I had the honor of working at a nature center for nearly a decade coaching teachers to use nature as a vehicle to teach science through authentic and place-based experiences. I am now a nature preschool teacher by day and content creator by night sharing my love of science and ELA with other educators. Let's make science a priority in your classroom by making it more approachable, digestible, and enjoyable!

Outdoor Education

Podcast

Outside Summer Activities for 1st and 4th Graders Aligned with NGSS [Ep. 74]

Outside summer activities

We’re just one week away from the summer solstice! You’re probably noticing signs of summer, and likely, your learners’ families are too. Help your kiddos avoid summer slide by giving them school to home experiences that help them practice concepts with light alongside their families.

In this episode, we’ll talk about outside summer activities for 1st and 4th graders related to light, how sunlight changes throughout the year, and how we see. I’ll share the standard that inspired the activity, how they relate to light, and how you can share those activities with your learners’ families.

In this episode, I discuss the following standards connected to outside summer activities about light:

1st Grade: 1-ESS1-2: Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
4th Grade: 4-PS4-2: Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen.