Science
Curriculum
Unit Planner
Grade: K
Strand: Matter
SOL: K.4
The student will investigate and understand that the position, motion, and physical
properties of an object can be described. Key concepts include
a) colors of objects;
b) shapes and forms of objects;
c) textures and feel of objects;
d) relative sizes and weights of objects; and
e) relative positions and speed of objects.
Time: 2-3 weeks and integrated with Mathematics curriculum
1. Desired Results
Enduring Understandings (BIG Ideas)
Matter takes up space and has physical properties which include color, shape or form, texture, and size.
Essential Questions

What is matter?

How can we observe matter?

How can we measure matter?

What are physical properties of matter?

How can we describe matter?

How can we compare and contrast objects?
Understanding the Standard

An object may have many properties that can be
observed and described.
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Processes
Students will:

Identify and name six basic colors, including red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple; and identify
and name black and white.

An object can be described readily in terms of color.

Visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves
that we can see with the naked eye. We see these waves
as the colors of the rainbow. Each color has a different
wavelength. Red has the longest wavelength and violet
has the shortest wavelength.

Identify and name a circle, triangle, square, and
rectangle.

Compare and contrast objects that are flexible, stiff,
straight, and/or curved.
When all the waves are seen together, they make white
light. When white light shines through a prism, the
white light is broken apart into colors. Water vapor in
the atmosphere can act as a prism and break apart the
white light, creating a rainbow.

Compare and contrast objects that are rough, smooth,
hard, and/or soft.

Compare objects using the concepts of heavy/light,
long/short, wide/thin, big/little, and large/small.

Measure objects, using nonstandard units, and direct
comparisons.

Identify the position of an object, using position
words over/under, in/out, above/below, and
left/right.

Group objects according to their speed — fast or slow.



The order of the colors in the visible spectrum is red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Most scientists
no longer include the color indigo, which used to be
included between blue and violet.
At the kindergarten level, violet is referred to as purple.
It is not required at the kindergarten level that students
Arlington Public Schools 2012
know the term violet.

Black and white are not spectral colors, but students
should recognize them by name. Black is the total
absence of light and is when a material absorbs all the
light. White is a reflection of all visible light together.

An object can be described in terms of shape, size, and
texture.

An object can be described according to its position
relative to another object and according to its motion.

Two different objects can have some of the same
physical properties and some different physical
properties.
Science Vocabulary
matter, properties, color words (red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, purple), white, black, shapes (circle, triangle,
rectangle, square), texture (rough, smooth, hard, soft), stiff,
flexible, straight, curved, position (over, under, in, out,
above, below, left, right), measurement (heavy, light, long,
short, wide, thin, big, little, large, small), speed (slow, fast)

Prior Knowledge
2. Assessment Evidence
Throughout the Unit

Pass around objects and have the students describe them.

Create a word list to describe objects.

KWL
Formative Assessment:
 Teacher observation /anecdotal records of students
engaged in cooperative learning investigations.
 KWL
 Science notebook (questions, predictions, observations,
summaries, charts, drawings)
 Conduct simple experiments using appropriate tools
 Record data on scientific investigations performed
 Students sort, sequence, classify and group objects
based on 1 similar attribute.
Summative Assessment:
 Test/assessment
Performance –based tasks:
 Draw shapes or pick correct shape from a mixture of
shapes.
 Groups of students can form various shapes.
 Measure objects using nonstandard units.
 Use words to describe physical properties of objects.
Sort objects into two groups based on one common
attribute.
3. Learning Plan
References to Adopted Materials:
 Science Fusion – Unit 8 ―Matter‖
Lesson 23 ―How Do We Describe and Sort Matter?‖
Lesson 24 ―How Can We Change Matter?‖
Lesson 25 ―How Can Heating and Cooling Change Matter?‖
 FOSS – Fabric (Kinder)
Students become familiar with fabric‘s properties, discover what happens when they are tested, and discover how they
interact with other materials, including water.
 Investigation 1: Fabric All Around
 Investigation 2: Fabric Interactions (link with K.5)
Arlington Public Schools 2012

AIMS – It Must be a Bird

AIMS – Fall into Math and Science (K-1)
 You Drive Me Crackers, p. 61-68
 Shape Up! p. 69-72

AIMS – Glide into Winter with Math and Science

AIMS – Under Construction (K-2)
 Sizing up Bears, p. 102-105
 Mitts for Kits, p. 106-109
 Fit for a Bear, p. 110-117
 Design on the Mind (Poem), p. 118
Suggested Activities:
 Provide students with a variety of objects such as pattern blocks, colored macaroni, buttons, colored tiles, plastic insects,
etc. Have them sort and classify the objects according to color, size, shape, and width and according to whether they are
straight or curved.

Collect objects such as balls, blocks, marbles, rocks that look the same but are different sizes and weight. Have children
hold two objects that look alike and predict what object will be heavy or light. Check with a scale to validate. Discuss
reasons why with terms including big/little, large/small and wide/thin.

Measure children and sequence from short to tall. Measure arms, legs and compare longer/shorter. Measure other
objects in the room.

Teacher sorts students into 2 or more groups based on an attribute and students have to guess what each group has in
common. Students sort themselves into groups based on the color shirt or shoes they are wearing or based on their hair
color or any other common attribute.

Each student receives one button. Call on one student to describe their button (color, number of holes, shape, size).
Students who have a button with the same description raise their hand. Their partner checks it.
 Students try to find another student in the class who has a button that is similar to their own. Students orally share
how their two buttons are the same and different.

Teacher models and then students work with a partner to sort animals based on a single attribute – has wings, does not
have wings; has fur, has no fur; has 4 legs, does not have 4 legs; etc. After, students use clay to make a model of their
favorite animal and then works with the members of their table to classify all the animals into two or more different
groups. Students may also use pencils or yarn to measure and compare the length of their animal models and to
sequence them from largest to smallest.

Integrate positional words into daily language arts and mathematics activities.
Review Activities:
 Bingo with related vocabulary
 Matching –vocabulary words with their definitions and/or pictures
Outdoor Connections:
 Take a walk outside and collect items such as pinecones, twigs, bark etc. Observe the textures and patterns.
 Outside, close your eyes and listen. Hold up one finger for each sound you hear. What can you tell about each sound?
What made it? How far away is it? Draw a picture of what you think you heard.
 Each student collects an item from the schoolyard to make ‗feely bags‘ out of socks. Students describe and try to guess
what they are touching.
 Determine the wind direction with a wet finger or by facing it and feeling it blow across both ears.
 Tap different objects with a stick and determine how the pitch changes, e.g. rocks, trees, fence, blacktop, or grass. Does
changing the length of the stick change the tone?
Arlington Public Schools 2012







Use a paper towel to make a focused viewer. Describe what you see.
How many colors can you see? How many shades of green?
Blindfolded, students use remaining senses to get to know a tree up close.
Tree study: bark rubbings, sort leaves by texture and color. Compare leaf shapes with rock shapes (best done in fall).
Have a scavenger hunt for various sensory qualities.
Obstacle course to learn position words
Danger walk – Take a walk and point out potentially dangerous items around the school, e.g. poison ivy, thorny bushes,
broken glass, etc.
 Let your nose do the walking: Identify nature smells.
 What color is spring? Use a color chart to identify.
 Rainbow chips: Provide each student with a paint chip from various colors. For example, a rainbow broke apart and the
colors all fell to earth. Have kids find an object that matches their chips. This can be done with shapes as well.
 Sunflower game: After learning what a sunflower is, students go outside and with eyes closed find the sun by sensing
heat on skin or by brightness. Plant sunflowers.
 Construct a ‗blind trail‘ along a smooth-surfaced edge of woods without poison ivy. Install posts in ground at about 15
foot intervals and string heavy rope between posts. Students walk with eyes closed (or blindfolded) along the course by
feeling the rope. Readily discernable markers are attached to rope at places where there is something of interest for the
students to touch, such as tree bark, near the rope.
 Use a hose to make a rainbow in the sunlight.
 Each child receives a note card with a shape, color, or texture on it. Go outside to find objects that match or resemble
each card.
 Give each child a leaf to examine. After a close inspection, put all of the leaves in a pile and mix them up. Have the
students try to find their leaves. After they have found theirs, ask what made their leaves unique. Make this more
challenging by either blindfolding students, or putting the leaves behind their backs and having them examine only
through touch. Then they try to find their leaves by sight.
 In the garden: Plant your garden in shapes. Marigolds in a circle, strawberries in a triangle, etc. how do those
strawberries taste? Plant early blooming flowers of different colors.
 Have a milkweed race. See how long students can keep seed floating by blowing them. Are some better designed for air
travel than others?
 Gather leaves from one tree throughout the school year. Allow students to keep a journal to compare what the leaves
look like during the course of the year.
4. Resources
Trade books:
 None specified
Web Sites:

www.brainpopjr.com

Rockingham County PS – power points and SmartBoard lessons plus review games:
http://www.rockingham.k12.va.us/resources/elementary/kscience.htm
Videos:
 None specified
Discovery Education:
 Learning about Sorting and Grouping. (Gr. K-2). Run time: 15:00
 Animal Colors and Shapes (Gr. K-2) run time: 16:16
 All the Colors of the Earth (Gr. K-2) run time: 8:00
 Nature‘s Way: Discovering Natural Colors (Gr. K-2) run time: 7:00
 Seahouse: Colors and Patterns (Gr. K-2) run time: 5:00
Field Trips:
 None specified
Other:
 Project WET: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide
Arlington Public Schools 2012




Project WILD: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide
Project WILD – Aquatic: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guides
Environmental Education Activity Guide: PreK-8, Project Learning Tree
Growing Up Wild: Exploring Nature with Young Children (Ages 3-7), Project WILD
Arlington Public Schools 2012