?
Think back about how humans use natural resources from the
beginning of this lesson.

GUIDING QUESTION

How do humans use natural resources, such as

water, wood, and rocks?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©evgenii_v/Adobe Stock

Go back and review your ideas about the Guiding Question

from the start of this lesson. Now, use what you have learned
to answer the question.

380
 Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence
from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Subbotina Anna/Shutterstock

381
Can You Explain It?
The properties of a natural resource play a part in how it is
used. Some natural resources work better for different types
of things. The characteristics of each natural resource help
people figure out which resource to use.

Draw a line from the type of resource to its use to explain

the relationship between a resource’s properties and
how it’s used.

used in
machinery and
wood
transportation
vehicles

used to make
metal
concrete

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

used to build
rock structures or
furniture

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

382
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Lee Prince/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.11.B • DAY 1

Conserving
Date

Natural Resources

383
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about conserving and
properly disposing of materials.
Review ways to conserve resources.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Getty Images

C D
B
A

A  Paper: Paper items can be reused or recycled.

B  Metal: Metal objects can be recycled.
C  Glass: Glass objects can be recycled or washed and reused.

D  Plastic: Plastic items can be recycled or reused.

384
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©HMH, (tr) ©Photodisc/Getty Images, (b) ©Steve Williams/Houghton Mifflin

nonrenewable resource renewable resource

A resource that, once used, cannot be A resource that can be replaced within a
replaced in a reasonable amount of time. reasonable amount of time.

conservation
The preserving and protecting of an
Harcourt

ecosystem or a resource.

385
Can You Explain It?
Think about this question as you go through the lesson.

GUIDING QUESTION

Why is the conservation of natural

resources important?

Think about the picture of the landfill you see below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©fivepointsix/Adobe Stock

What do you notice about materials in the landfill?

What do you wonder about the materials in the landfill?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

386
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Landfills are full of waste. Where
does this waste come from?
When you place an item in a
trash can, it is collected and
goes to a landfill. When
landfills are full, they can no
longer be used, and people
must create a new landfill.
Conservation can help reduce
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©KingWu/E+/Getty Images

the need for new landfills.

Define a problem about
landfills based on your
observations and information
from the text.

Materials Safety
• digital scale Remember to wash your
hands when you have
• location to save
classroom waste completed the activity.

387
 Hands-On Activity

Conservation of Resources
Investigate a cause-and-effect relationship to analyze
the problem you defined on the last page.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Setup
Select an area in the classroom where you can save
items that you would normally throw away.

Step 1
Use the area that you selected to store the tossed
materials throughout the day. If your class uses
recycling bins, continue to group those items
separately. Put recyclable items into groups by type.

388
 Step 2
As you collect items, make a list that names the types
of materials in each group.

Step 3
Near the end of the day, use the digital scale to weigh
each group of materials. On your list, record the
weight of the materials from each group.

Recyclable Weight (g) Unrecyclable Weight (g)

Materials Materials

Sample 1 Sample 1

Sample 2 Sample 2

Sample 3 Sample 3

Total Total

Analyze Data
Compare the weight of the materials that are being
recycled to those that are not being recycled. Identify
any important features in the data.
Consider these questions: Which amount is greater?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What is the total weight of all of the materials?

Step 4
When all of the materials have been weighed, dispose
of them where you normally would. Recyclable items
should be placed in the appropriate bins, and other
materials should go in the trash can.
389
 Hands-On Activity

Cause and Effect

Identify the cause-and-effect relationship that you
investigated in the activity. Use that relationship to
analyze the landfill problem you defined.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

390
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim that explains how conservation could
result in less waste. Use the list of materials and
measured data from your investigation as evidence.
Use reasoning to show how the data supports your
explanation.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

391
 Hands-On Activity

Language SmArts: How could you respectfully discuss

conservation with someone who does not think it is
important? Write a letter to explain to that person why
the conservation of natural resources is important. Be
sure to include landfills in your discussion.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

392
 Do the Math
Trees are a natural resource used to make paper
and wood products. The number of trees cut
down can change from year to year. As many as
15 billion trees may be cut down in a year!
Use the table to answer the question.

What is the difference between the greatest number of

trees cut down and the least?

A. 1 billion
B. 4 billion
C. 6 billion
D. 22 billion

Trees Cut per Year

Year Trees (billions)

A 12
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

B 14
C 9
D 12
E 8

393
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Identify two ways that you could conserve paper so that

less paper is thrown away.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Michael Hevesy/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

394
DAY 3

Renewable and
Nonrenewable Resources
Paper and some pencils are made from trees. Trees are
renewable resources. A renewable resource is one that can
be replaced easily. Most plants are renewable resources. We
can grow more plants and, with good planning, continue to
use them as resources.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Remsberg Inc./Design Pics/Getty Images

Corn is a renewable resource.

Observe the words with good planning in the paragraph

above. Use that phrase and the text around it to define a
problem with renewable resources. Share your answer with a
partner.

395
Plants are not the only types of renewable resources.
Explore more below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Brand X Pictures/Getty Images, (m) ©Samo Trebizan/Fotolia,
Wind can be used to grind
grain, pump water, or
generate electricity.

Water can also be used for

generating energy, drinking,
fishing, and playing sports.

(b) ©Smileus/Shutterstock

Solar panels use the sun’s

energy to generate electrical
energy.

396
 A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that can be
used up. Oil and natural gas are nonrenewable resources
used to produce different kinds of energy.

Oil is usually pumped

from an underground
well.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Xiaomin Wang/Dreamstime

Use Models
Draw three small circles in a row to represent nonrenewable
resources. Now your task is to draw a square, but there’s a
catch. Each line of the square requires the use of one
resource. Try to draw the square.

397
Use your observations and information from the text and the model to
define a problem regarding nonrenewable resources.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

398
 There are many nonrenewable resources. Learn more
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (b) ©Mikhail Pankov/Adobe Stock from the pictures below.

raw copper
Copper is used in
many ways,
including inside of
electrical cords.

soil
Soil is used to grow
crops. When it
erodes, it takes a
long time for more
soil to form.

399
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Robert McGouey/Alamy
coal
Energy from coal is used to generate electricity.

Select one nonrenewable resource shown in the

pictures. Explain how people would be affected if that
resource ran out. Communicate your explanation by
drawing a picture, writing it, or telling it out loud.
S hare the explanation with a partner, a small
group, or the class. Listen closely to others as
they communicate their explanation and then
respectfully discuss the ideas.

400
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.
Decide whether each resource is renewable or nonrenewable. Write
renewable or nonrenewable in the column next to each resource.

renewable   nonrenewable
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Robert McGouey/Alamy, (m) ©Xiaomin Wang/Dreamstime,

Resource Type

coal
(b) ©Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

oil

wind

401
402
sun
water
copper
Resource
renewable   nonrenewable

Type

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (m) ©Samo Trebizan/Fotolia,
(b) ©Smileus/Shutterstock
DAY 4

Conserve Resources
One way of conserving natural resources is by recycling.
When you recycle something, it is made into a new product.
Take a minute to turn to a partner and explain why this way
of conserving resources is important. Then explore the
image below.
Select each letter to learn about a choice we can all make.

A
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

B
C

A  This student has a choice.

What will happen to the
bottle, based on this
student’s decision?

Labels show whether an item

can be recycled, or not.

403
 B  When materials are placed in the trash
can, they are taken to a landfill like
this one.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Daniel Dempster Photography/Alamy, (m) ©Erik Isakson/Getty Images;
Landfills can only hold so much
waste before they are full.

C  Materials from recycle bins are taken

to a special facility where they are
broken down to be used again.

Materials at this facility are

sorted and then recycled.

(bl) ©EblisGalea/Pond5/Adobe Stock, (br) ©T-Ro Films/Adobe Stock

The student on the previous page had a choice to make.

Which picture shows how matter can cycle through a

system that can be repeated many times?

A. Trash can
B. Recycle bin

404
 Another way to conserve resources is by reducing.
Reducing means using less of something. For example,
you might use a small piece of tape to wrap a gift
instead of a large piece.
Identify ways that you could conserve a natural
resource by reducing. You may choose to write or draw
your answers in the spaces below.

Write your answers below.

Draw your answer below.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

405
Reusing something means using it again. If you reuse
something, it does not go into the trash can or recycle
bin. There are many ways to reuse items.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©fascinadora/Adobe Stock, (b) ©ElenaSeychelles/iStock/Getty Images
Metal straws can be reused. This reduces the amount of waste from
plastic straws.

Plastic bottles can be refilled with water, or reused in more

creative ways!

406
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Think about each of the “3 Rs” — recycle, reduce, and reuse. Then
complete the table below. You may choose a different resource for
each way to conserve. Identify ways to conserve natural resources
through reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Conserve using the “3 Rs”

Natural Resource Way to Conserve

Reduce

Reuse
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Recycle

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

407
DAY 5

Science in Careers
Climatologists study long-term changes in climate. Some
changes are due to long-term natural cycles. Others are

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Dr. Roberto J Mera, (b) ©Mariana Fuentes/Matthew Ware/Florida State
related to the use of nonrenewable resources like coal.
Marine biologists study animals and plants that live in the
ocean. As part of this, they study how human activities can
affect ocean life.

Roberto J. Mera is a
climatologist. He has studied
how using some nonrenewable
resources affects global
temperatures.

Mariana Fuentes is a marine

biologist. She works on how
conservation planning, natural
resource management, and
climate change impacts marine
University Panama City

animals.

408
 Pick your favorite type of scientist from the ones described on
the previous page. Research scientific discoveries in that field
that have impacted science and society.

Explain how the scientific discoveries you researched

impacted science and society. Consider how a
discovery changed the way people thought about this
science. What changes happened because of this
discovery?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

409
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your
exploration in this lesson, go back
and review your ideas about the
Guiding Question from the
beginning of this lesson.

Use what you have learned to answer

the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

Why is the conservation of natural resources

important?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©fivepointsix/Adobe Stock

Make a claim about why natural resources should be conserved. Use
evidence from the lesson and give reasoning to connect the evidence to
your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

410
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Myotis/Shutterstock

Name
TEKS 3.12.A • DAY 1

Organisms and
Date

Their Enviroments

411
What Do You Already Know?
Think about how seasons and the environments support
plants in the ecosystem.
Observe how the tree changes throughout the different
seasons.

