k science physical setting - home page - mahopac … · web viewphysical setting standard 4:...

Science Regional Prioritized Curriculum

KindergartenPhysical Setting

Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Key Idea 1: The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.Background: The universe is made up of many different objects. Students should observe and describe the motions of the Sun, moon, and stars. The movement of these objects through space can be traced and measured over various time segments.

By keeping daily records, students will learn to identify sequences of changes and look for patterns; this skill will be useful throughout their study of the natural world. Younger students should draw what they see. Older students should be encouraged to keep journals and use instruments to measure and record their observations.

Note: Students at this age are concrete thinkers. Drawing models that show size and position and discussing phenomena based on gravity are too abstract and may lead to misconceptions.

Kindergarten Vocabulary/ Breakfast Day Year Spring Lunch Night Seasons Autumn Dinner Hour Fall Supper Month Winter

Guiding Questions: What changes occur during the seasons?What are the daytime activities?What are nighttime activities?

Kindergarten Physical Setting, Summer 2000 1

Standard 4: Key Idea 1: Performance Indicator 1.1: Describe patterns of daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in their environment.Essential Knowledge/Skills

(Major Understandings)Classroom Ideas Assessment Ideas Time/Notes

1.1a Natural cycles and patterns include:- Earth spinning around once every 24 hrs.

(rotation), resulting in day and night- Earth moving in path around the Sun (revolutions)

resulting in 1 Earth year-The length of daylight & darkness varying with season

-Weather changing from day to day & through seasons

- Appearance of Moon changing as it moves in path around Earth to complete a single cycle

(only underlined portion introduced at this level)

Make mobiles with one picture for each season and the names of each season (i.e. Fall… I like to ______ in the fall.) Write and draw a picture.

Use globe and flashlight for the sun show how day would be on one side of Earth and night will be on the other. Use for Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

Keep a weather chart/graph in circle time area.

FALL Collect leaves, sort, discuss differences, and

make leaf rubbings, leaf people or pictures. Discuss leaves falling as a sign of fall.

Collect different sized small pumpkins-compare color, size, and shape; predict and sort by size and weight; weigh with standard and non-standard measures; measure circumference with string and compare. Discuss harvesting pumpkins as a sign of fall. What season do we plant seeds? When do they grow?

Have each student bring in an apple. Have them study their apple closely. Place all of them in a row on the chalkboard tray and have each child tell about his/her apple and then try to pick it out. (place small numbers on the bottom of each apple beforehand)-Graph your favorite kind of apple treat-Weigh and measure apples-Make applesauce

Books:- Why do Leaves Change Color by Betsy

Maestro- Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert- Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel - Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons- From Seed to Jack-O’-Lantern by H. Johnson- Squirrels by Brian Wildsmith,- The Seasons by Gail Gibbons

Teacher observations

Student responses

Journal entries

Student demonstrations

Checklists/rubrics

Ex. During circle time, assess students’ understanding of graphs and their ability to interpret data on graphs.



(Major Understandings)Classroom Ideas Assessment Ideas Time?Notes

1.1a con’t. WINTER Catch snowflakes on a piece of black paper. Look

at them under magnifying glasses. Discuss findings

Plan a Snow Day with outside activities like sledding, making snow creatures, paint names or pictures on

the snow with spray bottles filled with colored water.

Books:- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats- Has Winter Come ? By Wendy Watson- Some Snow Said Hello by Russell Hoban- The Jacket I Wear in the Snow - Caps, Hats, Socks and Mittens by Louise

BordenSPRING

Make pussy willows by dipping a finger in white paint for the flower and draw the stems with brown paint or crayon.

Plan a Spring Fling Day by making and/or flying kites, blow bubbles, play a game

Nature Walk- search for signs of spring Books:

- First Comes Spring by Anne Rockwell- The Boy Who Didn’t Believe in Spring by E.

Dutton- Three Friends Find Spring by Judy Delton- First Day of Spring by Sharon Gordon- Let’s Find Out About Spring by Martha and

Charles Shapp- Hello Dandelions! by Barbara Williams


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. In journals, students draw or write signs of spring they observed.




1.1a con’t. SUMMER Catch , study and compare different insects Insects and Other Mini-beasts CIS Kit 41313 Summer Fun Day- with helpers trace or measure

you shadow in different locations, play water balloon toss, make a sand castle, design a sun hat or sunglasses

In journals, students illustrate themselves in the different seasons.

