1st grade Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in 1st grade science in the Arizona Academic Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Light, sound and balanced forces
- Life cycles of plants and animals
- Habitats and how living things get what they need
Easy ways to practice science at home
- Go on a nature walk and name what you see: leaves, bugs, clouds, puddles.
- Plant a bean seed and check it together each day.
- Ask “What do you notice?” before you explain anything.
- Talk about the weather each morning and what to wear for it.
What each unit covers
Push & Pull
Telling pushes from pulls, and seeing how a bigger push, an object's shape and its weight change how it moves.
Signals Far Away
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.
Parents & Babies
Practices how animal parents feed, protect and teach their young, and how young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
Plant Parts at Work
Practices what each outside part of a plant does to help it survive and grow, from roots that drink water to thorns that keep animals away.
How Plants Grow & Change
From seed to flower and back to seed, how seeds travel, how plants react to light and seasons, and how they use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make food and release oxygen.
Basic Needs & Life Cycles
Practices the basic needs of organisms (food, water, air, shelter) and the life cycles of plants and animals, including metamorphosis in butterflies and frogs.
Where Animals Live
Practices matching plants and animals to places that meet their needs, and noticing how animals and people change their surroundings to get what they need.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Arizona report card guide.
Common questions
Go on a nature walk and name what you see: leaves, bugs, clouds, puddles. Plant a bean seed and check it together each day. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Arizona Academic Standards 1st grade science units include Push & Pull, Signals Far Away, Parents & Babies, Plant Parts at Work, How Plants Grow & Change, Basic Needs & Life Cycles.
Free printable 1st grade science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.