Kindergarten Science OLS Standards

Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence

Science is a Human Endeavor

Science is a Way of Knowing

Scientific Inquiry, Practice and Applications

Nature of Science (K-8)

Physical Science

Life Science

Earth and Space Science

Weather changes are long-term and short-term.

The moon, sun and stars can be observed at different times of the day or night.

Living things have specific characteristics and traits.

Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.

Objects and materials can be sorted and described by their properties.

Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound.

All students must use these scientific processes with appropriate laboratory safety techniques to construct their knowledge and understanding in all science content areas.

Apply knowledge of science content to real-world challenges.

Plan and conduct simple scientific investigations using appropriate safety techniques based on explorations, observations and questions.

Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses.

Use data and mathematical thinking to construct reasonable explanations.

Communicate with others about investigations and data.

Students understand that science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent. Natural laws operate today as they did in the past, and they will continue to do so in the future. Science is both a body of knowledge that represents a current understanding of natural systems and the processes used to refine, elaborate, revise and extend this knowledge.

The world is discovered through exploration.

Exploration leads to observation. Observation leads to questions.

Natural events happen today as they happened in the past.

Events happen in regular patterns and cycles in the natural world.

Science has been, and continues to be, advanced by individuals of various races, genders, ethnicities, languages, abilities, family backgrounds and incomes.

Everyone explores the world which generates questions.

The answer is not always as important as the process.

Questions often lead to other questions.

Discoveries are communicated and discussed with others.

People address questions through collaboration with peers and continued exploration.

Everyone can see themselves as scientists.

Science is not static. Science is constantly changing as we acquire more knowledge.

It is essential to learn how to identify credible scientific evidence.

Ideas are revised based on new, credible scientific evidence.

Physical Science

Life Science

Earth and Space Science

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Machine Learning

With guidance and support , use a classifier that recognizes drawings to see if a program can guess what they are drawing.

Natural Interactions

With guidance and support , identify how computers can recognize different humans using some form of recognition software to see how computers interact with humans.

Perception

With guidance and support, locate sensors on computers, robots and intelligent appliances to understand that devices use sensors to gather information.

With guidance and support, access intelligent agents to demonstrate how they work.

Representation & Reasoning

With guidance and support, use a simple decision tree to make a decision to visually and explicitly represent decisions and decision-making.

Societal Impact s

With guidance and support , locate AI applications used in daily life to understand how humans use AI.

Discuss if artificial intelligence is good or bad (see impacts of computing).

ALGORITHMIC THINKING AND PROGRAMMING

Algorithms

With guidance and support, model a real-world process by constructing and following step-by-step directions (i.e., algorithms) to complete tasks.

Control Structures

With guidance and support, model a sequence of instructions (i.e., program) with a beginning, middle and end to solve a problem or express an idea.

Program Development

With guidance and support, plan or create an artifact to illustrate thoughts, ideas and problems in a sequential (step-by-step) manner (e.g., story map, storyboard, sequential graphic organizer).

Variables and Data Representation

Recognize that a group of items (e.g., numbers, symbols or pictures) can be used to represent data.

COMPUTING SYSTEMS

Devices

With guidance, identify and label commonly used devices and their components, explaining their connection to different tasks, to perform a variety of tasks.

Hardware and Software

With guidance and support, identify and use hardware and software necessary for accomplishing a task.

Troubleshooting

With guidance and support, use problem-solving strategies to troubleshoot a problem.

DATA AND ANALYSIS

Data Collection and Storage

Identify data to collect and sort.

With guidance and support, demonstrate how data can be collected and stored in a variety of ways.

Inference and Modeling

With guidance, create a model of an object or process to identify patterns.

Visualization and Communication

With guidance, organize and present data in various formats to make observations.

IMPACTS OF COMPUTING

Culture

With guidance and support, identify technologies that impact one's own everyday life.

With guidance and support, recognize different ways computing devices are used regularly to understand technology's impact on one’s own daily life.

Social Interactions

With guidance and support, identify and use safe and responsible behaviors concerning information and technology.

Safety, Law and Ethics

With guidance, discuss appropriate uses of technology to support informed decisions.

With guidance and support, discuss examples of appropriate and inappropriate behavior online, including cyberbullying, and the steps to keep yourself and others safe and out of harm's way.

Weather changes are long term and short term.

Know that wind is moving air.

Describe that the Earth is surrounded by air.

Map weather patterns for a month recording precipitation and temperature. Was it windy? Did it rain today? Was it hot or cold? Do I need a sweater to go outside? Do I need an umbrella?

Identify seasons that occur in children’s literature.

List the characteristics of the weather for each season. In summer it is hot and sometimes rainy. The sun is out a long time. In spring it is really rainy. In fall, the leaves change color and fall off the trees. In the winter there can be snow and ice.

Relate holidays to the seasons when they occur (e.g., Christmas in winter, Fourth of July in summer).

