1st Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades K-2 meet expectations that they have an intentional sequence where student tasks increase in sophistication. Materials are designed with an intentional or suggested sequence and student tasks related to explaining phenomena and/or solving problems increase in sophistication within each unit and across the grade band. Across the K-2 grade-band, the materials have a recommended sequence with three units divided by physical, life, and earth and space science assigned to each grade level. Within grade levels, the units can be sequenced in any order.

Materials increase in sophistication across the grade band as students engage with phenomena and problems. As students progress through the grade band, student expectations, as they engage in activities connected to phenomena and problems, increase. Supports for students are also gradually released, and by Grade 2, students are doing more work independently or with fewer aids. Because the order of units within a grade level is not suggested, there is not a general increase in sophistication within a single grade. However, there are instances where student expectations increase within a single unit.

Examples of student tasks increasing in sophistication across the grade band:

• The materials increase in sophistication as students conduct investigations connected to phenomena and problems. By the time students reach Grade 2, they are doing more work independently and take on more responsibility for determining investigation procedures. For example, in Kindergarten, Motion: Pushes and Pulls, Activity 6, Lesson 6B: Observing Swinging Motion on the Playground, the teacher provides students with a question on the motion of swings that they will all investigate, and in Lesson 6C: Investigating Motion on the Playground, students work in pairs to investigate motion in playground equipment. In Grade 1, Plants and Animal Traits, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: Planning for Fiddler Crab Observations, the teacher plays less of a role in designing the investigation, and the class as a whole plans an investigation to learn how fiddler crabs use their claws. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: What Are Objects Made Of?, students investigate the properties of materials to solve an engineering problem. Again, the teacher plays less of a role as the class works together to decide the properties they need to investigate to answer to collect data on what materials to use to design a house.

• The materials increase in sophistication as students ask questions related to phenomena and problems. In Kindergarten, the teacher provides significant support to students to develop questions, and students often work as a whole class to generate questions. By Grade 2, the teacher provides less guidance and fewer scaffolds, such as sentence stems, and students work independently or in smaller groups to develop questions connected to phenomena and problems. For example, in Kindergarten, Plants and Animals Live Here, Activity 4, Lesson 4A: Planting Seeds, students read a story about pumpkins that unexpectedly grew in a ditch. After reading the story, the teacher provides them with the question, “How do you think the pumpkins got there?” The teacher then supports the class as a whole to generate additional questions that will help answer their initial question, including providing a sample question. In Grade 1, Plant and Animal Traits, Activity 2, Lesson 2A: Relating Structure and Function, the students still generate questions in a whole group setting, but the teacher provides fewer supports. Following the students’ observations of fiddler crabs, the teacher asks them what questions they have about what they saw. Rather than providing an investigation question for the students, the teacher prompts the students to return to their observations to develop their own questions. In Grade 2, Plant and Animal Relationships, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: Plants and Animals Interact, students begin an investigation of plant and animal interactions by observing a photograph of a dragonfly on a plant. Before providing any support or leading a whole-class discussion, the teacher tells students to record their questions in their own Student Journal. After students write down their own questions, they share and discuss them in small groups, again without direct teacher support.

• The materials increase in sophistication as students work with data related to phenomena and problems. In Kindergarten, students typically record their observations as drawings or with highly scaffolded organizers, and much of their work with data is to record and share their observations. By Grade 2, students make a broader range of observations that includes quantitative measurements, written description, and annotated drawings. They also use data in more sophisticated ways that include making predictions and constructing more sophisticated explanations. For example, in Kindergarten, Motion: Pushes and Pulls, Activity 2, Lesson 2A: Collisions: Moving/Not Moving - Understanding the Problem, students make observations of a moving ball colliding with a stationary ball. The teacher leads data collection by recording what they observed on a simplified table shared by the entire class. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 3, Lesson 3A: Blowing in the Wind, students record and share their observations of the wind in the schoolyard as drawings. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 2, Lesson 2B: The Earth Goes Round and Round, students work in pairs to make observations of shadows at different times of day. They now use a tape measure to record numerical data and independently add the data to a table in their Student Journal. In Grade 2, Changing Earth: Today and Over Time, Activity 1, Lesson 1A: Schoolyard Detectives, students continue collecting observations with more detail and sophistication. They not only draw and label their observations of the schoolyard, but also connect that data to the causes of changes in the schoolyard and their predictions of how those changes occurred. Students also do more with the data they collect. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Activity 2, Lesson 2A: Exploring Property Stations, students make predictions about the properties of various materials (e.g., sinking or floating, flexible vs. rigid), collect data on those properties, and then compare their data with their predictions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet expectations that the materials do not inappropriately include scientific content and ideas outside of the grade-level disciplinary core ideas. The materials consistently incorporate student learning opportunities to learn and use DCIs appropriate to the grade.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level disciplinary core ideas for earth and space sciences.

