For science this year we are doing units based on the Next Generation Science Standards for 1st grade. We usually do more than just what the standard says, but try to hit it at minimum. There are two space standards, but they're pretty simple, so we just broke out all of our space books and kind of divided them into two sections and read some with the first standard and some with the second.
Section 1:
Standard:
1-ESS1-1: Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that the sun and moon appear to rise in one part of the sky, move across the sky, and set; and stars other than our sun are visible at night but not during the day.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment of star patterns is limited to stars being seen at night and not during the day.]
- I had trouble finding a lab for tracking the movement of the sun that I really liked. I ended up having him build a tower in the window and then drawing the shadow at three different times in the day. Sadly, clouds came in for the last time, so there wasn't much shadow. We were able to talk about the patterns and he could predict what direction the shadows would go at different times of the day.
- Books:
Magic School Bus Takes a Moonwalk
What is the Moon
Magic School Bus 3D Solar System
- While we read about the moon and moon phases, we also made them out of Oreo cookies. I just printed the sheet from the internet. A lot of websites have it.
- Videos:
Section 2:
Standard:
1-ESS1-2: Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on relative comparisons of the amount of daylight in the winter to the amount in the spring or fall.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to relative amounts of daylight, not quantifying the hours or time of daylight.]
- I broke out a lamp and a ball in a dark room to help demonstrate how the amount of sunlight affects the seasons (Similar to this demo). I was able to ask him questions along the way to think about how the sun affected day/night and seasons.
- Books:
Glow in the Dark Space Sticker Activities
Stars! Stars! Stars!
Watching the Stars
What Makes Day and Night (actually read during section 1)
- We played Gravity Superstar (you can read my review here)
Videos:
