1st grade · Science · Unit 3 of 8
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 1-ESS1-1; 1-ESS1-2 · patterns of the sun, moon and stars, and daylight through the year
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The sun comes up in the morning and goes down in the evening.
- The seasons go spring, summer, fall, winter.
- Leaves change color and fall in fall.
Example: Which season comes after winter? Spring, summer, fall, winter… then spring again. Answer: spring
Sky & Seasons in New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 3 of 8 in 1st grade Science, after Light & Sound and before Parents & Babies.
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
Put the day in order. Start with morning.
- 🌅morning: the sun comes up
- 🌇evening: the sun goes down
- 🌃night: the sky is dark
- ☀️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
In which season do many flowers start to grow?
- ❄️winter
- 🌷spring
- 🍂fall
🌷 spring
Hint: In spring the days get warmer, and plants start to grow again.
Question 3
Winter or summer? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: ❄️ winter · ☀️ summer
- 👒sun hat
- 🧤mittens
- 🛷sledding
- 🏊swimming outside
- 🧣warm scarf
- 🕶️sunglasses
❄️ winter: mittens, sledding, warm scarf · ☀️ summer: sun hat, swimming outside, sunglasses
Hint: Think about the weather. Is it a cold winter day or a hot summer day?
Question 4
When can we see lots of stars?
- 🥪at lunchtime
- 🌅on a sunny morning
- 🌃on a clear, dark night
🌃 on a clear, dark night
Hint: Stars are always there, but the sun is so bright that we only see them at night.
Question 5
Does the moon always look the same shape?
- 🌕Yes, it is always round
- 🌓No, its shape seems to change
🌓 No, its shape seems to change
Hint: Over about a month, we see more and then less of the moon's sunny side.
Question 6
When does the sun go down?
- 🥪at lunch
- 🌇in the evening
- 🥣at breakfast
🌇 in the evening
Hint: The sun comes up in the morning and goes down in the evening.