Grade 1 - Science

Skills 

ATTITUDES

UNDERSTANDINGS

Science Inquiry- General Learner Expectations

Science Inquiry- Specific Learner Expectations

Problem Solving through Technology- General Learner Expectations

Problem Solving through Technology-Specific Learner Expectations

Attitudes: General Learner Expectations

Students will show growth in acquiring and applying the following traits: • curiosity • confidence in personal ability to explore materials and learn by direct study • inventiveness • perseverance: staying with an investigation over a sustained period of time • appreciation of the value of experience and careful observation • a willingness to work with others and to consider their ideas • a sense of responsibility for actions taken • respect for living things and environments, and commitment for their care.

Topic A- Creating Colour: Students explore coloured materials, learning about different colours, how they are created, what happens when they are mixed and how they can be transferred from one material to another. Students learn to distinguish and describe colours and work with a variety of materials to create, modify and apply colours. In the process, students learn that different materials have particular properties and that the properties and interactions of materials have to be taken into account when they are used for a specific purpose.

Topic B-Seasonal Changes: Students learn that changes in their environment occur in a regular pattern known as the seasons. They explore weather change, and how the ups and downs of weather affect their own lives. Looking beyond themselves and beyond the immediate weather, students are guided to discover that there are larger patterns of change that affect the life habits of many living things. The interactions among different parts of the environment, and the recurrence of change as part of a cycle, are important science ideas that are introduced in this topic.

Topic C-Building Thing: Students learn about materials by using them to construct a variety of objects, including model buildings, toys, boats and vehicles. Students select materials to use and gain experience as they cut and shape, fold, pile materials on top of one another, join parts, and try different techniques to achieve the result that they intend. In the process, they learn to look at objects that are similar to what they are trying to construct and, with guidance, begin to recognize the component parts that make up the whole.

Topic D- Senses: Students develop an awareness of their own senses and how they are used. They learn that each of their senses provides information about particular aspects of our environment; and that, together, the senses enable us to know things and do things that we would not otherwise be able to do, or at least not as easily. Students learn about the function of their senses, how they are cared for, how they could be damaged and how one’s own ability to sense things may differ from those of other people and other living things. Through this topic, students learn to sharpen the use of their senses and describe as accurately as possible the information that their senses provide.

Topic E-Needs of Animals and Plants: Students learn about living things and what they need to live and grow. By studying a variety of living things, students become familiar with similarities and differences and develop skills for describing and classifying what they see. As the topic progresses, attention is focused on how living things survive, what they need and how their needs are met. Through the topic, students become aware that groups of living things have some common needs and that different animals and plants meet those needs in different ways. Students also learn about their own responsibility in caring for living things.

Bring focus to investigative activities, based on their own questions and those of others.

Describe materials and objects that have been observed and manipulated, and identify what was done and found out.

Focus: • ask questions that lead to exploration and investigation • predict what they think will happen or what they might find

Explore and Investigate: • manipulate materials and make observations that are relevant to questions asked • identify materials used • recognize and describe steps followed, based on independent activity, on directed activity and on observing the activity of others

Reflect and Interpret • describe what was observed, using pictures and oral language • identify questions being investigated and identify what was learned about each question • identify new questions that arise from what was learned.

Construct, with guidance, an object that achieves a given purpose, using materials that are provided.

Focus: • identify the problem or task: What structure do we need to make?

Explore and Investigate: • attempt, with guidance, one or more strategies to complete the task • engage in all parts of the task • identify materials used • recognize and describe steps followed, based on independent activity, on directed activity and on observing the activity of others

Reflect and Interpret :• describe the product of the activity, using pictures and oral language • identify processes by which the product was made • identify how the product might be used.

Demonstrate positive attitudes for the study of science and for the application of science in responsible ways.

Identify and evaluate methods for creating colour and for applying colours to different materials.

Use the senses to make general and specific observations, and communicate observations orally and by producing captioned pictures.

Describe the role of the human senses and the senses of other living things, in enabling perception and action.

Describe some common living things, and identify needs of those living things.

Identify colours in a variety of natural and manufactured objects.

