Topic: Physical Science – Physical Properties (Kindergarten)
Root Question: How do nonliving objects move and why do they move that
way?
Science Standard and indicators: Science K.3.1 Identify how non‐living things move. Observe and record how
objects move in different ways, e.g., fast, slow, zigzag, round and round, up and down, straight line, back and forth, slide,
roll, bounce, spin, swing, float, and glide.
Science Practices (from Standard 1): Science K.1.1.c Conducting investigations: Observe, manipulate, measure,
describe.
Language objective: Speaking and Listening
K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about kindergarten topics
and texts with peers and adults in small and
larger groups.
Writing objective: K.2 Use a combination of
drawing, dictating, and writing to compose
informative/explanatory texts in which they
name what they are writing about and supply
some information about the topic.
Math objective: K.MD.A Directly compare
two objects with a measurable attribute in
common, to see which object has “more of”/“less
of” the attribute, and describe the difference.
Content Objective. In summative assessments, students
should be able to . . .
 Students will recognize nonliving things in a picture with
both living and nonliving things.
 Students will describe the movements of nonliving things
using adverbs and adjectives such as fast, slow, zigzag, round
and round, up and down, straight line, back and forth, slide,
roll, bounce, spin, swing, float, and glide.
 Students will recognize objects that move faster or slower,
farther or shorter distances and orally describe these
differences. Vocabulary: harder, softer, push, measure,
direction, faster, slower
 Students will engage in discussion with others that is
collaborative and that uses evidence.
 Students will draw objects and write a word describing its
movement.
Resources:
Wonders Unit 4 week 1: Leveled readers
Follett book: Get Up and Go, Being Active by Amanda Tourville; Making Things Move by Sian Smith
Koosh ball, top, wind-up toys, small marble run or other zigzag toy, hula hoops; pictures of all the toys used; several
playground balls, string or measuring tapes for measuring distance
Recording paper: How Things Move
The Lesson Plan
Teacher will:
1. Gather students on the rug. Using the koosh
ball and other toys, show each object one at a
time. Make the object move. Write the
describing words next to a picture of each object.
2. Read pages 4-5 of Making Things Move on the
Smartboard. Ask, “Which things are living?
Which are nonliving? How do the nonliving
things move?” Read through page 15. Continue to
ask which things are nonliving and how they
move.
3. Provide enough toys and specific directions to
allow for free play with the toys. (Use as a center
activity, or provide enough sets of toys for all
students to engage in play.) Encourage students
to discuss the movements the toys make and
describe them to each other as they play.
4. Take students outside. Explain that they are
going to make balls move in different ways.
Students will:
1. Students show with their hands, arms, or whole bodies how each
object moves. Students then work as a whole group to choose some
describing words for the motion. Students complete a chart with a
picture and word to show how the objects moved.
2. Students read along with Making Things Move. They discuss how
the nonliving things in the book move using adverbs and adjectives
along with body motions. Students begin to differentiate between
living things and nonliving things in each picture. As they view the
pictures students will ask questions about how each object moves and
what is making it move.
3. In small groups, students engage in free play with the toys. They
discuss with each other how the toys move and use the describing
words from the whole group instruction.
4. Students watch demonstration, then take turns to move
playground balls fast and slow. They describe what they had to do to
make the ball move faster or slower. Students will use the vocabulary
words to explain to each other and to the teacher what they observe.
J. Paul 2015
Science K
K.3.1
Demonstrate how to move a playground ball fast
and slow.
5. Behind a designated boundary, show students
how to push a ball so it rolls forward. Ask a
student to push the ball so it rolls slowly. When
the ball stops rolling, use the string or a
measuring tape to measure how far it went. Ask
another student to push the ball so it rolls
quickly. When it stops, measure once more. Lead
a discussion about the difference. Give
directions for student groups to do this on their
own.
Using Wonders:
1. Use On The Move poster as intended. Then
ask, “Are penguins living or nonliving things?”
Lead a short discussion about the nonliving
things in the picture, air and snow. Ask, “Does
snow move?”
2. Use the leveled readers for summative
assessment as described below.
In formative assessments I am looking
for:
Can students differentiate between familiar living
and nonliving things?
Can students use describing words to explain the
motion of objects?
Can students take turns when discussing with
peers?
Do students use the vocabulary words to explain
motions?
Do students engage in physical movements that
mimic the movements of the nonliving objects?
Are students engaged in the process of science –
the scientific investigation?
5. Students watch the demonstration of measuring the distance a ball
moves when pushed. They then work in groups to measure slow and
fast pushes. Students compare the distances traveled using words
such as farther, shorter, longer, more and less. Students will decide
as a group which kind of push makes the ball move the farthest. They
should use evidence from their experiment to argue their points.
1. Students determine that penguins are living and snow is nonliving.
Snow can move when it breaks, melts, is thrown, or carried
somewhere by something. Students begin to consider how living
things can move by themselves while nonliving things must be moved
by something else (an engine, a person, an animal, the wind,etc.)
2. Students will use leveled readers in assessment as described below.
In summative assessment students will:
Using a different set of small toys, students work in groups to move
each object. Students will draw a picture of the object and show with
arrows, written words, or orally how the object moved.
Things to look for:
Can students describe the motion of objects using words?
Can students recognize when something moves faster or slower,
farther or less far?
After reading the leveled reader for their group, assign students to
choose one nonliving thing in the book (or on a single page) that
moves. Have students draw the object and describe its motion either
in writing or orally.
Can students differentiate between living and nonliving things in the
pictures?
Can students describe how the objects in the picture might move?
J. Paul 2015
Science K
K.3.1
Worksheet
Name___________________________________________
How Things Move
This is a
This is a
This is a
It moves
It moves
It moves
J. Paul 2015
Science K
K.3.1
Assessment
Name__________________________________
I know how things move.
This is a ___________________________________
It moves ___________________________________
J. Paul 2015
Science K
K.3.1