OpenSciEd Elem K.1 (Kindergarten sunlight/surfaces) - sixth K-4 OpenSciEd unit confirming program-wide pattern: 0% Foundation + 92.9% practices. K-4 pattern consistent. Particle-level energy transfer explicitly deferred to middle school. Grade 5 break confirmed structural (NGSS 5-PS1-1 driven).
| Program | OpenSciEd Elementary |
| Unit | Grade K, Unit K.1: Why do some surfaces get hot and how can we make them less hot? (Energy: Sunlight) |
| Publisher | OpenSciEd |
| Author | OpenSciEd Curriculum Development Team |
| Grade Band | Kindergarten (K-5 calibration applied) |
| NGSS Alignment | K-PS3-1, K-PS3-2, K-2-ETS1-1 |
OpenSciEd Elementary Unit K.1 scores Foundation 0% - at the framework floor, identical to OpenSciEd Units 1.1, 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, and 4.2. Zero map errors across 25 student-facing passages. Zero confirmed FSEs. The adjusted gap is 100% - all 9 mechanism passages are UNSCAFFOLDED because the unit contains no atomic, molecular, or particulate content.
Author intent is explicit. About the Science makes SIX distinct deferrals: (1) formal energy definition → Grade 4; (2) "forms of energy" as substance language explicitly avoided; (3) heat processes (conduction/convection/radiation) with explicit mention of particle motion → middle school; (4) color absorption/reflection; (5) quantitative measurement (thermometers); (6) "Earth surfaces" undefined. Every one of these is what an atoms-first or mechanism-first sunlight unit would include.
Practices score 92.9% green - high, matching the K-4 OpenSciEd pattern. OpenSciEd's K-4 pattern is consistent across all six K-4 OpenSciEd Elementary units reviewed (K sunlight, G1 light/shadow, G2 matter/engineering, G3 forces/magnets, G4 energy/collisions, G4 energy/electricity). The Grade 5 break at 5.2 (Foundation 82.4%) is confirmed structural - driven by NGSS 5-PS1-1's mandatory particle introduction at Grade 5.
K.1 connects to 4.2 specifically: the exact same anti-substance "forms of energy" framing appears at both Kindergarten and Grade 4 among OpenSciEd units reviewed - "to discuss heat or light as 'forms of energy' would imply that heat and light exist as distinct entities, but they do not. Energy is energy." OpenSciEd Elementary operates a consistent anti-REI-substance design choice from K onward.
The unit is organized in two lesson sets across 10 lessons.
Lessons 1-5 (Sun and Surfaces): Students make observations of how schoolyard surfaces feel (L1), investigate the sunny/shady pattern (L2-4), and draw to explain the cause-effect (L5). Central finding: "The sun shines on surfaces in sunny places, which makes them feel hot."
Lessons 6-10 (Engineering Blacktop Solutions): Students reframe the phenomenon as an engineering problem ("the blacktop being uncomfortable when it's hot"), plan designs to block sun (L7), build them (L8), test them (L9), and reach Class Consensus Design (L10).
Central science model: Sunlight shines on surfaces → surfaces feel hot. No sunlight → less hot. Therefore, block the sun with a structure. This is the K-PS3-1/K-PS3-2 NGSS-minimum framing - no deeper.
"K-PS3-1: Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on Earth's surface. K-PS3-2: Use tools and materials provided to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area." (Unit Overview, p. 12)
NGSS K-PS3 PE bundle. Observable cause-effect at K-level only.
"PS3.B Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer: Sunlight warms Earth's surface." (Unit Overview, p. 13)
Single-sentence DCI element - the unit's entire mechanism story.
"Students do not investigate or attempt to explain this transfer of energy, they only observe its effect. In 4th grade, students will begin to define energy and identify that energy can be transferred via light, heat, sound, electric currents, and changing motion." (About the Science, p. 34)
Explicit deferral. K curriculum knows its own scope; energy definition deferred to Grade 4.
"Note that to discuss heat or light as 'forms of energy' would imply that heat and light (and sound and motion) exist as distinct entities, but they do not. Energy is energy." (About the Science, p. 34)
⭐ Anti-REI-substance framing at K-level - IDENTICAL passage appears in OpenSciEd 4.2. The program operates a consistent design choice from K onward.
"In each of these processes [conduction, convection, radiation], energy transfer causes particles to increase in speed, which we can often detect as an increase in temperature. Students will not describe energy transfer or changes in temperature at a particle level until middle school." (About the Science, p. 34)
⭐ Explicit particle-level deferral. Author voice names the deferred mechanism (particle motion) and excludes it from K-level student content.