Books:- Summer by Leone Adelson- Summer by Richard Allington- The Sun’s Day by Mordicai Gerstein- One Light, One Sun by Raffi- Sunflower ! by Martha McKeen Welch- The Summer Snowman by Gene Zion- Summer Is… by Charlotte Zolotow


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Assess students’ illustrations in journals for understanding of the seasons and appropriate attire.




1.1b Humans organize time into units based on natural motions of Earth- second, minute, hour- week, month

(excludes discussion of natural motions of earth - covered in first grade)

Daily calendar activities, including month, day, year from Mathematics Their Way Summary Newsletter, Opening chapter, pp. 4.1-4.14 .

Books:-Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle -Chicken Soup with Rice by M. Sendak- Just Go to Bed by M. Mayer-A Busy Year by Leo Leonni-Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Class murals depicting things we do in the daytime and things we do at night

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner- Cut out or draw pictures of appropriate foods for each meal on a paper plate. Display around the room.

Review class events at the end of each month and make a monthly timeline. Ask studen’s about events and things that happened before or after certain dates.

In journals, students record event(s) weekly on a timeline.

Songs:- “ There are 7 Days in a Week” – (days)- “Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums” – (months)

Show how long a minute is, then have them estimate a minute by standing when they think a minute is up

Keep a picture and clock journal for a day


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Listen to students’ responses to questions about the timeline to assess their understanding of the passage of time.


Key Idea 2: Many of the phenomena that we observe on Earth involve interactions among components of air, water, and land on Earth.


Background: The water cycle, weather, erosion, deposition, and extreme natural events involve interactions among air, water, and land. Students should observe and describe naturally occurring changes in their world involving these phenomena. They can also investigate these phenomena in classroom experiments.

Young students should be engaged in observation of their immediate surroundings with emphasis on recognizing change around them. As students mature, they can begin to recognize cycles and identify the processes and natural events that are causing the changes they are observing.

Kindergarten Vocabulary/ Rainy Cloudy Sunny Windy Temperature Weather Snowy Heat Hot Cold Degrees

Guiding Questions: What words describe today’s weather?How does the weather effect us?Why do we check the weather each day?


Standard 4: Key Idea 2: Performance Indicator 2.1: Describe the relationships among air, water, and land on Earth.Essential Knowledge/Skills

(Major Understandings)Classroom Ideas Assessment Ideas Time/notes

2.1a Weather is the condition of the outside air at a particular time.

2.1b Weather can be described and measured by:-temperature -wind speed and direction-form and amount of precipitation-general sky conditions (cloudy, sunny, partly

cloudy)

(only underlined sections introduced at this level)

Mathematics Their Way Summary Newsletter calendar activities for temperature and weather graphs – see Opening chapter, pp. 4.1-4.14 .

Compare and contrast conditions inside and outside.

Dress for the weather using dress-up clothes. Guest speaker - meteorologist from local TV or

radio stations

Read Feel the Wind and then make pinwheels and windsocks. Chart direction of wind daily.

Read The Cloud Book by Tomie DePoala and then observe clouds, draw pictures and write stories

After it rains — measure the change in the circumference of a puddle with yarn and compare as day goes on; collect and measure rainfall

Match today’s weather with word and/or picture Make a weather dial with a pointer for home Invite in a guest speaker—weatherman, farmer Weather Catalog Kit BOCES Books:

- Froggy Gets Dressed by J. London- It looked Like Spilt Milk by C. Shaw- The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by S. Neitzel- The Mitten by J. Brett- The Snowy Day by E. Jack


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. In journals, students draw pictures of the clouds and write or dictate descriptions or stories.


Standard 4: Key Idea 2: Performance Indicator 2.1: Describe the relationships among air, water, and land on Earth.Essential Knowledge/Skills


2.1b Con’t. Introduce the thermometer and how to read one. Have an enlarged classroom thermometer made from cardboard and red ribbon.

Assign a classroom meteorologist daily. Graph/chart daily weather conditions.

Compare thermometer in cup of cold water to one in a cup of hot water.

Bring pictures of various kinds of clouds to group time, and if it’s a nice day, sit outdoors so children can see real clouds during this “chat” session. A cloud is a group of tiny drops of water or ice. Clouds are carried through the sky by the air. They tell us if we’ll have good weather or a storm. Let children look at the differences in the cloud pictures you brought to group time. Which kind of cloud do you like best? Why? What kind of clouds do you see in the sky today?