Materials incorporate all grade-level components and associated elements of the earth and space science disciplinary core ideas (DCIs). Most DCIs appear in multiple learning opportunities and are fully met. Students interact with the concepts in a variety of ways, including reading trade books, engaging in investigations, making models, and having class discussions.

Examples of the grade-level earth and space science DCI elements present in the materials:

• ESS1.A-P1. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: Sky Watchers: Tracking the Sun, students complete an investigation where they observe the position of the sun in the sky multiple times during the day and record the length and position of their shadows at each of those times. In Activity 3, Lesson 3A, students are introduced to the pattern of changes to the moon through the trade book What Shape is the Moon? Students collect observations of the moon and draw and label a model of what they think causes the moon’s shape to change over time. In Activity 4, Lesson 4A, using a digital simulation, students observe the movement of the stars across the sky in real time and in accelerated time. Students add stars to their model of the earth rotating on its axis and to their model of earth revolving around the sun. 

• ESS1.B-P1. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 1, Lesson 1A: Sky Watchers: Objects in the Sky, students discuss the position of the sun when they arrived at school that day. They compare that position to where the sun was on other days when they arrived at school. The teacher introduces the Day and Night Observation Log as a tool to record their observations of sunrise and sunset daily. In Activity 5, Lesson 5A, students describe the patterns and changes that they saw in their observations. In Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Post Assessment, students predict in which season two children will have the least amount of time to play outdoors and in which season they will have the most amount of time to play outdoors.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades K–2 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-band and grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) for engineering, technology, and applications of science (ETS) and all associated elements. 

In Kindergarten, three performance expectations (PEs) are associated with a physical, life, or earth and space science DCI that also connect to an ETS DCI. The ETS elements within these kindergarten PEs are present in the materials.

Examples of the Kindergarten grade-level ETS DCI elements present in the materials:

• ETS1.A-P1. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 2, Lesson 2C: Hiding from the Sun, students design a structure to protect an animal model made of UV beads from the sun. As students prepare for the activity, the teacher guides students to discuss how engineers design things to help solve a problem. After their designs are complete, students share their designs with one another and they discuss the variety of solutions the groups developed.

• ETS1.A-P2. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 3, Lessons 3A and 3B, students research a variety of instruments that measure wind and observe how the direction and speed of wind can change in various parts of the school yard. Using their research and observations, students design and create a windsock to determine the speed and direction of the wind at different places in the schoolyard. 

• ETS1.B-P1. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 2, Lesson 2C: Hiding from the Sun, students design a structure to protect an animal model made of UV beads from the sun. Students draw their plans, build a prototype, and then share their designs with one another to make refinements. 

In Grade 1, no PEs associated with a physical, life, or earth and space science DCI connect to an ETS DCI. However, the materials do include opportunities for students to engage with ETS elements in this grade.

Examples of ETS DCI elements present in the Grade 1 materials:

• ETS1.A-P1. In Grade 1, Plant and Animal Traits, Activity 4, Lesson 4A: Planning and Designing A Device That Solves A Problem, students think about a human problem and design a solution that mimics or adapts a part of an animal or plant. As students work on defining problems and developing their solution, the class discusses their work in terms of engineers solving problems.

• ETS1.B-P1. In Grade 1, Space Systems, Activity 2, Lesson 2C: Temperature Changes Throughout the Day, students design and build a device that will provide shade during the hottest part of the day but allow light to pass through when the sun is not at its strongest. Students brainstorm, draw, and describe their designs in their student journals, share their designs with each other, and provide feedback on one another's designs.

• ETS1.C-P1. In Grade 1, Waves: Light and Sound, Activity 3, Lesson 3D: Lighting a Tree House, students build a model of their solution to the problem of a tree house being dark on the inside. After students build a model of their solution, they test their designs, share their designs with other groups, compare their designs with one another, and compare their solutions with the solutions presented in a book.

