first grade

Our purpose is to create an intentional learning experience. To ensure that each student in every grade experiences educational enrichment that corresponds to their classroom learning we have created videos, downloadable handouts, quizzes, and more that corresponds to classroom learning.

first grade Science Content Standards

First-grade students continue to be eager learners who are curious about their world. This inquisitive nature leads them to ask a variety of questions that deepen understanding. Students are developing social skills that enable them to interact in inquiry-based and cooperative-learning opportunities. Students begin to take ownership of their learning experiences by making connections through meaningful investigations.

“Conduct experiments to provide evidence that vibrations of matter can create sound (e.g., striking a tuning fork, plucking a guitar string) and sound can make matter vibrate (e.g., holding a piece of paper near a sound system speaker, touching your throat while speaking).”

Supporting Curriculum

Did you know that there are a lot of ways you can make sound by making an object vibrate? This applies to objects big and small. Watch this video to learn more about how to make beautiful music with ordinary and extraordinary things!

"Construct explanations from observations that objects can be seen only when light is available to illuminate them (e.g., moon being illuminated by the sun, colors and patterns in a kaleidoscope being illuminated when held toward a light).”

Supporting Curriculum

How important do you think light is to see? Can you see during the night? If yes, is it because of the moon, or a night light? Let’s learn more about how light affects our ability to see the world around us!

"Investigate materials to determine which types allow light to pass through (e.g., transparent materials such as clear plastic wrap), allow only partial light to pass through (e.g., translucent materials such as wax paper), block light (e.g., opaque materials such as construction paper), or reflect light (e.g., shiny materials such as aluminum foil)."

Supporting Curriculum

Did you know that you can see through certain things without having superpowers? That’s right, there are certain objects that you can see through. Can you name a few? Are there certain things that you can only partially see through, like thin curtains? And what are some things that you cannot see through? What makes it so you can see through some things and not others? Did you know that there are even certain rocks that you can see partially through? One of these special rocks is called Selenite! Here is a photo of it!

“Identify contributions of diverse significant figures that influenced the local community and state in the past and present. Example: Admiral Raphael Semmes’ and Emma Sansom’s roles during the Civil War”

Supporting Curriculum

Have you heard of a woman by the name of Ida Mathis? She was a really special woman who made a big difference in the state of Alabama! She bought run-down land that was no longer producing crops and improved it by restoring the nutrients to the land and working it. Then she would sell the productive farmland to farmers and teach them the best way to grow crops on it. She also worked with banks and encouraged them to give farmers better loans so that they could have a chance at becoming successful farmers. She lived in a time when the farmers in Alabama liked to only use one kind of crop in their fields. But that crop would drink up all the nutrients it liked from the land, so that year after year, the next crop would not do as well, because there were less of the nutrients it liked in the ground. So, she taught the farmers of Alabama crop rotation, which meant that they would learn to use different crops that liked different nutrients in the soil. This meant that the soil would become lush farmland and not run out of nutrients! This was clearly a very important education for the farmers of Alabama. Ida Mathis was a business woman who improved the land in the state of Alabama, saved the state over an estimated 20 million dollars and was even noticed for her efforts by President Woodrow Wilson and this was all before women had the right to vote! She clearly loved land, and one piece of land we’re glad that she loved is Majestic Caverns. She purchased the land in 1912 because it was one of her favorite places in Alabama! She passed the land on generation to generation until her great-grandson, Al Mathis, took the land he believed that Alabamians should see and turned it into a park for families to enjoy. Her great, great-grandaughter, Joy Sorensen is now the President at Majestic Caverns and is proud of the heritage of Ida Mathis.

“Identify ways individuals and groups in the community and state lived in the past to how they live today. Identifying past and present types of apparel”

Supporting Curriculum

Let’s talk about how things change over time. Did you know that people from hundreds of years ago wore different clothes than you, or got from place to place in a different way? Even different people groups have different cultural clothing! Let’s watch this movie and learn more! 

“Identifying past and present types of technology

1. Past - (Waterwheel, fire torches to see the caverns) record player typewriter wood-burning stove, fire torches

2. Present - (Sound and light show, light switches)  DVD, media players, electric lights”

Supporting Curriculum

Let’s talk about technology. Do you know what technology means? Any ideas? Technology is defined as: the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. So technology is a LOT of things! It can be anything from having a toilet in your house to having electricity to your computer and games you play on it! So now that you know what technology is, do you have a favorite kind of technology?

Now that you’ve had time to talk about technology, watch this short video seeing how technology has affected us all!

“Identifying past and present types of recreation”

Supporting Curriculum

Let’s talk about recreation over history. Did you know that although people have been having fun throughout history your way of having fun may look different than others from other cultures or times? What are some of your favorite recreational things to do?