SCIENCE

Notices types of weather based on observations.
Example: Child points to the window while watching or listening to rain fall

Recognizes temperature, may identify temperature (temperature – hot, cold).
Example – Child says/gestures/signs “hot” when entering a hot car which has been sitting in a sunny location on a warm day

Recognizes precipitation, may identify precipitation (precipitation – rain, snow, hail).
Example: Child says/gestures/signs “rain” when heading outside on a rainy day

Recognizes cloud cover, may identify cloud cover (cloud cover – sunny, cloudy).
Example: Child indicates when clouds appear and block the sun while outside during the day

Connects weather to everyday life (knows what clothes to wear, what types of activities can be done).
Example: Child says she needs an umbrella because it is rainy

Recognizes seasons and may identify seasons based on observable characteristics about the weather.
Example: Child wakes up to find yard covered with snow and says “It’s winter now!”

Engages with living things through any of the five senses.
Example: Child shows interest in petting an animal

Recognizes that some things are living and some things are non-living.
Example: Child gives pet cat a treat but responds that trucks don’t eat when prompted to give one to the toy truck.

Recognizes that living things have unique characteristics such as color, size, behavior, and parts.
Example: Child mimics animal noises for a variety of animals

Recognizes that living things grow and change.
Example: Child indicates that rocks don’t grow so they are not alive, but tomato plants grow so they are alive.

Recognizes that living things have needs.
Example: When prompted that a baby doll is hungry, child gets bowl and spoon and pretends to feed the baby.

Recognizes that living things have different needs and parts to help them meet those needs.
Example: Child notes that birds have wings so they can fly to the tree top where their nest is

Identifies changes that usually occur as living things grow.
Example: Child shares that daddies can grow beards but babies can’t

Identifies animals’, including humans’, specific needs. Identifies ways that animals’ characteristics and parts help them meet their specific needs.
Example: Child offers several things their dog needs when asked how to take care of the dog.

Identifies plants’ specific needs, such as air, light, water, and nutrients. Identifies plant parts that help them meet their specific needs.
Example: Child asks adult to water the plant in the classroom

Understands that there is a sequence to life, but may not yet understand all aspects of life cycles, such as reproduction and death.
Example: Child correctly orders the life cycle of a chicken: “First it’s an egg, then it hatches, then it’s a chick, then it grows into a chicken.”

Observes and acts on liquids, exploring their characteristics and properties intuitively.
Example: Child explores water with hands – splashing and moving hands through water

Observes characteristics and properties of solids.
Example: Child explores solid objects by mouthing them and banging them together.

Recognizes characteristics and properties of liquids.
Example: Child anticipates the movement of water – and dumps water out of a container

Recognizes characteristics and properties of solids.
Example: During snack time, child squishes a slice of banana and crushes a cracker into crumbs.

Identifies characteristics and properties of liquids. May describe, but not call it a liquid.
Example: Child says that it is easier to move the water than the cornstarch when tipping a tray with both on it.

Identifies characteristics and properties of solids. May describe but not call it a solid.
Example: Child describes the playdough as soft and the cookie cutters as hard.

Demonstrates awareness that states of matter can change (e.g., cold things melt).
Example: Child says he should hurry to finish his ice pop because it is going to melt.

Demonstrates awareness that states of matter can change in specific cases (e.g., melts into water). Example: Child comes back to her cup (which had an ice cube and some water) to find the ice cube gone. Child declares that the ice turned into water.

Demonstrates awareness of why states of matter can change in specific cases.
Example: Child tells younger sibling not to bring the snowball in the house because snow melts inside because its warm inside.

Notices the motion of objects.
Example: Child looks at moving objects longer than non-moving objects

Understands what is and is not moving.
Example: Child responds to moving objects with attention, may try to move objects that are easier to move or that they have seen move previously

Distinguishes different types of movement, with an intuitive understanding that this is related to the properties of an object (e.g. round things roll).
Example: Child shows preference for a ball over a block when experimenting with ramps

Understands that objects move differently but may identify the motion incorrectly.
Example: Child describes all movement down a ramp as rolling.

Correctly identifies types of object movement when they see it.
Example: Child indicates that balls roll down the ramp but blocks do not because blocks slide.

Correctly predicts what type of movement a particular object will have based on its shape.
Example: Child says/signs/uses a communication device that an object is rolling because it is round, but it is going slow because the surface is bumpy

Identifies/describes the attribute (shape) that leads to particular types of movement.
Example: When choosing toys to send down a ramp, child chooses a car with wheels that move over a toy dog and says the car has wheels so it will go faster and smoother.

Has an intuitive understanding that surfaces change how something moves.
Example: While on a riding toy, child steers away from the bumpy part of the sidewalk to the smooth side

Shows awareness using one or more forms of expression that surfaces can change motion.
Example: Child takes tricycle off of the grass before trying to ride it

Notices the interaction of properties of objects and forces.
Example: Child shows preference for a ball over a block when experimenting with ramps.

Begins to anticipate the effect of collision when objects differ greatly in size by attending to the characteristics of the moving object.
Example: Child says that a car won’t go because it doesn’t have wheels.

Anticipates the effects of collision with less obvious differences in objects (e.g., same size but differ in weight, small differences in size.). Attends to characteristics of moving and non-moving objects involved in collision.
Example: Child chooses a heavier ball to roll to knock down pins.

Recognizes that the properties of a ‘contact/still object’ will interact with a moving object to make a change in motion (speed, direction).
Example: Child predicts how changing the incline of a plan will change the speed of the object going down the ramp.

Identifies how changes to specific properties of objects will change the effects of forces on those objects.
Example: Child says “The ball is round, so it rolls. The block is flat, so it slides.”

