Scope and Sequence for Our Kindergarten Science Lessons

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.5A* (R) observe and record properties of objects, including bigger or smaller, heavier or lighter, shape, color, and texture

K.5B* (S) observe, record, and discuss how materials can be changed by heating or cooling

Process Standards: K.2B, K.4A, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E, K.2C

Students will:

• Observe that properties and characteristics identify, describe, and classify everything around us
• Know that properties of objects change when they are heated and cooled

Vocabulary:

• Bigger and Smaller
• Change
• Color
• Cool
• Freeze
• Heat
• Lighter and Heavier
• Melt
• Property
• Shape
• Size
• Texture

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Give students different objects (solids and liquids) and have them describe properties
• Use a balloon to teach about gas
• Collect different items to glue on posters for shape, color, and texture
• Play “I Spy” using certain properties of objects around the room
• Sort objects by their properties
• Sink or Float objects in water
• Use water, ice cubes, popcorn, or make pancakes to show heat or cool changes materials
• Have students draw picture of how heat or cool changes something

STEM Connections:

• Books: Matter by Darlene Stille; What is Matter? by Don L. Curry; Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Ginger Garrett; What is the world made of?: all about solids, liquids, and gases by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
• Creativity: Ice painting activity! See the paint (or water and food coloring) go from liquid to solid, then solid to liquid as it melts as they paint.

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.6A* (R) use the senses to explore different forms of energy such as light, thermal, and sound

Process Standards: K.2B, K.4A, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E

Students will:
Understand that they can conduct investigations using their senses to explore different forms of energy

Vocabulary:

• Energy
• Hear
• Light
• Senses
• Sight
• Sound
• Thermal
• Touch

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Let students explore with a flashlight and prisms to find “rainbows” and talk about how light can produce color.
• Give students a Ziploc bag with an ice cube and let them discover that the heat from their hand melts the ice. Have them run their hands together.
• Item drop activity - use various objects in bags and see if students can tell what it using the sound it made.
• Make connections to their natural world, go outside and sit down with eyes closed, then record sounds. Compare sounds from outside to the sounds heard inside.

STEM Connections:

• Critical Thinking: Have students record all the ways that light, heat, or sound energy is used in their mom or dad’s job each day
• Creativity: Students can create their own musical instruments and different sounds

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.6B* (S) explore interactions between magnets and various materials

K.6C (S) observe and describe the location of an object in relation to another such as above, below, behind, in front of, and beside

K.6D (S) observe and describe the ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, zigzag, up and down, back and forth, round and round, and fast and slow

Process Standards: K.2B, K.4A, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E

Students will:

• Understand that magnets interact differently with different types of materials
• Explore ways that the position of objects changes in relation to other objects, and objects move in many ways

Vocabulary:

• Attract
• Magnet
• Materials
• Pull
• Above
• Behind
• Below
• Beside
• In Front Of
• Location
• Position
• Relation
• Back and Forth
• Fast and Slow
• Motion (Move)
• Round and Round
• Straight Line
• Up and Down
• Zigzag

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Go on a magnetic scavenger hunt in the classroom.
• Give students various materials and let them explore how magnets interact with them. Have them sort the magnetic and non-magnetic materials.
• Using location words, play a game of “I Spy” to find an identified object.
• Have students draw in their science journals pictures of things above, below, etc. and write about it.
• Give students objects (toy car, ball, block of wood, marble, and more) and have them explore and record the ways that they can make these objects move.
• Use hand motions to identify which of the ways you would move. (ex. walking down the street, going up stairs, running, and more)
• Use Vernier Motion Detector to let a teacher or student walk and have class discuss or label where it was a straight line, zig-zag, etc.

STEM Connections:

• Books: What Makes a Magnet? Branley, Franklyn; Magnetism: A Question and Answer Book. Richardson, A.; What Magnets Can Do. Fowler, Allan; Magnets Pulling Together, Pushing Apart. Rosinsky, Natalie
• Collaboration and Critical Thinking: with their peers, have students design their own investigation using a stack of notecards and magnets. Have them make a prediction.

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.8C* (R) observe, describe, and illustrate objects in the sky such as the clouds, moon, and stars, including the Sun

K.8A* (S) observe and describe weather changes from day to day and over seasons

K.8B* (S) identify events that have repeating patterns, including seasons of the year and day and night

Process Standards: K.2A, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E, K.3B

Students will:

• Observe, describe, and illustrate objects found in the sky including clouds and Sun
• Understand that weather conditions change throughout the day, from day to day, and from season to season.

Vocabulary:

• Seasons (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring)
• Snowy
• Sunny
• Weather
• Windy
• Calm
• Clear
• Cloudy
• Day/Night
• Pattern
• Rainy
• Relative Temperature (Cool, Cold, Warm, Hot)

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Have students draw a picture of all the things they find in the sky during the day, and at night.
• Show students pictures of different types of clothing and ask them why we have so many different types? Do a KWL on what they know about weather.
• Watch this time lapse video. What do you notice about the Sun? Do you see a pattern? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQM6Q9Axyx0

STEM Connections:
Books: The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons; Four Seasons Make a Year by Anne Rockwell

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.8C* (R) observe, describe, and illustrate objects in the sky such as the clouds, Moon, and stars, including the Sun

K.8B* (S) identify events that have repeating patterns, including seasons of the year and day and night

Process Standards: K.2A, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E, K.3B

Students will:

• Observe, describe, and illustrate objects found in the sky including stars and Moon
• Understand that the seasons, day, and night are patterns repeated in our natural world

Vocabulary:

• Cloud
• Moon
• Object
• Sky
• Stars
• Sun

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Make a cloud in a bottle, observe, describe, and illustrate what they see.
• Students can be weather watchers. Observe the weather each day and graph on a chart. Begin to notice and talk about patterns.

