Colorado Four-Day School Week: Hands-On Science for Grades 3–5
Colorado Four-Day School Week: Hands-On Science for Grades 3–5
A longer school day in a Colorado four-day district is good news for elementary science, because hands-on lessons need time to set up, observe and clean up. The Elementary Science Curriculum gives Grades 3–5 teachers eleven planned units, from the water cycle and simple circuits to forests, weather and birds, so the long block becomes the science block.
Open the science curriculumFor Grades 3–5 in a Colorado four-day district, the Elementary Science Curriculum ($109.99) bundles eleven units: the water cycle, forest ecosystems, simple electric circuits, weather, meadows and pollination, forces and motion, the skeleton, light and shadow, and three units on birds. It covers life, earth and physical science and is meant for a full year of hands-on science. It is not written for Colorado's science standards and includes no lab materials, so plan both of those yourself.
The resources
Elementary Science Curriculum, Grades 3–5
11 resources in one download: $109.99 instead of $228.62 bought separately.
Start with the first resource; the others are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
Elementary Science Curriculum | Life, Earth & Physical Science | 11 Units | Grades 3–5
Elementary Art & Music Units Bundle | Rhythm, Singing, Instruments, Color Mixing & Printing | 5 Units | Grades 3–5
Complete Learning Books Bundle | 10 Units: Grammar, Math, Science, History, ESL, Art & Music | Grades 3–6
Environmental Science Units Bundle | Climate Change, Climate Data, Ecosystems, Resources & Climate Ethics | 5 Units | Grades 8–12
The real problem
Long days in rural Colorado, and where science fits
Four-day weeks are now common in most Colorado districts, especially rural ones. At a 2026 Colorado Sun panel, leaders from Alamosa, Eagle County and Cañon City talked through how the schedule works for them, and Brighton 27J was an early Denver-metro district to adopt it. Under state rules, a district that wants fewer than 160 school days needs approval from the state commissioner of education, so the four days a week tend to be long ones. In an elementary room, a long day is a mixed blessing. Reading and math usually get the protected morning, and science slides into the afternoon, when energy is lowest. Yet science is the subject that profits most from a longer block. Building a simple circuit, watching shadows move across the playground or sorting feathers by function all take more than 30 minutes once you count setup and cleanup. The real difficulty is planning: a teacher covering every subject on a compressed week rarely has the evening hours to design a sequence of investigations, collect reading texts and write questions. A set of units that is already planned removes most of that work and leaves you with two jobs: gathering materials and teaching.
Why it fits
How the eleven units use a long Colorado afternoon
The units cover life, earth and physical science and lean toward observation and hands-on work, which is what a long block allows.
- Explore Simple Electric Circuits gives a long block enough time to build, test and explain.
- Light, Shadow and Penumbra can move outside for shadow observations without rushing back in.
- Observing and Understanding Weather lets students record and compare conditions across a four-day week.
- Explore a Forest Ecosystem and the meadows unit connect science to the land around rural schools.
- Three bird units on traits, migration and conservation form a longer strand across several weeks.
- Exploring Forces and Motion and The Skeleton in Motion pair well for an active, physical afternoon.
Getting started
A suggested rhythm for a four-day science week
Use this as a rough pattern for one long science block a day, or two or three a week, and adjust it to your schedule.
- Group the units by seasonTeach weather, birds through the year and the forest unit when conditions outside help, and save circuits, forces and the skeleton for winter weeks indoors. The order is up to you.
- Start the block with the new ideaIntroduce the unit's topic and key words while students are still fresh. A long block lets you take their questions properly and check what they already know before anyone touches materials.
- Give the hands-on part real timeRun the activity in the middle of the block. With a longer day, groups can try something, fail, adjust and try again, which is where most of the learning happens.
- Close with recording and talkLeave the last stretch for writing up observations and a short class discussion. Students who finish early can extend their notes or compare results with another group.
- Use the fifth day for nothing newOn a four-day schedule there is no Friday catch-up. Keep the next unit ready to start, and let unfinished observations carry over to the following week.
What to buy
Science alone, or science plus the arts?
The Elementary Science Curriculum ($109.99, parts bought separately $228.62) is the right buy if you teach Grades 3–5 science and want the year planned. If your long afternoons also need art and music, the Elementary Art & Music Units Bundle ($74.99, parts $124.95) adds rhythm, singing, instruments, color mixing and printing. The Complete Learning Books Bundle ($99.90) spreads ten units across several subjects for Grades 3–6. The Environmental Science Units Bundle ($69.99, parts $124.95) is for Grades 8–12, so it suits a middle or high school colleague rather than an elementary class.
Honest limits
Honest limits for Colorado classrooms
This curriculum is not written for Colorado and has no Colorado-specific content or standards codes. Check it against the Colorado science standards and your district's scope and sequence before you commit a year to it. No lab kits or materials are included: for circuits, weather observations or bird watching you gather what you need. You also handle printing and the screen for slides. The licence covers your own class; a grade-level team or school should message Teach Lessons first. If it is not a fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value, not a cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does it follow the Colorado science standards?
It is not aligned to, endorsed by or approved for the Colorado science standards, and it contains no Colorado content. The eleven units cover common elementary topics in life, earth and physical science. Read the unit list next to your grade's standards and your district's sequence, and decide which units fit before you build your year around them.
Do the units come with materials for experiments?
No. The curriculum is a digital download of teaching materials, not a kit. Hands-on units such as simple circuits or light and shadow will need everyday items you collect yourself. Look through each unit before the week you teach it, so the long block is not spent hunting for materials.
Can one unit fill a whole long afternoon?
A long afternoon block suits these units, which are built around hands-on science. How many blocks a unit takes depends on your class and on how deep you go. A sensible approach is to plan one part of a unit per block, let the hands-on work run as long as it is productive, and finish with students writing down what they saw.
Will this work in a combined Grade 3–4 class?
The curriculum is written for Grades 3–5 as one band, which suits a combined class. You teach one unit to the whole group and adjust the depth of questions and written work for younger and older students. The units are not split into separate grade levels, so plan a little extra support for your youngest readers.
How are the files delivered?
As a digital download. A link arrives by email right after purchase, and the files stay in your customer account under Orders. You can print them or use them in a digital classroom. Nothing ships, so you can prepare the first unit on the evening you buy it.
Can our elementary team share it across a four-day campus?
The licence covers your own teaching. For use across a grade-level team or a whole school, send Teach Lessons a short message before buying and explain who would use it and in which grades. The files may not be redistributed, resold or posted publicly, including in an open shared folder for the building.
Give the long block to science
See the full list of eleven units and what each one contains on the product page.
Open the science curriculum