Site Visits - Elementary Science

How can site visits fit in with the MEAP and Science Curriculum?

That depends on the activities, exhibits, programs and sites you see or do at Mackinac State Historic Parks. However, certain sites tend to lean toward certain objectives. These objectives can be reached at the sites listed below with the teacher’s/instructor’s help and guidance. Good luck in reaching your goals and objectives!

CM - Colonial Michilimackinac
FM - Fort Mackinac
HMC - Historic Mill Creek
MISP - Mackinac Island State Park

Science Standards & Benchmarks

ELEMENTARY

SITE	CONSTRUCT NEW SCIENTIFIC AND PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
	Standard I.1: Constructing New Scientific Knowledge
HMC, MISP	I.1.E.1 Generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation. (Key concepts: See Using Scientific Knowledge. Real-world contexts: See Using Scientific Knowledge.)
HMC, MISP	I.1.E.5 Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving. (Key concepts: Sources of information, such as reference books, trade book, periodicals.. Real-world contexts: Seeking help from peers, adults, libraries, other resources.)
	REFLECT ON THE NATURE, ADEQUACY AND CONNECTIONS ACROSS SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
	Standard II.1: Reflecting on Scientific Knowledge
HMC, MISP	II.1.E.4 Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world. (Key concepts: Appreciation of the balance of nature and the effects organisms have on each other, including the effects humans have on the natural world).
	Standard II.2: Organization of Living Things
HMC, MISP	II.2.E.2 Compare and classify familiar organisms on the basis of observable physical characteristics. (Key concepts: Plant and animal parts – backbone, skin, shell, limbs, roots, leaves, stems, flowers. Real world context: Animals that look similar – snakes, worms, millipedes; flowering and nonflowering plants; pine tree, oak tree, rose, algae.)
	Standard II.4: Evolution
HMC, MISP	II.4.E.2 Explain how physical and/or behavioral characteristics of organisms help them to survive in their environments. (Key concepts: Characteristics – adaptation, fitness, instinct, learning, habit. Traits and their adaptive values – sharp teeth or claws for catching and killing prey, color for camouflage. Real world context: Common vertebrate adaptations, such as white polar bears, sharp claws and sharp canines for predators, changing colors of chameleon; behaviors, such as migration, communication of danger, adaptation to changes in the environment.)
	USE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE FROM THE LIFE SCIENCES IN REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS
	Standard III.5 Ecosystems
HMC, MISP	III.5.E.1 Identify familiar organisms as part of a food chain or food web and describe their feeding relationships within the web. (Key concepts: Producer, consumer, predator, prey, decomposer, habitat. Real-world context: Food chains and food webs involving organisms, such as rabbits, birds, snakes, grasshoppers, plants.)
HMC, MISP	III.5.E.2 Explain common patterns of interdependence and interrelationships of living things. (Key concepts: Producer, consumer, predator, prey, decomposer, habitat. Real-world context: Relationships among plants and animals in an ecosystem-symbiotic relationships, such as insects and flowering plants, birds eating fruit and spreading seeds; parasitic relationships, such as human and mosquitoes, trees and mistletoe.)
HMC, MISP	III.5.E.3 Describe the basic requirements for all living things to maintain their existence. (Key concepts: Needs of life-food, habitat, water, shelter, air, light, minerals. Real-world contexts: Selected ecosystems, such as an aquarium, rotting log, terrarium, backyard, local pond or wetland, wood lot.)
HMC, MISP	III.5.E.5 Describe positive and negative effects of humans on the environment. (Key concepts: Human effects on the environment-garbage, habitat destruction, land management, resource management. Real-world contexts: Household wastes, school wastes, waste water treatment, habitat destruction due to community growth, reforestation projects, establishing parks or other green places.)
	USE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE FROM THE EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCES IN REAL-WORLD CONTEXTS
	Standard V.2: Hydrosphere
HMC, MISP	V.2.E.2 Trace the path that rain water follows after it falls. (Key concepts: Precipitation-rain, clouds, fog, run-off. Flow-downhill, to ocean, underground. Bodies of water-streams, rivers, lakes, oceans. Real-world contexts: Examples of water flowing locally, including gutters, drains, steams, wetlands.
HMC, MISP	V.2.E.3 Identify sources of drinking water. (Key concepts: Water sources-wells, springs, Great Lakes, rivers. Real-world contexts: Examples of local sources of drinking water, including wells, rivers, lakes.)
HMC, MISP	V.2.E.4 Describe uses of water. (Key concepts: Domestic uses-drinking, cleaning, food preparation. Public uses-generate electricity, recreation, irrigation, transportation. Real-world contexts: Examples of local occasions when water is used, including car wash, swimming pools, fire hydrants, drinking, food preparation, cleaning.)