Robert Frost once said, “You can’t get too much winter in the winter”. So why not go all out and do some fun winter-themed science lessons? Winter is a great time to teach topics like snow, ice, insulators, thermal energy, and extreme weather. There are some simple and engaging winter science activities that third-grade students will love!

explore SNOW AND its HAZARDS

To be sure, not everyone experiences snow in winter, but for many people, winter and snow go hand-in-hand. For some people, blizzards are a regular occurrence during the winter.

To teach about snow and its hazards, there are plenty of great activities. Some of them include reading age-appropriate materials about the topic, doing snowflake art, and creating a plan to prepare for a blizzard. Another fun snow activity is to design a device that will launch a snowball (cotton ball) across the classroom.

For more details on these snow activities, click HERE.

learn about ICE AND its HAZARDS

Ice is another phenomenon that many people experience during the winter. There are some fun ways to teach about ice.

Read about ice and its hazards, then create a city safety plan. Experiment with melting points to see which substances will melt ice the fastest. Complete a STEM challenge using matchbook cars, sandpaper, and ice to teach how slippery ice is. Don’t forget to incorporate art by creating colored ice cubes so students can paint with them.

For more ideas and details about these activities, check out this blog about ice and its hazards. 

what are insulators?

Whether it’s watching a YouTube video, reading nonfiction passages, or doing a STEM challenge, there are plenty of ways to engage students while learning about insulators.

Plus, students can study polar bears and learn how insulators help these arctic animals. Be sure to conduct the experiment where students pretend to be a polar bear by covering their finger or hand with some lard and plunging it into ice water.

Check out this blog for more details and science lessons about insulators.

thermal energy in the winter

For a deeper look at insulation, radiation, and conduction check out this blog all about thermal energy.

Drink a cup of tea or hot cocoa with your students and talk about how the heat transfers from the mug into their cool hands (conduction). Sit around a space heater to get warm (radiation). Make ice and have students melt it in their bare hands so they can experience heat transfer.

There are many fun and budget-friendly options for teaching thermal energy. 

wintertime extreme weather

For many places around the world, winter brings extreme weather. This could take the form of extreme wind, rain, snow, or hail. There are plenty of activities for teaching extreme weather.

Research extreme weather and how people prepare for it. Have students construct a weather-resistant bridge in a Tupperware container and test it to see if it will withstand water being poured around it.

Challenge students to design a weather-resistant shelter that you will “attack” with your hairdryer to simulate extreme wind.

For more details and ideas click HERE and read about Extreme Weather activities for 3rd grade. 

These topics feel natural to teach in the winter since students will likely be seeing these phenomena happening around them. Winter science activities are fun! Enjoy!

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When a cold snap hits, there’s nothing I enjoy more than cuddling with a warm blanket and sitting by a fire with my hands wrapped around a warm beverage. This is an image your students might be able to resonate with as they learn about insulators and conductors. There are some great lessons and hands-on activities to teach the concept of insulators and conductors in third grade.

What is an insulator? What is a conductor?

Thermal energy is energy that comes from heat. Simply put, insulators don’t allow heat to move easily. The thermal energy stays where it is. Conductors allow heat to move easily from one object to another. The thermal energy moves.

The EASY Way to Explore Insulators

Ready to learn about insulators in a way that’s engaging and fun? In just a few clicks you can grab all the science and literacy pieces you need: nonfiction reading, comprehension, and an engaging  STEM challenge all about insulators.

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YouTube Videos

Many of the videos out there about conductors and insulators tend to be about electricity. It’s a little trickier to find videos about heat conductors and heat insulators. But here are a couple that I found:

1. This conductivity experiment by Generation Science will give students a great visual. You might even want to conduct this experiment yourself (pun intended!)

2. Here’s another experiment by Next Generation Science to compare the heat conductivity of glass and metal. 

hunt for conductors and insulators

Take a walk around the classroom or the school to search for conductors and insulators. By seeing real-life examples, students will get a better understanding. You might find things like:

• Insulated mugs

• Jackets and cool-weather gear

• Thin clothing, like a t-shirt

• The classroom windows (Feel them! Are they letting out the heat? Is it coming in?)

polar bears demonstrate insulation

Polar bears have a thick fur coat to help keep them warm, but they also have a solid layer of blubber under their fur to retain more warmth. Their black skin absorbs the sunlight which also helps them stay warm. This age-appropriate reading passage about polar bears is a great way to teach students about insulators.

polar bear insulation experiment

After reading about polar bears, it’s time to become a polar bear! Fill a large bowl or basin with water and ice. Then have students cover their finger or hand with lard…that’s right, it’s time to break out the Cristo!

Students can submerge their fingers or hand into the ice water to see how the lard insulates. Then have students stick their “un-larded” hand into the bowl to feel the temperature difference. While this is a messy experiment, it’s fun and it’s memorable!

experiment - testing insulators

Learn about insulators and conductors - then test your knew knowledge in a STEM challenge!

Doing hands-on activities is a great way to reinforce learning. Have students insulate a beaker full of hot water using various materials, such as felt, fabric, tin foil, newspaper, and Styrofoam.

