1B Science

Science

Overview

There are five units of study within the Grade 1 Science Curriculum.  Throughout these five units of study, students will: focus, explore, investigate, reflect and interpret.

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.

Seasonal Change

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 a part of a cycle, are important Science ideas that are introduced in this topic.

Building Things

Students learn about materials by using them to construct a variety of objects, including model building, 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.

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.

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. 
Science is assessed by: Oral and Written Informal Assessment, Observation, Group Work, Participation