A B

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Marilyn Barbone/Shutterstock

C D

A  Spring: In spring, the air gets C  Fall: In fall, the air outside may
warmer. Some places get a lot be cool. Leaves of some trees
of rain. Flowers and leaves change color and drop off.
begin to grow on a tree.
D  Winter: Winter is the coldest
B  Summer: Summer is the season. Ice can form on land
warmest season. Some places and on plants. In some places,
have sudden storms with a lot snow may fall. Most trees have
of rain. The tree’s leaves reach lost their leaves.
their full size.

412
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) TK, (tr) ©Myotis/Shutterstock, (b) ©Nature Picture Library/Alamy

dormancy migration
In a state of rest or inactivity. The movement of animals from one
region to another and back.

hibernation
An inactive state in which normal body
activities slow.

413
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do temperature and precipitation affect how

organisms grow and behave?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Bill Gozansky / Alamy Stock Photo
Think about the picture of wildebeest above.

What do you notice about the behavior of the wildebeest?

What do you wonder about the behavior of the wildebeest?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

414
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
When temperature or precipitation
changes occur throughout the year,
organisms behave in different ways.
Some organisms go into
hibernation, while other organisms
undergo migration. Some
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nature Picture Library/Ingo Arndt/Alamy

organisms don’t change their

behavior at all. These different
behaviors also affect how an
organism grows through its life cycle.
Ask a question about how certain
behaviors help animals live and grow.

Possible Materials Safety

• books • When using a digital device,
follow school safety rules.
• colored pencils
• Internet
• index cards
• building materials

415
 Hands-On Activity

Growth and Behavior, Part 1

Step 1
Choose an organism from the table below.

Step 2
Predict whether you think your organism hibernates
or migrates when changes in temperature or
precipitation occur in its environment. Discuss with
a partner.

Texas Organisms

ground squirrels small, brown, burrowing rodents

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

snow geese herbivores, live in colonies

bats small flying mammal, eat insects

sandhill cranes eat insects and plants, 3 to 4 feet tall

I f you and your partner disagree, use one of

these sentence starters to help with the
discussion.
• I heard you say ________. I disagree because ________.
• To better understand your point of view, can you
explain more about why you think that?
416
 Step 3
Using a digital device or books,
investigate the cause-and-effect
relationship between how your
organism grows and behaves in
response to changes in the
temperature and the amount of
precipitation where it lives.
• Where in Texas does your
organism live?
• What is the average temperature where it lives in the months
of January, May, September, and December?
• What is the average rainfall where it lives in the months of
January, May, September, and December?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• Why does your organism hibernate or migrate sometime

during the year? Describe any changes in its behavior or
growth that you discover.
Record the data from your research in the table below.

My Organism

Average Average Average Average

temperature temperature temperature in temperature in
Type of in January in May September December
organism:

Average
Average Average rainfall Average rainfall
rainfall in
Where it rainfall in May in September in December
January
lives:

Notes about the organism:

417
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

How is an animal’s growth affected when temperatures

change and it hibernates? Use the word bank to
complete each sentence.

• When temperatures change, an animal may

not get the same / get the same
amount of food.
• When an animal hibernates, it gets smaller /

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©AHPhotoswpg/iStock/Getty Images

gets bigger because it does not eat.

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

418
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you
investigated how different
organisms change their behaviors
in response to temperature or
precipitation changes. Now let’s
write a story about your organism.
Ask a question about how animals
change their behaviors in response
to the weather.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Karel Gallas/Shutterstock

Possible Materials Safety

• books • When using a digital device,
follow school safety rules.
• colored pencils
• Internet
• building materials
• notes from last activity
• paper

419
 Hands-On Activity

Growth and Behavior, Part 2

Step 4
Language SmArts: Using your research and
your own paper, write a story to identify the
cause-and-effect relationship between how your
organism grows and behaves throughout the year
and the times when temperature and
precipitation change.

Step 5

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Choose one way to present your story.

Draw: Illustrate your story with a drawing or a picture

of your organism at different times during the year.
Digital design: Use a digital tool to present your
story showing how your organism grows and behaves
throughout the year.
3D model: Use the materials to create a model of
your organism and where it lives in Texas.
420
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Use observations from your research as evidence to

explain if your prediction was correct.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©vsanderson/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

421
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you wrote a story about the cause-
and-effect relationship between how your organism
grows and behaves when temperature and
precipitation change. Now let’s present your story.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Royal Freedman/Alamy

Ask a question about how animals may change their
patterns of behavior when it is warmer outside.

Possible Materials Safety

• your story • When using a digital device,
follow school safety rules.
• your presentation display

422
 Growth and Behavior, Part 3
Step 6
Communicate: Present your story to the class.
• M
 ake sure you present your findings and ideas in a
clear manner.
• W
 hen making your presentation, remember to speak
clearly. Try not to speak too fast or too slowly.
• L isten actively to other students’ explanations to find
out about different environments.
• Ask thoughtful questions. Write them below.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

423
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Do the Math
Interpret data in a bar graph
Ground squirrels hibernate. They must eat a lot
during the spring, summer, and fall to store up
enough energy to survive hibernation. Analyze the
data in the graph below to identify the pattern.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

424
 During which month do ground squirrels start to hibernate?

A. September
B. June
C. April
D. August
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Star Tribune via Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

425
DAY 5

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
You and your classmates have all presented
information about why and how animals change
due to temperature and precipitation. Now let’s
think about everything you have learned.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©FLPA/Alamy

Ask a question about why animals change in response to
the weather.

Possible Materials Safety

• pencil and paper • When using a digital device,
follow school safety rules.

426
 Growth and Behavior, Part 4
Analyze Results
Explain why animals hibernate and migrate because of
temperature changes. Then explain why animals
hibernate and migrate because of precipitation
changes. Include details about how animals’ growth
and behavior are affected.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

427
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how temperature or precipitation
affected your organism. Support your claim with
evidence from research. Explain your reasoning to
connect your evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

428
 You have explored how animals change their behavior through
hibernation and migration. How about plants? Less sunlight,
less precipitation, and cooler temperatures cause plants to lose
their leaves. The plants stop growing and go through
dormancy. When the temperatures warm up in the springtime,
the trees produce new leaves and begin growing again.
In your own words, explain how changes in temperature
and precipitation affect plant growth and behavior.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Capture Light/Shutterstock

429
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Explain how precipitation or temperature affects how animals behave

and grow by matching each cause to its effect.

Heavy rainfall makes Box turtles find a

the grasses grow really safe place and their
tall. heartbeat slows down.

During the summer

months, the amount of Gray whales migrate
precipitation lessens and swim to warm
and the temperature waters in Mexico.
increases.

Wildebeest move all

Air temperature drops
year long so they can
during the winter
constantly find lush,
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

months.
rich grasses to eat.

During the winter, Spider lily plants slow

the Arctic Sea’s water their growth and don’t
becomes very cold. have any blooms.

Great job! You have finished Day 5.

430
DAY 6

Science in Careers
Conservation Biologist
Conservation biologists work to restore habitats and
save organisms. They keep track of plants and animals
to tell if they are in danger of becoming endangered
or extinct. Conservation biologists work to come up
with solutions to help the plants and the animals
survive in their habitats.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Lauren Petracca/MLive.com/AP Images

Language SmArts: Write a letter or email to a

conservation biologist in your area. Explain what you
learned about how animals behave because of temperature
and precipitation changes. Ask the biologist for ways you
can help to make sure animals survive in your local area.

431
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your explorations in this
lesson, go back and review your ideas about the guiding
question from the start of this lesson. Use what you have
learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How do temperature and precipitation affect how

organisms grow and behave?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: © Bill Gozansky / Alamy Stock Photo
Make a claim about the guiding question. Use evidence
from the lesson and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

432
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Image Source/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.12.B • DAY 1

Energy Flow
in Food Chains
Date

433
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about ecosystems and
what organisms, or living things, need to live and grow.
Explore the structures that make up an ecosystem.

B
A

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Annette Shaff/Adobe Stock
C

A  A rabbit is a living thing. It needs other living things like

grass and flowers to live and grow.
B  Nonliving things like the sun are important to an
ecosystem. Plants need the sun to live and grow.
C  A flower is a living thing. Like other plants, it needs the
sun, water, and space to live and grow.

434
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (bl) ©Fuse/Getty Images, (br) ©Ronnie Jensen/EyeEm/Getty Images

food chain
The transfer of food energy between organisms in an ecosystem.

consumer producer
A living thing that cannot make its own A living thing, such as a plant, that can
food and must eat other living things. make its own food.

435
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

What do animals, grasses, and the sun have in

common?

Think about the Guiding Question as you look at this photo.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christopher Bellette/Dreamstime

What do you notice about the cheetah about to pounce on the animal?

What do you wonder about the cheetah chasing the animal?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

436
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
A system is a group of related parts that make up a
whole. Food chains are systems that begin with
energy from the sun. The energy flows through the
food chain from one organism to the next. Hawks,
snakes, bugs, and leaves are all part of a food chain
that is a system.
Ask a question about food chains.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Megan Lorenz/Adobe Stock

Materials
• 5 index cards
• markers
• 4 pieces of yarn or string
• tape

437
 Hands-On Activity

Food Chains
Investigate the flow of energy in a food chain.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 1
In a small group, decide what food chain you want to
model. Be sure to include one producer and at least
two consumers. If you can’t decide, choose a set of
organisms below to use for a model.
• strawberry plant, mouse, snake, hawk
• grass, fox, rabbit, wolf
• jaguar, grass, bird, iguana
• snake, grass, frog, cricket
Write your food chain below.

438
 Step 2
On one index card, draw and label the producer. On the
next index card, draw and label one consumer. On
another index card, draw and label another consumer.
Continue drawing and labeling the organisms in your
food chain until they are all drawn.

Step 3
Arrange the organisms into a food chain that shows which
organism eats which organism. Examine each part of the
system. Think about how they depend on each other.
Step 4
Model how each organism depends on other
organisms within a system by using yarn and tape to
connect each organism.

Step 5
Share your food chain with another group. Describe
the flow of energy within your food chain. Compare
the food chains.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

 strategy to use when actively listening

A
to others is to restate what you hear.
You can also follow up with a question
about the information they shared.

439
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze Results
Construct a flow chart to show the flow of energy
in your food chain. Be sure to illustrate and label
each part.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

440
 Energy and Matter
Describe the flow of energy in your food chain.
How do plants and animals in a food chain depend on each
other?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

441
 Hands-On Activity

Predict what would happen if all the frogs disappeared.