By following the scientific method, students can test a variety of materials to see which is the better insulator. For a more detailed description, check out Insulators and Conductors.

Slow Melting

Insulators and conductors can also keep things from thawing. By doing this insulator experiment from TeachEngineering, students can test which insulators will keep ice frozen the longest.

While the topic of conductors and insulations might initially seem complicated, real-life examples and hands-on activities are a great way to demonstrate the concept to kids. Have fun!

What do you think about when you see snow in the forecast? Snowflakes falling from the sky? Children building snowmen? A snow day closure at school? Back pain from shoveling? Terrible driving conditions? Snow has its ups and downs for sure! Regardless of your thoughts about snow, there are some awesome science activities about snow for third grade!

What is Snow? Why is it Hazardous?

Snow is made from water vapor (a form of gas) in clouds high in the sky. When temperatures in a cloud drop below freezing, the water vapor freezes to form crystals. If the cloud gets too heavy, these crystals will fall as snow.

While snow is beautiful and fun to play in, it also creates hazards. These hazards include dangerous driving conditions, damage to homes and powerlines, and whiteout conditions.

Ways to prepare for these conditions could be staying inside, dressing warmly, having flashlights handy, and having a supply of non-perishable food and bottled water. 

Snow Science and Literacy

Learn all about snow with this easy-to-teach lesson set.

Scripted lessons… check!
Nonfiction Reading… check!
Hands-On Science Experiment… check!
Assessment… check!

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Videos about Snow

Here are a few videos about snow and snow hazards:

1. Peekaboo Kidz - The Dr Binocs Show “SNOWFLAKES”

2. SciShow Kids - Where Do Snowflakes Come From?

3. SciShow Kidz - What is a Blizzard?

4. FreeSchool - What Makes it Snow?

Snow and Blizzards Nonfiction Reading

Reading about snow and blizzards is a great place to start. Check out these grade-appropriate reading passages on Snow & Its Hazards, and Blizzards.

Each passage also comes with comprehension questions. The blizzard passage comes in two reading levels and two versions of the reading comprehension activity. 

Art Integration -Snowflake Art Projects

There are some amazing snowflake art projects that you could do with your students. Here are a few ideas:

1. Wax Resist Snowflakes: This is a simple project that has radical results. Have students use a white crayon or oil pastel to draw a snowflake on a white piece of paper. They will have to press hard to get the best result.

   After they’ve finished drawing the snowflake, use watercolor paint to paint over the crayon. The oil from the crayon or pastel will resist the paint and the snowflake will pop. If you look up Wax Resist Snowflake Art on Google, there will be dozens of examples. 

2. Catching Snowflakes Art: This is a classic art project where students draw themselves catching snowflakes.

3. Pattern Block Snowflakes Art: This is a great way to combine science, art, AND math,

Snowball Fight STEM Challenge

In this snowball fight STEM challenge, students are challenged to design a device that will launch a cotton “snowball” the furthest distance. Students will design, test, and execute their launch in this fun take on a snowball fight!

weather-related hazards, BLIZZARD PREPAREDNESS activity

A fun way to engage students in determining ways to prepare for a blizzard is to create a shopping list and a To-Do list. You could do this as a whole group or have students create their own lists by using the snow preparedness To-Do list template in this resource. 

These are just a few of the fantastic ideas out there for teaching snow and its hazards. Have fun!

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When someone says the word ‘ice’, I can’t help but think about Elsa’s “Let It Go” song as she builds her ice castle. Am I the only one? Maybe I’m unique in that, but that’s OK. Ice is an exciting topic for kids to explore, and there are some awesome science activities for third grade to teach about ice and its hazards.

What is Ice? Why is it hazardous?

Ice is the solid state of water. Water will freeze when temperatures reach 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Black ice is a thin layer of transparent ice and is a hazardous form of ice.

To help negate the effects of ice, trucks can sprinkle sand, dirt, or salt on the roads. People can also put snow tires on their vehicles to keep them from slipping as they drive.

The Easy & Fun Way to Explore Ice

Ready to explore the hazards of ice AND meet science and literacy outcomes? In just a few clicks you can grab everything you need: nonfiction reading, comprehension, and an engaging  science experiment.

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Ice, Icicles, and Frost - Videos for Kids

Here are a few engaging videos to help spice up any lessons about ice!

1. Where Do Icicles Come From? by SciShow Kids is a fun video about icicles and how they form when snow melts and refreezes.

2. Where Does Frost Come From? by SciShow Kids

Reading about Ice

Reading about ice is a great way to incorporate literacy into science. Students will read about the science of ice. They will also read about some of its hazards and ways to stay safe when the conditions are icy.

After reading, they will have the opportunity to answer comprehension questions.

Integrating Art - Ice Cube Painting

For a way to incorporate art into science lessons about ice, Thimble And Twig has a fun idea for making colored ice. Add food coloring to water and freeze it in an ice cube tray. Make sure to add a popsicle stick before freezing. Then students can paint on paper using the frozen cubes.

science experiment - Melting Mayhem

Experiment to see which substances help ice melt. Use substances like salt, baking soda, hot water, etc. Or have students brainstorm things they’d like to try.

