FIRST GRADE: OVERVIEW

The academic standards for first grade establish the content knowledge and skills for Tennessee
students necessary to prepare them for the rigorous levels of higher education and future job markets.
The course provides students with a wealth of scientific practical experiences. The academic standards
for science in first grade are based on research and the National Research Council’s Framework for K-12
Science Education.

The academic standards herein establish the core content and practices of science and engineering, as
well as what Tennessee students need to know by the end of first grade. Science and engineering
practices are not to be taught in isolation but within the science content. Disciplinary core ideas for first
grade include:

First Grade
Physical Sciences (PS) Life Sciences (LS) Earth and Space Engineering,
Sciences (ESS) Technology, and
Applications of Science
(ETS)

Matter and Its From Molecules to Earth’s Place in the Engineering Design
Interactions Organisms: Structure Universe
and Process

Motion and Stability: Ecosystems: Earth’s Systems Links Among

Forces and Interactions Interactions, Energy, Engineering,
and Dynamics Technology, Science,
and Society

Energy Heredity: Inheritance Earth and Human Applications of Science

and Variation of Traits Activity

Waves and Their Biological Change:

Applications Unity and Diversity

Although science is a body of content knowledge consisting of theories that explain data, science is also
a set of practices that use analysis and argumentation to establish, extend, and refine knowledge. The
science and engineering practices are used as a means to learn science by doing science, thus
combining content knowledge with skill. These practices are not intended to be a sequence of steps nor
are they intended to be taught as a separate, introductory unit for the course. By combining content
knowledge with skill, students discover how scientific knowledge is acquired and applied to solve
problems or advance scientific knowledge further. In addition, there are seven crosscutting concepts
that are fundamental to the nature of science and thus stretch across all science disciplines. The first
grade standards have been constructed by explicitly integrating practices and crosscutting concepts,

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iteratively and in combination, within each disciplinary core idea (PS, LS, ESS) to provide students with a
well-rounded education in science.

By the end of first grade, students encounter energy of sunlight and the effects on the earth’s surface.
First graders experiment with light investigations to determine how different materials interact with
light. Investigating plants, parts of the plant, life cycle of plants, and interdependence of plants and the
surrounding environment is an essential building block toward more complex content. Students learn
about patterns in the day and night sky, that the telescope and naked eye can identify celestial objects
in the sky, and the patterns of earth, moon, and sun.

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FIRST GRADE: ACADEMIC STANDARDS

1.PS3: Energy

1) Make observations to determine how sunlight warms Earth’s surfaces (sand, soil, rocks, and water).

1.PS4: Waves and Their Application in Technologies for Information

Transfer

1) Use a model to describe how light is required to make objects visible. Summarize how Illumination
could be from an external light source or by an object giving off its own light.

2) Determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials (transparent, translucent,
opaque, and reflective) in the path of a beam of light.

1.LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

1) Recognize the structure of plants (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) and describe the function of
the parts (taking in water and air, producing food, making new plants).

2) Illustrate and summarize the life cycle of plants.

3) Analyze and interpret data from observations to describe how changes in the environment cause
plants to respond in different ways.

1.LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

1) Conduct an experiment to show how plants depend on air, water, minerals from soil, and light to
grow and thrive.

2) Obtain and communicate information to classify plants by where they grow (water, land) and the
plant’s physical characteristics.

3) Recognize how plants depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in
the places they live.

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1.ESS1: Earth’s Place in the Universe

1) Use observations or models of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.

2) Observe natural objects in the sky that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye and recognize
that a telescope, used as a tool, can provide greater detail of objects in the sky.

3) Analyze data to predict patterns between sunrise and sunset, and the change of seasons.

1.ETS1: Engineering Design

1) Solve scientific problems by asking testable questions, making short-term and long-term
observations, and gathering information.

1.ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society

1) Use appropriate tools (magnifying glass, basic balance scale) to make observations and answer
testable scientific questions.

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