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Let’s Learn Together!

Science: Systems Week 1 - Complete Systems introduction, read “Bee Bodies” and complete Bee Body Parts & Functions T-chart. Week 2 - Complete readings and activities on pages 4 -6 about Garden Systems. Background Information - Students will analyze models to explore how the parts of a system work together to achieve a particular function. Students will also discover that if each part of the system doesn’t do its job, then the entire system will not function, or the system function will change. Students will modify a model to illustrate the types of interactions between organisms within a garden ecosystem and construct an explanation to describe how each part works together for the benefit of the system. They will collaboratively study what happens if the bee were to be removed from the system. How would plants and animals work without the bees, or can they?

Social Studies: Voting Rights Social Studies activities in this learning bundle focus on the concepts of democracy and voting. Third graders will read a short text that helps define democracy, the essential idea in the government of the United States. A second piece of text and a timeline activity takes students through the various changes and expansion of voting rights throughout the history of the United States so that, hopefully, students can learn that the United States has become more democratic over the years by giving more people the right to vote. Students will show what they have learned by completing one of three final tasks at the end.

Social Studies and science

Activities At –A–Glance

The following assignments should be kept in the student’s

portfolio to be turned in at a later date:

Science: Page 3 – Parts and Function T-chart and follow-

up question.

Social Studies: Voting Rights Final Task

My child completed his/her science and social studies work from learning bundle five.

________________________________

Parent Signature

S1

Science – Systems – Grade 3

People use bikes to get from place to place every day. Do they realize that what they are

riding is actually a well-designed system? A system is made up of parts that work together to

perform a specific function. Study the following diagram of a bicycle. All the parts work

together in order for the bike to function properly.

Consider what would happen if one of the bike systems failed or broke? Chose one part of the

bike and share how removing this part would impact the system.

How would it change the overall function of the bike? If I removed the __________________,

the results would be ______________________________________________________________________

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A bike is one example of a system. We think about systems when we look at how things work

together to perform a task or function. Consider a bee. It has many parts that work together

that enable it to do amazing things. The bee is also an example of a system.

S2

Bee Bodies

If you were asked to draw a bee, what would you draw? You might draw an oval and a couple

of antennae and then color the whole thing with black and yellow stripes. That would be a

good general drawing, but you would be missing all the amazing details.

Bees’ bodies are complicated structures that allow them to do fascinating things. Bees can fly.

Bees can dance. Bees can scrape pollen off their bodies and into little baskets on their legs. All

the parts of a bee’s body help the bee do what it needs to do to live and work in the colony.

Bee bodies are made up of three main parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. The

head has a pair of compound eyes, simple eyes, antennae, mandibles, and a proboscis. The

thorax has the bee’s wings, all six legs, and muscles that help the bee fly. The abdomen has

special glands that produce the wax bees use to form the hive and female bees have a stinger.

Every bee has special parts that allow them to live and work as part of the colony. Some

structures are familiar. They have four wings for flight (at up to 15 miles per hour) and also fan

the nectar to dehydrate it and transform it into honey. They have three simple eyes (or ocelli)

that let the bees detect changes in light. They also have two compound eyes to detect color

and movement. Bees’ jaws are called mandibles and are used for chewing. And bees have two

antennae used for gathering sensory information.

Other structures of the bee are a little more unusual.

The glossa (or proboscis) is a long tongue that acts like

a straw to suck up nectar from flowers. A honey

stomach is a special organ that stores the nectar

collected by the bee until it can be unloaded in the

hive. The pollen baskets are structures on the hind

legs that are used to hold the pollen from flowers.

And, the wings of a bee are connected by hamuli, tiny

hooks that hold the wings together so the bee can fly.

Each part of a bee serves a special purpose. From the tips of their antennae to the end of the

stinger, bees are built to be a productive part of our ecosystem.

Taken from: Hive Alive! www.sweetvirginia.org

Based on the article “Bees Bodies,” complete the following t-chart by listing the structures, or

body parts, of a bee and their function. In other words, describe the role of each part in the

bee’s system.

S3

Select one part of the bee system and explain how the removal of that part would affect the

system.

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We have explored a bee and learned that it has many parts that must function together for

the bee to survive. Although the bee is very small, it is part of much bigger systems that

include you and me! Bees do many wonderful things, like pollinate flowers and make tasty

honey.

However, they also are known to cause a little bit of pain to humans. I remember that as a

little kid I did not like bees at all! When helping Grandma with her gardening, bees would

buzz from flower to flower. I felt like they were all around me and feared I would get stung.

At the time, no one could convince me how important bees were to the garden, and to me

as well.

Body Part Job/Function

S4

Picture all the living and nonliving things you might find in an area near a garden. Make a

list of plants, animals and some nonliving things (not man made) that might exist in this

ecosystem.

Complete the table explaining how the bee is helping or is being helped within the garden

system. The first one is done as an example.

Parts that make up a garden system. How does a bee interact with this part of the garden system?

A cucumber plant Flowers need the bees to pollinate them

in order for the cucumber grow.

