Kat and Squirrel Go Camping This is an interactive story with pauses after each ‘chapter’ to allow students and teachers time to research topics (nonfiction paired articles are included!), conduct experiments (teacher and student directions included!), do demonstrations (detailed instructions included!), discuss vocabulary (vocab. cards are included!), record observations and conclusions (recording sheets included!), and even play a fun game (rules and graphics included!). All lessons are introduced by a continuing story about Kat and Squirrel’s goofy adventures while on a camping trip. The lessons are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards for first grade. And the lessons have been created by an experienced first-grade teacher. The timing will depend upon how long and how often you have science class, but would most likely take 2-3 weeks. This could also be integrated into the reading/language arts curriculum very easily with a few creative teacher additions.

Goals of the lesson

NGSS Aligned 1-PS4 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer Students who demonstrate understanding can:

1-PS4-1. Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. Clarification Statement: Examples of vibrating materials that make sound could include tuning forks and plucking a stretched string. Examples of how sound can make matter vibrate could include holding a piece of paper near a speaker making sound and holding an object near a vibrating tuning fork.

1-PS4-2. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated. Clarification Statement: Examples of observations could include those made in a completely dark room, a pinhole box, and a video of a cave explorer with a flashlight. Illumination could be from an external light source or by an object giving off its own light.

1-PS4-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. Clarification Statement: Examples of materials could include those that are transparent (such as clear plastic), translucent (such as wax paper), opaque (such as cardboard), and reflective (such as a mirror).

*Not included in this unit: (But wouldn’t this be a great time to do it?) You could have your students write another chapter to the story where Kat and Squirrel get separated and need to devise a way to find each other. Oooooh, the possibilities….

1-PS4-4. Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance. Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include a light source to send signals, paper cup and string “telephones,” and a pattern of drum beats.