2024-2025

Ms. Fraser

School email: Afraser6@schools.nyc.gov

Amplify Science Goals

It’s a phenomenon-based STEM curriculum aligned with NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards.

• Students investigate phenomenon by engaging in hands on activities.
• Students apply their knowledge of the scientific process to do the following: ask questions, make observations, develop a hypothesis, conduct experiments, draw conclusions, and share their findings.
• Students engage in the engineering and design process by asking questions, planning and creating model prototypes.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I am thrilled to have your scholar in STEM class this year! Our STEM learning experiences will integrate hands-on investigations and digital tools to empower students to think, read, and write like scientists. Students will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through active group participation. To be adequately prepared for this class, students are required to obtain the following items:

Grades 1-5

• One folder
• One marble notebook
• Two sharpened pencils
• School iPad

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to message me in ClassDojo. Together we can help your child have a happy successful school year.

Best regards,

Ms. Fraser
STEM Teacher
School Email: Afraser6@schools.nyc.gov

Amplify Science Curriculum

Pre-K: Life Cycles (Unit 1)

• Students will assume the role of scientists by examining plant life cycles.

Kindergarten: The Needs of Plants and Animals (Unit 1)

• Students will examine the problem of a declining monarch butterfly population.

Grade 1: Animal and Plant Defenses (Unit 1)

• Students take on the role of aquarium scientists advising an aquarium director by helping answer young visitors’ questions about Spruce the Sea Turtle, who will soon be released back into the ocean.

Grade 2: Plant and Animal Relationships (Unit 1)

• Students assume the role of plant scientists reporting to the lead scientist at the Bengal Tiger Reserve, who has tasked students with explaining the unit's anchor phenomenon of why no new chalta trees are growing there.

Grade 3: Balancing Forces (Unit 1)

• In the Balancing Forces unit, students explore forces that are acting on and around them every day, often unseen and misunderstood

Grade 4: Energy Conversions (Unit 1)

In the Energy Conversions unit, students become systems engineers for Ergstown, a fictional town that experiences frequent blackouts, the anchor phenomenon for the unit. Throughout the unit, they explore reasons why an electrical system may fail.

Grade 5: Patterns of Earth and Sky (Unit 1)

Students use models to figure out where the stars are in space in relation to Earth and why the only star, we see in daytime is the sun, while we see other stars at night, but not the sun.