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Light and Sound Worksheets for 1st Grade

17 free PDFsUS Letter or A4Answer key includedNo login

Sound and vibration, seeing in the dark, transparent, translucent and opaque, shadows and mirrors, and designing a signal, with answer keys.

Download the light and sound worksheets

Sound and vibrations

A poster, a matching page, a hands-on vibration investigation and a true or false check.

Light lets us see

Sort things that make their own light, read a short story about a dark closet and try the dark box test.

Transparent, translucent and opaque

A poster that shows how much light passes through, a sort, a light test record sheet and a shadows and mirrors page.

Signals and design

Sort signals that use light, sound or both, build and test string phones, compare two designs and plan a signal of your own.

  • Preview of the printable “Build a string phone investigation” worksheet: building and testing a device that uses sound to talk over a distanceView all 2 pages

    Build a string phone investigation

    Building and testing a device that uses sound to talk over a distance

    Answer key on page 2

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    2 pages42 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Compare two Designs: string phone test” worksheet: testing two designs that solve the same problem and comparing how well each worksView larger

    Compare two Designs: string phone test

    Testing two designs that solve the same problem and comparing how well each works

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    1 page30 KB

  • Preview of the printable “Design a signal engineering worksheet” worksheet: designing and testing a device that uses light or sound to send a messageView larger

    Design a signal engineering worksheet

    Designing and testing a device that uses light or sound to send a message

    US LetterPDFA4PDF

    1 page29 KB

Light and sound words

Nine vocabulary cards to read, cut apart and match.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these light and sound worksheets

First graders learn two big ideas about waves: things that vibrate make sound, and we can only see things when light shines on them. They feel a drum shake, watch rice jump on a pan, sit in a dark closet and notice they cannot see their coat until someone opens the door.

These light and sound worksheets follow those ideas with hands-on tests and simple record sheets. Children sort light sources, test which materials let all, some or no light through, draw shadows and the path of light off a mirror, and use what they learn to design a signal that can send a message across the playground.

Each page has short directions a 1st grader can read, plus black and white pictures that copy well. Pages print on US Letter or A4, and every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • NGSS 1-PS4-1Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
  • NGSS 1-PS4-2Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that objects in darkness can be seen only when illuminated.
  • NGSS 1-PS4-3Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
  • NGSS 1-PS4-4Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.
  • NGSS K-2-ETS1-1Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
  • NGSS K-2-ETS1-2Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
  • NGSS K-2-ETS1-3Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.1Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.8With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

How to use them

  1. Start with the vibrations poster. Let children touch their throats while they hum, then do the vibration investigation with a drum, a rubber band and a bell.
  2. Use the dark box test before the light sources sort, so children see for themselves that a toy in a closed box is still there but cannot be seen.
  3. Hang the transparent, translucent and opaque poster, then run the light test with plastic wrap, wax paper, foil, tissue paper and cardboard.
  4. Finish with the design pages: sort signals, build a string phone, compare two designs, and plan a light or sound signal of your own.
  5. Cut the vocabulary cards apart for a word wall or a matching game.

Teaching tips

  • Vibrate means to move back and forth very fast. Soft sounds come from small vibrations and loud sounds from big ones, but every sound comes from something vibrating.
  • The moon and a mirror do not make their own light. They only bounce light from somewhere else. This is a common mix-up worth talking through.
  • Do the light tests in a dim room and shine the flashlight onto white paper, so children can see clearly how much light gets through.
  • A shadow is the same shape as the object that blocks the light. It gets bigger when the light is closer to the object.
  • For the design pages, praise changes that come from test results: “It did not work at 20 steps, so I tied the string tighter.”

Questions teachers and parents ask

What is the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque?

Transparent things, like a glass window, let all the light through, so you can see through them clearly. Translucent things, like wax paper, let some light through, so things look blurry. Opaque things, like wood or a book, let no light through and make a shadow.

Can we see in total darkness?

No. We see an object when light shines on it and bounces to our eyes. In a closet or box with no light at all, the object is still there, but we cannot see it. The dark box test lets children find this out themselves.

What materials do I need for the investigations?

A drum or a pan, rice, a rubber band and a box, a bell, a flashlight, a shoebox, plastic wrap, wax paper, foil, tissue paper, cardboard, paper cups and string. Most classrooms and kitchens already have them.

Are there answer keys?

Yes. Every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2. Design and drawing pages have no single right answer, so they have no key.