What does a student learn in StateNew Jersey,GradeKindergarten,SubjectScience?

Students practice asking "why" and "how" questions about the world around them, then figure out which ones could be answered by a test or experiment. It's the habit of turning curiosity into something they can actually investigate.

Students draw or build simple models to show how something works or looks, like sketching a plant or building a block bridge. The model helps explain an idea they can not yet describe in words.

Students pick a question, figure out how to test it, and then actually do the test to see what happens. The results help them decide if their idea was right.

Students sort and compare information they collect, looking for what stays the same or what changes. A pattern in the data helps them figure out what it means.

Students use counting, sorting, or simple measuring to help answer a science question. For example, they might count how many seeds sprouted or measure how tall a plant grew.

Students look at what they observed or tested, then put their findings into words to explain why something happened. The explanation has to match the evidence, not just a guess.

Students look at two possible answers to a science question and decide which one the evidence supports better. They practice saying why one idea makes more sense than another.

Students share what they noticed or learned by drawing pictures, talking, or showing their work to others. In kindergarten, communicating science means telling what happened and what it looked like.

Students sort, touch, and describe everyday objects to figure out what things are made of and how they behave. They notice what happens when materials are mixed, bent, or changed.

Students push, pull, and roll objects to see how things start moving, stop, or change direction. They notice that a harder push makes something move farther.

Students explore how energy shows up in everyday things like light, heat, sound, and movement, and notice what happens when energy moves from one object to another.

Students explore how waves move energy from place to place, like sound traveling across a room or light bouncing off a mirror. They learn how waves carry information, the way a ringing phone sends a signal through the air.

Students look at living things and figure out how their parts work. A leaf, a root, a fin, a wing, each part does a job that helps the organism survive.

Students observe how plants, animals, and the sun work together in a habitat. They notice what living things eat, how they depend on each other, and what happens when something in that web changes.

Plants and animals pass traits to their offspring, but not every offspring looks identical to its parent. Students observe how living things resemble their parents while also noticing small differences.

Students look at different plants and animals to notice what makes each one unique and what it shares with others. This builds toward understanding why living things look and behave the way they do.

Students look at the sky to spot patterns, like how the sun appears every morning and the moon changes shape over the month. These early observations build into bigger questions about Earth's place in space.

Students explore how the land, water, air, and living things around them connect and affect each other. A raindrop soaking into the soil or a tree sheltering an animal shows these connections in action.

Students learn how people change the land, water, and air around them, and what happens when storms, floods, or other natural events disrupt daily life.

Students look at a problem, think of a way to fix it, and then test their idea to see if it works. If it doesn't, they try again with a better design.

Students explore how the things people build and invent change everyday life, and how the needs of everyday life shape what people build and invent.