The signs at the nature park fell down, and kindergarten students help the park ranger sort 12 words into Land and Water. The word bank mixes materials, plants, and animals: Rock, Fish, Bear, Pond, Tree, Ocean, Sand, Shark, Hill, Frog, Kelp, and Beach. Two Think About It questions follow. The answer key flags the frog and the beach as tricky, since a frog needs both land and water and a beach is where they meet. The sheet supports NGSS K-LS1-1 and K-ESS3-1.
K-LS1-1
“Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.”
Question 1 and the frog: the answer key notes that a frog needs both land and water to survive.
K-ESS3-1
“Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.”
The full sort, which places each animal and plant, such as the shark and the kelp, in the setting where it lives.
Twelve words to sort, from Rock and Sand to Shark and Kelp.
Students write each word in the Land box or the Water box.
Question 1 asks which item was the hardest to place, with a hint about things that belong in both places. Question 2 asks for one new thing for Land and one for Water.
Sand and water tray
Set up a tray with sand on one side and water on the other. Students place picture cards for the 12 words before they write.
Frog debate
Let the class argue about Frog. The answer key accepts either box when the student explains, so the talk matters more than the box.
Homework line
Question 2 works as homework. Students bring back one land thing and one water thing they saw at home or on the way to school.
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