SCIENCE 🦋
GRADE 1 STEELS curriculum framework

ANIMAL TRAITS

STANDARD 3.1.1.A

• Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. 

BIG IDEA

• Organisms have characteristic structures, functions, and behaviors that allow them to grow, reproduce, and die.  

CORE IDEAS

• All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.  

• Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs. 

STRUCTURE & FUNCTION

• The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s). 

INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY & THE NATURAL WORLD

• Every human-made product is designed by applying some knowledge of the natural world and is built using materials derived from the natural world. 

ANIMAL & PLANT TRAITS & SURVIVAL

STANDARD 3.1.1.B

• Read texts and use media to determine patterns in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive. 

BIG IDEA

• The characteristic structures, functions, and behaviors of organisms change in predictable ways as they progress from birth to old age.  

CORE IDEAS

• Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. 

PATTERNS

• Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence. 

ANIMAL & PLANT TRAITS & SURVIVAL

STANDARD 3.1.1.C

• Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents. 

BIG IDEA

• Offspring resemble, but are not identical to, their parents due to traits being passed from one generation to the next via genes

CORE IDEAS

• Young animals are very much, but not exactly like, their parents. Plants also are very much, but not exactly, like their parents.  Individuals of the same kind of plant or animal are recognizable as similar but can also vary in many ways. 

PATTERNS

• Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence. 

LIGHT & SOUND

STANDARD 3.2.1.A

• Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. 

BIG IDEA

• Waves are repeating patterns of motion that transfer energy and information without transferring matter. 

CORE IDEAS

• Sound can make matter vibrate, and vibrating matter can make sound.

CAUSE & EFFECT

• Simple tests can be designed to gather evidence to support or refute student ideas about causes. 

LIGHT & SOUND

STANDARD 3.2.1.B

• Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated. 

STANDARD 3.2.1.C

• Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.  

BIG IDEA

• Electromagnetic radiation (e.g., radio, microwaves, light) can be modeled as a wave pattern of changing electric and magnetic fields that interact with matter.  

CORE IDEAS

• Objects can be seen if light is available to illuminate them or if they give off their own light. 

• Some materials allow light to pass through them, others allow only some light through and others block all the light and create a dark shadow on any surface beyond them, where the light cannot reach. Mirrors can be used to redirect a light beam.  

CAUSE & EFFECT

• Simple tests can be designed to gather evidence to support or refute student ideas about causes. 

LIGHT, SOUND & communication

STANDARD 3.2.1.D

• Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.  

BIG IDEA

• Useful modern technologies and instruments have been designed based on an understanding of waves and their interactions with matter 

CORE IDEAS

• People also use a variety of devices to communicate (send and receive information) over long distances.  

INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY & THE NATURAL WORLD

• People depend on various technologies in their lives; human life would be very different without technology. 

DAY & NIGHT PATTERNS

STANDARD 3.3.1.A

• Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted. 

BIG IDEA

• We can infer information about stars based on observations we make from Earth. 

CORE IDEAS

• Patterns of the motion of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, and predicted. 

PATTERNS

• Patterns in the natural world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence.  

INFLUENCE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY & THE NATURAL WORLD

• People depend on various technologies in their lives; human life would be very different without technology. 

DAY & NIGHT PATTERNS

STANDARD 3.3.1.B

• Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year. 

BIG IDEA

• Observations of the sky can be explained by predictable patterns of the movement of Earth, moon, sun and planets. 

CORE IDEAS

• Seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset can be observed, described, and predicted. 

PATTERNS

• Patterns in the natural world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence.