Phenomena, standards, and progressions

Grade 1

The Amplify Science grade 1 program progressively builds students’ abilities to meet all grade-level performance expectations through a three- dimensional instructional sequence. The following is an overview of the sequence of units, a description of the progression of student learning across the year, and a summary of how the sequence meets all performance expectations for grade 1.

Sequence of units

  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth

 

Animal and Plant Defenses

Spruce the Sea Turtle lives in an aquarium and will soon be released back into the ocean, where she will survive despite ocean predators.
Students play the role of aquarium scientists. In their role, students apply their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to explain to aquarium visitors how a sea turtle and her offspring can defend themselves from ocean predators when they are released into the wild.
  • 1-LS1-1: Mimicking Organisms’ Structures
  • 1-LS1-2: Parents Promote Survival of Offspring
  • 1-LS3-1: Young Organisms Resemble Parents
  • K-2-ETS1-1: Defining the Problem
  • K-2-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions

Light and Sound

A puppet show company uses light and sound to depict realistic scenes in puppet shows.
Students take on the role of light and sound engineers for a puppet show company as they investigate cause and effect relationships to learn about the nature of light and sound. They apply what they learn to design shadow scenery and sound effects for a puppet show.
  • 1-PS4-1: Sound and Vibration
  • 1-PS4-2: Seeing Requires Light
  • 1-PS4-3: Light Interaction with Materials
  • 1-PS4-4: Light and Sound for Communication
  • K-2-ETS1-1: Defining the Problem
  • K-2-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions
  • K-2-ETS1-3: Comparing Different Solutions

Spinning Earth

The sky looks different to Sai and his grandma when they talk on the phone.
As sky scientists, students explain why a boy living in a place near them sees different things in the sky than his grandma when he talks to her on the phone. Students record, organize, and analyze observations of the sun and other sky objects as they look for patterns and make sense of the cycle of daytime and nighttime.
  • 1-ESS1-1: Observable Patterns of Sky Objects
  • 1-ESS1-2: Amount of Daylight