What does science look like this year?

Students explore the world by watching, asking questions, and trying things out. They look at how pushes and pulls move objects, how the sun warms the ground, what plants and animals need to live, and how weather changes day to day.

How can I help with science at home?

Go outside and notice things together. Push a toy car hard, then gently, and talk about what happened. Check the weather each morning. Water a plant and watch it grow. Five minutes of noticing out loud builds the habit students need.

Does my child need to memorize science facts?

No. The work at this age is about careful watching and talking about what students see. Asking good questions and describing patterns matters more than memorizing words like gravity or evaporation.

How should I sequence the year?

Most teachers start with weather patterns in the fall, since students can track them daily from day one. Pushes and pulls fit well in winter with indoor play. Plants, animals, and sunlight investigations land best in spring when things are growing outside.

What usually needs the most reteaching?

Two areas tend to stick less than others. Students often confuse stronger pushes with faster pushes, and they struggle to explain how animals change a place to meet their needs. Short, repeated investigations help more than one long lesson.

What should a science investigation look like at this age?

Short and hands-on. Students try something, watch what happens, draw or talk about it, then try a small change. A ramp with cars, a cup of ice in the sun, or a seed in a paper towel all count as real investigations.

What does ready for first grade look like?

Students can describe a pattern they noticed, like the weather getting colder or a plant growing taller near the window. They can explain that living things need food, water, and a place to live. They ask questions about why things happen.

My child keeps asking why about everything. Is that science?

Yes, and it is the most important part. Answer when you can, and when you cannot, say so and look it up together. Treat the questions as serious work, because that is exactly the habit good scientists build.

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year science becomes careful watching. Students push and pull objects to see how hard or which way changes what happens. They notice how the sun warms the ground, what plants and animals need to live, and how the weather shifts from day to day. By spring, students can describe a week of weather using their own notes and pictures.

Pushes and pulls
Sunlight and warmth
Weather patterns
Plant and animal needs
Severe weather

Source: Oklahoma Oklahoma Academic Standards

Year at a glance

How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.

1
Pushes and pulls
Students explore how a gentle nudge moves a toy car a little and a harder shove sends it farther. They test ways to change the speed or direction of an object by pushing and pulling.
2
Sunlight and warmth
Students notice that sunlight warms the sidewalk, the slide, and the sand. They build simple shade structures, like a paper tent over a rock, to see how to keep a spot cooler.
3
What living things need
Students look at plants, pets, and people to find patterns in what every living thing needs. They notice that plants need water, light, and air, and animals need food, water, and a safe place.
4
Weather day by day
Students watch the sky and track sunny, cloudy, rainy, and windy days on a class chart. Over weeks they spot patterns, like cooler mornings or rainier weeks, and talk about how a forecast helps families get ready for a storm.
5
Living things and their homes
Students match plants and animals to the places they live, like a fish in a pond or a cactus in the desert. They also notice how people, squirrels, and worms change a yard or garden to get what they need.

Mastery Learning Standards

The required skills a student should display by the end of Kindergarten.

Motion and Stability of Forces

Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths…

K.PS2.1

Students push and pull objects to see how changing the force or direction makes things move faster, slower, farther, or a different way. They plan the test themselves and compare what happens.
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the…

K.PS2.2

Students test whether pushing or pulling a toy harder or softer actually changes how fast it moves or which way it goes. They look at what happened and decide if their idea worked.

Standard	Definition	Code
Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths…	Students push and pull objects to see how changing the force or direction makes things move faster, slower, farther, or a different way. They plan the test themselves and compare what happens.	K.PS2.1
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the…	Students test whether pushing or pulling a toy harder or softer actually changes how fast it moves or which way it goes. They look at what happened and decide if their idea worked.	K.PS2.2

Motion and Stability of Forces

Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths…

K.PS2.1

Students push and pull objects to see how changing the force or direction makes things move faster, slower, farther, or a different way. They plan the test themselves and compare what happens.
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the…

K.PS2.2

Students test whether pushing or pulling a toy harder or softer actually changes how fast it moves or which way it goes. They look at what happened and decide if their idea worked.

Standard	Definition	Code
Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths…	Students push and pull objects to see how changing the force or direction makes things move faster, slower, farther, or a different way. They plan the test themselves and compare what happens.	K.PS2.1
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the…	Students test whether pushing or pulling a toy harder or softer actually changes how fast it moves or which way it goes. They look at what happened and decide if their idea worked.	K.PS2.2

Energy

Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface

K.PS3.1

Students watch what sunlight does to sand, soil, and water outside. They learn that the sun heats up Earth's surface.
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the…

K.PS3.2

Students build something (like a tiny roof or shade cover) to block sunlight and keep an area cooler. This is an early look at how design can solve a real problem.

Standard	Definition	Code
Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface	Students watch what sunlight does to sand, soil, and water outside. They learn that the sun heats up Earth's surface.	K.PS3.1
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the…	Students build something (like a tiny roof or shade cover) to block sunlight and keep an area cooler. This is an early look at how design can solve a real problem.	K.PS3.2

Energy

Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface

K.PS3.1

Students watch what sunlight does to sand, soil, and water outside. They learn that the sun heats up Earth's surface.
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the…

K.PS3.2

Students build something (like a tiny roof or shade cover) to block sunlight and keep an area cooler. This is an early look at how design can solve a real problem.

