In Grade K through Grade 8 Science, content is organized into recurring strands. The concepts within each grade level build on prior knowledge, prepare students for the next grade level, and establish a foundation for high school courses.

Kindergarten

Students explore the location, motion, and position of objects and investigate the importance of light energy as it relates to the students' everyday lives.
Students focus on demonstrating light energy sources and their effect on objects.

Students know that force and motion are related and that energy exists in many forms as a part of everyday life.
Magnetism interacts with various materials and can be used as a push and pull.
The students investigate the importance of heat and focus on changes caused by heating and cooling.

Students know that force and motion are related and that energy exists in many forms as a part of everyday life.
Magnetism interacts with various materials and can be used as a push and pull.
The students investigate sound energy and focus on how sound affects objects.

Students manipulate objects by pushing and pulling to demonstrate changes in motion and position.
Students also identify forces such as magnetism and gravity.
Students understand energy exists in many forms, including mechanical, thermal, light, and sound.
The students identify forms of energy in everyday life.

Students investigate forces, including friction, gravity, and magnetism, to observe their effects on objects.
They differentiate between mechanical, sound, light, thermal, and electrical energy.
Students observe the cycle of energy and the parts of a system while exploring circuits that produce light and thermal energy.
They will build on their understanding of circuits in Grade 5.
As students explore thermal and electrical energy, they observe the behavior of different materials to identify patterns and label the materials as conductors or insulators.

Students investigate equal and unequal forces and the effects these forces have on objects (motion and direction).
Additionally, students investigate energy, including mechanical, light, thermal, electrical, and sound.
They uncover cycles (e.g., movement of thermal energy), patterns (e.g., behavior of light, including reflection and refraction), and systems through their exploration.
Students will build on this understanding in middle school when they begin to use calculations and measurements to study force, motion, and energy through the study of Newton's Laws of Motion.

Students investigate the relationship between force and motion using a variety of means, including calculations and measurements through the study of Newton's Third Law of Motion.
Subsequent grades will study force and motion through Newton's First and Second Laws of Motion.
Energy occurs as either potential or kinetic energy.
Potential energy can take several forms, including gravitational, elastic, and chemical energy.
Energy is conserved throughout systems by changing from one form to another and transfers through waves.

Students measure, calculate, graph, and investigate how forces impact linear motion.
Students build upon their understanding of the laws of motions by exploring Newton's First Law of Motion.
Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules.
Thermal energy is transferred by conduction, convection, or radiation in order to reach thermal equilibrium.

Students are introduced to Newton's Second Law of Motion and investigate how all three laws of motion act simultaneously within systems.
Students understand that waves transfer energy and further explore the characteristics and applications of waves.