How would that affect the snake, grass, cricket food
chain? Explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

442
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how energy flows through a food chain.
Support your claim with evidence from your investigation.
Explain your reasoning to connect your claim to
your evidence.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

443
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Draw arrows between each organism to identify the flow

of energy in the food chain.

Predict what would happen if the rabbit was removed

from this ecosystem.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

444
DAY 3

Flow of Energy in Food Chains

A food chain is a system that has many different parts. The
structures, or parts, of this system rely on each other to
function. Living things need energy to live and grow. They get
their energy in different ways, but they all depend on each
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©ba11istic/Adobe Stock, (tr) ©Belozorova Elena/Adobe Stock

other to survive.

Decide whether each organism is a producer or consumer.

producer consumer
(bl) ©passion4nature/Getty Images, (br) ©Maria Jeffs/Getty Images

445
Energy flows between living things in an ecosystem. Animals
cannot make their own food like plants do. An animal that
hunts other animals for food is a predator. An animal that is
hunted for food is called prey.
Explore the images below to discover more about how energy
flows through a food chain.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Nicholas Taffs/Shutterstock, (tr) ©Dennis W Donohue/Shutterstock
A kangaroo rat is an herbivore, an animal A rattlesnake is a carnivore, an animal
that only eats plants. that eats other animals. It can get energy
from eating the kangaroo rat.

(b) ©Dennis Donohue/Adobe Stock

A roadrunner is an omnivore, an animal that eats both plants and

animals. It can get energy from eating fruits and seeds or from
eating the rattlesnake.

446
 Think about the kangaroo rat, rattlesnake, and roadrunner
you explored on the previous page.

Explain the relationship between the organisms in this

food chain and how energy flows through it.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

447
Humans depend on the relationship between living
things in a food chain in order to live and grow.
Explore the pictures to discover how energy flows
through a food chain that includes humans.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Dan Thornberg/Adobe Stock, (tr) ©san_ta/Adobe Stock
Chickens are consumers. They eat corn
and insects.

(b) ©grinchh/Adobe Stock

Corn is a producer. Many animals eat

corn. Bees pollinate the plants so ears You are a consumer. You might eat corn,
of corn can grow. chicken, or both.

448
 Do the Math
Math calculations can help you identify and compare
patterns and relationships within data. Solve the word
problems below in order to identify and compare the
patterns in the data.
It takes 8 pounds of corn to feed 40 chickens each day. How many
pounds of corn does it take to feed 40 chickens in one week?

A. 48 pounds
B. 32 pounds
C. 56 pounds
D. 60 pounds

How would the amount of corn compare if you had to feed

the chickens for two weeks? Explain how you used math
calculations to compare the patterns and the relationship
between how much food is needed for two weeks.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

449
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.
Farmers must meet the needs of plants in order to grow
crops. Crops must get plenty of air, sunlight, and water. Plants
also depend on insects such as bees and butterflies to spread
pollen. When they do, the plants grow seeds that can be
eaten or can make new plants.

Predict what would happen to the food chain between the corn,
chicken, and humans if all of the bees disappeared from the
ecosystem.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Dan Thornberg/Adobe Stock

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

450
DAY 4

People in Science
Stephen Baca
Imagine your job is to study insects for a living! Stephen Baca is an
entomologist (en•tuh•mall•uh•jist). An entomologist is a scientist
who studies insects. While studying insects in Peru, he discovered
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Stephen Baca, (tr) ©Stephen Baca, (b) ©Stephen Baca

the history of the Noteridae (no•tair•ih•day). The Noteridae is a

family of burrowing water beetles. Stephen Baca’s findings made
big changes to the way aquatic beetles are classified.
Stephen Baca’s work lets him interact with many different
organisms in various environments.

Baca studies how insects get what they

need to live and grow from the
environment.

Stephen Baca grew up in New Mexico. Baca and another scientist share
He has always been fascinated by things observations.
that crawled.
451
Nancy Miorelli
Nancy Miorelli is also an entomologist. She studies butterflies
and other insects. She wants to see how copying their
structures can make better fiber optics, technology security,
and other tools. She also studies the environment that the
butterflies live in. She investigates the relationship between
what the butterfly needs to live and grow, and how the
environment provides that.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Nancy Miorelli

Nancy Miorelli has never been afraid of insects.

452
 Miorelli lives in Ecuador, a place that has giant insects.
She gives presentations on local animals. Here the
audience can see different kinds of insects and learn
about their place in the ecosystem.

Look at the photo and read the description to learn

about how orchid bees work to attract a mate.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits:

The orchid bee scrapes fragrance from the flower.

The male bee puts the fragrance in a specialized
groove structure in its hind legs. It uses the scent
from the flower to attract females as it flies.

453
 Language SmArts
Research two different food chains. Model each food
chain using a flow chart graphic organizer. Compare
the food chains.

Explain the relationship that each organism has with the others.
Describe how the parts of this system function together.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

454
 Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your explorations in this
lesson, revisit the photo from the beginning of the lesson.
Think about how energy flows through a food chain.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christopher Bellette/Dreamstime

Animals in the Serengeti

455
Go back and review your ideas about the Guiding Question
from the start of this lesson. Now use what you have learned
to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

What do animals, grasses, and the sun have in

common?

Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence

from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christopher Bellette/Dreamstime

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

456
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©goldenangel/Shutterstock
Name
TEKS 3.12.C • DAY 1

Organisms
Changes on
Date

Effects of Natural

457
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about how plants
and animals interact in an ecosystem.
Each letter below explores how the animals in this
environment get what they need to live and grow in
the forest.

D
C

A
B

A  Environment: Plants, animals, and other living things © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
in the forest floor habitat share the same environment.
They get what they need to live and grow.
B  Huckleberries: Huckleberries grow on old logs. Animals
eat their fruit.
C  Bear: Bears find food in logs.
D  Tall trees: Animals use tree habitats in a forest.

458
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson
by exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Robert Bremec/iStockPhoto.com, (c) ©grafvision/Shutterstock,

flood
A huge amount of water overflowing or soaking an area that is usually dry.

drought
A long period of time when there is very little rain.
(b) ©Quick Shot/Shutterstock

environment
All living and nonliving things that surround and affect an organism.

459
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do natural changes to the environment

affect organisms?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Iconica Video/Bronek Kaminski/Getty Images,
Think about what has happened to the plants.

What do you notice about the plants on this wall?

(b) ©Jedrzej Kami/EyeEm/Getty Images

What do you wonder about the plants on the wall?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

460
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Organisms are affected by their
environment. Seeds require
certain conditions to germinate,
or grow. Natural changes to an
environment can affect
whether a seed grows.
Ask a question about how
natural changes in the
environment can affect plants.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Tony Rolls/Alamy

Possible Materials Safety

• 2 lima beans Wash your hands.
• damp paper towel
• dry paper towel • Put everything away and
wipe your work area.
• permanent marker
• 2 plastic zip-top bags
• ruler

461
 Hands-On Activity

Follow the steps below to investigate

the cause-and-effect relationship
between natural changes to an
environment and organisms.

Step 1
Wrap one lima bean in a damp paper
towel and place it in a plastic zip-top
bag. Write your name on the bag

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
with a permanent marker.

Step 2
Wrap one lima bean in a dry paper towel and place it
in a plastic zip-top bag. Write your name on the bag
with a permanent marker.

Step 3
After the beans sprout, observe and measure the size
of the sprouts for the next few days. Use the table on
the next page to record your data.

Collect your sprout data for a few days.

Analyze Data
Then use the data you collected to explain the
cause-and-effect relationship between natural
changes to an environment and organisms.

462
 As you conduct research, write your findings in this table.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Wet paper
towel

Dry paper
towel
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Communicate
Share and compare your results with the rest of the class.
Make sure to describe how natural changes to an environment, such
as floods and droughts, cause some organisms to thrive or perish.

463
 Hands-On Activity

Discuss ways of being respectful when

sharing your results, such as not interrupting,
thanking others for their input, and using
supportive language. When comparing your
seedlings, make sure not to damage each
group’s plants.

Claims, Evidence, Reasoning

Make a claim about how factors and conditions
impacted the stability of the system where the lima
bean was placed. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation and explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

464
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.
When an environment changes, it affects the plants and
animals that live there. Now that you have finished the bean
activity, check your knowledge below.

Explain why you think both a wet paper towel and a dry
paper towel were used in this investigation. How does
that connect to the natural changes in an environment?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Robert Bremec/iStockPhoto.com

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

465
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Natural changes, such as a
drought or flood, can make it hard
for some organisms to find water,
food, or shelter. Organisms react in
different ways when they can’t get
what they need to live and grow.
Ask a question about how natural
changes to an environment can
affect animals.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Radius Images/Alamy

Possible Materials Safety
Be careful when
• index cards
standing up and moving
• pencil in the classroom.
• posterboard
• marker

466
 Dear Deer Game
Step 1
Follow your teacher’s
instructions to form two
groups. Each group should face
in opposite directions.

Step 2
One group will represent the
deer in the environment. Above
the table below, record how
many deer start the game.
Write “deer” on your notecard if
you are in this group. Then choose one environmental
factor you need to meet in this round: food, shelter, or
water. The other two factors are already met. If you are
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

in this group, record the environmental factor you

need on your index card.

Number of deer at start:

Round Number What Happened? Number of Deer Left

467
 Hands-On Activity

Step 3
Students in the second group will represent an
environmental factor: food, shelter, or water. Your
teacher will assign each student in the group one of
the roles. If you are in this group, record your role on
your index card.

Step 4
Listen while your teacher reads out a scenario that
describes natural environmental changes. Once your
teacher finishes, the deer group will turn around.
Each “deer” should walk up to a student holding an
environmental factor that matches the one written on
their index card. Only one deer can match with each
environmental factor. Any student representing deer
that cannot match with a factor did not survive the
round and should leave the group.

Step 5

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

After each round, use your table to record how many
deer are left. Repeat the steps two more times.

468
 Do the Math: Use your data table to make a bar
graph in the box below. What patterns do you observe
in your graph?

Then, using your bar graph, use addition or

subtraction to identify a pattern shown in your data.
Compare your pattern with others. What does this
pattern tell you about the population of deer? If the
deer population did well and had its needs met, it
thrived. If the deer population died out, it perished.
The deer may have also moved to new locations.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Describe how natural changes to the environment,

such as floods and droughts, caused the deer to
thrive, to perish, or to move to a new location.