Predicts with awareness using one or more forms of expression how changes to specific properties of objects will change the effects of forces on those objects.
Example: After setting up a ramp with one block under it and rolling a ball into a block that wouldn’t fall when impacted; then adding a block under the same ramp to raise the height and rolled the same ball down, showing child that the raised ramp makes the block roll faster. When asked what will happen when the faster block hits the ramp children correctly predicts: “the ball’s going faster now so it will knock it (the block) over.”

Has an intuitive understanding that force can be exerted on objects to create motion.
Example: Child bats at objects held nearby

Understands how to exert more or less force to change how far an object will move.
Example: When toy does not go all the way down the ramp, child pushes harder the next time.

Understands how changes to the amount of force exerted will change how an object moves.
Example: Child experiments with pushing a car with differing amounts of force and expresses excitement abut how far the car travels.

Has an intuitive understanding that things will fall down.
Example: Child experiments with dropping things

Recognizes that gravity can be used to create motion or act as a force.
Examples: Child puts a ball or other object on a ramp, anticipating that it will move downward; Child increases the incline of a plane to make a ball go faster

Notices objects that emit or reflect light.
Example: Child reaches toward or try to grab it.

Recognizes that light can be manipulated in experiences with obvious and changeable sources of light.
Example: Child notices a bright light that is being emitted from something and may want to tell/show you how to turn lights off and on.

Identifies how light changes (brightness, coverage/size, direction) when they manipulate the light source.
Example: Child makes a circle of light bigger and smaller by moving the light closer and further from a wall.

Recognizes and can identify multiple sources of light.
Example: Child says “It is dark in my basement, so I have to have my dad turn on the light or get a flashlight.”

Distinguishes objects that block light from objects that do not block light.
Example: Child says “It blocks the light” when using a flashlight on a solid objects and says “It doesn’t block” when shining light on a transparent object.

Predicts when objects will block or not block light based on their properties and may explain that “not blocking” is also the “light goes through”.
Example: Child consistently guesses that transparent objects will not block light and solid objects will.

Recognizes that a translucent object of a specific color will produce light of the same color when the light passes through.
Example: Child says “Now it’s green!” when a transparent green shape is held to the light.

Notices contrast of dark and light when a shadow is created, without distinguishing objects that make a shadow or distinguishing light from shadow.
Example: Child calls light a shadow. May confuse a shadow with the object blocking the light.

Distinguishes shadows from light when highly contrasting.
Example: When told to “catch the shadow”, a child tries to jump on a shadow of an adults’ hand making a duck and not the hand itself.

Understands how to manipulate objects to make a shadow with adult scaffolding (e.g., child mimics adults to create shadows).
Example: Child attempts to make shadow puppets similar to what an adult is making, but is upset when they can’t (because they don’t understand how to line up the object and the light).

Distinguishes shadow from objects making a shadow.
Example: When asked, “Can we get out of the sun? It’s hot.” child goes to a shady area.

Objects – Understands how to manipulate objects to make a shadow independently.
Example: Child makes a shadow, but can’t “fix” it when other objects block the light or the angle of the light toward the object doesn’t align with a surface to create a shadow.

Understands that changing a light source’s position or intensity will change a shadow.
Example: Child moves lights and objects around to make differently shaped shadows, but can’t make a shadow a specific shape (bigger or smaller) when asked.

Understands that changing light (brighter/dimmer) or moving objects (closer/further) will change the size or shape of a shadow.
Example: Child makes the shape of the duck puppet made by someone’s hand change by moving the light or the hand closer and further from the wall.

Understands that shadow is created when an opaque object blocks a light.
Example: Child is shown light shining at a solid object and a clear object. When asked why the solid object has a shadow and the clear object does not, responds “because it is blocking the light.”

Notices objects that make sound.
Example: Child notices that I was making noise by banging objects – came over and wanted to try it.

Recognizes that objects and their own voice can be manipulated to make sound.
Example: Child shakes a maraca.

Manipulates objects to make sounds.
Example: Child bangs blocks and pencils on a table top or floor to make sounds.

Recognizes that sound volume can change.
Example: Child made a confused face when he shook the shaker with cotton inside, smiled when he shook the one with beads. Told me that the bead shaker was louder than the tissue paper.

Recognizes that sound tempo can change.
Example: As tempo of song increases, tempo of child’s dancing increases

Identifies different sound volumes.
Example: Child describes music in levels – 1 is a whisper, 20 is too loud.

Identifies ways to make different sound volumes (e.g., loud and soft sounds).
Example: When asked how to make the noise his wooden instrument was making softer, child wrapped it in a cloth.

Identifies different sound tempos and able to produce different sound tempos.
Example Child changes tempo of singing and tapping to match a beat.

Recognizes that objects and their own voice can be manipulated to change pitch.
Example: Child produces a high note when asked by hitting notes at the top of a xylophone.

Observes attributes and characteristics of materials in the living and non-living world.
Example: Child pats the fur of the teddy bear and then hugs the bear.

Recognizes attributes and characteristics of materials in the living and nonliving world.
Example: When presented with a stuffed toy cat and a block and asked which is soft, child reaches for the stuffed cat.

Indicates understanding that shapes of objects affect how objects behave.
Example: While child is building a bed for her doll in block center, she chooses blocks instead of balls and explains that the doll wouldn’t stay flat on the ball and would fall off.

Indicates understanding that objects made of different materials affect how they behave.
Example: While building in the sand box, child says that wet sand sticks together better than dry sand.

Identifies attributes and characteristics of materials in the living and nonliving world.
Example: When asked to tell you about a rock child is holding, child indicates that is it smooth, hard, and sparkly.