Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer Organization
BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK

GRADE FIVE – SCIENCE 

Program – Aquatic Invertebrate Program

Description – In this program students will start in the classroom using magnifying glasses and microscopes to examine aquatic invertebrates found in pond water.  Students will then be allowed to use nets to collect organisms from an aquatic environment and observe their behavior.

Time required –Approximately 2 – 3 hours

Size requirements – Not more then 30 students (2 students per microscope net)

Cost - $1.00 per student and a $50.00 activity fee for the group 

Reservations must be made in advance and are subject to availability 

The following Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Grade 5 Science will be addressed with this program

§112.7. Science, Grade 5

(a)  Introduction.

  1.  (3)  Students learn that adaptations can improve the survival of members of a species, and they explore an organism's niche within an ecosystem. Students continue the study of organisms by exploring a variety of traits that are inherited by offspring from their parents and study examples of learned characteristics.

(b)  Knowledge and skills

  1. (1)  Scientific processes. The student conducts field and laboratory investigations following home and school safety procedures and environmentally appropriate and ethical practices. The student is expected to:
    1. (A)  demonstrate safe practices during field and laboratory investigations;
    2. (B)  make wise choices in the use and conservation of resources and the disposal or recycling of materials.
  3. (4)  Scientific processes. The student knows how to use a variety of tools and methods to conduct science inquiry. The student is expected to:
    1. (A)  collect and analyze information using tools including calculators, microscopes, cameras, sound recorders, computers, hand lenses, rulers, thermometers, compasses, balances, hot plates, meter sticks, timing devices, magnets, collecting nets, and safety goggles; and
    2. (B)  demonstrate that repeated investigations may increase the reliability of results
  5. (6)  Science concepts. The student knows that some change occurs in cycles. The student is expected to:
    1.  (B)  identify the significance of the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles; and
    2. (C)  describe and compare life cycles of plants and animals.
  7. (9)  Science concepts. The student knows that adaptations may increase the survival of members of a species. The student is expected to:
    1. (A)  compare the adaptive characteristics of species that improve their ability to survive and reproduce in an ecosystem;
    2. (B)  analyze and describe adaptive characteristics that result in an organism's unique niche in an ecosystem; and
    3. (C)  predict some adaptive characteristics required for survival and reproduction by an organism in an ecosystem.
  9. (10)  Science concepts. The student knows that likenesses between offspring and parents can be inherited or learned. The student is expected to:
    1. (A)  identify traits that are inherited from parent to offspring in plants and animals; and
    2. (B)  give examples of learned characteristics that result from the influence of the environment.
  11. (11)  Science concepts. The student knows that certain past events affect present and future events. The student is expected to:
    1. (A)  identify and observe actions that require time for changes to be measurable, including growth, erosion, dissolving, weathering, and flow;
    2. (B)  draw conclusions about "what happened before" using data such as from tree-growth rings and sedimentary rock sequences;

    Updated: Sat, Feb 3, 2007

    The purpose of the Volunteer organization is to assist and educate the visitors of Brazos Bend State Park through
    information and interpretive programs and to assist in the care and conservation of the Park.

    Brazos Bend State Park
    21901 FM 762
    Needville, TX 77461
    (979) 553-5101