In Grade 2, there are two PEs associated with a physical, life, or earth and space science DCI that also connect to an ETS DCI. The ETS elements within these Grade 2 PEs are present in the materials.

Examples of the Grade 2 grade-level ETS DCI elements present in the materials:

• ETS1.A-P1. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: What Are Objects Made Of?, after reading a version of the story The Three Little Pigs, students are challenged to use materials to build a structure that can withstand wind and rain. In groups, students explore a selection of items (balloon, rock, nail, etc) and begin to identify their properties. Students identify properties that are useful for solving the design challenge and plan tests for the objects to determine if they have desirable properties.

• ETS1.C-P1. In Grade 2, Plants and Animal Relationships, Activity 6, Lesson 6D: Not Enough Bees, students are told about the decrease in the honeybee population over the last 50 years. Using information from previous lessons about how bees and other animals pollinate plants, students are presented with the engineering design challenge to build a hand pollinator. Students plan, collect materials, and build/test their pollinator devices, then they share their solutions with the class. Students are encouraged to comment and question the designs of others including the materials used.

The K–2 grade band includes three ETS PEs that are designed to be taught at any point across the grade band. These PEs include five elements. The materials provide opportunities to engage with ETS DCIs and their elements in all three grades within this band.

Examples of the K–2 grade-band ETS DCI elements present in the materials:

• ETS1.A-P1. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: What Are Objects Made Of?, after reading a version of the story The Three Little Pigs, students are challenged to use materials to build a structure that can withstand wind and rain. In groups, students explore a selection of items (ballon, rock, nail, etc) and begin to identify their properties. Students identify properties that are useful for solving the design challenge and plan tests for the objects to determine if they have desirable properties.

• ETS1.A-P2. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 3, Lessons 3A and 3B, students research a variety of instruments that measure wind and observe how the direction and speed of wind can change in various parts of the school yard. Using their research and observations, students design and create a windsock to determine the speed and direction of the wind at different places in the schoolyard. 

• ETS1.A-P3. In Grade 1, Waves, Activity 6, Lesson 6A: People Use Light and Sound, students design a nonverbal communication system using light and sound. Before they design their system, the class discusses a scenario where a town does not have telephones to communicate, that the town needs to be able to contact various community members (e.g., emergency workers), and that their solution needs to meet the needs of the scenario.

• ETS1.B-P1. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 2, Lesson 2C: Hiding from the Sun, students design a structure to protect an animal model made of UV beads from the sun. Students draw their plans, build a prototype, and then share their designs with one another to make refinements. 

• ETS1.C-P1. In Grade 2, Plants and Animal Relationships, Activity 6, Lesson 6D: Not Enough Bees, students are told about the decrease in the honeybee population over the last 50 years. Using information from previous lessons about how bees and other animals pollinate plants, students are presented with the engineering design challenge to build a hand pollinator. Students plan, collect materials, and build/test their pollinator devices. Then, they share their solutions with the class. Students are encouraged to comment and question the designs of others including the materials used.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level science and engineering practices and associated elements.

Materials incorporate all grade-level science and engineering practices (SEPs) and nearly all associated elements within the grade level. Students are provided with multiple opportunities in which to engage with a variety of SEPs.

Examples of SEPs and elements associated with the grade-level performance expectations that are met in the materials:

• INV-P2. In Grade 1, Waves: Light and Sound, Activity 3, Lesson 3C: What Can We Learn From A Shadow?, students work in pairs to plan and conduct an investigation and collect data to use as evidence for whether or not the length, direction, and shape of their shadows will differ between morning, noon, and afternoon.

• INV-P4. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 4, Lesson 4A: Stargazing, students use the Stellarium computer simulation program to observe and compare the positions of stars over the course of a night. 

• DATA-P3. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 2, Lesson 2B: The Earth Goes Round and Round, students answer the question “Would the changing of the position of the sun have an effect on shadows?” Students work in groups to answer the question by observing their shadows at different times during the day and recording the length of their shadows on their chart. At the end of the day, each group enters their data onto a class chart. The class uses the data to describe the patterns of the changes in shadows throughout the day and answer the question.

• CEDS-P1. In Grade 1, Waves: Light and Sound, Activity 4, Lesson 4B: Sounds We Have Heard, students participate in a variety of stations (rubber band guitar, bottle rattlers, screeching cups, etc) to determine and explain that sound is caused by vibrations.