Introduce the three basic types of clouds. Children love saying new words:Cumulus: White and fluffy clouds seen on nice days. (art project - glue large fluffy cotton balls on paper, sides touching).Cirrus: Skinny clouds often seen before it rains or snows. They hang high in the sky and are made of ice crystals. (art project - glue cotton balls on paper leaving space around each one. When they’re dry, pull off most of the cotton, resulting in thin wispy clouds).Stratus: Layers of clouds that hang low and look like a gray blanket. People might say it’s hazy out. If these clouds rest on the ground, people call it “fog”. (art project - rub a piece of light blue paper with the side of a piece of gray chalk, then come back and place a few dark streaks of gray through the rubbed layers).


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics


Standard 4: Key Idea 2: Performance Indicator 2.1: Describe the relationships among air, water, and land on earth.Essential Knowledge/Skills


2.1c Water is recycled by natural processes on Earth.- Evaporation: changing of water(liquid) into

water vapor(gas)- Condensation: changing of water vapor(gas)

into water(liquid)- Precipitation: rain, sleet, snow - Runoff: water flowing on Earth’s surface- Groundwater: water that moves downward

into the ground

(only underlined sections introduced at this level)

Students write the word “evaporation” on chalkboard with wet paintbrush. What happens?

Condensation. Kids breathe on window and write the word condensation. Explain.

Put out a small container to collect rain. Bring inside and chart how long it takes for the rainwater to evaporate.

In journals, students estimate how long it will take the rainwater to evaporate. Ask students to draw a picture of where they think the water goes.


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Assess journals for students’ understanding of time and evaporation.

2.1e Extreme natural events (floods, fires, earthquakes, etc.) may have positive or negative impacts on living things.

Share and explore available resources on volcanoes.

Make volcanoes with toilet paper tubes, clay, baking soda, and red food coloring vinegar.


Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.Key Idea 3: Matter is made up of particles whose properties determine the observable of matter and its reactivity.Background: Students should describe, categorize, and measure observable properties of matter and objects. Students’ initial efforts in performing these processes may yield simple descriptions and sketches, which may lead to increasingly more detailed drawings and richer verbal descriptions. Things can be done to materials to change their properties, but not all materials respond in the same way to what is done to them.

Younger students emphasize physical properties while older students will recognize chemical changes. Appropriate tools can aid students in their effort.

Note: At this level, students should observe and describe physical properties of matter.

Kindergarten Vocabulary / Space Matter Mass Length Volume Measurement Crushing Hardness Luster Senses Ruler Balance Thermometer Tearing

Sort Odor Colors Texture Shape Hand Lenses Physical Changes

Guiding Questions: What ways can we measure things?How do we measure?Why do we measure?What changes occur when different materials are torn, crushed, or folded?What properties make things similar and different?

Standard 4: Key Idea 3: Performance Indicator 3.1: Observe and describe properties of materials using appropriate tools.Essential Knowledge/Skills


3.1c Objects have properties (length, width, volume, size, shape, mass or weight, temperature,

ESP-Measurement Kit for standard measurement supplies



Standard 4: Key Idea 3: Performance Indicator 3.1: Observe and describe properties of materials using appropriate tools.texture, reflectiveness) that can be observed and measured. Two objects cannot occupy the same place at the same time.

(Concept of reflectivness is not introduced at this level.)

Estimation activities related to the season (i.e.-use different sized containers and fill with candy corn, jelly beans, M & Ms)

Measure (weight, circumference, etc.) seasonal items and compare (apples, pumpkins, leaves, teddy bears)

Measure Hunt—find things around the building or classroom that are specified lengths or same length as hand, foot, etc.

Classify and sort many items throughout the year

Mathematics Their Way Summary Newsletter measurement activities pp. 7.1 - 7.20

www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/senses/ overview.html

Put together a tray of common substances for students to try to identify by smell, taste and touch, i.e. (cinnamon, sugar, salt, etc.)

Experiment with balance scales to observe differences in objects by: weight, length, volume, temperature, and texture.

Videos:- Arthur’s Eyes BOCES VHS #20326- Listen to your Ears BOCES VHS #25563

Books: - My Five Senses by Aliki- About Four Seasons and Five Senses by

Radlauer- Arthur’s Eyes by M. Brown- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

By Eric Carle- Pigs Say Oink by M. Alexander- Polar Bear, Polar, What Do You Hear? By E.

Carle- My Hands by Aliki- Arthur’s Nose by M. Brown

Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Ask students to demonstrate how they measured a classroom object using nonstandard units (i.e. unifix cubes or paper clips or inch cubes, etc). Do they line up the ends correctly?

