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Level 0 · Notice, count, and ask

Ages 6 to 9 (grades 1 to 3), learning with a grown-up

Level 0 icon Grades 1–3: Ages 6 to 9 (grades 1 to 3), learning with a grown-up

The big question: How do we find out what makes things happen?

Children learn to look closely, count carefully, sort, and run small fair tests with things found at home. They practice telling what they saw apart from why it happened. Every later level of the course builds on these habits.

At a glance

Who it is forChildren aged about 6 to 9 who can count to 20. A grown-up reads along, helps with materials, and talks through the questions. No screen time is needed for the hands-on parts.
Lessons10 lessons of about 30 minutes, plus a 2-part final project
PaceTwo lessons a week takes about six weeks, including the final project. Any lesson can be split into two sittings: story and activity one day, practice and checks the next. This helps most in the lessons with a 20-minute activity.
Total sittings12

How a lesson works

  1. Warm up: remember the last lesson in two minutes.

  2. Read the story together.

  3. Do the hands-on activity and record what happens.

  4. Practice together, then try two on your own.

  5. Talk about it, then answer the three check questions. Say your answer out loud before you open a dropdown.

  6. Grown-ups: read the short guide at the end of the page.

What you will be able to do

I can...Practised in
O1I can count a group carefully and write it down so someone else can check it.L0-01, L0-02
O2I can sort things using one rule and tell which group has more.L0-02
O3I can tell what I saw before and after a change, without guessing why.L0-03, L0-07
O4I can plan a fair test that changes only one thing.L0-04, project
O5I can say if something is sure, maybe, or impossible, and try it more than once.L0-05
O6I can use a pattern to make a guess, then check it.L0-06
O7I can explain why a clue is not always a cause.L0-09
O8I can write a yes or no choice as 1 or 0, and name the three big ideas of this course.L0-08, L0-10

Lessons

LessonBig ideaHands-on
L0-01 · Count what you can seeCount each thing just once, and write your count down so anyone can check it.Count and tally
L0-02 · Make clear groupsSort with one clear rule, then count each group.Sort the treasure box
L0-03 · Watch a changeWrite down what you see before and after a change. Save your ideas about why for later.Ice cube watch
L0-04 · Compare fairlyTo find out what a change does, change just one thing and keep everything else the same.Ramp race
L0-05 · Sure, maybe, or never?Some things are sure, some can never happen, and many are maybe. You cannot know one coin flip, but many flips show a pattern.Coin flip tally
L0-06 · Find a pattern and test itA pattern helps you guess what comes next. But a guess is not done until you test it.Cup tower
L0-07 · Use light to ask a questionWe see things when light from them reaches our eyes. Some things let light through, some block it, and some bounce it back.Flashlight test
L0-08 · Store a choice with a bitA bit holds one choice out of two, like yes or no, on or off, 1 or 0.Card code
L0-09 · A clue is not a causeA clue can tell you about something without making it happen.Clue or cause?
L0-10 · Meet the big ideasThis course joins three big ideas. What makes things happen. The surprising world of very tiny things. Machines that learn from examples.Big ideas sort

Final project: My own fair test

Over two sittings, the child picks a question, plans a fair test, runs it three times, and shares what they found.

Pick one question, or make up your own:

Steps:

  1. Pick one question.

  2. Say what you will change. Say what you will keep the same.

  3. Guess what will happen and why.

  4. Do the test three times for each choice. Write every result.

  5. Draw your results as a picture graph or a bar graph, with one square for each tile or step.

  6. Tell someone what you found, and one thing you are still not sure about.

How it is checked. Each part has three steps up. Celebrate every step.

PartGetting startedGot itCan explain it
My questionI picked a question with help.I picked a question I can test.I can say why the question matters to me.
My fair planI changed one thing, with help.I changed one thing and kept the rest the same.I can say what could make the test unfair.
My recordI wrote some results.I wrote three results for each choice.I can point to results that did not match and say why that is fine.
What I foundI said what happened.I said what happened and used my results.I said one thing I am still not sure about.