While experimenting, review states of matter and have students record their findings. For step-by-step instructions and templates, check out the resource linked above. 

science experiment - Slick as Ice

To teach students how slippery ice can be, experiment to see how far an object will slide. The night before the experiment lesson, freeze water on a long cookie sheet. Collect materials like a piece of carpet, cloth, and sandpaper. Gather straws and a small car.

To execute the experiment, lay the cookie sheet, carpet, cloth, and sandpaper on a flat surface. Have students take turns using the straw to blow the car across each surface. They will see that the cars travel more easily on the ice than the other items.

This isn’t a ‘proper’ experiment because there are uncontrolled factors like students using different-sized breaths while blowing through the straw, but this will help demonstrate that roads can be slippery when icy. 

How Cars Lose Control on Icy Roads

The UCAR Center for Science Education has a similar experiment, focusing on cars losing control on ice roads.

City Safety Plan

Plan for a weather-related hazard in a fictional city with this quick and fun activity.

After learning about the hazards of ice, have students imagine they are in charge of a community that has never experienced a cold snap. Their job is to create an ice safety plan for their city so they can demonstrate their understanding of the topic. To save you time creating the template, check out the template in the resource. 

The topic of ice can be quite exciting for our students. Have fun teaching about ice to your third-grade students!

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Albert Einstein once said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” And I find that curiosity abounds among First Graders. The science curriculum in Grade One naturally makes students curious about things around them. Take a look at my favorite experiments and ideas for making the first grade science curriculum come alive.

WHAT ARE THE TOPICS IN GRADE 1 SCIENCE? 

Here in BC, our science curriculum is guided by the BC Big Ideas. The BC Big Ideas for Grade 1 Science are…

• Living things have features and behaviors that help them survive in their environment

• Matter is useful because of its properties

• Light and sound can be produced and their and their properties can be changed

• Observable patterns and cycles occur in the local sky and landscape

When teaching these big ideas, I generally break it down into 6 distinct topics: Space, Matter and Materials, Light and Sound, Animals, Weather, and Seasons.

So many of these topics also cross over with the NGSS and several other state-specific standards. These ideas will work well in any classroom with little scientists!

Everything You Need to Teach Grade 1 Science

A complete (scripted) unit for every single grade 1 science unit in BC. Lesson plans, vocabulary, projects, experiments, activities, and more!

Click and print. Planning is really that easy.

check out the units

Teaching About the Weather

Weather is the perfect topic for younger students because it is all around them! They can understand the concept of sun, clouds, rain, and snow (in some parts of the world) because they have personally experienced these things.

There are some fabulous activities for teaching the weather: keeping a weather journal, charting the weather, and exploring weather in other parts of the world. For even more hands-on (and potentially messy) learning, you can make shaving cream clouds or homemade rain gauge.

Check out this blog post to see details on these weather lessons and activities and more.

Lessons about Seasons and How They Change

Like with weather, seasons are something little learners experience regularly. Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer can look unique in different communities, and it’s the perfect chance to explore where you are. Remember to keep the lessons simple, engaging, and interactive. Check out this blog post for ideas about videos to watch, reading passages to use, and activities to implement. 

Planets in Our Solar System - Activities and Projects

Looking into the sky at night brings wonder and awe! Kids tend to have a lot of questions about space and the solar system. For fun ideas about teaching the solar system and space, click here. Some ideas include an art project about sunsets/sunrises, making straw rockets, watching videos about living on the International Space Station, and a game to teach the difference between an ‘orbit’ and a ‘rotation’.

learning about light and sound

There are many natural phenomena when it comes to light and sound: rainbows, stars, the sun, lightning, thunder, animal noises, music! Whether it’s watching YouTube videos, playing a game of “Guess the Sound”, hunting for noise and light sources, or doing experiments, there are plenty of ways to engage students while learning about sound and light. This blog is full of ideas for experiments and lessons that will engage your students. 

Properties of Matter and Materials

If you’re looking for ways to teach about the properties of matter and materials to Grade One students, check out this blog post.

Some of my favorite matter and materials activities are included

• Sorting the States of Matter (printable game)

• Matter in My World printable project

• The BEST YouTube videos

• Hands-On Properties of Matter Stations

How do living things adapt and survive?

Animals and plants are fascinating topics for Little Learners, and keeping the focus on ‘animals’ is a high-interest way to teach about how living things survive and adapt. Try focusing in on a single animal to really help your students become adaptation and survival experts!

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Grade One Science is full of wonder, excitement, curiosity, and…well….it can get messy with Little Learners. But, as Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus always says, “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.” So have some fun while teaching science to your Grade One students!                                                                

I don’t think there’s anything I like more than a day at the aquarium. We are lucky enough to get to visit the Vancouver Aquarium every year, I can’t help but marvel at the diversity of plants and animals throughout the world. Seeing the attributes that help different plants and animals survive is fascinating… and little learners love exploring the plant and animal world.

What does it mean to adapt?

When plants and animals change their physical features or behaviors in order to survive it is called an adaptation. Adapting to an environment is a critical part of survival. There are many different kinds of adaptations:

• Hibernation is when an animal sleeps during the winter months.