• CEDS-P2. In Grade 1, Plant and Animal Traits, Activity 4, Lesson 4B: Building and Presenting Our Problem-Solving Devices, students work in groups and select a problem to solve. They design and build a tool, modeled after the structure of a plant or animal, to solve the problem. Groups demonstrate and explain their tool to the class, including the problem it solves and the plant or animal part it is modeled from.

• INFO-P3. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 3, Lesson 3B: The Shape of the Moon, the teacher reads two trade books, Faces of the Moon and The Phases of the Moon. Students use the text to identify the pattern of the phases of the moon and draw a model of each phase of the moon based on the information conveyed in the text.

Examples of elements associated with the grade-level performance expectations that are not met in the materials:

• INV-P3. Evaluate different ways of observing and/or measuring a phenomenon to determine which way can answer a question.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grades K-2 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level science and engineering practices and associated elements across the grade band.

Materials incorporate all science and engineering practices (SEPs) and associated elements within the grade band, and include few elements of the SEPs from above or below the grade band without connecting to the grade-band appropriate SEP.

Examples of SEP elements associated with the grade-band performance expectations that are met in the materials:

• AQDP-P1. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 1, Lesson 1A: Weather Watchers: Making Observations, students make observations of the weather and draw and label pictures of the weather that they like the most and least. Then, students generate questions they have about the weather based on their observations.

• MOD-P3. In Grade 2, Changing Earth: Today and Over Time, Activity 1, Lesson 1A: Schoolyard Detectives, students explore the schoolyard and identify a location where the shape of the land was changed. They discuss, as a class, the possible causes of those changes such as wind and water. Students draw and label a model of one of their observations in their Student Journal and explain the relationship between the change and the possible cause of the change.

• MOD-P4. In Grade 2, Plant and Animal Relationships, Activity 5, Lesson 5E: Designing a Seed Model for Dispersal, students work in pairs and select a particular method of seed dispersal. They use what they learned previously in this activity to design a model of a seed that is dispersed using this specific method. Students test and revise the model to improve dispersal.

• INV-P1. In Kindergarten, Motion: Pushes and Pulls, Activity 1, Lesson 1B: Balls in Motion, as a class, the teacher and students develop a question about how balls of different size and/or weight move. Students select two different balls and other materials to conduct an investigation of how they move compared to each other. They select one of the balls they observed and draw and label a picture of how it moved.

• INV-P2. In Grade 1, Waves: Light and Sound, Activity 3, Lesson 3C: What Can We Learn From A Shadow?, students work in pairs to plan and conduct an investigation and collect data to use as evidence for whether or not the length, direction, and shape of their shadows will differ between morning, noon, and afternoon.

• INV-P4. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 4, Lesson 4A: Stargazing, students use the Stellarium computer simulation program to observe and compare the positions of stars over the course of a night. 

• DATA-P3. In Kindergarten, Plants and Animals Live Here, Activity 5, Lesson 5A: Plants and Animals Cause Change, students observe one of seven different pictures of animals and plants and their impact on their environment found in their Student Journal. They are asked to identify the cause of the changes that occurred to the environment. The groups share their observations with the class. Then ,students individually select one animal and draw and write about how it changes its habitat to get food or make a home.

• DATA-P5. In Grade 2, Plants and Animal Relationships, Activity 6, Lesson 6D: Not Enough Bees, students are told about the decrease in the honeybee population over the last 50 years. Using information from previous lessons about how bees and other animals pollinate plants, students are presented with the engineering design challenge to build a hand pollinator. After students have planned, collected materials, built, and tested their pollinator devices, they share their solutions with the class. In their Student Journals, students draw a model of the hand pollinator as well as how they revised the model after their initial tests.

• CEDS-P1. In Grade 1, Waves: Light and Sound, Activity 4, Lesson 4B: Sounds We Have Heard, students participate in a variety of stations (rubber band guitar, bottle rattlers, screeching cups, etc) to determine and explain that sound is caused by vibrations.

• CEDS-P2. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 3, Lesson 3B: Blowing in the Wind, students record observations of the wind and design devices for measuring wind speed and direction. Students compare the wind at various places around the schoolyard, then brainstorm ideas, select materials for their device, and build their device.