 Compare and contrast colours, using terms such as lighter than, darker than, more blue, brighter than

Order a group of coloured objects, based on a given colour criterion

Predict and describe changes in colour that result from the mixing of primary colours and from mixing a primary colour with white or with black.

Create a colour that matches a given sample, by mixing the appropriate amounts of two primary colours.

Distinguish colours that are transparent from those that are not. Students should recognize that some coloured liquids and gels can be seen through and are thus transparent and that other colours are opaque.

Compare the effect of different thicknesses of paint. Students should recognize that a very thin layer of paint, or a paint that has been watered down, may be partly transparent.

Compare the adherence of a paint to different surfaces; e.g., different forms of papers, fabrics and plastics

 Demonstrate that colour can sometimes be extracted from one material and applied to another; e.g., by extracting a vegetable dye and applying it to a cloth, by dissolving and transferring a water-soluble paint.

Demonstrate at least one way to separate sunlight into component colours.

Describe seasonal changes, and interpret the effects of seasonal changes on living things.

Construct objects and models of objects, using a variety of different materials.

Identify the purpose of different components in a personally constructed object or model, and identify corresponding components in a related object or model.

 Identify each of the senses, and explain how we use our senses in interpreting the world.

Identify ways that our senses contribute to our safety and quality of life.

 Apply particular senses to identify and describe objects or materials provided and to describe living things and environments. Students meeting this expectation will be able to describe characteristics, such as colour, shape, size, texture, smell and sound.

Recognize the limitations of our senses, and identify situations where our senses can mislead us; e.g., feeling hot or cold, optical illusions, tasting with a plugged nose.

 Recognize that other living things have senses, and identify ways that various animals use their senses; e.g., sensing danger, finding food, recognizing their own young, recognizing a potential mate.

Describe ways that people adapt to limited sensory abilities or to the loss of a particular sense; e.g., colour blindness, inability to see objects at close range.

Describe ways to take care of our sensory organs, in particular, our eyes and ears.

Observe, describe and compare living things.

Contrast living and nonliving things.

Identify ways in which living things are valued; e.g., as part of a community of living things; as sources of food, clothing or shelter

Classify some common local plants and animals into groups on the basis of visible characteristics; e.g., adaptations for survival, such as claws, beaks, prickles.

Identify examples of plants and animals that are normally under human care (domesticated) and those that are normally independent of human care (wild).

Identify the requirements of animals to maintain life; i.e., air, food, water, shelter, space; and recognize that we must provide these for animals in our care.

Identify the requirements of plants to maintain life; i.e., air, light, suitable temperature, water, growing medium, space; and recognize that we must provide these for plants in our care.

 Identify ways that land plants depend on soil.

Recognize that some plants and animals must adapt to extreme conditions to meet their basic needs; e.g., arctic and desert plants and animals.

Give examples of ways in which animals depend on plants and ways in which plants depend on animals; e.g., particular plants may serve as a source of food and shelter, animals may help spread pollen and seeds.

 Describe the regular and predictable cycle of seasonal changes: • changes in sunlight • changes in weather

Identify and describe examples of plant and animal changes that occur on a seasonal basis: • changes in form and appearance • changes in location of living things • changes in activity; e.g., students should recognize that many living things go into a dormant period during winter and survive under a blanket of snow as a seed, egg or hibernating animal • production of young on a seasonal basis.

Identify human preparations for seasonal change and identify activities that are done on a seasonal basis

Record observable seasonal changes over a period of time.

Select appropriate materials, such as papers, plastics, woods; and design and build objects, based on the following kinds of construction tasks:• construct model buildings; e.g., homes (human, animal, from other cultures), garages, schools • construct model objects; e.g., furniture, equipment, boats, vehicles • construct toys; e.g., pop-ups, figures • create wind- and water-related artifacts; e.g., dams, water wheels, boats.

Identify component parts of personally constructed objects, and describe the purpose of each part.

Compare two objects that have been constructed for the same purpose, identify parts in one object that correspond to parts in another, and identify similarities and differences between these parts

Recognize that products are often developed for specific purposes, and identify the overall purpose for each model and artifact constructed.