Community Resource Curriculum Development: Grades 5-6.

This manual was developed by the Community Resource Curriculum Development Project (CRCDP), a cooperative project to develop multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural science/social sciences teaching units based upon the Illinois State Goals for Learning and Chicago public school outcomes for a seamless fifth and sixth grade cluster. This manual contains six teaching units that include several experience-based activities using a constructivist teaching model and incorporating local resources. In these units, students approach each activity using skills gained from their own life experiences. Scientific principles and concepts are introduced following active exploration with hands-on models and investigations. Lessons are linked to information available in the local area and teachers are encouraged to utilize resources in their neighborhood communities whenever possible. The units include: (1) "Atoms and Atomic Structure"; (2) "Without Feathers: Discovering the Forces Behind Human Flight"; (3) "I Spy... Crystals"; (4) "Physics in the 5th Grade? Yes!"; (5) "Sound"; and (6) "Up Down and Around in Chicago: Weather in the Windy City." (JRH)