"The sun shines on surfaces in sunny places, which makes them feel hot. The sun does not shine on surfaces in shady places, which makes them feel less hot." (Lesson 4)
Central macroscopic explanation. Correct K-level physics.
"We can use materials to make a cover to stop the sun from shining on the blacktop which causes the blacktop to be less hot." (Lesson 10)
Engineering capstone synthesis - K-PS3-2 + K-2-ETS1-1 met.
Practices: 92.9% (green tier - high, sixth K-4 OpenSciEd unit to match). Six of seven K-level NGSS practices Intentionally Developed; mathematics PARTIAL. Distinctive K-level strengths: (1) Notice and Wonder + Ideas and Wonders charts; (2) drawings as K-level models throughout; (3) full engineering design cycle L6-10 (define-design-build-test-refine-consensus); (4) Class Consensus Design L10; (5) outdoor observations with peer collaboration. Math PARTIAL by explicit author choice ("kindergarteners are still developing their understanding that numbers can be used to represent ideas of more and less"). K-level Intentionally Developed Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns, Cause and Effect.
Option A (Rewrite, ~30-50%): Add one teacher's note in L4 or L5: "Sunlight is made of tiny pieces of light called photons. When photons hit a surface, they make the tiny pieces of the surface (atoms) move faster, which is what 'hot' really means."
Option B (Conditional, ~60-70%): Restructure L5's cause-effect drawings to include "tiny pieces of the surface" as the receiver of energy. About the Science already names this as the deferred mechanism.
Option C (Recommended, ~80%+): Anticipate NGSS 5-PS1-1 at K - introduce atoms/particles in surfaces in L2 and explain "hot" as faster atomic motion in L4.
| Total Passages Scored | 25 |
| Raw Gap Error | 100.0% (zero atomic content in unit) FALSE = atoms/molecules not present before students are asked to explain. The student is navigating without a starting point. |
| Adjusted Gap Error | 100.0% (all 9 mechanism passages UNSCAFFOLDED - six explicit deferrals in About the Science) UNSCAFFOLDED = no atomic grounding at all. LESSON_ATOMS = atoms mentioned elsewhere in lesson but not connected to this concept. |
| Substance-Model Errors (REI) | 0 Curriculum treats a process or outcome as a substance - "heat flows," "energy is stored," "electricity flows like water." Student builds a substance ontology. |
| Label-as-Explanation (LAE) | 0 Curriculum provides a name and treats it as an explanation - "this happens because of gravity." Student believes knowing the name IS understanding the concept. |
| Vague-Entity Errors (AEC) | 0 Curriculum uses vague entities ("tiny particles," "building blocks") without specifying atoms or molecules. Student invents their own model with macroscopic properties. |
| Factual Science Errors (FSE) | 0 Statements that are scientifically incorrect - not imprecise framing, but wrong. Any confirmed FSE = Not Recommended. |
| Practices | 92.9% - Deep Seven practices scored PRESENT, PARTIAL, or ABSENT and averaged: asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and argument from evidence. Higher is better, the opposite direction from gap and map errors. Reported but not part of the Foundation Score or the verdict. |
OpenSciEd Elementary K.1 is an OpenSciEd unit and another K-4 unit to score 0% Foundation + 92.9% practices. The K-4 pattern is consistent across six K-4 grade levels and topics. The Grade 5 break at 5.2 (Foundation 82.4%) is confirmed structural - driven by NGSS 5-PS1-1's mandatory particle introduction at Grade 5. K.1's anti-REI-substance framing is identical to the same framing in 4.2 - OpenSciEd operates a consistent design choice from K onward.
K-level inquiry pedagogy. Six Intentionally Developed K-level practices. Full engineering design cycle L6-10 (define-design-build-test-refine-consensus). Class Consensus Design L10. Outdoor observations integrate place-based learning. Patterns and Cause and Effect Intentionally Developed at K-level.
shallow by design - Zero MISCONCEPTION_BY_DESIGN flags. Sunlight correctly framed as cause, warming as effect. Anti-REI-substance framing explicit ("forms of energy would imply distinct entities - they do not. Energy is energy."). Hot/less hot scale explicitly chosen to avoid the misleading "cold = a thing" framing. Six explicit boundaries (energy definition, forms-of-energy, heat processes, color absorption, thermometers, Earth surfaces) all consistent with NGSS K-2 scope.
Evidence for every entry is published at three levels. Each level states what it contains and what it leaves out.
Scores, verdict, and the full pattern count for this unit are above: adjusted gap, REI / LAE / AEC counts, FSE status, and the seven-practice score. The analysis quotes 7 passages verbatim from the curriculum.
This file covers the unit scored on this page.
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