Standard 4: Key Idea 3: Performance Indicator 3.1: observe and describe properties of materials using appropriate tools.Essential Knowledge/Skills


3.1d Measurements can be made with standard and nonstandard units.

Measure objects with paper clips, erasers, yarn, cubes etc. and then measure with rulers (use both metric and English).

Compare weights of common objects found in the home and in the classroom on balance


Student responses

Journal entriesKindergarten Physical Setting, Summer 2000 11

http://www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/senses/overview.html

http://www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/senses/overview.html

Standard 4: Key Idea 3: Performance Indicator 3.1: observe and describe properties of materials using appropriate tools.scales and compare

Mathematics Their Way Summary Newsletter measurement activities pp. 7.1-7.20

In small groups, have students brainstorm all the possible uses for rulers, thermometers, balances, and hand lenses.

In journals, students record the length of classroom objects using nonstandard units.

In journals, illustrate heavy and light things they found in their house.


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Observe students as they measure items in the classroom.

Ex. Assess journal entries for students’ understanding of heavy, light, etc.


Standard 4: Key Idea 3: Performance Indicator 3.2: Describe chemical and physical changes, including changes in states of matter.Essential Knowledge/Skills


3.2a Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, gas.-Solids have a definite shape and volume- Liquids do not have a definite shape but

have a definite volume- Gases do not hold their shape or volume

(Introduction only)

Ice cubes in hot pot to illustrate the 3 stages - solid, liquid, etc.

Make lemonade from lemon ice cubes and sugar Set up situations for students to observe: ice

cubes in hand, water in freezer, pot of water on heater, etc.


Student responses

Journal entries

Student responses

Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Students demonstrate how they can physically change common classroom objects.

3.2b Temperature can affect the state of matter of a substance.

Students name foods that are frozen, hot, or neither. Chart responses. Check temperature of foods and eat.

3.2c Changes in the properties or materials of objects can be observed and described.

Place ice, room temperature and hot water in 3 containers. Place a thermometer in each container and observe. Record results.

Make applesauce, observe changes in materials used.

Experiment with clay – does changing the shape change the weight?

Brainstorm ways to physically change common objects found in the classroom and on the playground, i.e. cut or color paper, paint rocks, etc.



Key Idea 5: Energy and matter interact through forces that result in changes of motionBackground: Students’ understanding of the world they live may begin when they can describe relative positions between objects observable in their world. Exploring the observable effects of gravity and of magnetism may help children develop an understanding of the reason foe the direction of an object’s motion. Manipulation and application of simple tools and machines may help students learn about the relationships between forces and motion.

Kindergarten Vocabulary / Position Over On top Between Beside In back of Next to Above Right Below In front Push Left Beneath Middle Underneath Behind Pull

Guiding Questions: What words help us locate objects?Can you describe the location of an object using position words?


Standard 4: Key Idea 5: Performance Indicator 5.1: Describe the effects of common forces (pushes and pulls) on objects, such as those caused by gravity, magnetism, and mechanical forces.

Essential Knowledge/Skills(Major Understandings)

Classroom Ideas Assessment Ideas Time/Notes

5.1a Position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background (ex. On top or, next to, over, under…)

This concept should be taught as an on-going language builder throughout the year during free play, circle time, mealtime, small group and outside play time. The following materials are suggestions that can aid the development of this concept.

- Beanbags- Fumble Bumble game (Macmillan “Sing and

Learn Classroom Games’)- Puppets- Building toys- Balls- Cars- London Bridges- “Itsy Bitsy Spider”- “The Spider on the Floor” (Raffi)- Meal utensils

Give directions (i.e. stand next to your desk) Play “Simon Says” using location words Directed listening activities (i.e. Frank Shaffer) Students give simple directions to other

students to locate an object they hid in the classroom.


Student responses

Journal entries


Checklists/rubrics

Ex. Observe students’ use and understanding of location words as they give and /or follow directions.

5.1b Pushing or pulling can change the position or direction of motion of an object.

Play with toy cars and trucks. Using common objects from the classroom play

areas (blocks, etc.) ask students to demonstrate how pushing or pulling can change the direction and/or position.

Resource Materials


Title Source Title ResourceVideos are listed within document by topic. Available from Center for Instructional Support

(CIS). Call 361-5660 at Madison-Oneida BOCES.Children’s literature is listed within the document.

Mathematics Their Way Summary Newsletter Center for Innovation in Education, 1988.1-888-442-3683


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