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Nature Tools for a Lake Cork Race worksheet preview

Worksheet

Nature Tools for a Lake Cork Race

Use duck feet and water lily roots as models for tools that move a floating cork and hold a starting hoop in place.

Grade 1ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to1-LS1-1

Play onlinePlay as a game
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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 NGSS standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 13 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 1
Subject
Science
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Short answer, Drawing

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students connect duck feet and water lily roots to jobs that help these living things survive.
  • Students use outside parts as models for tools that move a cork and hold a hoop in place.
  • Students use test results to predict how a design will work and suggest an improvement.

How to use

Read the text and prompts aloud. Discuss the graph labels before students work. Students may explain their final drawings aloud instead of writing labels.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

1-LS1-1

Use how plants and animals use their outside parts to survive to design a solution to a human problem.

Preview

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Name Date

Nature Tools for a Lake Cork Race

Use nature clues to build, test, and predict.

Look for Nature Clues

Listen to the club's plan. Use the nature clues to answer.

The Lake Cork-Race Club

The cork-race club meets on dry land beside a lake. An adult fills shallow tubs with water. The children want to move a large floating cork without touching it. They also need a floating starting hoop to stay near its starting spot.

The club looks at nature photos. A duck has skin between its toes. Its wide feet push water backward as it swims forward to food. A water lily has roots in the muddy lake bottom. Moving water shifts its leaves, but the rooted plant stays in place.

1.
How can the duck's wide feet help it survive?
  • A. They pick up seeds from the mud.
  • B. They help it reach food across water.
  • C. They hold food inside its mouth.
  • D. They keep rain off its feathers.
2.
Which paddle copies the skin between a duck's toes?
  • A. A narrow blade with a small handle
  • B. A wide blade with many large holes
  • C. A blade made of thin, spaced strips
  • D. A wide blade with no gaps or holes
3.
A water lily's roots come loose from the mud. The water is moving. What is more likely now?
  • A. The plant drifts along with the water.
  • B. The plant stays held in the same spot.
  • C. The plant moves against the flowing water.
  • D. The plant pulls the moving water to a stop.

Test the Paddle Ideas

Use the test notes and graph. Predict what the club should try next.

An adult makes three smooth plastic paddles: narrow with no holes, wide with holes, and wide with no holes. The club changes the paddle design. They keep the cork, starting line, water level, and paddle depth the same. They make three matching pushes in the water behind the cork. The paddle does not touch the cork. They count how many grid squares the cork moves.
Our Cork Test Results0123456NarrowWide, holesWide, solidPaddle designSquares moved
4.

How many more squares did the cork move with the wide, solid paddle than with the narrow paddle?   squares

5.
The finish line is 5 squares from the start. Which tested paddle moved the cork far enough?
  • A. The narrow paddle
  • B. The wide paddle with holes
  • C. The wide, solid paddle
  • D. Both wide paddles
6.
Nia says, "Holes helped our wide paddle move the cork farther." What do the results show?
  • A. She is right: the paddle with holes moved it 6 squares.
  • B. She is mistaken: the solid paddle moved it farther.
  • C. She is right: both wide paddles moved it equally far.
  • D. She is mistaken: the narrow paddle moved it farthest.
7.
The club will compare two new paddle designs. Circle two things to keep the same for a fair test.

The floating corkThe paddle designThe number of pushesThe number of holes in the paddle

8.
The club repeats the wide, solid paddle test in the same way. About how far would you predict the cork will move?
  • A. About 6 squares
  • B. About 2 squares
  • C. About 3 squares
  • D. About 9 squares
9.
Which wide paddle would you choose? Use both wide-paddle results to tell why. Tell how your choice is like a duck's foot.

Hold, Improve, and Design

Use the water lily clue to help the club hold its starting hoop in place.

10.
Which hoop design uses an idea from water lily roots?
  • A. Add a wide paddle to push the hoop along.
  • B. Tie the hoop to a cork floating beside it.
  • C. Add a tall sail to catch air above the hoop.
  • D. Tie the hoop to a weight resting on the bottom.
The club tests the same hoop two ways. They use the same water level and three matching pushes. Untied, the hoop moves 5 squares. Tied by a cord to a weight that stays on the bottom, it moves 1 square before the cord holds it.
11.
Which claim do the hoop tests support?
  • A. The untied hoop stays closer to its starting spot.
  • B. The tied hoop stays closer to its starting spot.
  • C. The two hoop designs move the same distance.
  • D. The cord helps the hoop travel farther away.
12.
Later, the cord breaks and the hoop drifts away. The weight stays on the bottom. Which change should the club test next?
  • A. Use a brighter hoop with the same cord.
  • B. Use a wider paddle with the same cord.
  • C. Use a stronger cord with the same weight.
  • D. Use a lighter weight with the same cord.
13.
Draw your cork-race tools. Show a paddle that uses the duck-foot idea. Show a hoop holder that uses the root idea. Add arrows to show what each tool does.

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