Thirteen questions build one idea for 1st grade science: we can see objects only when there is light (NGSS 1-PS4-2). Students start with a dark room full of toys, switch on a flashlight, and follow a woman deep in a cave who turns hers off. Next they sort six objects, from the sun to an apple, by whether they make their own light. The last story puts Sam in a dark closet with his toy bear. The answer key covers all 13 items and gives a model sentence for the final one.
1-PS4-2
“Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects can be seen only when illuminated.”
Questions 1, 2, 4, 11, and 12 each compare one scene with and without light. Question 13 asks students to put that evidence into their own words.
Four questions. Students answer Yes or No for a completely dark room, then for the same room with a flashlight on. They write what we need to see things and decide whether the woman in the cave sees Everything or Nothing.
A table of six objects: Sun, Book, Firefly, Ball, Lamp, and Apple. Students mark Yes or No for whether each one makes its own light, and only the sun, the firefly, and the lamp get a Yes.
Sam looks for his bear in a closet with no light. Students say whether he can see it and what happens when he opens the door to let the sun in, then finish the sentence "Sam could not see his toy at first because _____".
Before a dark-box demo
Set Section 1 just before you look into a closed shoebox with a toy inside, first without and then with a flashlight. Students check their answers against what they saw.
Misconception check
Look at questions 6 and 10. A student who marks the book or the apple Yes thinks anything we can see gives off light, and that needs a quick conversation.
Writing check
Read question 13 closely. "Because it was dark" shows the idea, and a student who adds that the closet had no light is using the evidence.
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