Elementary, K through 5
Elementary Life Science
Plant + Algae = Total Photosynthesis for the Earth
Elementary life science asks what living things need, how they grow, how they reproduce, and how they depend on one another. Most classrooms teach that from pictures. A Brainy Briny bag is a living system with a producer, a consumer and decomposers sealed inside it and nothing added after Day 1, so the class watches the relationships instead of reading about them. Eight of the twelve elementary subjects we cover sit in life science, and the kit reaches eleven of the nineteen NGSS elementary life science performance expectations.
Pick your lessons by the standard
Life science subjects
Pick your state and every code on this page updates. Texas and Florida teach several of these a year or two earlier than NGSS does.
Kindergarten
Needs of Living Things
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive.
Sunlight and Water for Growth
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
Grade 5
Photosynthesis
Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Grade 4
Structure and Function
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that support survival, growth, behaviour and reproduction.
Life Cycles
Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles, but all have birth, growth, reproduction and death in common.
Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis
Part of the life cycles standard, and its own standard in Florida. Brine shrimp add body parts one moult at a time rather than rebuilding, which makes them the clearest contrast to a butterfly.
Heredity and Traits
Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Grade 5
Food Chains and Movement of Matter
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment.