Kindergarten Science Vocabulary
Lesson 1
1. Scientists use special words to talk about the world around us. One of these
words is observe.
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think observe means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
Observe means to look carefully at something or someone
Jim observed the spider spinning a web
™ Ask students to repeat the word observe. Insure that all students have
had a chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word observeshare responses with the group
2. Context Activities- to reinforce comprehension:
™ Show activity picture cards. Ask students to tell what they observe. Have
them use the word by stating” I observe….”
™ Play “I observe”- a variation of “I spy” using the environment of the
classroom- eg. “I observe something that is round and flat and has legs”
(a table).
Lesson 2
1. Another important science word is identify
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think identify means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
flower
bird
firefighter
Identify means to tell the name of someone or something
It is easy to identify a bee because it has black and yellow stripes.
™ Ask students to repeat the word identify. Insure that all students have
had a chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word identifyshare responses with the group.
2. Context Activity- to reinforce comprehension:
What Am I?
™ Use the picture cards to have students predict the picture
™ Discuss with students what “clues” they used to eg. “The tail made me
think it was a dog” (This is the cognitive skill of identifying- looking at
the attributes or features of a person or thing to identify it)
Lesson 3
1. Another important science word is compare
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think compare means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
same
boy
boy
different
boy
girl
Compare means to tell how two things are the same or different
We compared the two boys to see who is taller.
™ Ask students to repeat the word compare. Insure that all students have
had a chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word compareshare responses with the group.
2. Context Activity- to reinforce comprehension
™ Use picture cards as a prompt for students to identify similarities
and differences- Ask students to compare the two photos
Lesson 4
1. Review previous words- observe, identify, compare
Another important science word is sort
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think sort means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
Sort means to put things in groups
Please sort the shapes.
™ Ask students to repeat the word sort. Insure that all students have had a
chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word sort- share
responses with the group.
2. Context Activity- to reinforce comprehension:
"What am I Thinking?"
Materials:
™ Two pieces of 8.5" by 11" card with circles
™ Deck of jumbo cards
™ Animal card set
How to Play:
™ Put one piece of card beside the other with a space between them.
™ Pick up a red card from the deck. Say, "This card can go on this paper."
Choose a black card and say, "This card can't go on the
paper " and put it on the other paper.
™ Sort a few more cards, verbalizing, "this card can.. this card can't...", then
ask, "What am I thinking?"
™ Children try and guess the sorting rule. In this case I am sorting by color,
™ When the children get the idea, choose more difficult sorting rules.- by suit
or number
™ Have students sort animal flashcards- eg. Animals with fur/animals with
feathers, animals that live on land/animals that live on the water
Lesson 5
1. Review previous words- observe, identify, compare, sort
™ Explain that everything in the world can be sorted into two groups:
Living and Non-living
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think living means? What do you
think non-living means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
Living things can:
breathe
move
eat
and
drink
grow
Non-Living things cannot:
breathe
move
eat
or
drink
grow
™ Ask students to repeat the words living and non-living. Insure that all
students have had a chance to say the words.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the words living and
non-living - share responses with the group.
2. Context Activities- to reinforce comprehension:
Which is it?
™ Give each child two cards- one labelled Non-Living and one labelled Living
™ Show the group pictures of living or non-living things and have each child
hold up the label that applies.
™ Ask students to explain their choice- eg. “I picked Living because a dog
can move.”
Magic Wand
™ Taking turns with the ‘magic wand”, each child touches an object or
person in the room. The other students must decide if it is living or nonliving
Lesson 6
1. Review previous terms- observe, identify, compare, sort, living, nonliving
Another important science word is investigate
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think investigate means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
Investigate means to go and see what happened
I heard a noise in the back yard, so I went to investigate.
™ Ask students to repeat the word investigate. Insure that all students have
had a chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word investigateshare responses with the group.
2. Context Activities- to reinforce comprehension:
Picture Prompt
The purpose of this activity is to develop the meaning of the term investigatethe act of investigating follows a question or point of inquiry that has been raised
™ Show students the picture prompt and ask if they have questions.
™ As you elicit responses, ask students what they would need to do to
investigate the situation and find the answers to their questions.
Detective Game
This detective game develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills in
children and can be used to reinforce the concept of investigation.
™ Students arrange themselves into a circle in the classroom and one
student is chosen to be the detective and wait outside of the class.
™ The teacher chooses one of the remaining students in the circle to be the
leader. The leader is responsible for starting gestures in which the rest of
the students must copy. Gestures can include stomping, snapping,
clapping, touching index finger to head, and so on. Model this step with
the whole group before you begin the game. Practice changing
gestures every 10-15 seconds and have the group follow your lead.
™ The leader changes the gesture every 10 seconds and the other students
must watch and change gestures when the leader does without speaking
or doing anything to identify the leader.
™ Once the leader starts the first gesture, the detective comes back into the
classroom and must investigate to find the leader of the circle. The
detective is given only three guesses to identify the leader.
™ When the leader has been found or the detective has run out of guesses,
the teacher selects a new detective until all the groups members have had
a turn..
Lesson 7
1. Review previous terms- observe, identify, compare, sort, living, nonliving
Another important science word is predict
™ Access prior knowledge- What do you think predict means?
™ Show picture and read student-friendly definition:
Predict means to make your best guess about what will happen next
I predict that it will rain tomorrow.
™ Ask students to repeat the word predict. Insure that all students have had
a chance to say the word.
™ In pairs, ask students to talk about the meaning of the word predict- share
responses with the group.
2. Context Activities- to reinforce comprehension:
What Will Happen Next?
™ Show students each photo- ask them what is happening
™ Ask students to predict what will happen next
™ Have students explain why?- predictions are based on what we know from
the photo and our own experience
Jim observed the spider spinning a web
Observe means to look carefully at something or someone
What am I?
A puppy
What am I?
A bunny
What am I?
A giraffe
firefighter
flower
bird
Identify means to tell the name of something or someone
It is easy to identify a bee because it has black and yellow
stripes.
same
different
\
boy
boy
boy
girl
Compare means to tell how two things are the same or different
We compared the two boys to see who is taller.
Please sort the shapes
Sort means to put things in groups
Living
Non-Living
Living
Non-Living
Living
Non-Living
Living things can:
breathe
move
eat
and
drink
grow
Non-Living things cannot:
breathe
move
eat
or
drink
grow
Investigate means to go and see what happened.
Predict means to make your best guess about what will
happen next