Kindergarten · Human Systems Foundations
Kindergarten learners reason through observation, comparison, sorting, simple modeling, and play-based investigation. Abstract systems are introduced only through concrete experiences, repeated language, and physical interaction with materials. Students are not expected to solve global problems. They are expected to notice, care, and begin explaining.
Core Kindergarten Anchor Ideas
These repeat all year and are revisited in multiple contexts. They never disappear.
Living things need clean water, energy, food, air, and care.
Students connect survival and well-being to basic resources through direct observation.
Humans use tools, materials, and structures to meet needs.
Students build and test simple solutions using classroom materials and guided play.
The natural world and the built world are connected systems.
Students notice relationships between spaces, resources, and living things.
People can make choices that help or harm living things.
Students practice care, cleanliness, and stewardship as everyday actions.
Problems can be explored through building, testing, and improving.
Design becomes normal. Students learn that trying again is part of learning.
Instructional stance: concepts are introduced through concrete experiences, then revisited as reference points to build upon or to launch into a slightly more rigorous endeavor.
Kindergarten Standards by Domain
Interwoven across the year, not taught in isolation.
K-HS1
Water, Cleanliness, and Care
Clean Water & Sanitation
Observation
Simple filtering
- K-HS1.1 Students observe and describe how water is used by people, plants, and animals to stay healthy.
- K-HS1.2 Students demonstrate ways water is used to clean hands, tools, and spaces.
- K-HS1.3 Students compare clean and dirty water using visual observation and simple tools.
- K-HS1.4 Students design and test a simple way to keep water clean during use.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Students handle water, containers, filters like cloth or sand, and test ideas through guided play.
K-HS2
Energy from the Environment
Affordable & Clean Energy
Sunlight
Materials test
- K-HS2.1 Students observe how sunlight warms objects and spaces.
- K-HS2.2 Students describe how energy helps things move, grow, or change.
- K-HS2.3 Students test materials that block or absorb sunlight.
- K-HS2.4 Students design a simple structure that uses or blocks sunlight for comfort.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Outdoor observations, shade building, material testing, temperature comparison by touch.
K-HS3
Health and Well-Being
Good Health & Well-Being
Safety
Care routines
- K-HS3.1 Students identify basic needs for staying healthy, including food, water, movement, rest, and cleanliness.
- K-HS3.2 Students describe how the environment affects how people feel and function.
- K-HS3.3 Students practice safe behaviors that reduce harm.
- K-HS3.4 Students explain how caring for spaces supports community health.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Role-play, environment checks, sorting healthy vs unhealthy behaviors.
K-HS4
Tools, Buildings, and Making
Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure
Build-test-revise
Design
- K-HS4.1 Students identify tools and structures used to solve everyday problems.
- K-HS4.2 Students build simple structures using classroom materials.
- K-HS4.3 Students test structures for strength, stability, or usefulness.
- K-HS4.4 Students improve designs after testing.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Blocks, recycled materials, simple design challenges, build-test-revise cycles.
K-HS5
Communities and Shared Spaces
Sustainable Cities & Communities
Rules
Cooperation
- K-HS5.1 Students describe places where people live, learn, and play.
- K-HS5.2 Students identify shared rules that help communities function.
- K-HS5.3 Students model a community space using materials.
- K-HS5.4 Students explain how choices affect shared spaces.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Map-building, classroom city models, rule testing.
K-HS6
Using and Saving Materials
Responsible Consumption & Production
Reuse
Sort
- K-HS6.1 Students identify materials used in everyday objects.
- K-HS6.2 Students sort materials by reuse, recycling, or disposal.
- K-HS6.3 Students describe how waste affects spaces and living things.
- K-HS6.4 Students design a way to reuse materials.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Material sorting, reuse challenges, construction from discarded items.
K-HS7
Life in Water
Life Below Water
Habitats
Care
- K-HS7.1 Students identify animals and plants that live in water.
- K-HS7.2 Students describe what water living things need to survive.
- K-HS7.3 Students observe how pollution affects water habitats.
- K-HS7.4 Students suggest ways to protect water life.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Habitat models, water simulations, observation stations.
K-HS8
Life on Land
Life on Land
Local habitats
Stewardship
- K-HS8.1 Students identify plants and animals in local environments.
- K-HS8.2 Students describe how living things depend on land resources.
- K-HS8.3 Students observe changes humans make to land.
- K-HS8.4 Students explain ways to care for land habitats.
Hands-on STEM expectation
Outdoor exploration, planting, habitat models.
What this Kindergarten year accomplishes: Students leave K with a shared systems vocabulary. Water, energy, health, land, and tools are already linked. Design is normal, not special. Revisiting concepts is expected, not redundant. The SDGs are present without being named.
Design and Practice Standards
These practices appear weekly and apply across all content.
- K-DSP1 Students ask questions about how things work.
- K-DSP2 Students plan and carry out simple investigations.
- K-DSP3 Students build, test, and improve solutions.
- K-DSP4 Students communicate ideas using drawings, models, and speech.
Weekly rhythm
Students observe, build, test, and talk about what happened. Teachers consistently connect new experiences back to the anchor ideas.