• Mimicry is when a living thing acts like a different living thing to stay safe or get food.

• Camouflage is when a living thing matches the things around them.

• Dormancy is when a plant stops growing for a while. Plants might go dormant in the winter when it’s too cold to grow.

The EASY way to teach about animal and plant adaptations.

Ready to learn about how living things adapt and survive in Kindergarten or First Grade? In just a few clicks you can grab all the pieces you need: lesson plans, vocabulary cards, nonfiction reading, printable worksheets ,and hands-on activities! 

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outdoor lesson ideas

When teaching about plant and animal adaptations it’s a great idea to start outside! Have students walk around the school grounds, or some local trails, or even the local zoo. While outside, have students pay close attention to the plants and animals they see.

• Try bringing a clipboard and ask students to sketch the things they see.

• If the trails you are on allow for it, students could collect nature specimens in a plastic bag.

• Try creating nature bracelets using clear packing tape or wide painter’s tape. Loop your chosen tape around your students’ wrists with the sticky side out. As your students see little things they want to collect, they can stick them to their bracelet. When they have finished the walk, they will have a bracelet full of little specimens of nature. (This idea also deters students from gathering large items and bringing them back to the classroom with them. Only small things will stick to the packing tape bracelet 🙂)

Animal Adaptation Videos

Adding in some YouTube videos while teaching about animal and plant adaptations can be an engaging way to introduce, summarize, or reinforce learning. Here are a few videos you might want to add into your lessons:

• LearnBright, “Animal Adaptations for Kids” - A great overview of physical and behavioral animal adaptations

• Peekaboo Kidz, The Dr. Binoc’s Show, “Adaptations in Plants”

• Peekaboo Kidz, The Dr. Binoc’s Show, “Animals Adaptation”

• SciShow Kids, “Camouflage: Animal Hide and Seek”

• SciShow Kids, “Animal Tricksters” - a video about mimicry

Reading about Adaptations 

Integrate reading into your science lessons with nonfiction texts. There are so many great resources out there for students to find information about plants and animals.

Nonfiction readers about living things and adaptations.

The “What If You Had” books by Sandra Markle are an engaging way to explain the features of different animals and explain how the feature helps the animal adapt to its environment.

These printable (and differentiated) nonfiction readers are perfect for little learners. The animal and plant adaptation unit comes with two nonfiction passages: Living and Nonliving Things and Living Things Adapt. You can choose the level that’s right for your kids! Each passage comes as a full-page passage and printable mini-book in TWO levels. You choose the level that’s best for your students.

Sorting Living and Nonliving Things

For a quick and easy activity, have students do a cut-and-paste sort of living and non-living things. Gather magazines and have students cut out pictures of things they find, kind of like a collage. They could even do this in groups and glue their pictures to a poster board.

Exploring Camouflage

Start this lesson with a game of Hide-and-Seek! Hide an object in your classroom for students to find. Then, talk about how animals do this in the wild - they camouflage so predators can’t find them or prey can’t see them. Next, give students a black-and-white outline of an animal. Then, ask them to color their animal to camouflage somewhere into the classroom. We do a version of this in our 3rd grade adaptations unit!

research local plants and animals

“Plants Around Me” explores local diversity. It also comes in an “Animals Around Me” version. Both are included in the Adaptations unit for little learners.

Tap into the natural curiosity found in early elementary and have your students research the animals and/or plants around them.

The ‘Around Me’ project asks students to look around their area to find local plants or animals! This booklet can be created using student drawings/sketches or printed pictures and photographs. It’s a great way to help students notice local biodiversity!

An animal lapbook project that explores a single animal (or plant!) in detail.

The animal and plant lapbook project is a great way to let students explore their own natural curiosities. You can assign a topic (“We’re all studying bald eagles!”) or allow students to choose their own topic for research. The very guided templates help students as they research. My own kindergarteners liked watching YouTube videos and having their big buddies write down the essential information. In grade one, we wrote simple sentences for each guided topic.

Both projects are available in the Animal and Plant Adaptations Unit for Little Learners.

Plants and animals are a fascinating topic for Little Learners. And there are some highly engaging activities to teach about animal and plant adaptations that will have your First Grade students chomping at the bit for more. 

Are you fascinated by planets in our solar system? I once had the opportunity to hear Chris Hadfield speak at a conference in Vancouver. Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut who has been on several recent space expeditions to the International Space Station and he famously recreated the “Space Oddity” song while in space. I have always found the idea of space and space travel to be so inspiring. There is so much wonder and mystery in the universe. We can tap into that wonder while teaching about the Solar System. There are some great solar system activities, projects, and lessons that can be implemented into a unit about Space.

What is the Solar System for Kids?

Simply put, the Solar System is the Sun and everything that orbits around it. This includes the planets, the moons that orbit the planets, asteroids, comets, dust, gas, and other particles. Stars are not technically part of the Solar System.

The EASY Way to Teach the Solar System

Ready to start your unit on the Solar System in Kindergarten or First Grade? In just a few clicks you can grab all the pieces you need: lesson plans, vocabulary cards, nonfiction reading, printable worksheets ,and hands-on activities! 