469
 Claims, Evidence, Reasoning
Make a claim about how natural changes to the
environment affect organisms. Support your claim with
evidence from your line graph. Explain your reasoning
to connect your evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

470
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

What are some natural changes to an environment

that may affect organisms? Select all that apply.

A. a wildfire
B. road and bridge construction
C. a hurricane that causes an area to flood
D. extreme temperatures
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©cuellar/Moment/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

471
DAY 4

Natural Changes
An environment and the organisms that interact with
it form a system. Sometimes, environmental changes
can affect the stability of the system. A change like a
drought or a freeze may cause plants to die. Animals
lose their homes and sources of food. The imbalance
in a system can cause some organisms to thrive, some
to perish, and some to move away.
Explore the pictures to discover how organisms react
to natural changes in the environment.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Peter Freitag/EyeEm/Getty Images

The Amargosa vole only lives in certain parts of California. It depends on certain
plants for food. During a drought, plants will perish, or die, so the voles move to
new areas to find food.

472
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Larry West/Science Source, (r) ©Mary Stephens/Getty Images

A sudden change in temperature that is not seasonal could upset the natural system
in an environment. This plant perished, or died, because of a freeze that happened
out of season.

473
When an environment changes, it affects more than just
one organism. The system of plants and animals that live
there can be affected too. Plants may all die. Animals may
lose their homes and sources of food. Animals may also die
if they can’t adjust to the changes.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Image Bank Film/Getty Images
Explain how natural changes to an environment, like
a drought or flood, affect the stability of the system in
which organisms live and grow.

474
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Identify the cause-and-effect relationship by matching each plant

or animal to the way it might react to a change in its environment.

A plant is covered by An Amargosa vole

ice during a winter moves from its area
storm. to find food.

During a drought, The plant died

plants die, which because it could
reduces the amount not move away from
of food for some the cold weather
organisms. and it froze.

The plant perishes

Lightning strikes an
because it cannot
area that is dry, and a
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

move from the area

wildfire is started.
and it is burned.

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

475
DAY 5

Fit to Its Environment

Some changes in an environment can help plants
and animals thrive, or succeed and be healthy.
Observe each image to learn more about how

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Sune Wendelboe/Getty Images, (b) ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
two different trees thrive in their environment.

Mangrove trees grow

in wet soil and typically
get flooded two times
each day. Most plants
cannot survive this
much water.

Sand live oak trees can

survive droughts in
their environment.

476
 An organism may do well in certain kinds of environmental
changes that it is used to. But, new kinds of environmental
changes can cause organisms to perish. For example, sand
live oak trees can survive droughts in their environment.
However, if it flooded for a long time, the sand live oak tree
may not survive.

Choose the correct words to describe if some

organisms thrive or perish because of natural changes
to an environment such as floods and droughts.

wet  dry  would  wouldn’t

The mangrove tree grows in soil.

The sand live oak tree grows in soil.
The mangrove tree survive well in
a flooded environment.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

477
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

How do natural changes to an environment affect the

stability of the system and its organisms? Select all
that apply.

A. Natural changes do not affect the system.

B. Natural changes may destroy food or shelter.
C. Natural changes may cause organisms to die or to

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©SlobodanMiljevic/iStock/Getty Images

move away.
D. Natural changes may cause organisms to thrive.

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

478
DAY 6

People in Science
Francisco Dallmeier
As a boy in Venezuela, Dr. Francisco Dallmeier
was interested in plants and animals living in
wilderness areas. Today, he is a conservation
biologist. Conservation biologists look after the
well-being of plant and animal species. They study
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HUGO PEREZ/EL COMERCIO de PERU/NewsCom

how natural changes to the environment affect

how organisms react. They also work to preserve
endangered species and their habitats.

Dr. Dallmeier received university degrees in Venezuela and in Colorado.

He began working for the Smithsonian Institute in 1986. His job is to protect
plant and animal species. He has traveled and worked in nearly 100 countries.
He has an office at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and two more in South
America and Africa.

479
People like Dr. Dallmeier know that no two habitats are exactly alike. Each problem

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©CB2/ZOB/Wenn.com/NewsCom

needs a new solution, and knowing how to keep species alive takes constant
research. One important part of the job is communicating with governments and the
public. Without widespread awareness and support, endangered species have little
chance of survival.

Language SmArts: Begin researching a local or state habitat

to find out if any plant or animal species are at risk because of
changes in the environment. Take notes and be prepared to
record your findings on the next page.
Language SmArts: Use your research notes about at-risk
plant or animal species in a local or state habitat. Present the
problems the plant or the animal faces. Make sure to include
the factors or conditions that affected your organism.

480
 Describe the plant or the animal that you researched.
Explain how changes to the environment affected the
life of your organism.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

481
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your explorations in this
lesson, go back and review your ideas about the Guiding
Question from the start of this lesson. Use what you have
learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How do natural changes to the environment

affect organisms?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Iconica Video/Bronek Kaminski/Getty Images,
Make a claim about the
guiding question. Use
evidence from the lesson, and
give reasoning to connect the
evidence to your claim.

(b) ©Jedrzej Kami/EyeEm/Getty Images

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

482
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)

Name
TEKS 3.12.D • DAY 1

Texas Fossils
Date

483
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about living and
nonliving things.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©PHOTO 24/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
A

A  Living things, like this moose or the plants and trees

around it, can produce offspring. They also rely upon
their environment to meet their needs.
B  Nonliving things include the air, the clouds, the
mountains, and the water in the stream. Nonliving
things do not produce offspring and do not rely upon
other parts of the environment to meet their needs.

484
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Tricia/Adobe Stock, (tr) ©Matt Jeppson/Shutterstock, (b) ©Georgette Douwma/

fossil organism
The remains or traces of an organism that A living thing.
lived long ago.
Photodisc/Getty Images

environment
All the living and nonliving things that surround and affect an organism.

485
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

What do scientists learn by studying fossils?

Think about the Guiding Question as you observe the picture.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Visuals Unlimited/Corbis

What do you notice about the fossil in the picture?

What do you wonder about the fossil in the picture?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

486
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Have you ever wondered how
scientists know what Earth’s
surface was like a very long
time ago in Earth’s past? They
use fossils, or evidence of
once living organisms from
long ago, to determine what
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Arpad Benedek/iStockPhoto.com

Earth’s surface was like then.

Ask a question about how
fossils can be used as evidence of past environments.

Possible Materials Safety

• fossil picture cards Be careful if using sharp
objects like scissors to
• living organism picture cards
cut materials.
• hands lens
• tracing paper
• pencil

487
 Hands-On Activity

Observe Fossils
Step 1
Use your hand lens to observe the pictures of fossils
on the next page. Discuss with your group what
features you notice about the fossils. Are the fossils
smooth or bumpy? What shapes do the fossils make?

Step 2
Use your hand lens to observe the pictures of living
organisms on the page after the fossils. Discuss with
your group what features you notice about the living
organisms. Are they smooth or bumpy? What shapes
do they make?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Step 3
Choose one living organism to draw. Take the tracing
paper and lay it on top of the picture. Use your pencil to
trace the outline of the living organism. Then use your
pencil to trace the details inside your outline. Or you can
sketch it freehand.

Step 4
Take your tracing of the living
organism and lay it on top of
each fossil picture. What
fossil does this living
organism resemble? Explain
your thinking to your group.

488
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©agefotostock/Alamy, (tr) ©Corbin17/Alamy, (bl) ©MShieldsPhotos/Alamy,
Fossil Picture Cards

Leaf Fossil Fish Fossil

This is a fossil of a leaf. This is a fossil of a fish.

Shell Fossil Animal Fossil

(br) ©Marcio Jose Bastos Silva/Shutterstock

These are fossils of shells. This is a fossil of an animal.

489
490
Leaf

Shell
This is a leaf.

These are shells.

Hands-On Activity

Fish

Animal
This is a fish.

This is an animal.
Living Organisms Picture Cards

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©blickwinkel/Alamy, (tr) ©U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (bl) ©Stuart Black/
Alamy, (br) ©Archana Bhartia/Hemera/Getty Images
 Analyze Results
In the activity, you compared images of living organisms to
fossils from the past. How can you use what you know about
the living organisms to understand organisms from the past?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

491
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim that identifies what fossils tell us about
past organisms and past environments. Use your
observations of the fossils from the activity as evidence
to support your claim. Use reasoning to connect your
evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

492
 Language SmArts
Share one of your drawings with a classmate. Write
two to three sentences that respectfully describe
features you observe in your classmate’s drawing.
Discuss your descriptions with each other when you
have finished.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

493
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.
Fossils, such as the one below, give scientists greater
insight into what some organisms used to look like.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©The Natural History Museum/Alamy
Compare the details in the fossil. What can you tell about
the fossil from the details you can see? Circle all the
answers that apply.

A. I can see the tail clearly.

B. The tail is more narrow than the body.
C. I can see the mouth.
D. The tail is wider than the body.
E. It has a fish shape.
F. It has a land animal shape.

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

494
DAY 3

Clues from Fossils

Fossils take a long time to form. Most fossils are
preserved in rock.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©paocca/Getty Images, (b) ©lvenks/Getty Images

The shell was pressed into the soft mud on the sea floor long
ago. The mud is now rock.

These shells belonged to animals that lived in shallow water

near the beach.

495
Look at the images.

A. B.

These footprints are in wet sand. These footprints were made in soft

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Todd Gipstein/Getty Images, (tr) ©Jultud/Getty Images,
mud that has since turned to rock.

C. D.

This tree’s wood has been replaced A strong storm knocked this tree

(bl) ©RONSAN4D/Getty Images, (br) ©suprunvitaly/Getty Images

by other materials called minerals. over.

496
 A fossil is the remains or traces of an organism that lived long
ago. Most often fossils are formed from the remains of an
organism’s hard parts.
Hard parts include teeth, bones, and shells. An organism’s
soft parts—such as skin and organs—are rarely found. They
may not become fossilized because they break down more
quickly that hard parts.
Fossils can also be made of traces an organism leaves behind,
such as trails left in mud.

Ask two questions based on your observations and

information from the text. Write your questions below.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

497
Fossils in Texas
Various types of fossils have been found in Texas.
Observe the images of fossils found in Texas and draw a
line to their descriptions.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t, b) ©Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, (m) ©HMH
Evidence of
ancient animal
structure

Evidence of
ancient plant
structure

Evidence of
organism
movement

498
 Think about the fish fossils you observed at the start of
the lesson. These fossils are evidence of two organisms
from long ago. They show us more than just two
organisms. We know that both organisms lived in the
same environment at the same time.
Look at the underwater ecosystem below. It existed
many years before dinosaurs.
Explore the image to learn about an organism and how
it may have lived.

