1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter
What students must show for performance expectation 1-ESS1-2, with a lesson sequence built on live data, the misconceptions to expect, and assessment questions with answers.
Last updated . Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
What students must show
Our summary- Students make observations at different times of the year and compare how much daylight there is.
- Students say that there is more daylight in summer than in winter.
Comparing daylight in winter with daylight in spring or fall.
Counting hours of daylight or reading clock times: only "more" and "less" are needed.
Our summary, in our own words. Read the official wording.
The three dimensions
Grade 1Planning and carrying out investigations
Make observations to collect data for a comparison.
ESS1.B Earth and the solar system
Sunrise and sunset follow seasonal patterns that can be observed and predicted.
Patterns
Patterns in nature can be observed and used as evidence.
Live tools for this standard
2 toolsLesson sequence
Engage to evaluate- Engage10 min
Ask: is it light or dark when you wake up? When you go to bed? Has it always been like that? Sort the answers into "summer" and "winter".
- Explore5 min a week
Each Monday at the same time near the end of the day, look outside and color one box on a wall chart: light, getting dark or dark. Keep the chart going from fall into winter, or from winter into spring.
- Explain15 min
Show the tracker: the dark side of the map. In December the night side covers the far north all day; in June it covers the far south. Compare with the chart: it gets dark earlier as winter comes.
- Evaluate10 min
Sentence frame: "In winter there is ___ daylight than in summer. I know because our chart shows ___."
Common misconceptions
3 to watch forEvery day has the same amount of daylight.
Daylight grows from winter to summer and shrinks again from summer to winter.
Point to the class chart.
Days are shorter in winter because the Sun is farther away.
Earth is actually nearest the Sun in early January, in the middle of our winter. The seasons come from the way Earth leans.
Grade 1 does not need the cause, so do not confirm the distance idea: "Earth leans, and you will find out more in later grades."
When it is dark at bedtime, it is dark everywhere.
It is always daytime on one side of the Earth.
Show the day side and the night side on the tracker.
Assessment questions
Answers folded away1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter · orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2
- When is there the most daylight?
- Summer
- Winter
- It is the same all year
- Our chart shows it is dark at 5 p.m. in December but light at 5 p.m. in April. What does that tell us?
- There is more daylight in April
- There is more daylight in December
- The clock is wrong
- What could we look at next week to add to our data?
- Will it be lighter or darker at home time next month?
- Look at the tracker. Is the top of the map, the far north, in the light or the dark today?
Answer key
- Summer.
- There is more daylight in April.
- Whether it is light or dark at the same time of day as before.
- In fall: darker. In late winter and spring: lighter.
- In the dark in northern winter; in the light in northern summer.
Worksheet
US LetterNo live-data worksheet for this standard yet: print the assessment questions above. All sheets: the worksheet library.
The same idea in state standards
Texas, Florida, GeorgiaNo close Texas match in the TEKS we cover.
Related, not equivalent: each state words and groups its standards differently.
More standards pages
Grade 1About these codes
These are our suggestions for where each tool fits. Always preview a page before using it with a class: some tools show ads, these school pages do not.
Codes are performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards*, for example 5-ESS1-2. Each summary is our own wording; follow the link on a standard page for the official text.
Suggest a link
Know a better fit for your class, or a topic we have missed? Tell us and we will add it.
Share this page with one link: orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2
Cite this page
Pick a style, then copy it or download it for your reference manager.Orbital Radar. (2026, November 6). 1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2
“1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter.” Orbital Radar, 6 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.
Orbital Radar (2026) 1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2 (Accessed: 6 November 2026).
Orbital Radar. “1-ESS1-2: More daylight in summer, less in winter.” Last modified November 6, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/us/standards/1-ess1-2.
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* Next Generation Science Standards is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.