Grades 4-6 Module 3: The Living World – Discovery Math and Science

About Course

Available from January 15, 2027:

Module 3: The Living World

What makes something alive? How do plants, animals, ecosystems, and the human body work and depend on one another?

In this five-week science module, students explore the remarkable diversity of life, from microscopic cells to complex ecosystems. They learn how living things are classified, how plants grow and reproduce, and how animals develop and adapt for survival. They then investigate habitats, food webs, energy flow, and relationships between organisms before examining the major systems of the human body and how they work together.

The emphasis is not on memorizing definitions. Students learn to observe carefully, test ideas with evidence, explain what they see, and recognize when more than one process may be involved.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for homeschool students in Grades 4-6.

No previous science course is required. Core explanations are accessible to younger students, while optional Going Further readings and research questions give older or more advanced learners additional depth.

How the course works

The module contains 15 classes which can be taken at any pace; three classes per week yield a well paced five week course.

Each class includes:

a short instructor video;
a complete handout with structured reading-and-work lesson;
questions and journal activities;
a clear Words to Know glossary;
an optional Going Further reading;
opportunities to practise observation, measurement, explanation, and fair testing.

Most classes take approximately 30-35 minutes. Students complete hands-on experiments and investigation each week, using commonly accessible materials (no special science kits are required).

Founding Family pricing:

The discounted rate applies for registrations within 2 weeks of the enrolment opening date.

Certificates

Every student who completes the module receives a certificate of completion.

Students who complete this module together with any two additional Stream 1 science modules will also receive a certificate recognizing the completion of a full academic year of science study.

Course Content

Living Things and the Diversity of Life
The signs that separate living things from non-living ones, cells as the common thread, and hard cases such as viruses. Grouping organisms by observable features, and building and using a dichotomous key. The unseen living world revealed by the microscope, and why the variety of life matters.

Class 1

Plants: Structure, Growth, and Reproduction
Roots, stems, and leaves, and the job each part performs for the plant. Photosynthesis, chlorophyll and the colour of life, and why nearly every food chain begins with a plant. Germination and growth, flowers as reproductive structures, and the many ways seeds are dispersed.

Animals: Form, Function, and Survival
How an animal's body is shaped by what it needs to do, and the main animal body plans. Structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations, and the biomimicry that engineers borrow from them. Growth and development, including gradual growth and complete metamorphosis.

Habitats, Ecosystems, and Interdependence
The nested levels from organism to population, community, and ecosystem, and the difference between a habitat and a niche. Producers, consumers, and decomposers; food chains and food webs; and how energy flows one way while matter cycles round. Competition, predation, symbiosis, and the human place within the web.

The Human Body and Its Systems
The major body systems and what each one delivers, followed by digestion in detail. The heart as a pump and the lungs as a bellows, with students measuring their own pulse and breathing rates. The skeleton and muscles working as levers, the nervous system as sense and command, and health choices made on evidence.

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