In this kindergarten sort, the park builder has dropped their notes, and students put 12 places into two columns: Warm in the Sun and Cool in the Shade. The places include sunny sand, a hot slide, a cool tree shadow, and a shady puddle. Two Think About It questions follow, one on the trickiest place and one asking for a new sunny spot and a new shady spot. The sheet supports NGSS K-PS3-1. Its answer key sorts all twelve places and gives sample answers.
K-PS3-1
“Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface.”
The whole sort rests on the idea printed at the top: sunlight makes things warmer and shade makes things cooler. Paired places such as sunny bench and shady bench show the effect on the same surface.
Twelve places: sunny sand, shady dirt, sunny rock, cool dark rock, sunny puddle, shady grass, hot slide, cool tree shadow, bright street, shady puddle, sunny bench, and shady bench.
Two columns, Warm in the Sun and Cool in the Shade. Students write each place in the column where it belongs.
Question 1 asks which place was the trickiest to sort and why. Question 2 asks for one new place for the Sun and one for the Shade, such as a hot car seat or under an umbrella.
Bench test
Sort the places in class, then take students outside to touch a bench in the sun and a bench in the shade. They check their chart against what their hands tell them.
Puddle debate
The two puddles are the tricky pair. Ask partners to decide whether a sunny puddle is warm or cool before you share the answer key example.
Cut and glue
Print the Places to Sort page on card, cut out the twelve places, and let students glue them into the Sorting Chart. It saves a lot of writing for early writers.
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