Click and print. Planning is really that easy.

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Solar System and Space YouTube Videos

Here are some videos that you might want to use when teaching about the Solar System.

1. Sci Show Kids - Explore the Solar System: The Rocky Planets

2. Sci Show Kids - Why Can I See The Moon During the Day?

3. Story Bots - Outer Space - This one is a fun and engaging show geared toward young learners. This episode really gives me ‘Hamilton’ vibes with fast, rap-like lyrics.

4. The Planet Song for Kids - If you’re looking for a catchy song to teach your students to name the different planets, you might find this song fun.

5. What about Pluto? A great video about dwarf planets.

Astronauts in Space

Chris Hadfield created some fabulous videos about life in space that little learners would absolutely find interesting!

• Canadian Space Agency - Chris Hadfield Brushes His Teeth in Space

• Canadian Space Agency - Chris Hadfield’s Space Kitchen

• Canadian Space Agency - Sleeping in Space

straw rocket stem challenge

Blast off with this STEM activity using common classroom materials. Use paper, a straw, glue, and pipe cleaners to create crafty rockets that launch using the power of your breath! They’re the perfect activity after watching the above videos about astronauts and space exploration. Full straw rocket instructions and supplies are here on the KiwiCo website.

Combining Reading and Art into Solar System Lessons

Add age-appropriate nonfiction reading about space with the passages in my Solar System Unit for little learners. Movement in the Sky explores how the planets orbit around the sun and rotate on their own axis. Sunrise and Sunset looks at how the movement of planets produces the sunrises and sunsets we see in the sky.

Go a step further with a sunrise/sunset art project! It’s a fun way to help students demonstrate their understanding of how the colors in the sky change during these times of day.

A sunrise or sunset art project with a black silhouette.

Before starting the project, read a story like ‘Sky Color’ by Peter H. Reynolds or watch an online video showing a sunrise or sunset. Using the book/video as a guide, talk about the colors that can be seen during a sunrise. Are they different in a sunset? How do they blend into each other? Which colors are found down low? Which ones are higher up. Give students painting materials (I like watercolors for this) and them time to paint and create.

Want to take it a step further? After the paint has dried, add a black silhouette of any shape/object you’d like. In the one pictured students added a landform (hill) and an animal of their choosing.

What’s the difference between Orbit and Rotate?

Learning the difference between orbit and rotation could become an interactive lesson by having students act each one out.

• Make one student the sun

• When you say “orbit” should walk around the sun in a circle, just like the planets orbit the sun

• When you say “rotate” students should pause and spin in a circle on the spot. (Explain that they’re rotating on their own internal axis)

Of course, planets orbit and rotate, but this involves a little too much coordination for little learners! Feel free to try it out in a large space like a field or gymnasium.

The Planets in Our Solar System

Anchor Chart: The Solar System. Printable pieces for this chart are available in the Space and Solar System unit for littler learners.

Teaching the planets doesn’t have to be complicated. There are some intricate ideas out there like creating models of the solar system. This is a fun idea, but sometimes doing a multi-day project can be overwhelming, so I have a few ideas that require less prep to teach about the planets. 

• Create an anchor chart as a group to help students visualize the planets in space.

• Put students into groups of eight and give each student a card with the name of a planet. Then have students organize themselves in the right order.

• Cut and paste the planets into the correct order.

Learning about the Sun

The sun is vitally important to our Solar System. It is a source of light and heat. Everything rotates around it. It helps things grow. So it’s important to teach about the sun. For a fun lesson about the sun, have students learn some simple facts.

First, have students come up with things they know about the sun. Regardless of what they say, write these ideas down (yes, even if the idea is incorrect). Then have students do some research to learn more and determine if all the original statements about the sun were true. 

Use the printable ‘All About the Sun’ worksheet to collect facts!

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Space is vast, mysterious, and awe-inspiring! There are some fabulous activities to teach little learners all about space. How will you inspire your students while they learn about the Solar System?

Light and sound are spectacular! Lightning, rainbows, shadows, the sun, stars…there are so many natural phenomena when it comes to light. Animal noises, talking, music, and vehicles…these are just a few of the many noises in our daily lives. Light and sound are concepts young learners can grasp because these are things they experience daily. And there are some awesome science activities and science experiments for first grade to teach about sound and light. 

What is Sound? What is Light?

Sound is a form of energy that helps us to hear. It’s created when matter vibrates and creates sound waves that travel to our ears. Light is a form of energy that helps us to see. When light bounces off of objects, we can see them. 

The EASY way to teach light and sound.

Looking for an all-in-one unit to teach about light and sound to little learners? In just a few clicks you can grab all the pieces you need: lesson plans, vocabulary cards, hands-on activities, printable worksheets, and more!

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Light and Sound Videos for Kids

Want to learn about light and sound with kid-friendly videos? Here are a few YouTube videos that could be incorporated into your teachings of sound and light:

• SciShow Kids has a great video all about sound

• Here’s a simple video done by Kids Academy about sources of light. This gives an overview of natural and artificial sources of light.

