Sand and Water Level: Kindergarten Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter  Description: Through play activities, students understand earth science standards by discovering where sand and water are found on earth, and how they are changed and moved.

Overview Activity List Learning Objectives Standards Resources

Unit Overview
Sand and water are two common earth materials, but the objectives for this unit are derived from standards for both physical and earth science. Students observe the basic properties of these materials--including changes in state of matter for water--thus addressing physical science standards.

It is important to note that in some lessons students will be observing phenomena that they will not be able to understand in any depth until later. According to the Benchmarks for Science Literacy, students at the K-2 level “should become familiar with the freezing of water and melting of ice, the disappearance of water into the air, and the appearance of water on cold surfaces.” However, “evaporation and condensation will mean nothing different from disappearance and appearance, perhaps for several years, until students begin to understand that the evaporated water is still present in the form of invisibly small molecules.” This means that terms like evaporation and condensation can be introduced, if desired, especially if they are brought up by the students.

However, they should be used in a descriptive sense (when water seems to disappear we call that evaporation), not with the intention of teaching explanations for the terms. Even if students can repeat an explanation of evaporation, true understanding is unlikely at this age. Similarly, floating and sinking activities are done to introduce students to a property of water (it can hold things up) and properties of other materials (they sink or float in water). The concept of density (weight for volume) is too difficult for most students at this grade level, so it need not be introduced. The emphasis should be on student ideas about why things sink or float; and it is acceptable for students to think that heavier things sink and lighter things float, or to recognize that certain materials tend to sink or float.

This unit is also a good vehicle for introducing students to two “tools” for use in science: eyedroppers and magnifying lenses. Some kindergarten students will have initial difficulties in using one or both, so be sure to observe carefully to make sure that all students are successfully using these tools.

Activity List Introduction to Detective Theme Sense of Sight Seeing Things Better Sense of Touch Sense of Touch: Hot & Cold Sense of Hearing Sense of Smell Sense of Taste Using Our Detective Senses

Learning Objectives

Students will observe and know that:

• Water is a substance that is found on earth in many places and it has specific sensory properties.

• Water can be a liquid or a solid and can go back and forth from one form (state of matter) to the other.

• Things can be done to materials to change their properties; in some cases this is reversible; something different can be done to return the material to its original properties.

• Water left in an open container “disappears” over time, but water in a closed container does not “disappear.”*

• When other substances are put in water, several things can happen. Many solids will either float on top of the water or sink to the bottom, without being changed in any way.

• Small amounts of water can do various things when coming in contact with solids; in some cases the water will seem to disappear or sink into the solid. (This property of water is called absorption.)

• One property of water is its “stickiness” in some situations, even though water is not something that we usually think of as being sticky.

• Sand is a substance that is found on earth in many places. There is more than one kind of sand, but all sand has certain sensory properties in common.

• Sand is made up of small rocks that come from larger rocks. The larger rocks are broken in some way to make sand.

• There are different kinds of sand that vary in their properties—sand can vary in color, the size of the pieces, the kind of rock that it came from, etc.

• Sand and salt are earth materials with similar but not exactly the same properties.

Students will practice:

• Describing observed events.

• Developing questions on scientific topics

• Collecting data for investigations.

• Recording data.

• Arranging data into logical patterns and describing patterns.

• Comparing observations of individual and group results.

*One or more of these objectives is addressed in each activity, so to avoid repetition, they are not listed in the activity objectives.

Standards

Illinois State Standards: Early Elementary- As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:

12C. Know and apply concepts that describe properties of matter and energy and the interactions between them

• Compare large-scale physical properties of matter.

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry

• Describe an observed event.

• Develop questions on scientific topics.

• Collect and record data for investigations.

• Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.

• Compare observations of individual and group results.

National Science Education Standards: Fundamental Concepts and Principles- As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of fundamental concepts and principles:

• Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, temperature, and the ability to react with other substances.
• Objects are made of one or more materials.
• Materials exist in different states—solid, liquid, and gas. Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling.
• Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

• Magnifiers help people see things that they could not see without them.
• Things can be done to materials to change their properties.
• Water can be a liquid or solid and can go back and forth from one form to another. If water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing.
• Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.
• Chunks of rocks come in many sizes, from boulders to grains of sand and even smaller.

Resources

Champaign Community Unit School District #4 * Mellon Administrative Center
703 South New Street * Champaign, IL 61820 * 217.351.3800