1st grade · Science · Unit 2 of 8
Light & Sound
Bright, dark, loud and quiet
What your child practices
Sources of light and sound, loud and quiet, high and low sounds, shadows, and how light passes through glass but not walls.
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 1P.1.2.1.1 · how vibrating materials make sound, and how sound makes materials vibrate
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The sun, a flashlight and a candle make their own light.
- We need light to see colors.
- Light passes through clear glass but not through a wall.
Example: Does a spoon make its own light? A spoon can shine, but only when light hits it. It does not make light. Answer: no
Light & Sound in Minnesota
In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 2 of 8 in 1st grade Science, after Animal Survival and before Materials.
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.
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
Does it make its own light? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: ✨ makes light · ⬛ does not make light
- ⭐star
- 🧸teddy bear
- 🪨rock
- 🪞mirror
- 🕯️candle
- 🔦flashlight
✨ makes light: star, candle, flashlight · ⬛ does not make light: teddy bear, rock, mirror
Hint: Light sources glow on their own. The moon and mirrors only bounce light back.
Question 2
Which one helps you see in the dark?
- 🪞mirror
- 🔦flashlight
- 📕book
🔦 flashlight
Hint: A flashlight makes its own light, so it lights up the dark.
Question 3
Move your hand closer to a lamp. What happens to its shadow?
💡- ⬆️it gets bigger
- 🔵it turns blue
- ⬇️it gets smaller
⬆️ it gets bigger
Hint: The closer your hand is to the light, the more light it blocks, so the shadow grows.
Question 4
Does the moon make its own light?
🌕- ✨Yes, it glows by itself
- ☀️No, sunlight bounces off it
☀️ No, sunlight bounces off it
Hint: The moon has no light of its own. It shines because sunlight bounces off it.
Question 5
Where does daylight come from?
- 🌙the moon
- ☁️the clouds
- ☀️the sun
☀️ the sun
Hint: The sun is a giant ball of light. It lights up our day.
Question 6
Is the sound loud or quiet? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 📢 loud · 🤫 quiet
- ⛈️thunder
- 🚒fire truck siren
- 🐈cat purring
- ⏰alarm clock
- 📖turning a page
- ❄️snow falling
📢 loud: thunder, fire truck siren, alarm clock · 🤫 quiet: cat purring, turning a page, snow falling
Hint: Loud sounds are big and strong. Quiet sounds are soft, and you have to listen closely.