• Dr. Binocs has two great videos about sound and light. I often find that Dr. Binocs explains things in a slightly higher level than first grade, so some of the information is not necessary for little learners, but they will likely still find these parts of the video fascinating!

Guess the Sound activity

For a quick game that is sure to grab your kids’ attention, try playing a game of Guess the Sound! Just gather together a few YouTube video clips of various sounds (like the ones below), and see if your students can guess the correct answer!

• Video of 30 Animal Sounds

• ‘Guess That Animal Sound’

• ‘Guess That Disney Voice’ Quiz

Classroom Hunt: source of light

For a quick no-prep activity have students hunt the classroom for sources of light and sound. Doing this separately (i.e. search for sound, and then search for light) will help students be more focused on their search. If you really want to go on an adventure, walk down the school halls or venture out to the playground to see what students can discover.

Transparent, Translucent, Opaque

These worksheets and activities to teach vocabulary are included in the Light and Sound unit for little learners.

Light acts differently with different objects. So why not have students experiment with various objects to see how the light acts. Conduct an experiment where students discover objects that are transparent, translucent and opaque. 

A transparent object lets light pass through, like Saran Wrap or a window. A translucent object lets some light pass through, like a tinted window or paper. An opaque object does not let light pass through at all. For example, a wooden table or a saucepan. 

For this experiment (included in the Light and Sound unit), set out flashlights and various objects for students to test. Instruct students to use their flashlights to help them ‘test’ the transparency of each object. Does the beam of light go all the way through the object? Part way? Not at all? Students can record their findings.

shadow art project

After a short group lesson to explain the concept of shadows, have students create shadow art! For this, give each students a pencil, paper and medium sized object. Find a sunny spot or use an artificial light source. Then use the object to cast a shadow on the paper. Trace the shadow on the paper. (taken word for word from your unit)

exploring the science of shadows

This shadow activity is a fun way to experiment with shadows and determine if shadows are always black. By using various translucent materials, students will discover that shadows can come in a variety of colors.

Seeing Sound

Check out this fun experiment that uses water in order to see sound vibrations. Your students will love this demonstration of how sound is created.

Light and sound are all around us! Your first-grade students can experience sound and light every day! Teaching sound and light in first grade can be fun and interactive.

Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me. Rain, rain go away come again another day. It’s raining, it’s pouring, the Old Man is snoring….there are several nursery rhymes and jingles about the weather. Weather is a conversation point in most grocery store line-ups. And the weather is just interesting to talk about. So learning about the weather in Kindergarten and first grade can be really fascinating for little learners. There are some awesome weather science experiments and weather activities for kindergarten.

What is the weather?

As the Oxford Dictionary defines, ‘weather’ is “the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.” But in more kid-friendly terms, ‘weather’ is how the air is feeling right now! Is it raining? Cloudy? Snowy? Sunny? Weather also includes temperature. Is it hot? Cold?

The Easy Way to Teach Weather & Seasons

Looking for an all-in-one unit to teach weather and seasons to little learners? In just a few clicks you can grab all the pieces you need: lesson plans, vocabulary cards, hands-on activities, printable worksheets, and more!

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Weather Videos for Kids

• If you’re a fan of Blippi, here’s a video where Blippi explores the topic of Weather.

• This is a simple video to help teach weather vocabulary.

• This video is a compilation of some Weather Songs that your little learners might love.

Reading About the Weather

Reading about the weather is a great place to start. For little learners, these reading passages are best used as a teacher-led activity. There are two options for reading: a simple page version or a student mini-book, depending on your preference of format. 

I suggest creating a word wall before reading the passage. Use the Word Wall Cards to help students learn the weather vocabulary. You can then use the cards as a hands-on vocabulary puzzle of center activity where students match the word and picture together. If your students can’t read yet, they can just use the pictures and verbally explain what the picture represents. 

Chart the weather

Charting the weather can be a great whole-group weather activity for Kindergarten. Gather students together on the carpet and make observations about the weather outside. Then complete the pocket chart weather information (include a picture of the pocket chart from the unit here?). Where possible, try to use precise scientific vocabulary like Celsius and precipitation. Not only will this help students in their learning, but it helps them feel empowered because they learned the meanings of tricky words. If you’re not quite sure what this lesson might look like, check out this unit for a sample lesson and a detailed lesson plan.

Once you’ve completed the group charting, have students move to their independent weather journals.

Keep a Weather Journal

This weather journal is available as a part of the Weather and Seasons Unit for Little Learners.

A Weather Journal is a great way of keeping track of weather and weather patterns. Plus, Weather Journals are a great way to combine science and writing skills. This Weather Journal (link to it) allows students to copy and fill in information from the group charting. 

SciShow Kids is a personal favorite of mine. This video talks about keeping a weather journal and might be a perfect way to introduce how to write a weather journal!

Explore the Weather Far Away

Use a computer to research what the weather is like in another area of the world. Maybe one of your students has family members living on the other side of the world. How fun would it be for your students to learn about the weather in that country? Talk about how it might differ from where you are. 

Shaving Cream Clouds

When learning about clouds and rain, this activity is a perfect weather experiment for little learners. Shaving cream rain clouds will be a highlight activity for your students. One Little Project has a great description (and video!) of how to complete this activity!

