Kansas Grade 1 Science

Use a sequence of sky observations to make a limited prediction

Compare original teaching drawings of the Sun’s apparent position, distinguish a daily pattern from a weather prediction, and study a Kansas Grade 1 sky expectation.

The Kansas science standards directory identifies NGSS adoption in 2013 and review in 2025. It links the disciplinary-core-idea arrangement used here. Use the Kansas-linked NGSS disciplinary-core-idea arrangement for the selected performance expectation and its complete supporting information. This activity selects a Grade 1 expectation. It is one part of a science course, not a complete curriculum.

What can three sky drawings help us predict?

A teacher presents three original teaching records labeled morning, later in the day, and late afternoon. They show the Sun lower on the eastern side of the sky, higher later, and lower on the western side in late afternoon. The drawings illustrate an apparent daily pattern; they are not photographs or measurements from a particular Kansas date. Students identify the sequence and discuss what another day’s observations would need to check.

Explain the evidence or model

The records show a changing apparent position across the day. They support expecting the Sun on the eastern side earlier and toward the western side later, rather than at the same drawn position all day. The drawing’s higher middle position is part of this example, not an exact height required at every place or season. A child can point to the sequence and explain the change without calculating angles. The next morning belongs to a new daily sequence, not a continuation that keeps the Sun moving farther west in the same drawing. The teacher uses selected images or safe indirect records; children should not stare at the Sun to locate it.

What to check in the explanation

Clouds can block a view without eliminating the daily pattern. The pictures do not establish tomorrow’s cloud cover or temperature. Keep a prediction about an apparent position distinct from a weather forecast. The Sun is also a star, so saying that no stars exist in the daytime sky is inaccurate. Other stars are generally difficult to see in daylight; their absence from a child’s drawing does not mean they disappeared. The Moon is not visible only at night. Its appearances require their own observations rather than copying the Sun’s three-picture sequence onto it.

Plan the next activity

1. Read each drawing’s time label and identify its position in the sequence.
2. Describe the pattern using the drawings as evidence.
3. State a limited prediction and choose another observation that could check it.

Use a teacher-selected set of observations from another day with clear place and time labels. Compare the sequence with the teaching example and record where clouds prevented a view. Do not replace a missing observation with an invented sighting. The teacher can separately introduce pictures of the Moon or stars and ask which pattern those records actually support. Keep the evidence sets distinct. Kansas’s selected expectation concerns observations and predictable sky patterns; this introductory Sun sequence does not cover all observations of the Moon and stars or require children to explain orbital mechanics.