SCIENCE 🦋
KINDERGARTEN STEELS curriculum framework

ANIMAL & PLANT NEEDS

STANDARD 3.1.K.A

• Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. 

BIG IDEA

• The structures, functions, and behaviors of organisms allow them to obtain, use, transport, and remove the matter and energy needed to sustain them. 

CORE IDEAS

• All animals need food in order to live and grow.  They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. 

PATTERNS

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

PUSHES & PULLS

STANDARD 3.2.K.A

• Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull. 

BIG IDEA

• A change in motion of interacting objects can be explained and predicted by forces.  

CORE IDEAS

• Pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions. Pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of its motion and can start or stop it. 

CAUSE & EFFECT

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

PUSHES & PULLS

STANDARD 3.2.K.B

• lan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object. 

BIG IDEA

• All forces between objects, regardless of size or direction, arise from only a few types of interactions. 

CORE IDEAS

• Pushes and pulls can have different strengths and directions. Pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of its motion and can start or stop it. When objects touch or collide, they push on one another and can change motion 

CAUSE & EFFECT

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

SUNLIGHT & WARMTH

STANDARD 3.2.K.C

• Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

STANDARD 3.2.K.D

• Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area. 

BIG IDEA

• Sunlight warms Earth’s surface. 

CORE IDEAS

• Sunlight warms Earth’s surface.

CAUSE & EFFECT

• Events have causes that generate observable patterns.

WEATHER PATTERNS

STANDARD 3.3.K.A

• Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time. 

BIG IDEA

• Weather and climate are shaped by complex interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things.  

CORE IDEAS

• Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time. 

PATTERNS

• Patterns in the natural particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time. world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence. 

LIVING THINGS: NEEDS & IMPACTS

STANDARD 3.3.K.B

• Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. 

BIG IDEA

• Life and the planet’s nonliving systems impact one another. 

CORE IDEAS

• Plants and animals can change their environment.

SYSTEMS & SYSTEM MODELS

• Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together. 

LIVING THINGS: NEEDS & IMPACTS

STANDARD 3.3.K.C

• Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live. 

BIG IDEA

• All materials, energy, and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, some of which are renewable over time and others are not. 

CORE IDEAS

• Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that have the things they need. Humans use natural resources for everything they do. 

SYSTEMS & SYSTEM MODELS

• Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together. 

SEVERE WEATHER

STANDARD 3.3.K.D

• Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.

BIG IDEA

• Natural processes can cause sudden or gradual changes to Earth’s systems, some of which may adversely affect humans. 

CORE IDEAS

• Some kinds of severe weather are more likely than others in a given region.  Weather scientists forecast severe weather so that the communities can prepare for and respond to these events. 

CAUSE & EFFECT

• Events have causes that generate observable patterns.  

LIVING THINGS: NEEDS & IMPACTS

STANDARD 3.3.K.E

• Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment

BIG IDEA

• Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life has an impact on the land, rivers, ocean, and air.  

CORE IDEAS

• Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things. 

CAUSE & EFFECT

• Events have causes that generate observable patterns.