What does a student learn in StateMassachusetts,GradeGrade 1,SubjectScience?

Students learn to ask "why" and "how" questions that can actually be tested or investigated. They also learn to describe a problem clearly enough that someone could try to solve it.

Students draw or build simple models, like a picture of the sun and clouds, to show how something in nature works or how a design solves a problem.

Students plan a simple test, gather information from it, and use what they find to check whether their idea holds up.

Students look at simple data, like a tally chart or picture graph, and describe what they notice. They find patterns, such as which category has the most or which result happened again and again.

Students use counting, measuring, and simple number comparisons to back up ideas about the natural world. A measurement or a tally helps show why one answer makes more sense than another.

Students look at what they observed or tested, then use that evidence to explain why something happened or how to fix a problem.

Students look at two possible explanations or solutions, pick the one the evidence best supports, and explain why. They learn that a good reason matters more than a strong opinion.

Students gather facts from books, videos, or hands-on experiments, decide what matters, and share what they found using pictures, words, or simple charts.

Students look at what everyday materials are made of and how they behave, like why some things dissolve, bend, or stick together. This builds toward explaining why the physical world works the way it does.

Students push, pull, and observe how objects speed up, slow down, or stay still. They learn why a ball rolls, a block tips, and why things don't move until something makes them.

Students explore how energy shows up in everyday life, like light, heat, and sound, and how it moves from one place to another. They observe that energy changes form but doesn't simply disappear.

Students explore how waves (like sound and light) carry energy and information from one place to another. They look at everyday examples, such as how sound travels from a speaker to an ear.

Students look closely at living things to learn how different parts work and what those parts do. They study everything from the tiny building blocks inside a plant or animal to how its whole body functions together.

Students learn how plants, animals, and other living things depend on each other for food and shelter. They look at how energy moves from the sun to plants to animals, and how materials like water and nutrients get reused in nature.

Students look at plants or animals and notice which features, like leaf shape or coat color, pass from parents to offspring. Not every offspring looks identical, and students figure out why traits can vary.

Students look at different plants and animals to find ways they are alike and ways they are different. Over time, living things change to better fit where they live.

Students learn where Earth sits in space and how the sun, moon, and stars follow predictable patterns day after day and season after season.

Students learn that Earth is made of connected layers: rock and soil underfoot, water in rivers and oceans, air above, and living things all around. They explore how these parts affect each other.

Students look at how people's choices (like building roads or planting trees) change the land, water, and air around them, and how events like floods or storms affect the way people live.

Students look at a problem, come up with ideas to fix it, then build and test their ideas to see what works best. It's early practice in thinking like an engineer.

Students look at how inventions like phones or bridges change daily life, and how the needs of people shape what engineers build next.