Grade 1 Science

By Natalie Smith
September 24, 2009

Why does the weather change? Why do things melt? Why do some animals have claws? Kids discover the answers.

In first-grade science, teachers focus on helping students learn to observe the world around them. Textbooks typically divide the year into three units — life science, earth science, and physical science. During their earth science study, kids learn about sand, rocks, soil, and air — what they are and what they’re made of. Students learn about why the weather changes and how to use measurement tools like thermometers. In life science, children explore the differences between living and nonliving things, the parts of a plant, and the characteristics of various animals. Children learn that organisms, including people, have basic needs (such as air and food), live in many types of environments, and have different body parts to help them meet their needs, such as claws, tails, and trunks. As part of their introduction to physical science, first-graders discover that materials can come in different forms, such as solids, liquids, and gases. Teachers may demonstrate how materials can change properties through mixing, heating, or cutting. Children also begin to learn about the properties of heat, light, and magnets. Above all, first-graders learn that careful investigating means asking good questions and recording what they learn.

Green Kids. Elementary schools have taught children the importance of caring for the environment for decades. But in today’s first-grade classrooms, students are learning that being environmentally responsible means more than just picking up their trash. Expect your grandchildren to learn how to sort recyclables and conserve energy and water, and don’t be surprised when they bring those lessons home and question why you’re not doing all you can for the planet.

• Learning to make observations using all five senses is a key entry point into the study of life science. This article offers suggestions for activities that will help parents and grandparents aid children in their sensory development.

• As first-graders learn to use measuring tools, they’ll also learn about units of measurement. But they may not realize that before people developed the metric system, they based many units of measurement on parts of the body. David Adler and Nancy Tobin’s entertaining How Tall, How Short, How Faraway? (Holiday House, 1999) introduces grandchildren to the surprising history of measurement.

• It’s important for first-graders to observe objects and organisms in different environments. And though there may not be a coral reef near your town, Marianne Berkes and Jeanette Canyon’s colorful Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef (Dawn Publications, 2004) could be the next-best thing. Encourage kids to interact and respond to the images they see inside.

• The first-grade physical-science curriculum will have kids experimenting with forces like magnetism and electricity. Help your grandchild explore these concepts and more with interactive science clips from the BBC.

• Understanding basic weather terminology is an essential part of first-grade physical science. In Lucy Cousins’s Maisy’s Wonderful Weather Book (Candlewick, 2006), the beloved mouse can help you review these words with your grandchild.

Watch Mommy and Daddy Grow Up. Children love seeing pictures of their parents as youngsters, so why not use those photos to help kids learn about life science? As you show grandchildren pictures of their mom or dad growing up, point out how he or she changed over the years, and ask the kids to identify similarities and differences in the photos as they progress over time. Ask your grandchildren to pull out their own family pictures and consider how they, too, have changed since they were infants.

A Bird Observatory. Here’s a simple activity to help grandchildren engage with nature: spread peanut butter on a pine cone, roll it in birdseed, then use string to hang it outside. Observe with your grandchildren how birds come to eat the seed. As you watch, note that food is just one reason that animals need plants. Ask the kids if they can think of others.

From Liquid to Solid Snack. In the right grandparent’s hands, even snack time can become a science lesson. Show grandchildren how to turn a liquid into a solid by making juice pops. Pour their favorite juice into an ice tray, put a toothpick into each cube, freeze, and enjoy. Extend the lesson by asking kids if they can think of how the liquid could change into a gas instead.

Editor’s Note: Natalie Smith is an assistant editor at Scholastic News Edition 4 and a freelance writer based in New York City.

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Source: Grandparants