CT Topics

Abstraction > Grades 1-2

In grades K–2, students begin to identify key characteristics and attributes of objects. Identifying important attributes is the first step in developing abstractions. They can then begin to group objects with similar characteristics (classifying bodies of water into rivers, lakes, or oceans, for instance), and are encouraged to explain what attributes members of the group all share (as well as attributes that may differ).

They also begin to think of breaking down larger problems into smaller tasks, chunking common sets of steps that they can refer to all at once by naming it (such as naming a machine that performs a sequence of tasks).

Grade 1 Science: Light and Shadows

Students explore how light creates shadows.

• Students experiment with making shadows outside with the sun and inside using a flashlight. They classify various objects by how light acts on each (passes through completely, is partially blocked, is totally blocked, or is reflected).
• They create drawings of their experiments that capture the key attributes.

Grade 1 Mathematics: Money Machines

Students use a machine metaphor to transform various amounts of coins, connecting dimes and pennies to tens and ones place values.

• The machine metaphor allows for an abstraction of more complicated tasks: converting, for example, a quarter and a penny to all dimes and pennies requires breaking down the input coins and combining them.

Grade 2 Science: The Effects of Wind and Water Movement on Earth's Landscape

Students investigate how blowing wind and flowing water can move earth materials and change the shape of landforms.

• Students identify types of landforms and bodies of water. They group different types, and identify attributes from each group.

Grade 2 Mathematics: Measuring and Graphing

Students measure their heights and create graphs to analyze the heights of all students in their class.

• Students create graphs of their data. A graph is an abstraction as it hides details that are not needed for the current purpose, making some things easier to notice but making other things harder (or impossible) to notice.