Everything That Is Taught in the First Grade Science Curriculum
Science is an interesting subject. Children have an innate curiosity and use their senses to explore things around them. Science is one subject that lets them use their five senses to the maximum. As a subject, it is introduced in kindergarten and then gradually builds on until they are ready to choose it as a subject to pursue a career. Whatever is taught in the first grade science curriculum is an extension of kindergarten and is a foundation for the future years at school.
Science as a subject is always a favorite among kids. Its practical approach and relatability to the real world makes it interesting for children to learn. That is also the reason why science is included in the curriculum right from kindergarten to garner the curiosity in kids. It is included to help kids learn practically and understand the subject. Science curriculum in the first grade is an interactive session with lessons, activities and worksheets. The format is simple which is built on previous learnings and students have to apply their concepts to be able to complete the worksheets. Curriculum with respect to science, teaches science through fun activities. It aims to establish core ideas and teach concepts in a way or format that make learning fun. The format of lessons is structured to allow students to discover and master the concepts.
The lessons are planned and concepts are taught in an engaging and memorable way. Activities, experiments and digital technology aid in getting the curriculum more accessible to the children.
1st grade science curriculum in schools are an extension of the kindergarten curriculum. They learn foundational skills, engage in hands-on activities and make connections to the real world. Introducing them to science in the early years piques their curiosity and also exposes them to many cause and effect phenomena around their daily life.
Children learn scientific facts, build on their probing skills, make observations, collect data, organize it, analyse and develop reasoning for their solutions as part of their learning the 1st grade science lessons. A mix of some interesting concepts, the science curriculum focuses on children learning things that surround them in everyday life.
What You Can Expect Your Child to Learn by the End of 1st Grade
The entire curriculum and 1st grade science activities give students the opportunity to grow their knowledge and understanding of every day phenomenon and things in their daily life. Each topic gives an insight into the occurrences of everyday life. Children learn about the diversities of life and its intricacies. From plants, animals, space to seasons, children learn the importance of observation, communicating information, note taking and other observations that are key to learning science as a subject.
1. Physical Sciences
Everything about the physical world- chemistry, astronomy and physics. Space, gravity, force, elements like liquids, solids, semi-solids are topics that are included in physical sciences and dealt with appropriately for them to observe, measure, predict and learn.
Key Learnings and Observations
- Difference between liquids and solids
- How state of matter changes – for eg: liquid to solid
- What happens when different liquids are mixed with water
- What happens when solids are mixed with water
- The mechanism of magnets and batteries
- Sound, how it travels and how objects vibrate
- Exploring and understanding the characteristics of different material like wood, cloth, metal and paper
- Scientific words to describe physical properties like (shape, texture, colour, size)
- Understand the similarities and differences in physical properties
- Learn to sort materials according to their properties, conduct investigations and gather information.
- Properties of objects like heavy objects float in water, lighter objects sink
2. Earth Sciences
Learning about Earth sciences is an integral part of the science curriculum as it lets kids know about the atmosphere that surrounds them. This includes learning about the sun, moon, solar system and its effects on the climate and weather. Lessons also include about what Earth is made up of. Children learn about rocks, how they are formed, soil and water bodies.
Key Learnings and Observations
- Cloud formations and the seasons
- Ocean activities like tides, waves and currents
- Planets in the solar system and their position in relation to the sun
- Changes to the moon in a month
- How air pressure affects and applies force on objects and materials
- Changes and movements of the sun during the day
- How weather changes every day and how it brings changes from one season to another.
- Use vocabulary to describe properties of air, water and weather
- Record observations of findings pertaining to rain, temperature.
- Learn about different water bodies like seas, rivers, lakes, streams, etc.
3. Life Sciences
Life sciences are again a very interesting topic for children to learn. It includes lessons about the planet, life on the planet, plants, animals, their life, traits and characteristics and also about human beings. The focus is on kids learning about different habitats, stages of development and stages of life cycle in living beings.
Key Learnings and Observations
- Diversity of life forms in the animal kingdom
- Survival instincts of plants and animals
- Difference between living and non-living things
- Life cycle of plants and animals
- Understand what living things needed to survive like food, water, sunlight, air
- Learn and understand the different stages of insects and learn about the biological process of metamorphosis
4. Health and Safety
As children grow older, children need to learn about the health and safety aspects relating to themselves and things around them. This includes understanding about nutrition, fitness and safety about their bodies and life. It is extremely important for children to know how important it is to look after themselves. They need to know how to look after their body by eating good food and also following rules.
Key Learnings and Observations
- Car and fire safety rules
- How the human body works (digestion, healing of cuts and bruises)
- Importance of staying fit and active
- Importance of safety rules
- Healthy food and its sources
- Different systems of the body (muscular, circulatory, skeletal, nervous, digestive)
- Knowledge about pain and vocabulary for the same
- Symptoms of illness
5. Scientific Investigation and Experimentation
As part of science learnings, children conduct experiments and investigate the findings. By conducting experiments physically and observing them, children learn to focus, make findings, analyse and record their observations. They learn about various experiments like mould growing on food, leaves changing colour, flowers withering away and even plants growing under sunlight.
Key Learnings and Observations
- Classifying data and establishing order in the data
- Designing and conducting an experiment
- Explaining the data collected
- Investigating the data
- Measurement and tallying of the data
- Predicting any findings
- Questioning the existence of certain facts
- Representing the data in tables or graphs
Science is a great subject and one of the most interesting ones for children. They love to learn more about nature, existence of certain phenomenon, traits of living and non-living animals as they find that it is close to their life. They can see and feel the features first hand and therefore love to learn science. The first grade science curriculum is a comprehensive and cohesive curriculum, that builds a very strong foundation to learn in future.
Also Read:
How to Decide on Skipping a Grade for Your Child
Spelling Words to Teach Your Grade 1 Child
