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Science Standards

Kindergarten Science Standards (NGSS*)

All 10 kindergarten performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards, each explained in plain English. The official wording of each one is a click away.

10 standards

Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls

2 standards
K-PS2-1
Plan and run a test to see how a harder or gentler push or pull, or one from another direction, changes how a toy moves, like stopping a rolling ball.
Official wording
Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.
K-PS2-2
Look at test results to decide whether a design, like a ramp or a wall, makes a ball go faster or turn the way it was meant to.
Official wording
Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants, and Their Environment

4 standards
K-LS1-1
Watch plants, animals and people to find patterns in what living things need, like water for everyone, light for plants and food for animals.
Official wording
Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
K-ESS2-2
Give reasons backed by evidence for how plants, animals and people change their surroundings to meet their needs, like tree roots cracking a sidewalk.
Official wording
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
K-ESS3-1
Make a model to show how living things live where their needs are met, such as deer in forests full of leaves and grass in sunny meadows.
Official wording
Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
K-ESS3-3
Share ideas that help people do less harm to nearby land, water, air and living things, like reusing paper and recycling cans and bottles.
Official wording
Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

Weather and Climate

4 standards
K-PS3-1
Observe what sunlight does to sand, soil, rocks and water, like noticing that a sidewalk feels warmer in the sun than in the shade.
Official wording
Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.
K-PS3-2
Design and build a shade, like an umbrella or tent, using simple tools and materials to keep a spot from getting hot in the sun.
Official wording
Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.
K-ESS2-1
Watch and talk about the weather each day to find patterns over time, like mornings being cooler than afternoons or counting rainy days in a month.
Official wording
Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
K-ESS3-2
Ask questions to learn why people forecast the weather and how forecasts help families get ready for storms and other severe weather nearby.
Official wording
Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.

The official document

Official wording from NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. The plain-English lines and everything else on this page are EMStudio’s own explanations, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standards.

*NGSS is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.