C
D
B
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

A  Ancient fish The head of this fish was covered with armor
plates, and the rest of its body was covered with thick scales.
B  Brachiopod Brachiopods look a lot like present-day clams.
Thick shells protected their soft bodies. Their shells can be found
as fossils today.
C  Feather star Feather stars are related to present-day sea stars.
These extinct feather stars lived attached to the sea floor.
D  Ammonoids These organisms lived inside a long shell. They
were related to present-day squids and octopods.
499
Explore the image to learn more about the organisms.

A C

B
D

A  Ancient bird When fully grown, this ancient bird was over
1 meter in height. Its wings were almost 3 meters in length.
Its legs, neck, and bill were all long.
B  Saber-toothed cat A saber-toothed cat is best known
for its long, sharp front teeth, called sabers, which could be
30 centimeters in length.
C © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
 Oak tree By studying plant fossils, scientists have learned
that plants from 50,000 to 11,000 years ago may have looked
different from modern plants, but functioned in much the
same way.
D  Dire wolf The dire wolf was about the same length as a present-
day gray wolf, but it weighed more.

500
 Fossils tell us much about the past. They tell us about
organisms that once lived on Earth. They also give clues
about the environments in which the organisms lived.

Some fossils look very similar, but are made by

different organisms.

Think about the fossils from the pictures. What evidence does
each fossil provide for the type of organism that left it and the
organism’s environment? You can enter your answer in any of
these ways:
• Write your answer in the space below.
• Discuss your answer with a partner.
• Use a separate sheet of paper to draw pictures that represent
the environments for which each fossil is evidence.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

501
Exit Ticket
These fossils were all found in Texas. They lived long ago in
different environments. Use what you have explored about
fossils to organize them by the environment they used to

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©HMH, (tc, tr, bl) ©Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History,
live in.
Observe the images below. Construct a Venn diagram to
organize the fossils. Label one circle Land and the other
Water. The middle space would classify the fossils that could
be in both environments.

fossil of a snail shell fossil of a plant fossil of a shark’s tooth

(bc) ©The Natural History Museum/Alamy, (br) ©Corbin17/Alamy

fossil of a fish Eryops, an alligator-like Quetzalcoatlus, the largest
animal known flying animal. It
lived at the time of the
dinosaurs.

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

502
DAY 4

Science in Careers
Paleontologist
Do you ever wonder what Earth was like millions of years ago?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Ted Kinsman/Science Source/Getty Images, (tr) ©mj007/Shutterstock,

So do paleontologists! Paleontologists are scientists who study

fossils to find out what ancient environments and organisms
were like.
Some paleontologists study fossils that came from dinosaur
waste. Scientists can learn from what they find in these fossils.
Look at these fossils of dinosaur waste. Suppose each fossil
contained the materials in the label. Think about each material.
Which animal alive today might eat the same kind of food?
Discuss your ideas with a partner or write them on paper.

Contained: seeds Contained: bones

(b) ©Shutterstock

Contained: seeds and bones

503
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©The Natural History Museum/Alamy, (b) ©Carrie Garcia/University of
Mary Anning was an English fossil collector in the 1800s
who made several famous fossil discoveries. As a child, she
collected fossils with her dad. Her work helped lead to
understanding that some fossils came from dinosaur waste.

Karen Chin is a scientist who studies these fossils of

dinosaur waste. Learning about what dinosaurs ate tells
scientists a lot about those dinosaurs and other organisms
alive at the time.
Colorado Boulder

Mary Gordon Calder also studied unusual fossils. In the

1930s she worked with formations called coal balls. Coal balls
are “blobs” of a material that is almost coal, but not fully
formed. Coal balls preserve fragile plants from hundreds of
millions of years ago.

504
 Asking questions is one way to learn more about a
particular topic. Write on each row one question in each
row you want to ask a paleontologist. Use at least two
different sources, such as museums, libraries, or online
platforms to answer your questions. Write the answer
beside each of your questions.

As you conduct research, write your findings in

this table.

Research Research
Question Findings
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

505
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed your
explorations in this lesson, think
about what scientists learn by
studying fossils.
Go back and review your ideas about
the Guiding Question from the start
of this lesson. Now use what you
have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

What do scientists learn by studying fossils?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Visuals Unlimited/Corbis

Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence from the lesson
and give reasoning to connect the evidence to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 4.

506
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©John McKenna/Alamy

Name
TEKS 3.13. A • DAY 1

Functions of
Animal Parts
Structures and
Date

507
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about how animals’
bodies (or structures) help them take in food, water, and air.
Explore how the animals use body parts to grab and eat food.

A B

A  A bear uses its sharp claws and its teeth to grab fish.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
It has sharp, pointy teeth for cutting and tearing food.
B  A deer has front teeth that pull up plants. It has wide,
flat teeth in the back of its mouth for chewing plants.
C  A frog has a long, sticky tongue that shoots out to catch
insects. The frog grabs the insect with its tongue and
pulls it back into its mouth to eat it.
D  A groundhog has sharp claws to dig up roots and other
plant parts for food. It has sharp teeth for eating those
plant parts. Groundhogs don’t worry about teeth
wearing out. Their teeth never stop growing!

508
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson
by exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Image Source/Corbis, (b) ©David Parsons/E+/Getty Images

habitat
A place where an organism lives and can find
everything it needs to survive.

camouflage
An adaptation that allows an organism to blend in
with its surroundings.

509
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do external structures function in certain

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Photolibrary Video/Getty Images, (b) ©Sami Sarkis/Photodisc/Getty Images
ways to help animals survive in their environment?

Look at the pictures. Think about

the Guiding Question. This octopus
is found in muddy waters near
Indonesia and Australia. Observe
how the octopus changed when it
moved to a different place.

What do you notice about how the octopus changed?

What do you wonder about how the octopus changed?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

510
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity

A model is something that shows what an object looks

like and how it works. In order to understand how
external structures of animals help them to survive in
their habitats, scientists build models to study.
Ask a question about how can you make a model
of a bird beak.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Possible Materials
• straws
• plastic spoons
• chopsticks
• clothespins
• toothpicks
• bowl of water
• paper plate
• marbles
• foam packing noodles Safety
Use extreme caution when
• cup of colored water using the pointed chopsticks
• timer and toothpicks.

511
 Hands-On Activity

Just Pecking, Part 1

Follow the
steps below
to explore how
the external
structures of
an animal
function to help
it survive in its
environment.

Step 1

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

Prepare the model food for your investigation.
Place some marbles and packing noodles in the
bowl of water. Discuss how the materials behave
in the water. In what ways is this similar to sources
of food for some birds? Share your answer.

512
 Step 2
Place some marbles and packing noodles on the
paper plate.
• Is the food all the same size?
• How does the size of the food affect what type of birds eat it?
Share your answer.

Step 3
Use the remaining materials to build two model
bird beaks of different sizes. Work with a partner.
Time each other for intervals of 10 seconds. During
the 10 seconds, use the bird beak model to pick up
food. Record your observations. Repeat using the
other bird beak model.

Bird Beak Bird Beak

Observations Observations
Model 1 Model 2
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Trial 1 Trial 1

Trial 2 Trial 2

Trial 3 Trial 3

Trial 4 Trial 4

Step 4
Let each group member repeat Step 3. If time allows,
build a different model beak using what you learned
from the investigation.

513
 Hands-On Activity

Birds have other external structures that function

in a way that helps them survive in their environment.
Explore the image of the duck and its external structures.

Explain how the external structures of a duck function

to help it survive in its environment.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Covejnk/Alamy

514
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Explain how bird beaks function to help birds survive

in their environment.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Bill Raften/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 2.

515
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
In the last activity, you investigated two bird beak
models. Now let’s review what you learned.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Ask a question about how the size of a bird’s
beak might affect what it eats.

Possible Materials Safety

• pencil and paper • When using a digital device,
follow school safety rules.
• bird beak models

516
 Just Pecking, Part 2
Use and Analyze Models
How did your model help you better understand how
the shape and size of a beak affects how it works?
What did your model not do well? How could you make
your model better?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

517
 Hands-On Activity

Ask Questions
Write two questions you have about how the structure
of a bird’s beak helps it to survive.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

518
 Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
• How did the size of each beak affect the type of food it could pick up?
How does this relate to the environment the bird lives in?
• The photo shown here is of a hummingbird. Hummingbirds drink
nectar from flowers. Explain how the shape and size of a
hummingbird’s beak compares to the shape of another bird’s beak,
such as a duck’s. How do the shapes of their beaks affect what type
of food they can eat?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Ken Canning/iStock/Getty Images

519
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how the shape and size of a bird’s
beak help it survive. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation. Explain your reasoning to
connect your evidence to your claim.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

520
 An environment is all the living and nonliving things that
surround an animal. Environments vary all over the world.
Animals have lots of different external structures that work
in different ways to help them live and grow in their
environment.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Insights/Getty Images, (tr) ©Torsten Blackwood/Getty Images, (bl) ©Christian

Explore how external structures function in a way that help

an animal survive in its environment.

Parrots have strong wings because they Emus are birds that have small wings
need to be able to fly from tree to tree in and strong legs. They run quickly in
their natural habitat to find food. their habitat because they cannot fly.
Vinces/Shutterstock, (br) ©Bernhard Richter/Shutterstock

Vampire fish live in rivers in South Look at this wild goat’s teeth. Wild goat
America. They have a mouth full of very teeth are flat for grinding up the plants
sharp teeth to catch the smaller fish that it eats in its environment.
make up their diet.

521
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

How does the size of a bird’s beak affect the type of food
it can pick up?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©AlexandraPhotos/Getty Images

Great job! You have finished Day 3.

522
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Another way an animal survives
in its environment is by using
camouflage or blending in
with its environment.
Ask a question about how
animals blend in to survive in
their environment.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Carol Farneti Foster/Getty Images

Possible Materials
• dry white beans
• 30 dry black beans
• 5 dry red beans
• large sheet of white paper
• large sheet of black paper
• cup
• clock with second hand or timer

523
 Hands-On Activity

Battle of the Bean

Step 1
Working with a partner, place the white paper
on the table. Randomly scatter all of the beans
over the paper.