STEM Connections:
Creativity: Students take a field trip outside and draw the clouds they see in the sky

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.7A (R) observe, describe, and sort rocks by size, shape, color, and texture

K.7B (S) observe and describe physical properties of natural sources of water, including color and clarity

K.7C (S) give examples of ways rocks, soil, and water are useful

Process Standards: K.1B, K.2B, K.4A, K.2D, K.2E, K.3A

Students will:

• Explore and compare different materials found on our Earth
• Understand that water has the properties that relate to its environment and affects its color and clarity
• Explain how Earth’s materials are used to grow food and build many things.

Vocabulary:

• Clarity
• Color
• Lake
• Natural Source
• Ocean
• Physical Property
• Pond
• River
• Rock
• Shape
• Size
• Soil
• Stream
• Texture
• Useful
• Water

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Give students a hand lens and several rocks. Have them observe, draw in their journal, and describe their shape, size, color, and texture.
• What are rocks used for? Brainstorm, then watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjCEWkCiZ9M

STEM Connections:
Critical Thinking: Talk about the jobs where people use rocks (truck drivers, construction workers, and more)

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.9A (S) differentiate between living and nonliving things based upon whether they have basic needs and produce offspring

Process Standards: K.2A, K.2B, K.2D, K.2E

Students will:

• Explain the difference in living and nonliving things
• Identify the basic needs of all living things including food, water, and shelter

Vocabulary:

• Air
• Basic Needs of Animals
• Basic Needs of Plants
• Food
• Living
• Living Organism
• Nonliving
• Offspring
• Shelter
• Water

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

Have students sort cards with living and nonliving things on them. Why did they put them into the groups they did? Talk about the differences between them.

STEM Connections:
Books: Are You Living? A Song About Living and Nonliving Things by Laura Purdie Salas; What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.9B* (R) examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants

K.10B* (R) identify basic parts of plants and animals

K.10A* (S) sort plants and animals into groups based on physical characteristics such as color, size, body covering, or leaf shape

K.10C* (S) identify ways that young plants resemble the parent plant

K.10D* (S) observe changes that are part of a simple life cycle of a plant: seed, seedling, plant, flower, and fruit

Process Standards: K.2A, K.2B, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E, K.3B

Students will:

• Investigate the needs that all plants must have to continue to live including air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space
• Identify basic parts of plants and sort plants into groups based on characteristics such as color, size, body covering, or leaf shape and know this helps them survive in their environment
• Understand that young plants and parent plants have similar characteristics
• Understand that all plants have a life cycle that follows a pattern

Vocabulary:

• Basic Parts of Plants (Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower)
• Characteristic
• Leaf Shape
• Life Cycle
• Nutrients
• Parent
• Plant
• Plant’s Life Cycle (Seed, Seedling, Plant, Flower, Fruit)
• Resemble
• Space
• Structure
• Sunlight
• Survive
• Young

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Create a research journal to study about plants. Put white carnations in different cups of water with various food coloring. Have students predict what they think will happen.
• Draw a picture of a flower in their journal and label each part (roots, leaves, stem, flower).
• Study big pumpkins and baby pumpkins. Talk about how they look the same and different.
• Put a lima bean in a baggie with a wet paper towel. Observe and record what they see as it grows.

STEM Connections:
Critical Thinking: Identify plants that you can eat and what part of the plant that it is.

TEKS:

(P) = Processing Standard
(R) = Readiness Standard
(S) = Supporting Standard
* = Aligned with STAAR Assessed Curriculum at Grade 5

K.9B* (R) examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants

K.10B* (R) identify basic parts of plants and animals

K.10A* (S) sort plants and animals into groups based on physical characteristics such as color, size, body covering, or leaf shape

Process Standards: K.2A, K.2B, K.4B, K.2D, K.2E, K.3B

Students will:

• Investigate the needs that all animals must have to continue to live including food, water, and shelter
• Identify characteristics of animals and sort plants into groups based on color, size, body covering, or leaf shape and know these help them survive in their environment

Vocabulary:

• Animal
• Basic Parts of Animals (Limb, Eye, Head, Tail, Fin, Wing, Mouth, and More)
• Body Covering (Fur, Feathers, Scales, Hair, and More)
• Characteristic
• Survive

Activity Ideas:
STEM Connections are based on the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking), integration of content between disciplines, and connections to real-world.

• Find animals that are can be sorted by the colors found in a rainbow (red ladybug, green parrot, and more)
• Have students draw their favorite animal. Talk about the parts of these animals and what they are used for (legs, nose/beak, and more).
• Discuss what animals need to survive.

STEM Connections:
Make a pretend zoo in your classroom using pictures and stuffed animals to represent all the animals found in a zoo. Go on a virtual field trip! https://www.weareteachers.com/virtual-field-trip-to-the-san-diego-zoo/