S5

All of the parts you listed work together as a garden system. The bee is one of those

important parts. Look at the picture below. It represents an area near a garden. Does this

picture model include some of the parts you identified on the chart above? Think about

how all of the parts of this garden system work together.

S6

Use the information you have learned about bees and systems to complete this task:

Part A Directions: On the picture above, circle all of the interactions that a bee has within this

garden ecosystem.

There has been much concern about the honey bee population decreasing. Consider how the

system would be affected if all of the bees no longer existed?

Part B Directions: On the picture above, put an “X” on all of the parts of this system that

would be affected if all bees left or died.

Part C Directions: Explain how the parts that you put an “X” on would be affected if the bees

left the area or died. Give at least 2 specific examples to support your explanation.

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Grade 3 Social Studies

SS 1

Voting Rights Introduction: Pretend you were going to watch a movie with a group of friends. Some friends wanted to watch a funny movie. Others wanted to watch a scary monster movie. And a few friends wanted to watch a nature documentary. You and your friends decide to vote on what movie to watch. Explain why this is a fair way to decide what to watch.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Directions: Read the statements in the chart below BEFORE reading the short text titled, “What is Democracy?”. As you read, place a check in the Agree or Disagree box next to the statement, and then write one sentence supporting your position with evidence from the text.

Agree Disagree

When citizens directly participate

in their government, this is called a democracy.

At school we sometimes

participate in voting activities.

The word “democracy” comes

from the English term demonstrate.

All forms of government give

power to the people.

Define democracy in just ONE word _________________________________

Grade 3 Social Studies

SS 2

What is Democracy?

The United States has had the same type of government for more than 200 years. It’s called a “representative democracy.” Among the nations of the world, it is unusual for a system of government to last so long. Most governments are based on a written set of principles, sometimes called a “constitution” or a “charter.” When citizens directly participate by voting, the government is called a “democracy.” This is how we elect the leaders of our government such as the President or a mayor. Sometimes people vote on other types of things. If your classroom has a choice of playing kickball or basketball at recess, you may be asked to vote for which sport you'd rather play. Whichever sport gets the most — the majority — of votes is the sport that gets played at recess. That is democracy in action. The voting that democracy makes possible is expressed most powerfully when citizens vote for the leaders who will represent them in government. The word “democracy" itself means “rule by the people." It comes from the Greek words demos (“people") and kratos (“rule"). A democracy is a form of government in which the people ultimately hold the power. Other types of governments may put power in the hands of one person, such as a king or queen, or a small group of people.

Grade 3 Social Studies

SS 3

Directions: Read the text titled “So You Think You Can Vote?”. Then, complete the blank timeline by recording changes in voting throughout United States history.

So You Think You Can Vote? When colonists came to America from England, they brought many of the English laws and customs with them, including voting laws. As you will read below, this did not mean EVERYONE could vote. In 1787, the United States Constitution was ratified, or approved. At this time, only adult, white, male, land-owners were allowed to vote. This meant that only about 6% of the United States population could vote in the first presidential election! If you were poor, female, African American, or Native American you were not allowed to vote. Over time, most states gradually allowed poor white males to vote by ending land-owning requirements. In 1870 the 15th Amendment was passed, which made it illegal to deny the right to vote to anyone based on race. Still, in many states, only white men over the age of 21 were allowed to vote. How was this possible? People in some states prevented African Americans from voting by making them take unfair tests to prove they could read, or by charging them a tax for voting. Women were not allowed to vote until 1920. That year the 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony fought hard to get women’s voting rights. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act. This law granted Native Americans United States citizenship and, therefore, the right to vote. In 1952, Congressed passed laws that made it easier for Asian-Americans to become U.S. citizens. Once these laws were passed and then signed by the President, Asian-Americans could also vote. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. This was because some southern states were still making things difficult for African American voters. The Voting Rights Act made literacy tests illegal as a requirement to vote and sent troops to the south to help protect African American voters. What if you were an American citizen who could not speak English? In 1975, voting materials began to be printed in languages other than English for the first time.

Grade 3 Social Studies

SS 4

After reading the article, use the timeline to show when changes to voting took place in America.

1975 Voting materials printed in

languages other than English.

1952

1920

1787 The Constitution states that

adult, white, land-owning males can vote.

1965

1924

1870

Grade 3 Social Studies

SS 5

Voting Rights Final Task

Directions: Choose one of the tasks below to show what you have learned about democracy and voting rights in America. Option 1 – Essay As you have learned, democracy is a government where people make decisions, usually by voting. Explain how America has become more democratic in the last one hundred years. Use evidence from the two articles to support your essay. Essays should be 2-3 paragraphs.

Option 2 – Illustrated Timeline Build upon and expand on the timeline on the previous page. Add pictures that describe each change in voting rights over time AND a sentence or two that explains why each change was important for the group(s) it affected. ‘

Option 3 – Comic Strip Create a colorful comic strip that explains the changes in voting rights throughout American history and how new groups of Americans were given the right to vote.