• CEDS-P3. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Lesson 2, Activity 2B: Sharing Our Solutions, students share their findings from a previous lesson in which they designed a structure that would withstand wind and water and discuss how those findings can be used in the design of the structure. Students are asked to identify patterns in the properties of the materials chosen. After the discussion, students write in their Student Journals about how they would alter their structure to be more wind or water-resistant, using the information shared during the class discussion.

• ARG-P6. In Kindergarten, Plants and Animals Live Here, Activity 3, Lesson 3B: Investigating Worms, students construct an argument, with evidence from simple tests, of a worm’s reaction to various stimuli (light, sound, a wet cotton swab, a wet versus dry paper towel, nearby cornmeal or soil, and any other stimuli tests students carry-out), to support a claim about whether worms have senses.

• INFO-P1. In Kindergarten, Motion: Pushes and Pulls, Activity 1, Lesson 1D: And Everyone Shouted, “Pull”!, students use the trade book And Everyone Shouted, “Pull”!, about forces and motions of a farm cart traveling along a road to find evidence of when a push or pull is necessary to start, change direction, speed up, or slow down an object.

• INFO-P3. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 3, Lesson 3B: The Shape of the Moon, the teacher reads two trade books, Faces of the Moon and The Phases of the Moon. Students use the text to identify the pattern of the phases of the moon and draw a model of each phase of the moon based on the information conveyed in the text.

• INFO-P4. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 7, Lesson 7A: Making Sense of Our Weather Data, students work in groups to communicate information about a weather pattern they observe in the class Weather Watchers Observation Chart through an oral presentation or skit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade K-2 meet expectations that they incorporate all grade-level crosscutting concepts and associated elements across the grade band.

Materials incorporate all crosscutting concepts (CCCs) and associated elements within the grade band, and they include few elements of the CCCs from above or below the grade band without connecting to the grade-band appropriate CCC.

Examples of CCC elements associated with the grade-band performance expectations that are present in the materials:

• CE-P1. In Grade 2, Plant and Animal Relationships, Activity 5, Lesson 5B: Sock Walk, students investigate one way that seeds are dispersed by animals by going on a walk wearing socks over their shoes. They look at the seeds that stuck to their socks and describe the features of the seeds that caused them to stick.

• CE-P2. In Kindergarten, Weather and Climate, Activity 5, Lesson 5A: It’s Raining! It’s Pouring!, students draw how the clouds look on a rainy day. This helps students see that events (low, dark gray clouds) generate observable patterns (it rains).

• EM-P1. In Grade 2, Solving Problems with Properties, Activity 7, Lesson 7A: Putting Pieces Together, students are given a structure made of smaller pieces (such as Legos or wooden blocks) and are instructed to take the structure apart and then, using all of the original pieces, create a new and different structure.

• PAT-P1. In Kindergarten, Motion: Pushes and Pulls, Activity 2, Lesson 2A: Collisions: Moving/Not Moving - Understanding the Problem, in groups, students investigate the motions that result from the collision of two moving balls. The class combines the group data to identify patterns in the test result and use it as evidence to create individual student drawings that describe the motion of the two moving balls before and after collision.

• SC-P2. In Grade 1, Space Systems: Patterns and Cycles, Activity 4, Lesson 4A: Stargazing, students participate in a class model where students play the roles of earth, sun, and stars. The model includes labels for the astronomical seasons and cardinal directions. As the “earth” orbits around the “sun”, students observe that the stars that are visible to the “earth” volunteer change as the “earth” rotates to simulate day and night. The students then observe that there is also a slower change in what stars are visible from earth in terms of seasonal changes in the nighttime sky when the “earth” orbits around the “sun” to simulate the earth’s motion throughout the passage of a year.

• SF-P1. In Grade 1, Plant and Animal Traits, Activity 2, Lesson 2B: Fiddler Crabs Use Their Body Parts, students work in groups to observe fiddler crabs and identify their different structures. Each group is assigned one structure to compare to a variety of human tools. Student groups identify the human tool that most closely resembles the assigned structure and use that comparison to identify the likely function of that structure.

• SYS-P2. In Kindergarten, Plants and Animal Live Here, Activity 5, Lesson 5B: Human Habitats, students review their observations from a previous lesson identifying certain organisms that changed the environment in their schoolyard. Students work in groups to discuss where humans get the food, water, and shelter they need to survive. Students then create a model of their home or habitat and identify where they get their food, water, and find shelter in their home/habitat.