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1st grade · Science · Unit 6 of 7

Signals Far Away

Use light and sound to send messages.

What your child practices

Practices how light and sound can carry a message over a distance, from flashlights and whistles to drums and signal flags, and how to design a simple signal.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 1-PS4-4 · designing devices that use light or sound to communicate over a distance

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Light and sound can send messages far away.
  2. A traffic light is a light signal. A horn is a sound signal.
  3. A code is a set signal, like 3 flashes for hello.

Example: Is a bike bell a light signal or a sound signal? You hear a bell ring. Hearing means sound. Answer: a sound signal

Signals Far Away in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 6 of 7 in 1st grade Science, after Ideas from Nature and before Plant Parts at Work.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is a light signal?

    • A traffic light
    • A drum
    • A school bell
    • A whistle

  2. Question 2

    A green traffic light tells drivers to…

    • go
    • turn around
    • stop
    • sleep

  3. Question 3

    How can you call a friend across a field?

    • Blow a whistle
    • Wave in the dark
    • Whisper
    • Close your eyes

  4. Question 4

    A bike bell tells people…

    • a bike is coming
    • it is lunch
    • school is over
    • it is raining

  5. Question 5

    A red traffic light tells drivers to…

    • turn on lights
    • go fast
    • stop
    • honk

  6. Question 6

    Why do ambulances use both a siren and lights?

    • So people hear and see them
    • To scare birds
    • To look nice
    • To save power

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