Step 2
One partner will keep time. The other will pick up
as many beans as possible for 15 seconds and place
them in the cup. Only one bean can be picked up at
a time. The red beans are poisonous. Touching a red
bean means your turn is over.

Step 3
Record the number of black and white beans you
picked up in a data table. Repeat the activity for
two more trials.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Bean Pickup (White Background)
Number of White Beans Number of Black Beans
Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Total

524
 Step 4
Now place the black paper on the table. Repeat the activity
by placing all of the beans on the black paper. Do this three
times and record your data.

Bean Pickup (Black Background)

Number of White Beans Number of Black Beans
Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Total
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

525
526
Hands-On Activity

See how these students did the activity.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
 Analyze Your Results
Explain the patterns you observed. Did the color of
the paper make a difference in which color of bean
was picked up the most?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Listen Actively
Listen to your partner’s explanation. Identify
what evidence they used to determine patterns
they observed.

527
 Hands-On Activity

Communicate Explanations
Explain to a partner how the beans and colored paper are like
an animal blending into their environment. Then write your
explanation and take it home to share with someone.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

528
 Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Make a claim about how camouflage helps animals
survive in their environment. Support your claim
with evidence from research. Explain your
reasoning to connect your evidence to your claim.

Camouflage and mimicry are similar. They are both related

to how an organism looks externally. But camouflage and
mimicry are not the same. Remember that camouflage is
an adaptation that allows an organism to blend in with its
surroundings. Mimicry is an adaptation that allows an
organism to look like something else.

Circle the animals in the picture that are

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

using camouflage.

529
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Write at least two questions you have based on

the information you explored about animals that
use camouflage to survive in their environment.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©blickwinkel/FTeigler/Alamy

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

530
DAY 5

Science in Careers
Marine biologist
Have you ever looked out on the ocean and wondered what
was out there, hidden beneath the surface? Some scientists
have dedicated their careers to studying the ocean. Marine
biologists are scientists who focus on helping us gain as
much knowledge as possible about the ocean and marine life.

The picture below shows a marine biologist in action!

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Moment Video RF/Getty Images

531
Answer this question about marine biologists.

What do marine biologists do? Circle all that apply.

A. keep track of the types of animals in a habitat

B. look for reasons why the numbers of an animal are
low
C. teach others about marine plants and animals
D. record the behavior of freshwater living things

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

532
 Language SmArts
Imagine that you are a marine biologist who
discovered a new organism.

To describe the new discovery, draw a picture of

the organism.

Write about how the organism survives in its

environment. What structures function in a way that
helps it survive in its environment?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

533
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have completed
your exploration in this lesson,
think about how the external
structures function in a way to
help the octopus survive in its
environment.

Go back and review your ideas about the Guiding Question

from the start of this lesson. Now use what you have learned
to answer the question.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Photolibrary Video/Getty Images
GUIDING QUESTION

How do external structures function in certain ways

that help animals survive in their environments?

Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence from the
lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

534
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©stanley45/Getty Images

Name
TEKS 3.13.B • DAY 1

Life Cycles
Date

535
What Do You Already Know?
Think about what you already know about the changes that
organisms go through.
Have you ever seen a butterfly? A butterfly is an insect. It
begins life inside an egg. It changes form as it grows to
become an adult.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Look at the stages of a butterfly life cycle. What do you

think is happening at the bottom of the circle?

A. An adult lays eggs.

B. A caterpillar, or larva, hatches and grows fast.
C. A caterpillar, or larva, enters a new stage called
a pupa.

536
 Vocabulary
Language SmArts: Get ready for this lesson by
exploring the words you’ll need.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Daniel Dempster Photography/Alamy, (m) ©Photodisc/Getty Images,

life cycle
Changes that happen to an organism
during its lifetime.

population
All of the members of a certain kind of
organism in an environment.
(b) ©Digital Vision/Alamy

metamorphosis
A major change in the body form of an
animal during its life cycle.

537
Can You Explain It?

GUIDING QUESTION

How do you think both the plant and the alligator

will change throughout their lives?

Look at the pictures of the plant and the alligator.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Hans Verburg/Alamy
What do you notice about the plant and the alligator?

What do you wonder about the plant and alligator?

Great Job! You have finished Day 1.

538
DAY 2

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Living things, like this plant, are
organisms. All organisms experience
a life cycle, or a series of changes
that happen throughout life. Plants
have life cycles with certain stages.
Ask a question about the life
cycle of a plant.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©BLOOM images/Getty Images

Materials Safety
• goggles Wear safety goggles
when putting the dirt
• non-latex gloves
in the cups.
• marigold or grass seeds
Make sure to not put
• plastic cup for planting seeds your fingers near your
• permanent marker face after touching
the dirt.
• graduated cylinder,
measuring cup, or other cup
to water plants
• soil
• water
• ruler

539
 Hands-On Activity

Exploring Plant Changes

Step 1
Select a seed type. Write your name on a cup with a
permanent marker. Fill the cup 3/4 full of soil. Put the
seed 1 inch deep in the soil. Add enough water to
moisten the soil. Place your cup next to a window.

Step 2
After the seed sprouts, measure the height of your
plant each week. Record this data and any other
observations you make in the data table below. Add
water regularly to keep the soil moist.

Week Plant height (cm) Observations

Start

Week 1 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

540
 Step 3
Construct a sequence map to show
how your plant grows. Collect
measurements every week for four
weeks. Illustrate your observations.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©HMH

541
 Hands-On Activity

Analyze the information you collected each

day in your sequence map.

Analyze Results
Illustrate the part of the life cycle of the plant
you observed. Label each stage.
Compare the data in your sequence map with
other groups. What patterns do you notice?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

With a partner, discuss anything about this

investigation that was difficult. What would you
change if you could start over?

542
 Do the Math
Jose’s group measured their plant, and it was 12 cm
tall. If the plant grows 2 cm taller each week, how tall
will it be in four weeks?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

543
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how life cycles of various organisms
differ from each other. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation. Explain your reasoning to connect
your claim to your evidence.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

544
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this question.

What tool did you use to measure the plant

each day? Circle the correct answer.

A. graduated cylinder
B. digital scale
C. beaker
D. ruler
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Hans Verburg/Alamy

Great Job! You have finished Day 2.

545
DAY 3

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
As organisms grow, they change. Most
times they get larger in size. However,
some organisms go through big
transformations that change their shape
and size. This process of changing is
called metamorphosis. Their different
shapes are called stages.
Ask a question about the different
stages a beetle goes through.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©mynewturtle/

Materials Safety
• terrarium or clear container Treat organisms
with lid and soil carefully and
respectfully.
• uncooked old fashioned oats
Do not pickup any
• a baby carrot or a slice of a
raw potato organism unless your
teacher instructs
Shutterstock

• gloves you to.

• mealworms
• darkling beetles
• hand lens

546
 Observing Mealworm
Metamorphosis
Step 1
In the bottom of the terrarium or clear container, put a
layer of oats. Place the carrot or potato food source on
top of the oats. Gently place the mealworms, or larva, and
adult beetles inside the container and close the lid.

Step 2
Use your terrarium, notebook, and hand lens to
observe, test, measure, and analyze the two different
life stages of the beetle. In the space below, draw the
two stages you observe of the beetle’s life cycle. Label
one picture adult beetle and the other larva.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

547
 Hands-On Activity

Step 3
Compare the mealworm to the
adult beetle. How are they the
same? How are they different?
Share your ideas with your group
members.

S haring ideas in a group can be difficult, especially if

someone disagrees with your ideas. What might you

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

say if someone’s observations about the mealworms
are not the same as yours?

548
 Step 4
Observe the other two life stages of a beetle shown in these
pictures. Make a drawing that shows these two different life
stages. Label each stage.

beetle eggs beetle pupa

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (b) ©Andrew Darrington/Alamy

549
 Hands-On Activity

Step 5
Now draw all four of the stages in order of how you think they
should go. Compare your stages with your group. Are they
alike or different? Share your thoughts on how you decided
where each stage should go.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

550
 Analyze Results
Describe each stage of the life cycle of the mealworm and
beetle.

Stability and Change

How does the terrarium offer a stable environment for the
mealworms and beetles?
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

551
 Hands-On Activity

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about how animals change as they grow.
Support your claim with evidence from your investigation
and explain your reasoning.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

552
 Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Egg

Adult

Nymph

Compare the life cycle of a cricket to the life cycle of the

darkling beetle. Circle the statement below that is true.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

A. The cricket and the beetle both have a pupa stage.

B. The beetle life cycle has a nymph stage, but the
cricket does not.
C. The cricket transforms during the larva stage like
the beetle.
D. The beetle and the cricket both have an egg stage
and an adult stage.

Great Job! You have finished Day 3.

553
DAY 4

Name Date

Hands-On Activity
Most organisms look different during different stages
of their life cycle. Not all life cycles look the same.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Super Prin/Shutterstock

Ask a question about the pattern of life cycles of
different organisms.

Materials Safety
• digital device • Follow school safety rules
when using a digital device.
• index cards
• colored pencils
• books

554
 Comparing Life Cycles
Step 1
Choose an organism from the list below to explore.
• radish plant
• lima bean
• cricket
• cardinal
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Kali Nine LLC/Getty Images

Step 2
Use your digital device to collect and analyze
information about the life cycle of the organism you
chose. To test and measure the accuracy of your
information, find several sources to confirm your
work.

Step 3
Use the index cards to illustrate the changes your
organism goes through. Come up with a name for
each change.

555
 Hands-On Activity

Step 4
Share your illustrations. What patterns do you see in
the life cycles?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

556
 Analyze Results
Compare the life cycle of the organism you chose
to the life cycle another group member chose.
What stages are similar? What stages are different?
What patterns do you notice about the different
life cycles?

Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning

Make a claim about the similarities and differences of plant
and animal life cycles. Support your claim with evidence
from your investigation, and explain your reasoning.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

557
Exit Ticket
Check your learning with this activity.

Look back at the stages of the beetle life cycle. Compare the life
cycle of the beetle to the organism you researched. Describe
what is similar and what is different.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Christian Hutter/Alamy

Great job! You have finished Day 4.

558
DAY 5

How Do Life Cycles Differ?

All life cycles follow patterns that happen in a certain order.
The parts of a life cycle make a system. A system is a group of
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Shutterstock, (mt) ©DAJ/Getty Images, (mb) ©Shutterstock, (b) ©Fotolia

things that work together as a whole. Each life cycle has

different parts that make up a system.
Explore the images to discover the different life stages of
a dog.

