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).
Students explore how light creates shadows.
Students use a machine metaphor to transform various amounts of coins, connecting dimes and pennies to tens and ones place values.
Students investigate how blowing wind and flowing water can move earth materials and change the shape of landforms.
Students measure their heights and create graphs to analyze the heights of all students in their class.