Kindergarten Science: forces, sunlight, weather, and living things

A taste of a lesson on How push and pull strength and direction change motion

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The 15 topics in Kindergarten Science

Each topic builds on the ones before it. The tutor checks what you already know and starts there.

1. Asking questions and making observations

   Students learn that scientists ask questions and gather information by observing carefully with their senses and recording what they notice. Teach the difference between an observation (what you see, hear, feel, smell) and an opinion or guess, and how to ask a testable question about the world. Real understanding means a student can state what they observed and ask a question that observation could help answer.

2. Pushes and pulls as forces

   A push or pull is a force that can start an object moving, stop it, or change its direction. Teach that forces act on objects through contact (a hand pushing a ball) or from a distance (a magnet pulling a paperclip, gravity pulling a dropped toy down). Students should be able to identify pushes and pulls in everyday examples and describe what each one does to an object's motion.

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3. How push and pull strength and direction change motion

   A stronger push or pull usually changes an object's motion more, and a push or pull in a different direction changes motion in a different way. Teach a simple investigation: roll a ball or cart with gentle versus strong pushes, and from different sides, recording distance traveled and direction of motion. Real understanding means planning a fair test with one variable changed at a time and describing the pattern from the results.

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4. Defining a problem people want to change

   Engineering begins by identifying a situation people want to change and turning it into a simple problem that a new or improved object could solve. Teach students to ask questions and gather information about a real situation (for example, sand spilling from a bucket, a classroom door that is hard to open), describe what needs to change, and state the problem in one clear sentence. Real understanding means distinguishing a defined problem with a goal and constraints from a vague complaint.

   Builds on Asking questions and making observations

5. Testing whether a design changes motion as intended

   Engineering designs can use pushes and pulls to change how fast or in which direction an object moves, such as a ramp, a bumper, a string-pulled cart, or a magnet-based launcher. Teach students to set a goal (for example, make a car go farther or turn left), build a simple design, test it, and check the data to decide whether it worked as intended. Real understanding means judging a design by comparing measured results against the goal.

   Builds on How push and pull strength and direction change motion, Defining a problem people want to change

6. Sunlight warms Earth's surfaces

   Sunlight is a source of energy that warms the land, water, and objects it shines on. Teach that different surfaces warm by different amounts: dark, dry soil and dark pavement often feel warmer than light-colored sand or grass, and water warms more slowly than land. Students should make observations, such as touching or measuring temperature of surfaces in sun and shade, and state the effect sunlight has on the surfaces they observed.

   Builds on Asking questions and making observations

7. Designing and building structures that reduce sunlight warming

   Shade blocks sunlight, so a structure that covers an area can keep it cooler. Teach students to use tools and materials (cardboard, paper, fabric, tape, and similar) to design and build a shade structure for a small area, such as a toy or patch of ground, then test it under a lamp or in sunlight by comparing temperatures with and without shade. Real understanding means connecting the design choice (material, size, coverage) to the measured reduction in warming.

   Builds on Defining a problem people want to change, Sunlight warms Earth's surfaces

8. How an object's shape helps it function

   The shape of an object often determines how well it does a job, for example a rounded scoop holds more than a flat plate, or a wide flat base keeps a cup from tipping. Teach students to make a simple sketch or physical model of a tool or object and explain how its shape helps it solve a specific problem. Real understanding means explaining the link between a shape feature and the job it does, and using sketches to communicate the idea.

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9. Comparing two designs that solve the same problem

   When two objects are designed to solve the same problem, tests can show the strengths and weaknesses of each. Teach students to run the same test on two designs (for example two scoops for moving sand, or two ramps for a car), record data in a simple chart or tally, and state which design did better at which part of the task and why. Real understanding means using data, not preference, to compare the designs and noting trade-offs.

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10. Observing local weather patterns over time

    Weather is the daily condition of the air outside: sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, snowy, temperature. Teach students to observe and record local weather on a chart over days or weeks, share their observations, and describe patterns such as which kinds of weather tend to come in which seasons or which days were warmest. Real understanding means using recorded observations to describe a pattern and recognizing that patterns appear only across many days.

    Builds on Asking questions and making observations

11. Weather forecasts and preparing for severe weather

    Weather forecasts are predictions made by meteorologists using observations, and they help people prepare for and respond to severe weather such as thunderstorms, heavy snow, floods, or strong winds. Teach students to ask questions about where forecasts come from and what they tell us, and to describe safe responses to severe weather such as going indoors, staying away from windows, and following adult instructions. Real understanding means connecting a forecast to a specific action that keeps people safe.

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12. What plants and animals need to survive

    All living things need certain things to survive, including air, water, food or light (for plants), and space to live. Teach students to use observations of plants and animals (including humans) to describe these needs, such as a plant wilting without water or a pet needing food. Real understanding means distinguishing needs that all living things share from those that differ between plants and animals, and supporting claims with observations.

    Builds on Asking questions and making observations

13. Matching organisms to the places they live

    Different plants and animals (including humans) have needs met by different places, called habitats, such as a pond, desert, forest, or ocean. Teach students to build or draw a simple model that shows how a given organism's needs (food, water, shelter, space, air) are met by its habitat. Real understanding means explaining why a particular organism lives where it does by linking its needs to features of the place.

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14. How plants and animals change their environment

    Plants and animals, including humans, change the environment to meet their needs, for example beavers building dams, earthworms loosening soil, roots breaking rock, or people building homes and digging wells. Teach students to gather evidence of these changes and construct a simple argument (claim, evidence, reasoning) that a specific organism changes its environment to meet a need. Real understanding means supporting the claim with observed evidence rather than assertion.

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15. Human impact on land, water, and air and solutions to reduce it

    Human activities such as littering, pollution from trash, cutting trees, or runoff can harm land, water, air, and living things in the local environment. Teach students to identify such impacts in their own community and communicate practical solutions that reduce them, such as picking up litter, recycling, planting trees, or conserving water. Real understanding means linking a specific human action to its effect on the environment and proposing a solution that addresses that specific effect.

    Builds on Defining a problem people want to change, How plants and animals change their environment

Practice questions in Kindergarten Science

A few of the kinds of questions you will work through, with answers.