First Grade: Structure and Function
Talking Science Through Texts > First Grade > Structure and Function
Driving Question: What are some ways plants and animals meet their needs so that they can survive and grow? How are parents and their children similar and different?
First Grade Crosscutting Concepts
Select a concept to learn more.
Patterns
Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as evidence.
Cause and Effect
Events have causes that generate observable patterns.
Structure and Function
Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together.
Talking Science: Crosscutting Concepts to Support Comprehension
Crosscutting concepts have application across all domains of science. As such, they are a way of linking the different domains of science. They include patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; energy and matter; structure and function; and stability and change. The Framework emphasizes that these concepts need to be made explicit for students because they provide an organizational schema for interrelating knowledge from various science fields into a coherent and scientifically based view of the world.
Suggested Read Aloud Texts
Choose a text to view its read aloud guide.
I Don't Want to Be A Frog
Animals Should Not Wear Clothing
Good Trick Walking Stick
What If You Had Animal Feet?
Talking Science: Formative Assessment Probes
Extend the discussion of these books using the suggested prompts from the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Series from Page Keeley and NSTA.
- 1-LS1-2
- Not Addressed
- 1-LS3-1
- Not Addressed
- 1-LS1-1
- #1 Is it Living?, USI in Primary Grades, p. 4
- #2 Is it an Animal?, USI in Primary Grades, p. 10
- #3 Is it a Plant?, USI in Primary Grades, p. 16
- #4 Is it Made of Parts?, USI in Primary Grades, p. 22
- #6 Do They Need Air?, USI in Primary Grades, p. 32
- #7 Senses, USI in Primary Grades, p. 36
Brought to You By