A B

D C

A Newborn puppy: This puppy has just been born.

Birth is the first stage in the life cycle of some
animals.
Puppy: This puppy is in the growth stage of its
B
life cycle.

Adult dog with litter: This adult dog has just

C
completed the reproduction stage of life and is
shown here with her puppies.
Elderly dog: This dog is nearing the end of its life
D
cycle and will eventually die. Death is the end of
a life cycle.
559
A population of emperor penguins works together to protect
and raise hatchlings. Think about how the life cycle of a
penguin differs from that of a dog.
Study the images below to discover more about the
differences between the life stages of the animals.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (leftmosttop) ©WENN/Alamy, ©Shutterstock, (rightmosttop) ©Getty Images, ©DAJ/
Getty Images, (leftmostbottom) ©Ty Milford/Aurora/Getty Images, ©Shutterstock, (rightmostbottom) ©Ray Hems/Getty Images, ©Fotolia
Penguins are born when they hatch from During its growth stage, a young
eggs. From the time a penguin egg is penguin will increase in size and weight.
laid, it must incubate for 32–68 days Adult feathers replace fuzzy down
before it is ready to hatch. Compare the feathers. How is the young penguin
hatching of the penguin to the live birth similar to and different from the
of a puppy. young dog?

Penguins reproduce by laying eggs. This penguin is getting old. Many types
Female penguins lay the eggs, and the of penguins can live for up to 20 years!
female and her mate protect it. Think But eventually penguins, dogs, and other
about how reproduction is similar and organisms all die.
different for dogs and penguins.

560
 Plants are living things. They grow and change. They have life cycles.
Most plant life cycles begin with a seed. There are many types of seed-
producing plants. Some make flowers and some do not. Flowering
plants and nonflowering plants look different, but they have similar
life cycles. Explore more about the life cycle of a flowering apple plant.

Germination
During the first stage, a root begins to
sprout from the bottom of the seed
into the soil.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Growth (young tree)

After the apple seed germinates, it
grows into a young plant.

Growth (adult tree)

When the apple tree becomes an
adult, it develops flowers.

561
 Reproduction
Pollinated flowers may turn
into apples. The apples have
seeds.

Seed
When an apple falls to the
ground, the seeds inside it can
start a new life cycle.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Death
Apple trees may reproduce
many times. In the end, the
apple tree dies.

562
 Some plants make seeds without flowers. Their seeds form in
cones. Unlike flowers, cones do not develop into fruit. Explore
each picture to learn more about plants that don’t have flowers.

Germination
A new plant sprouts from a seed
under the right conditions.

Growth (young tree)

Young trees do not produce
cones until they grow into
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

adult trees.

Growth (adult tree)

Mature plants are larger and can
produce cones.

563
 Reproduction
Seeds form inside cones rather
than fruit.

Death
A pine tree can live and
reproduce for many years.
Eventually, it will stop
reproducing and die.

Compare and contrast the life cycles of flowering and nonflowering

plants. Then select all statements that are true of seed-producing plants.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

A. Only nonflowering plants produce seeds during reproduction.
B. Flowering plants produce fruit. Nonflowering plants produce cones.
C. Flowering plants produce cones. Nonflowering plants produce fruit.
D. Both flowering and nonflowering plants produce fruit during
reproduction.
E. Both flowering and nonflowering plants produce seeds during
reproduction.
F. Only flowering plants produce seeds during reproduction.

564
 Most insects go through a change called
metamorphosis during their life cycles. There are two
types of metamorphosis. Study the cicada and ladybug
life cycles below to explore each type.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©James H. Robinson/Photo Researchers, Inc., (tr) ©Wilfried Martin/Getty Images,
(bl) ©Katarina Christenson/Shutterstock, (brt) ©Shaun Wilkinson/Getty Images, (brb) ©Phil Lowe/Getty Images

Birth
• A cicada begins its life cycle when it hatches from an egg (left).
• In its first stage, a ladybug hatches from an egg (right).

Growth
• A young cicada is a nymph. As it grows, it becomes too large for
its covering. When this happens, it sheds its covering. This can
occur many times (left).
• In the growth stage of its life cycle, a ladybug is first a larva that
looks like a different kind of insect. It eats a lot as it grows. After
time, in the second part of the ladybug’s growth stage, the larva
makes a protective covering for itself and becomes a pupa (right).
565
 Reproduction
• An adult cicada has wings and
reproduces by laying eggs in
holes made in branches (left).
• When the ladybug comes out of
the pupa, it can reproduce. It lays
eggs underneath leaves (right).

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (tl) ©Andrew Skolnick/Shutterstock, (tr) ©ANATOL ADUTSKEVICH/Getty Images,
Death
• The last stage of the cicada’s life
cycle is death. In the wild, a

(ml) ©Shutterstock, (mr) ©Justus de Cuveland/imageBROKER/Alamy, (b) ©David Dennis/Animals Animals/Earth Scenes
cicada can live up to 17 years
(left).
• This ladybug is nearing the end of
its life and will eventually die. A
ladybug in the wild can live up to
three years (right).

Amphibians are animals that live part of their lives in the

water and part of their lives on land. How do you think that is
possible? Observe each image to explore the different stages
of the life cycle of an amphibian.

A salamander hatches
from an egg during its
birth stage.

566
 A young salamander
lives in water and has
gills for breathing. It
also has a tail. As it
grows, it develops full
legs and lungs. This is
called metamorphosis.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©David Dennis/Animals Animals/Earth Scenes, (m) ©Zigmund Leszczynski/

The salamander leaves

the water to live on
land.

When it is ready to
Animals Animals/Earth Scenes, (b) ©Robert Lubeck/Animals Animals/Earth Scenes

reproduce, an adult
salamander returns to
the water to lay eggs.

Eventually, the
salamander dies. This
marks the end of its life
cycle.

567
Exit Ticket
Check your understanding with this activity.

Explore the life cycle of a radish. Compare its life cycle with
another plant life cycle you explored in the lesson.

Compare Contrast

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Great Job! You have finished Day 5.

568
DAY 6

Science in Careers
Animal Biologist
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (l) ©Pascal Goetgheluck/Science Source, (r) ©Pascal Goetgheluck/Science Source

Animal biologists study the life cycles of animals. Some

scientists focus on just one part of an animal’s life cycle, such
as what happens inside an egg. They may investigate
changes within the system that includes the animal’s life
cycle and environment. Animal biologists explore why some
life cycles of an organism change or never even happen.
Study the pictures and captions to discover more about
animal biologists and one part of an animal’s life cycle that
they study.

This animal biologist is studying animals An incubator is designed to keep eggs

that are developing inside eggs before warm outside of their natural
they hatch. By doing this, she can learn environment. This helps scientists study
more about the changes an organism the animals as they develop inside
goes through as it develops. the eggs.

569
 © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©Gustoimages/Science Photo Library/Science Source, (b) ©Laurie O’Keefe/
An x-ray machine can enable scientists to see animals developing
inside eggshells.

Science Source

Inside an egg’s protective shell, the yolk develops into the young
animal that will soon hatch.

570
 Ernest Everett Just

Ernest Everett Just was an animal biologist. He

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Science Source

studied the eggs of ocean creatures. Just was best

known for his research on worms that live in salt
water and on sand dollars. He discovered
important information about the parts of an egg
and how they help ocean animals develop.

Language SmArts: Use a digital device to research what

factors or conditions impact the life cycle of an organism.

Explain what factors or conditions can support the stability of a life

cycle or cause it to change.

571
Can You Explain It?
Now that you have finished the explorations, go back and
review your ideas about the Guiding Question. Use what you
have learned to answer the question.

GUIDING QUESTION

How do you think both the plant and the alligator

will change throughout their lives?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Hans Verburg/Alamy

Make a claim about the Guiding Question. Use evidence
from the lesson, and give reasoning to connect the evidence
to your claim.

Great Job! You have finished Day 6.

572
 Interactive Glossary
As you learn about each item, add notes, drawings, or sentences in the extra
space. This will help you remember what the terms mean. Here’s an example:

fungi (fuhn•jee) A group of

organisms that get nutrients by
decomposing other organisms
hongos Un grupo de organismos
que obtienen sus nutrientes al Mushrooms are a
type of fungi.
descomponer otros organismos.

Glossary Pronunciation Key

With every Glossary term, there is also a phonetic respelling. A phonetic
respelling writes the word the way it sounds, which can help you pronounce
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: ©Utopia_88/istock/Getty Images

new or unfamiliar words. Use this key to help you understand the respellings.

Sound As in Phonetic Respelling Sound As in Phonetic Respelling

a bat (bat) oh over (oh•ver)

ah lock (lahk) oo pool (pool)
air rare (rair) ow out (owt)
ar argue (ar•gyoo) oy foil (foyl)
aw law (law) s cell (sel)
ay face (fays) sit (sit)
ch chapel (chap•uhl) sh sheep (sheep)
e test (test) th that (that)
metric (meh•trik) thin (thin)
ee eat (eet) u pull (pul)
feet (feet) uh medal (med•uhl)
ski (skee) talent (tal•uhnt)
er paper (pay•per) pencil (pen•suhl)
fern (fern) onion (uhn•yuhn)
eye idea (eye•dee•uh) playful (play•fuhl)
i bit (bit) dull (duhl)
ing going (goh•ing) y yes (yes)
k card (kard) ripe (ryp)
kite (kyt) z bags (bagz)
ngk bank (bangk) zh treasure (trezh•er)

G1
C
camouflage (kam·uh·flazh)
An adaptation that allows an

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company • Image Credits: (t) ©David Parsons/E+/Getty Images, (tc) ©matteodestefano/istock/Getty Images Plus/Getty
organism to blend in with its
surroundings.
camuflaje Adaptación que
le permite a un organismo
mimetizarse con su entorno.
change of state (chaynj uhv
stayt) A physical change that
occurs when matter changes
from one state to another.
cambio de estado Cambio
físico que se produce cuando
la materia cambia de un

Images, (bc) ©Lisovskaya Natalia/Shutterstock, (b) ©Steve Williams/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

estado a otro, por ejemplo, de
líquido a gaseoso.

condensation
(kahn•den•say•shuhn) A gas
changes into a liquid.
condensación Proceso por
el cual un gas se convierte en
líquido.
conservation (kahn ser vay
shuhn) The preserving and
protecting of an ecosystem or
a resource.
conservación Preservación
y protección de un
ecosistema o recurso

G2
 consumer (kuhn•so•mer)
A living thing that cannot
make its own food and must
eat other living things.
consumidor Ser vivo que
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no puede producir su propio

alimento y por eso debe
alimentarse de otros seres
vivos.
criteria (kry tir ee uh) The
features of a solution.
criterios Estándares para
medir el éxito.

D
dormancy (dawr muhn see)
In a state of rest or inactivity.
letargo En estado de reposo
o inactividad

drought (drowt) A long time

when there is very little rain.
sequía Un largo periodo
cuando llueve muy poco.

G3
E
earthquake (erth kwayk)

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A sudden shaking of the
ground that causes land to
rise and fall.
terremoto Temblor de
la superficie de la tierra
producido por un movimiento
a lo largo de una ruptura en la
corteza terrestre.

energy (en•er•jee) The

ability to do work or cause
changes in matter.
energía Capacidad de
realizar una tarea o causar
cambios en la materia.

engineering
(en•juh•neer•ing) The
process of designing new or
improved technology.
ingeniería Proceso de
diseño de tecnología nueva o
mejorada.

environment
(en•vy•ruhn•muhnt) All the
living and nonliving things
that surround and affect an
organism.
Getty Images

ambiente Todos los seres

vivos y no vivos que rodean y
afectan a un organismo.

G4
 evaporation
(ee•vap•uh•ray•shuhn) A
liquid changes into a gas.
evaporación Proceso por el
cual un líquido se transforma
en gas.

F
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flood (flud) A huge amount

of water overflowing or
soaking an area that is usually
dry.
inundación exceso de agua
en zonas normalmente secas.
food chain (food chayn)
The transfer of food energy
between organisms in an
ecosystem.
cadena alimentaria
Transferencia de energía
alimentaria entre organismos
en un ecosistema.
force (fohrs) A push or
a pull, which may cause a
change in an object’s motion.
fuerza Empujón o tirón que
puede causar un cambio en el
(b) ©Glow Images

movimiento de un objeto.

G5
 fossil (fahs•uhl) The remains
or traces of an organism that
lived long ago.
fósil Restos o rastros que
deja un organismo que vivió
hace mucho tiempo.

G
gas (gas) The state of matter
that does not have a definite
shape or volume.
gas Estado de la materia

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en el que una sustancia no
tiene una forma o un volumen
definidos.

gravity (grav•ih•tee) A force

that attracts all objects in the
universe toward one another;
near Earth’s surface, a force
that pulls things toward the
center of Earth.
gravedad Una fuerza que
atrae a todos los objetos uno
hacia el otro en el universo;
cerca de la superficie de la
Tierra, una fuerza que jala
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objetos hacia el centro de la
Tierra.

G6
 H
habitat (hab ih tat) A place
where an organism lives and
can find everything it needs to
survive.
hábitat Lugar donde vive
un organismo y donde puede
encontrar todo lo que necesita
para sobrevivir.
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hibernation (hy buhr nay

shuhn) A dormant, inactive
state in which normal body
activities slow.
hibernación Estado latente
e inactivo en el que las
actividades normales del
cuerpo se vuelven lentas
humus (hyoo muhs) Soil
made of once-living things.
humus Suelo formado
por materia orgánica en
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descomposición.

L
landslide (land slyd) The
sliding down of rocks and soil
on or from a hill, mountain, or
other slope.
derrumbamiento El
movimiento súbito hacia
abajo de rocas y suelo por una
pendiente.

G7
 life cycle (lyf sy·kuhl)
Changes that happen to an
organism during its lifetime.
ciclo de vi da Etapas que
experimenta un ser vivo en
la medida que crece y se
transforma.

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light energy (lyt) Energy
that lets you see.
luz Una forma de energía
electromagnética radiante
que es visible para el ojo
humano.
liquid (lik wid) The state
of matter that has definite
volume but has a shape that
can change.
imán Objeto que atrae el

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hierro y algunos otros metales
(pero no todos).

M
magnet (mag nit) An object
that attracts iron and a few
other—but not all—metals.
imán Objeto que atrae el
hierro y algunos otros metales
(pero no todos).

G8
 magnetism
(mag•nuh•tiz•uhm) The
physical property of being
magnetic.
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magnetism Propiedad física

de ser magnético.
mass (mas) The amount of
matter in an object.
masa La cantidad de material
que tiene un objeto.

matter (mat•er) Anything

that takes up space.
materia cualquier cosa que
tiene masa y ocupa un lugar
en el espacio.

mechanical energy (mih

kan ih kuhl en er jee) The total
energy of motion and position
of an object.
energía mecánica Energía
total del movimiento y la
posición de un objeto.
Schmitt/Moment/Getty Images

G9
 metamorphosis
(met•uh•mawr•fuh•sis)
A major change in the body
form of an animal during its
life cycle.

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metamorfosis Serie de
cambios que experimentan
algunos animales durante su
desarrollo.

migration (my gray shuhn)

The movement of animals
from one region to another
and back.
migración Movimiento de
animales de una región a otra
y viceversa.
motion (moh shuhn) A
change of position of an
object.
movimiento Cambio de
posición de un objeto.

N
Images, (b) ©Pichugin Dmitry/Shutterstock
natural resource
(nach•uhr•uhl ree•sohrs)
Anything from nature that
people can use.
recurso natural Todo lo que
provenga de la naturaleza y
que las personas puedan usar.

G10
 nonrenewable resource
(nahn•rih•noo•uh•buhl
ree•sohrs) A resource that,
once used, cannot be replaced
in a reasonable amount of
time.
recurso no renovable
Recurso que, después de
haber sido utilizado, no podrá
ser reemplazado en un tiempo
razonable.

O
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orbit (ohr bit) The path of

one object in space around
another object.
órbita La trayectoria de un
objeto alrededor de otro en el
espacio.

organism
(ohr•guh•niz•uhm) A living
thing.
organismo Ser vivo.

G11
 P
physical property
(fiz•ih•kuhl prahp•er•tee)
Anything that you can observe
about an object by using one
or more of your senses.
propiedad física Todo lo
que se pueda observar de
un objeto usando uno o más

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sentidos.

planet (plan it) A large,

round body that revolves
around a star.
planeta Cuerpo de gran
tamaño, redondo que gira
alrededor de una estrella.
pollution (puh loo shuhn)
Any waste product or
contamination that harms
or dirties an ecosystem and
harms organisms.

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contaminación Todo
desperdicio que daña o
ensucia un ecosistema y hace
daño a sus organismos.

population (pahp yuh lay

shuhn) All the organisms
of the same kind that live
together in a given area.
población Todos los
organismos del mismo
tipo que viven juntos en un
ecosistema.

G12
 position (puh zish uhn)
The location of an object in
relation to a nearby object or
place.
posición Ubicación de un
objeto en relación a otro lugar
u objeto cercano.
precipitation
(prih•sip•ih•tay•shuhn)
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Water that falls from the air to

Earth’s surface.
precipitación Agua que cae
del aire a la superficie de la
Tierra.

problem (prahb•lem)
Something that needs to be
fixed or made better.
problema Cuestión para
considerar, resolver o
responder.
producer (pruh•doo•ser)
A living thing, such as a plant,
that can make its own food.
productor Ser vivo, como
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las plantas, que es capaz de

producir su propio alimento.

prototype (proh•tuh•typ)
A model used for testing a
solution.
prototipo Modelo de trabajo
que se utiliza para probar una
solución.

G13
 R
rain gauge (rayn gayj) A tool
for collecting and measuring
precipitation.
pluviómetro Instrumento
que se usa para recoger y
medir la precipitación.

renewable resource

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(rih•noo•uh•buhl ree•sohrs)
A resource that can be
replaced within a reasonable
amount of time.
recurso renovable Recurso
que puede ser reemplazado
en un tiempo razonable.

revolution (rev uh loo

shuhn) The movement of
Earth one time around the
sun.
revolución Movimiento de la
Tierra a lo largo de una órbita
completa alrededor del Sol.

(b) ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

S
soil (soyl) Small pieces of
rock and once-living things.
suelo pedazos pequeños de
roca y materia orgánica en
descomposición.

G14
 solar system (soh•ler
sis•tuhm) A star and all the
planets and other objects that
revolve around it.
sistema solar Una estrella
y todos los planetas y demás
objetos que giran a su
alrededor.
solid (sahl id) The state of
matter that has a definite
shape and definite volume.
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sólido Estado de la materia

en el que una sustancia tiene
una forma y un volumen
definidos.

solution (suh•loo•shuhn)
Something that fixes a
problem.
solución

  sound (sownd) A kind

of energy you hear when
something vibrates.
sonido El movimiento de
energía que atraviesa, en
forma de vibraciones, un
medio como el agua, el aire o
un cuerpo sólido.

G15
 speed (speed) The measure
of an object’s change in
position during a certain
amount of time.
rapidez Medida que expresa
el cambio de posición de un
objeto durante un tiempo
determinado.

states of matter (stayts uhv

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mat•er) A form of matter such
as a solid, liquid, or gas.
estados de la materia
Estados físicos (por ejemplo
el estado sólido, líquido y
gaseoso) en los que existe la
materia.

T
temperature
(tem•per•uh•chur) The
measure of the energy of
motion in the particles of
matter, which we feel as how
hot or cold something is.
temperatura Medida de la
energía de movimiento en las
partículas de la materia, que se
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manifiesta en qué tan caliente

o frío se siente un cuerpo.

G16
 thermal energy (ther•muhl
en•er•jee) The energy
of a system related to the
system’s temperature and
mass.
energía térmica Energía
cinética total de las partículas
de una sustancia.

thermometer (ther•mahm•
ih•ter) A tool used to measure
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temperature.
termómetro Instrumento
que se usa para medir
temperatura.

V
volcano (vahl kay noh) An
opening in Earth’s surface
where lava, gases, and bits of
rock erupt.
volcán Una chimenea o
fisura en la superficie de la
Tierra a través de la cual se
expulsan magma y gases.
(b) ©Ammit Jack/Shutterstock

G17
W
weathering (weth er ing)
The breaking down of rocks
on Earth’s surface into smaller
pieces.
meteorización
Descomposición de las
piedras de la superficie

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terrestre en piezas más
pequeñas.

wind vane (wind vayn) A tool

that measures the direction of
the wind.
veleta Instrumento que
mide la dirección en la que
sopla el viento.

G18