In this unit, students learn about the area of two-dimensional figures. Through participation in the unit, students will explore area as an attribute of a plane figure; how to cover a two-dimensional space using the same-sized unit squares (squares with a side length of one unit); how to count unit squares to determine area; how to use multiplication to determine the area of a rectangular figure; and how to use addition to determine the area of a two-dimensional figure.

Content Framing Question: What is the essential meaning of The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau?

We will continue reading and discussing The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau. Students will review how to find the main idea of a text and notice how words, images, and text features support a main idea. Students will also use what they know about grouping related information to write and illustrate a paragraph about a tool Jacques Cousteau used to explore the sea.

End of the week: Students will review The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau and Ocean Sunlight and identify three important reasons scientists explore the ocean.

• Identify how artists and writers use domain-specific elements to express ideas.

• Explain how scientists observe the ocean carefully to learn more about it.

• Explain why squids and sharks are important to the sea’s ecosystem.

• Explain how people develop technology to solve problems.