Here is the "standard"
Kindergarten
The performance expectations in kindergarten help students formulate answers to questions
such as: "What happens if you push or pull an object harder?
Where do animals live and why
do they live there?
What is the weather like today and how is it different from yesterday?"
Kindergarten performance expectations include PS2, PS3, LS1, ESS2, ESS3
, and ETS1
Disciplinary Core Ideas from the
NRC Framework
. Students are expected to develop
understanding of patterns and variations in local weather and the purpose of weather
forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather. Students are able to apply an
understanding of the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on
the motion of an object to analyze a design solution. Students are also expected to develop
understanding of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive and the
relationship between their needs and where they live. The crosscutting concepts of patterns;
cause and effect; systems and system models; interdependence of science, engineering, and
technology; and influence of engineering, technology, and science on society and the natural
world are called out as organizing concepts for these disciplinary core ideas. In the kindergarten
performance expectations, students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency
in asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations,
analyzing and interpreting data, designing solutions, engaging in argument from evidence, and
obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students are expected to use these
practices to demonstrate understanding of the core ideas.
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Karin King
Trumbull CT
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-09-2017 04:14 PM
From: Peggy Ashbrook
Subject: Help for Kindergarten teacher struggling with the NextGen Science Standards
My colleague teaches Kindergarten in a state that has adopted the NGSS K-12 and she has a lot of questions. She is struggling to figure out if her kindergarteners can meet the standard about making observations and determining the effects of sunlight on Earth's surface, and using tools and materials to design and build a structure to reduce the warming effect of Earth's surface. She wants to know, if her students can't use a thermometer yet, how can they determine the effect of sunlight? And, what materials that are commonly found in classrooms can be used to make a structure? A further question: Should she make a model for the students to copy?
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Peggy Ashbrook
Early childhood science teacher
Alexandria, VA
NSTA The Early Years columnist, Science and Children
Early Years blogger, www.nsta.org/earlyyears
Author: Science Learning in the Early Years, and
Science Is Simple
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