Kindergarten · Science · week 32

Build a shade shelter for a toy

Design and build a small shelter that keeps a toy noticeably cooler in the sun than one left unprotected.

This week is an engineering challenge using what you know about sun and shade. Your job is to build a small shelter that blocks sunlight and keeps a toy, or a small dish of water, cooler than it would be sitting in full sun.

To know if your shelter really worked, you need to compare it to a toy left with no shelter at all, in the exact same sunlight.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Gather cardboard, cloth, foil, or similar materials for building.
  • Insist on a fair, side-by-side test: one sheltered toy, one unprotected, same sunlight, same time.
  • Let your child make the design choices, even if the first attempt has gaps.
  • Compare by touch, or with an outdoor thermometer if you have one.
Talk about it:
  • How did you decide what to build your shelter with?
  • Did your shelter keep the toy cooler?
  • What would you change to block sunlight even better?

Mastery looks like: They build a shelter that measurably or noticeably keeps an object cooler in the sun compared to an unprotected one.

Common stumbles: Leaving gaps that let sunlight through anyway; comparing to a toy that started at a different temperature or sat out for a different amount of time.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Science for this learner.
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