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- Grade 1 Science Curriculum
Curriculum for Grades K-5
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Science
Grade 1 Course Description
In first grade students will formulate answers to questions such as: “What happens when materials vibrate? What happens when there is no light? What are some ways plants and animals meet their needs so that they can survive and grow? How are parents and their children similar and different? What objects are in the sky and how do they seem to move?” Students are expected to develop understanding of the relationship between sound and vibrating materials as well as between the availability of light and ability to see objects. The idea that light travels from place to place can be understood by students at this level through determining the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. Students are also expected to develop understanding of how plants and animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs as well as how behaviors of parents and offspring help the offspring survive. The understanding is developed that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly the same as, their parents. Students are able to observe, describe, and predict some patterns of the movement of objects in the sky. In the first grade performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas. (From the NGSS)
What’s Up? Sun, Moon, and Stars
(Year long unit)
1-ESS1-1 Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
1-ESS1-2 Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
Can You See It? Can you Hear It? Light and Sound
1-PS4-1 Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
1-PS4-2 Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects in darkness can be seen only when illuminated.
1-PS4-3 Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. (include mirrors)
It’s Alive! A Close Look at Plants and Animals
PA Make observations and describe the different parts of organisms that help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
1-LS1-2 Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
1-LS3-1 Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
EC S4.B.1.1.5 Describe life cycles of different organisms (e.g., moth, grasshopper, frog, seed-producing plant).