Idea Box {First Grade Science}

Standard 1-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the features of the sky and the patterns of the Sun and the Moon.

Indicators: 

Indicator 1-3.1: Compare the features of the day and night sky.

Indicator 1-3.2: Recall that the Sun is a source of heat and light for Earth
Indicator 1-3.3: Recognize that the Sun and the Moon appear to rise and set.
Indicator 1-3.4: Illustrate changes in the Moon’s appearance (including patterns over time).

Read a Related Book:

Sun Up, Sun Down: The Story of Day and Night, by Jacqui Bailey

On Earth, by G. Brian Karas

The Moon, by Seymour Simon

1. Create a postcard telling a family member about what it’s like to visit the moon. Mail it home.

2. Discuss the similarities and differences of light-making and light-reflecting objects. Sort word and picture cards into their appropriate category.

3. Use a flashlight and inflatable globe to demonstrate how the Earth rotates on an axis, creating sunrise and sunset.

4. Modify sentences from the book so that they are incorrect. Have students re-write them accurately.

5. Go outside to observe clouds. Have students write a sentence about one of the clouds and sketch a picture or use materials (cotton balls) to re-create it.

6. Create a sundial (white cardboard paper, wooden stick (pencil), modeling clay). Make predictions about what will happen throughout the day. Each hour, record changes.

7. Using a Velcro or felt board, create patterns that reflect the phases of the moon.

8. Word Search game: Look for unit vocabulary words hidden around the classroom, while carrying paper and a clipboard. When found, record the words and read the completed list aloud to the teacher or a classmate.

Howard Gardner: visual spatial, verbal linguistic, naturalist, interpersonal, bodily kinesthetic