Standard	Definition	Code
Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface	Students watch what sunlight does to sand, soil, and water outside. They learn that the sun heats up Earth's surface.	K.PS3.1
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the…	Students build something (like a tiny roof or shade cover) to block sunlight and keep an area cooler. This is an early look at how design can solve a real problem.	K.PS3.2

From Molecules to Organisms: Structure and Function

Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals

K.LS1.1

Students observe plants and animals to figure out what living things need to survive, like water, food, and light. They look for patterns in what they notice.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals	Students observe plants and animals to figure out what living things need to survive, like water, food, and light. They look for patterns in what they notice.	K.LS1.1

From Molecules to Organisms: Structure and Function

Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals

K.LS1.1

Students observe plants and animals to figure out what living things need to survive, like water, food, and light. They look for patterns in what they notice.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals	Students observe plants and animals to figure out what living things need to survive, like water, food, and light. They look for patterns in what they notice.	K.LS1.1

Earth Systems

Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns…

K.ESS2.1

Students watch and talk about the weather outside their school or home each day. Over time, they start to notice patterns, like which days tend to be rainy or sunny in a given season.
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals

K.ESS2.2

Plants and animals change the world around them to get what they need. Students look at real examples, like a bird building a nest or a person digging a garden, and explain why those changes happen.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns…	Students watch and talk about the weather outside their school or home each day. Over time, they start to notice patterns, like which days tend to be rainy or sunny in a given season.	K.ESS2.1
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals	Plants and animals change the world around them to get what they need. Students look at real examples, like a bird building a nest or a person digging a garden, and explain why those changes happen.	K.ESS2.2

Earth Systems

Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns…

K.ESS2.1

Students watch and talk about the weather outside their school or home each day. Over time, they start to notice patterns, like which days tend to be rainy or sunny in a given season.
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals

K.ESS2.2

Plants and animals change the world around them to get what they need. Students look at real examples, like a bird building a nest or a person digging a garden, and explain why those changes happen.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns…	Students watch and talk about the weather outside their school or home each day. Over time, they start to notice patterns, like which days tend to be rainy or sunny in a given season.	K.ESS2.1
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals	Plants and animals change the world around them to get what they need. Students look at real examples, like a bird building a nest or a person digging a garden, and explain why those changes happen.	K.ESS2.2

Earth and Human Activity

Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants…

K.ESS3.1

Students match animals and plants to the places where they find food, water, and shelter. A fish needs a pond; a pine tree needs soil and sunlight.
Ask questions to understand the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for…

K.ESS3.2

Students learn why weather forecasts matter by asking questions about storms, floods, and other severe weather. They figure out how knowing bad weather is coming helps people stay safe.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants…	Students match animals and plants to the places where they find food, water, and shelter. A fish needs a pond; a pine tree needs soil and sunlight.	K.ESS3.1
Ask questions to understand the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for…	Students learn why weather forecasts matter by asking questions about storms, floods, and other severe weather. They figure out how knowing bad weather is coming helps people stay safe.	K.ESS3.2

Earth and Human Activity

Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants…

K.ESS3.1

Students match animals and plants to the places where they find food, water, and shelter. A fish needs a pond; a pine tree needs soil and sunlight.
Ask questions to understand the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for…

K.ESS3.2

Students learn why weather forecasts matter by asking questions about storms, floods, and other severe weather. They figure out how knowing bad weather is coming helps people stay safe.

Standard	Definition	Code
Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants…	Students match animals and plants to the places where they find food, water, and shelter. A fish needs a pond; a pine tree needs soil and sunlight.	K.ESS3.1
Ask questions to understand the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for…	Students learn why weather forecasts matter by asking questions about storms, floods, and other severe weather. They figure out how knowing bad weather is coming helps people stay safe.	K.ESS3.2

Common Questions

What does science look like this year?
Students explore the world by watching, asking questions, and trying things out. They look at how pushes and pulls move objects, how the sun warms the ground, what plants and animals need to live, and how weather changes day to day.
How can I help with science at home?
Go outside and notice things together. Push a toy car hard, then gently, and talk about what happened. Check the weather each morning. Water a plant and watch it grow. Five minutes of noticing out loud builds the habit students need.
Does my child need to memorize science facts?
No. The work at this age is about careful watching and talking about what students see. Asking good questions and describing patterns matters more than memorizing words like gravity or evaporation.
How should I sequence the year?
Most teachers start with weather patterns in the fall, since students can track them daily from day one. Pushes and pulls fit well in winter with indoor play. Plants, animals, and sunlight investigations land best in spring when things are growing outside.
What usually needs the most reteaching?
Two areas tend to stick less than others. Students often confuse stronger pushes with faster pushes, and they struggle to explain how animals change a place to meet their needs. Short, repeated investigations help more than one long lesson.
What should a science investigation look like at this age?
Short and hands-on. Students try something, watch what happens, draw or talk about it, then try a small change. A ramp with cars, a cup of ice in the sun, or a seed in a paper towel all count as real investigations.
What does ready for first grade look like?
Students can describe a pattern they noticed, like the weather getting colder or a plant growing taller near the window. They can explain that living things need food, water, and a place to live. They ask questions about why things happen.
My child keeps asking why about everything. Is that science?
Yes, and it is the most important part. Answer when you can, and when you cannot, say so and look it up together. Treat the questions as serious work, because that is exactly the habit good scientists build.