Relate activities to the different seasons (e.g., planting flowers in the spring, swimming in the summer, picking apples in the fall, sledding in the winter)

Identify what happens before it storms (e.g., sky gets dark, temperature drops, wind increases).

Describe what constitutes a rainy day ane note the characteristics (cloudy, dark or gray skies, lots of precipitation, little sunshine).

Describe what constitutes a sunny day and note the characteristics (blue sky, no rain, sunshine).

Recognize when wind is blowing. Recognize the effects of wind (leaves rustling, branches blowing down, flag waving).

The moon, sun and stars can be observed at different times of the day or night.

Use media to illustrate the motion of the sun and the stars over a period of time.

Record and describe when and where you see the moon for a month. Note that the moon can sometimes be seen during the day.

Describe that the pattern of stars looks different at different times of the night and in different seasons.

Describe that the moon appears in different places in the sky at different times.

Describe that the moon looks different on different nights (e.g., crescent, full moon, half moon)

Identify pictures (can be from children’s literature) that show various times of day (e.g., lunchtime, bedtime).

Track the sun across the sky during a day noticing how its position changes. Recognize that the sun is highest in the sky in the middle of the day.

Record what can be seen in the daytime sky (sun, sometimes the moon) and the nighttime sky (stars, sometimes the moon).

Identify pictures that show nighttime and daytime.

Describe what is daytime (light) and what is nighttime (dark).

Living things have specific characteristics and traits.

Recognize that all living things grow, reproduce, require energy, respond to stimuli.

Describe how a plant responds to a stimulus (e.g., bends toward light, loses leaves in the fall)

Describe how an animal responds to a stimulus (e.g., a fish in an aquarium responds to food, a dog comes when called).

Recognize that living things come from other living things (e.g., seeds grow new plants, eggs hatch, cats have baby kittens).

Describe that plants and animals grow during their lifetime (change from seedlings to mature plants or babies to adult animals).

Recognize plants need light to grow.

Recognize that animals need to eat to stay alive.

Name some plants that are in the school or home environment (e.g., grass, tree, flowers).

Name some animals that are in the school or home environment (e.g., dog, cat, worm, insects, fish).

Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.

Compare physical traits and characteristics of various living things.

Identify specific traits and characteristics of a given set of living things.

Determine how various physical traits and characteristics of living things help them to survive.

Identify physical traits that help living things to perform various functions (e.g., birds have wings so they can fly, dogs have fur to keep them warm, trees have trunks to support their branches, plants have roots to get water).

Observe physical traits and characteristics of various living things.

Objects and materials can be sorted and described by their properties

Track the measurement of something over time (height of a plant, temperature over the school year) in standard or nonstandard units, display the data in a chart or graph.

Use nonstandard units to measure (marks on a dowel to measure the depth of snow, number of paperclips to balance an object, number of straws wide the table is).

Describe which attribute would be most appropriate to use to compare a given set of objects.

Recognize that there is more than one way to sort the same group of object.

Compare two objects using a property (this one is heavier, this one is hotter, this one is rougher, this one is more flexible). This could include objects under a magnifying glass.

Dictate or write a description of an object including as many attributes as possible.

Handle a variety of materials to compare their textures and flexibilities (cotton, wool, wood, bark, clay, metal, glass).

Use a magnifying glass to look at details of objects, describe what is seen.

Smell a variety of substances that have detectable odors (perfume, flowers, lemons, pine needles, vanilla) describe the smells, recognize that smells vary and that smell can help identify a substance.

Given a set of objects arrange them from largest to smallest.

Compare the temperature of two cups of water (cool, warm) by touching with a finger.

Given a group of objects sort them by shape.

Given a group of objects sort them by color.

Given two objects choose the larger one.

Some objects and materials can be made to vibrate to produce sound.

Suggest adjustments to make the instruments change pitch, try the adjustments, report/record results.

Construct homemade instruments.

Recognize that vibrations are associated with sound (e.g., watch rice on the surface of a drum, watch video of a vibrating string on an instrument, hit a cymbal or triangle and place it in a bowl of still water).

Listen to sounds, predict whether they were made by tapping, blowing or plucking.

Blow on a whistle, wind instrument, or bottle, compare the sounds.

Pluck different lengths of the same material, compare the sounds (higher, lower).

Listen to sounds, describe them has high or low.

Pluck a rubber band and a guitar string and describe the sounds.

Describe what happens if you tap harder (gets louder).

Tap on a variety of objects (or listen while they are tapped), describe the different sounds made.

NETWORKS AND THE INTERNET

Cybersecurity

With guidance and support, identify and use secure practices (e.g., passwords) to protect private information.

Internet of Things (IoT)

With guidance and support, identify what smart devices are to recognize what devices are able to connect to the internet.

With guidance and support, recognize how devices connect and exchange data over the internet to demonstrate how information is shared.

Networking

With guidance and support, create a list of ways information can be shared electronically to gain a deeper understanding of how information is transmitted (e.g., email, social media).