Homemade Rain Guage

Weather involved tools for collecting data and predicting patterns. Check out this simple rain guage activity you can do with your students.

There are plenty of weather experiments and weather activities out there. Do you have any favorites? Feel free to comment about your ideas below! 

Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring….these are the seasons of the year! Even just typing this phrase gets songs running through my mind for teaching kids the season.  It’s such a simple concept, yet this needs to be taught to our students. And there are some fabulous activities for teaching seasons in kindergarten and first grade. 

What is a season in simple words?

There are changes in the weather throughout the year. These weather changes are divided into four seasons: summer, fall, winter, and spring. Each season has unique weather depending on where you live.

How do you teach seasons in Kindergarten?

When teaching seasons in kindergarten, keep the lessons simple, engaging, and interactive. Also, repetition, repetition, repetition. Maybe you can find a way to incorporate seasons into your Calendar routine by singing a song and discussing what seasons it is currently. Maybe you can find ways to teach seasons in Math or Literacy circles by reading a story about the seasons and answering questions bout seasons. Whatever works best for your classroom, a few minutes routinely throughout the week can be a great way to help the concept of seasons get ingrained into your students. 

The Easy Way to Teach Weather & Seasons

Looking for an all-in-one unit to teach weather and seasons to little learners? In just a few clicks you can grab all the pieces you need: lesson plans, vocabulary cards, hands-on activities, printable worksheets, and more!

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videos about seasons for kids

Songs are the perfect learning tool in early elementary. Here are some YouTube videos with songs all about the seasons for Little Learners. 

• Seasons Song - this is a simple song that young learners enjoy. Be careful though…it might get stuck in your head too!

• Here’s another fun season song you could incorporate into your routine. 

For some more educational videos about seasons that aren’t songs, you might want to check out these videos.

• This is a snippet from Elmo’s World. This keeps the language of seasons simple without going into depth about the tilt of the earth and hemispheres. 

• This video does a good job of explaining that seasons are different depending on where you live. Parts of this video definitely go into more depth than you’ll need to teach, but maybe your students will enjoy these more advanced parts.

• SciShow Kids is a go-to youtube video for me! Here’s a great video about why there are seasons. This video (embedded in the link below) also goes into more depth than you probably need to teach, but your students might still find this interesting!

Reading about Seasons and Using Vocabulary

Have you thought about integrating literacy and science? Grab these short non-fiction readers about weather and seasons. These are available in single-page format or as student mini-books. You will likely have to help with reading these passages, depending on the reading level of your students, but they can follow along, underline key vocabulary words, and color the pictures in the mini-readers. 

There are also vocabulary cards to display in your classroom as students learn each vocabulary word. Or these cards can be used as hands-on vocabulary puzzles. Simply cut out each word and picture. Then ask students to match them together. For students who cannot read, try using the pictures alone as a center activity where students verbally explain what the picture represents.

Teach that Seasons are a Cycle (or a Pattern)

“Seasons Are a Cycle” anchor chart. Make sure the season descriptions match where you live. Try printing photos and gluing them to the chart!

Young kids love learning about patterns. They take joy in making patterns with manipulatives and finding patterns in their environment. So I imagine they would find delight in realizing that seasons are a pattern as well (although “cycle” is the more technical science word). Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, repeat, repeat, repeat! It’s a pattern!

Help Students to Understand local seasons

Another important aspect of teaching seasons is to help students understand the seasons where THEY are! I live on the West Coast of British Columbia, so I experience seasons radically differently than my followers in Australia. So take time to explore what each season feels like to your own students. Winter won’t have snow for everyone. Fall might not have falling leaves for everyone.

Teaching seasons to little learners doesn’t have to be complicated. There are some simple activities to do to teach seasons that are meaningful and easy to prepare!

Do you remember learning about the states of matter in elementary school? For some reason, those memories are etched in my mind. Some of the activities and experiments to learn about the states of matter seem to be timeless. Some of the activities that I did in elementary school are just as engaging and effective now! There are some amazing activities for learning about states of matter

What is Matter?

Everything around us is made of matter. Matter is anything that has weight and takes up space. There are three states of matter.

States of Matter

The three states of matter are solids, liquids, and gas. OK…technically there are more states of matter than three. There are plasmas, which are things like a lightning flash or fire. There are also states like Bose-Einstein condensates and fermionic condensates. If you’re interested in those states, you’ll have to look them up because they are WAY above a first-grade science level!

But when teaching states of matter to children, it’s best to keep it simple. Solid, liquid, and gas are the states of matter that we interact with daily, so they are easier to understand. For now, the three states of matter are the building blocks for little learners.

The EASY way to teach about matter in Grade 1.

Looking for a FAST way to teach about matter and properties of materials that is ready for little learners?

In just a few clicks you can grab all of the pieces you need: lesson plans, hands-on games, experiments, and more!

Click and print. It’s really that easy.

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Sort the states of matter

This is a quick and easy activity. To start with, teach a quick overview of the three states of matter. A solid keeps its shape on its own. A liquid takes the shape of its container. A gas takes up whatever space it is in.

