Kindergarten · Science · Unit 4 of 7
Sky & Seasons
Day, night and the seasons
What your child practices
Day and night, the sun, moon and stars (the moon reflects sunlight), and the order of the seasons.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: K.E2U1.5 · patterns in how the sun, moon and stars move across the sky
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- We see the sun in the daytime.
- At night we see the moon and stars.
- The moon shines because sunlight bounces off it.
Example: When can we see lots of stars? Stars are hard to see in daylight. A clear, dark night shows them best. Answer: on a clear, dark night
Sky & Seasons in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 7 in Kindergarten Science, after Stormy Weather and before Light & Sound.
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.
- Kindergarten guide for Arizona parents
- Printable Kindergarten Science sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Put the day in order. Start with morning.
- 🌇evening: the sun goes down
- 🌃night: the sky is dark
- 🌅morning: the sun comes up
- ☀️midday: the sun is high
morning: the sun comes up → midday: the sun is high → evening: the sun goes down → night: the sky is dark
Hint: The sun comes up in the morning, is high at midday, goes down in the evening, and then it's night.
Question 2
When can we see lots of stars?
- 🌃on a clear, dark night
- 🌅on a sunny morning
- 🥪at lunchtime
🌃 on a clear, dark night
Hint: Stars are always there, but the sun is so bright that we only see them at night.
Question 3
Winter or summer? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: ❄️ winter · ☀️ summer
- 🕶️sunglasses
- 🏊swimming outside
- ⛸️skating on a pond
- 🩳shorts
- 🧤mittens
- ⛄snowman
❄️ winter: skating on a pond, mittens, snowman · ☀️ summer: sunglasses, swimming outside, shorts
Hint: Think about the weather. Is it a cold winter day or a hot summer day?
Question 4
Which season comes after winter?
- 🍂fall
- ☀️summer
- 🌷spring
🌷 spring
Hint: Winter, then spring! Snow melts and plants start to grow.
Question 5
In which season do many flowers start to grow?
- 🍂fall
- ❄️winter
- 🌷spring
🌷 spring
Hint: In spring the days get warmer, and plants start to grow again.
Question 6
When do we usually see the sun in the sky?
- 🌃in the middle of the night
- ☀️in the daytime
☀️ in the daytime
Hint: The sun lights up the sky in the daytime. At night our side of Earth faces away from it.