Materials for the whole unit

How progress is checked

Progress shows up three ways. Each lesson ends with three check questions. From Lesson 2 on, one of them looks back at an earlier lesson. Each hands-on activity produces a record (a tally, a table, or a drawing) that a grown-up can look at. The final project uses a four-part checklist.

For grown-ups: how this unit is designed

The unit was planned backward: first the eight outcomes, then the evidence that shows them, then the lessons Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, n.d.. Each lesson moves from remembering what the child knows, to watching an example, to doing, to talking it through Merrill, 2002. Short check questions and a warm-up that looks back are built in on purpose, because practice testing and spaced practice are among the best-supported ways to learn Dunlosky et al., 2013. Young children already reason about causes from what they see Gopnik & Sobel, 2000Gopnik et al., 2004; this unit gives that instinct words and a method. Options for different learners follow the Universal Design for Learning guidelines CAST, 2024. When the child answers a question, let them say their answer before opening it, then open it together and praise the thinking as well as the right answer.

Ways to adapt it.

  • Every story can be read aloud. Pictures and real objects come before symbols.

  • Children can show what they know by talking, drawing, pointing, or writing.

  • Each lesson has a way to make it easier and a way to make it harder.

  • Activities use cheap household things, so every family can take part.

Connections to school standards. These lessons connect to, but do not replace, the standards below.

StandardWhat it asksSource
NGSS K-2 practicesSimple investigations based on fair tests, which provide data to support explanations.NGSS Lead States, 2013
NGSS 1-PS4-2Objects can be seen only when illuminated.NGSS Lead States, 2013
NGSS 1-PS4-3What happens when different materials are placed in a beam of light.NGSS Lead States, 2013
CCSS K.CC.5Count to answer “how many?” questions.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010
CCSS K.CC.6Compare the number of objects in two groups: greater than, less than, or equal.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010
CCSS K.MD.3Classify objects into categories and count each category.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010
CCSS 1.MD.4Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010
CCSS 2.MD.1Measure the length of an object with a tool such as a ruler.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010
CCSS 2.MD.10Draw a picture graph and a bar graph for up to four categories.NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010

Watch & listen

Count to 10 | Counting 1-10 | Khan Academy Kids. Khan Academy Kids · 0 min · 2022. A very short Khan Academy Kids clip about counting to 10.

More for every level on the Watch and listen page.

References
  1. Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. (n.d.). Improve Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction Using the Understanding by Design Framework. ASCD white paper. https://jaymctighe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/UbD-White-Paper.pdf
  2. Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43–59. 10.1007/BF02505024
  3. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. 10.1177/1529100612453266
  4. Gopnik, A., & Sobel, D. M. (2000). Detecting Blickets: How Young Children Use Information about Novel Causal Powers in Categorization and Induction. Child Development, 71(5), 1205–1222. 10.1111/1467-8624.00224
  5. Gopnik, A., Glymour, C., Sobel, D. M., Schulz, L. E., Kushnir, T., & Danks, D. (2004). A Theory of Causal Learning in Children: Causal Maps and Bayes Nets. Psychological Review, 111(1), 3–32. 10.1037/0033-295X.111.1.3
  6. CAST. (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. CAST. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
  7. NGSS Lead States. (2013). Appendix F: Science and Engineering Practices in the NGSS. Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/Appendix%20F%20%20Science%20and%20Engineering%20Practices%20in%20the%20NGSS%20-%20FINAL%20060513.pdf
  8. NGSS Lead States. (2013). 1-PS4-2 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/1-ps4-2-waves-and-their-applications-technologies-information-transfer
  9. NGSS Lead States. (2013). 1-PS4-3 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/1-ps4-3-waves-and-their-applications-technologies-information-transfer
  10. NGA Center and CCSSO. (2010). Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Common Core State Standards Initiative. https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Math_Standards1.pdf