GEMS Correlations with the Florida Sunshine State Standards

Grade Level Expectations and Benchmarks for Science
Grades K–2

Strand A: The Nature of Matter

Return to Sunshine State Standards Page

Standard 1: The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties.

Benchmark SC.A.1.1.1: The student knows that objects can be described, classified, and compared by their composition (e.g., wood or metal) and their physical properties (e.g., color, size, and shape).

Kindergarten

1. knows that objects have many different observable properties:
· color
· shapes (circle, triangle, square)
· forms (flexible, stiff, straight, curved)
· textures (rough, smooth, hard, soft)
· sizes and weights (big, little, large, small, heavy, light, wide, thin, long, short)
· positions & speeds (over, under, in, out, above, below, left, right, fast, slow).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Bubble Festival, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Elephants and Their Young, Hide a Butterfly, Investigating Artifacts, Ladybugs, Liquid Explorations, Mother Opossum and Her Babies, Penguins and Their Young, Sifting Through Science, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

First Grade

1. knows that objects can be grouped according to their physical characteristics (for example, shape, color, texture, form, size).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Ant Homes Under the Ground, Bubble Festival, Buzzing a Hive, Eggs Eggs Everywhere, Elephants and Their Young, Investigating Artifacts, Liquid Explorations, Penguins and Their Young, Sifting Through Science, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. knows ways objects can be grouped according to similarities or differences of their physical characteristics.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Bubble Festival, Investigating Artifacts, Liquid Explorations, On Sandy Shores, Sifting Through Science, Tree Homes

Benchmark SC.A.1.1.2: The student recognizes that the same material can exist in different states.

Kindergarten

1. knows that matter exists in different states (solid, liquid, gas).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Elephants and Their Young, Liquid Explorations, Penguins and Their Young, Sifting Through Science

First Grade

1. knows the effects of heating and cooling on solids, liquids and gases.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Involving Dissolving, Penguins and Their Young

Second Grade

1. knows examples of solids, liquids, and gases.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Involving Dissolving, Liquid Explorations, On Sandy Shores, Sifting Through Science

2. knows the observable properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Involving Dissolving, Liquid Explorations, On Sandy Shores, Sifting Through Science

Benchmark SC.A.1.1.3: The student verifies that things can be done to materials to change some of their physical properties (e.g., cutting, heating, and freezing), but not all materials respond the same way (e.g., heating causes water to boil and sugar to melt).

Kindergarten

1. knows that materials can be changed by cutting, folding, bending, and mixing.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Animal Defenses, Ant Homes Under the Ground, Bubble Festival, Hide a Butterfly, Liquid Explorations, Sifting Through Science

First Grade

1. knows the physical properties of ice, water, and steam.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Elephants and Their Young, Involving Dissolving, Liquid Explorations, Penguins and Their Young, Sifting Through Science

Second Grade

1. knows that not all objects or materials respond to change in the same way (for example, a plastic object in the freezer compared with water in a freezer).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Involving Dissolving, On Sandy Shores, Sifting Through Science

Standard 2: The student understands the basic principles of atomic theory.

Benchmark SC.A.2.1.1: The student recognizes that many things are made of smaller pieces, different amounts, and various shapes.

Kindergarten

1. knows that some objects are made up of many different materials.

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Sifting Through Science, Terrarium Habitats

First Grade

1. knows that objects are composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification (for example, rocks, cookies, string, paper).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Involving Dissolving, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

Second Grade

1. knows that common objects are composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification (for example, hair, cloth, paper).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, Mystery Festival, On Sandy Shores, Terrarium Habitats, Tree Homes

2. knows that a variety of tools can be used to examine objects at differing degrees of magnification (for example, a hand lens, layered hand lenses, a microscope).

Appropriate GEMS Teacher Guides: Aquatic Habitats, Buzzing a Hive, Involving Dissolving, Liquid Explorations, On Sandy Shores, Terrarium Habitats