Sonoran Desert

Teacher Tools

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If you would like to subscribe to Chain Reaction, please go to the Subscription page.

How can I use Chain Reaction in my classroom?
The following are suggestions for using Chain Reaction to meet some of the Arizona Department of Education teaching standards for students in grades 4-8. These suggestions are merely a guide and do not reflect all the possible ways to use Chain Reaction.

Science Standard 4: Life Science
4SC-E1. Construct classification systems based on the structure of organisms.

• Read: What is a Species?
• Read: Bugged by Bugs

4SC-E7. Explain and model the interaction and interdependence of living and non-living components within ecosystems, including the adaptation of plants and animals to their environment.

• Read: Sonoran Desert
• Try This: Cool Burrow

Science Standard 2: History and Nature of Science
2SC-E4. Identify characteristics of scientific ways of thinking.
2SC-E5. Explain how scientific theory, hypothesis generation and experimentation are interrelated.

• Read: Following the Fighting Females
• Read: What is a Control Group?
• Read: Tale of Tails
• Read: Speeding Tortoises
• Read: Going Buggin’
• Read: Phoenix: A City for the Birds

Science Standard 5: Physical Science
5SC-E3. Show that energy exists in many forms and can be transferred in many ways.

• Read: Hot Enough for You?
• Try This: Sweat Effect

Mathematics Standard 2: Data Analysis and Probability

• Read: Numbers Tell the Story…Sometimes

Need more?
Follow the links in the Surf section for more websites on deserts and Arizona.
In the Try This section, you will also find links to more experiments at other websites.

For more information on teaching standards, visit the following websites:

• Arizona Department of Education Teaching Standards
• National Science Education Standards