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1st grade · Science · Unit 9 of 11

Soil & Water

Kinds of soil, where water is found, and saving water.

What your child practices

Practices comparing topsoil, clay and sand, how water moves soil and rock, the differences between puddles, ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans (fresh or salt water), weather words, how living things use rocks, soil and water, and ways to save water and keep it clean.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 1.10(A); 1.10(B); 1.10(C); 1.10(D); 1.11(A); 1.11(B); 1.11(C) · kinds of soil, water moving soil, bodies of water, weather, and using and saving water

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Sand has big grains. Clay is sticky when wet.
  2. Rivers and lakes are fresh water. Oceans are salt water.
  3. Rivers carry sand and small rocks downstream.

Example: Which soil is sticky when wet? Sand feels gritty. Clay feels sticky. Answer: clay

Soil & Water in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 9 of 11 in 1st grade Science, after Hot & Cold Changes and before Who Eats What?.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    How do people use rocks?

    • To grow food
    • To drink
    • To breathe
    • To build houses and roads

  2. Question 2

    Most lakes have…

    • sand only
    • salt water
    • fresh water
    • no water

  3. Question 3

    Which soil is best for a garden?

    • Rocks
    • Gravel
    • Sand only
    • Topsoil

  4. Question 4

    Which body of water is the biggest?

    • A stream
    • A pond
    • An ocean
    • A puddle

  5. Question 5

    A river carries small rocks and sand…

    • up into the sky
    • nowhere
    • downstream
    • into the clouds

  6. Question 6

    Soil is made of tiny bits of rock and…

    • glass
    • bits of dead plants
    • metal
    • plastic

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