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Sunlight & Warmth

Kindergartners learn that the Sun gives us light AND warmth — it heats up the ground, the air, and everything it shines on — and that shade is cooler because it blocks the sunlight.

KindergartenEnergy30 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsNGSS
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Know the Sun gives warmth.
  • ✓Know sunlight warms things.
  • ✓Know shade is cooler.
  • ✓Feel the difference.
Essential Question

Step into the sunshine and you feel warm; step into the shade and you feel cooler. What does the Sun do besides give us light?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive

Sunlight & Warmth Check

Project each item and have children answer about sunlight and warmth. The tool explains how the Sun heats things.

☀️ How does sunlight warm things?Try it
Answer each question about sunlight.
The Lesson · 5E Instructional Model (Engage · Explore · Explain · Elaborate · Evaluate)

30 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Sun and Shade

5 min

In the sunshine you feel warm; in the shade, cooler — why?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Talk about sun and shade.
  • Ask why they feel different.
  • Get ready.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Think about it.
  • Feel the warmth.
  • Get ready.
2

Explore — Explore Warmth

8 min

Children investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send children to Sunlight & Warmth Check.
  • Answer each one.
  • Talk about it.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Answer them.
  • Talk.
  • Explain.
3

Explain — The Sun Warms Things

8 min

Children explain.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • The Sun gives light and warmth.
  • Sunlight warms surfaces.
  • Shade is cooler.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Learn warmth.
  • Learn warming.
  • Learn shade.
4

Elaborate — Feel It

6 min

Children elaborate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Feel a sunny and a shady spot.
  • Compare them.
  • Explain why.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Feel both.
  • Compare them.
  • Explain it.
5

Reflect — Reflect

3 min

Children conclude.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say what the Sun gives us.
  • Say where it’s cooler.
  • Draw the Sun.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Say shade.
  • Draw it.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (Kindergarten / Early Elementary Science).

NGSS
K-PS3-1

Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth’s surface.

NGSS
K-PS3-2

Use tools and materials to design a structure that reduces the warming effect of sunlight.

NGSS
K-ESS2-1

Observe weather patterns.

NGSS
SEP-3

Planning and carrying out investigations.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Sun/shade picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “The Sun makes it ___.”
  • Feel sun and shade.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with warm vs. cool.
  • Feel real sun and shade.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Build shade for a toy.
  • Compare warm surfaces.
  • Talk about staying cool.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • ☀️A sunny window
  • 💻Sunlight & Warmth Check
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🕶️A sun hat
  • 🎫Sticker charts
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

Sunthe star that lights and warms ussunlightlight from the Sunwarmtha warm feeling; heatwarma little hotshadea cool place out of the Suncoola little coldheatwarmth energysurfacethe top of something
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What TWO things does the Sun give us?
Light and warmth (heat).
QUESTION 2
Where is it cooler on a sunny day — sun or shade?
The shade.
QUESTION 3
What happens to the ground when the Sun shines on it?
It gets warm.

Growing at home? Sun and shade.

Have families feel a sunny spot and a shady spot outside and talk about why one is warmer. A printable sunlight sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Sunlight & WarmthFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Sunlight & WarmthQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Sunlight & WarmthPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: cool, heat, shade, Sun, sunlight, surface, warm, warmth
  1. a cool place out of the Sun
  2. light from the Sun
  3. a warm feeling; heat
  4. a little hot
  5. the star that lights and warms us
  6. the top of something
  7. warmth energy
  8. a little cold

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What TWO things does the Sun give us?
  2. Where is it cooler on a sunny day — sun or shade?
  3. What happens to the ground when the Sun shines on it?
Answer key — Part A: 1) shade · 2) sunlight · 3) warmth · 4) warm · 5) Sun · 6) surface · 7) heat · 8) cool
Part B: 1) Light and warmth (heat). 2) The shade. 3) It gets warm.