After reviewing the three states, create an anchor chart and add some examples to the chart. The cards are a part of this matter unit for little learners.

Once your students have an understanding of the three states, put them into groups or pairs, and give them Matter Sorting Cards (link to resource). Students work together to sort the cards under the appropriate heading.

Matter in my World

This is a great activity to help students make real-world connections about each type of matter. First, have students brainstorm examples of each state that they see in the classroom. Then have them think of solids, liquids and gases outside the classroom.

After brainstorming ideas together (or in small groups), have students complete their “Matter In My World” activity. It’s the perfect way to make real-world connections about matter.

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Videos about Matter for Kids

Using a video can be a great way to shake things up when learning about matter.

• Science Max (this video is embedded above!) is a TV show about doing Large Science. In this episode, the host, Phil, does some large-scale experiments to explore the states of matter. Among other experiments, Phil makes cornstarch mud using a cement truck and a large basin. His goal is to walk across the cornstarch mud. Your students will love watching this!

• Dr. Binocs has so many fun go-to videos, including this one on the states of matter.

• Here’s a short video to introduce states of matter and their properties.

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Properties of Matter stations

Get hands-on when exploring the properties of matter.

This ‘Observing Matter’ booklet is a part of the Matter and Materials unit for little learners.

Gather a variety of objects (ideally one at least one from each state of matter). Then, set these objects up in various stations around the room.

Kids will use their ‘Observing Matter’ booklets to head to each station. At one station, they might find orange slices. Students will make observations about the texture, shape, color, etc. Some things they might observe about the orange slices include:

• The orange is a sphere

• The slices are a crescent

• It smells sweet

• It is orange in color

• It is smooth on the outside and slippery on the inside

As they make observations, they will record them in the ‘Observing Matter’ booklet.

Matter is all around us and there are so many fun States of Matter activities. Which are you going to try out in your classroom?

We drink water, cook with water, bathe in water, swim in water, clean with water, etc. I’d say water is pretty important and definitely integral to our lives. Come and explore the wonderful world of water with your students by learning about why water is important on Earth and how much water on the Earth is usable. Plus, check out some water activities you can do at home or in the classroom!

How much water is on Earth?

Most of the Earth is covered in water. In fact, 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. But only 3.5% of that water is freshwater and most of this water is frozen!

Why is water important to Earth?

People use water for many reasons, including cleaning, cooking, drinking, and bathing. Water is also essential for growing crops. Many places use water to heat and cool buildings, and it can be used to generate electricity. Plus, drinking water is important for our health. Water is very important!

The EASY Way to Teach Water and the Water Cycle

Learn all about water on earth with this hands-on unit that has everything you need.

Scripted lessons… check!
Vocabulary … check !
Reading passages… check!
Hands-on projects … check!
Engaging? Double check!

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Reading about Water on Earth

When students are learning a new science topic, it’s helpful to have students read about it. Plus, it integrates reading right into our science lesson! These Water on Earth’ reading passages and comprehension booklets are perfect for this. They’re in two levels so you can differentiate them for your class.

With the passages, students will learn about why water is important. They will also be learning where water is found and the different types of water (ie. freshwater and saltwater). Grab them here!

Group Activity - exploring Sources of Water

Group projects are a great way to have students engage with a topic and also practice skills like teamwork, conversation, problem-solving, and task management.

This Sources of Water group activity is perfect for all of this! Assign each group a water source to research. Each group will become the ‘expert’ on their own source of water, and teach the rest of the class about it. Eventually, the whole class will have compiled a booklet of information about all of the water sources!

The activity can be found in my Water Cycle science unit!

Project: Conserving Water

Conserving Water: a flipbook project based on a guided inquiry question.

To teach about water conservation, a guided inquiry project is a great option!   This flipbook (included in the Water Cycle unit) will have students answering the question “How can we conserve water?” Students can pick their own focus and then do some basic research.

While doing this project, students will look for information about why conserving water is important and they will hunt for solutions to the problems they discover. They will present their information in the flipbook.

Alternatively, students could present their findings in another way: website, a model, a book, a TED talk, etc.

This project (teaching guide, flipbook template, assessment) is a part of the complete Water Cycle Unit.

water cycle bag activity

The Water Cycle Ziploc Bag is an old favorite for many. This water activity is a great way to have students observe the water cycle in action. Simply draw the water cycle on a ziplock back, add some water, seal the bag, and tape the ziplock to a window. After a few days, you’ll be able to see the water in action: evaporation and condensation. Take a detailed look at the activity right on the Ziploc website!

become a water detective

Have children brainstorm ways they can conserve water. Here are a few quick and practical things they might come up with:

• Turn the tap off while brushing their teeth

• Put a water saver in the toilet tank

• Limit time in showers

• Instead of dumping undrunk water down the sink, use it to water plants

• Rewear clothes if they aren’t dirty so the washing machine doesn't have to be run as many times

Become drip detectives. Did you know that a leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water per day? And a dripping faucet can waste over 5 gallons of water per day! So teach children to become leak detectives so the problem can be fixed right away!

Water is everywhere! We use water every day and often it goes underappreciated. Children can learn a lot about water when a few fun and engaging water activities are implemented.