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What the Sun Does to the Ground is a free printable Kindergarten science worksheet on observing the effect of sunlight on a surface, aligned to NGSS performance expectation K-PS3-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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One paper per student

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

What the Sun Does to the Ground

K-PS3-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

The Sunny Step and the Shady Step

What we measured on two steps at noon, on a sunny day in June. TWO STEPS AT NOON Step in the sun ...... 28 degrees. It felt hot. Step in the shade .... 19 degrees. It felt cool. Both steps are made of the same stone. We measured both at the same time.

  1. 1. How warm was the step in the shade?
  2. 2. What claim does this support?
  3. 3. What would the shady step do if the shade moved away?
2.A puddle in the sun dries up before a puddle in the shade. Why?
  • A.The shady puddle is deeper
  • B.Puddles in the sun are smaller
  • C.Sunlight warms the sunny puddle, so it dries faster
3.A cloud covers the sun for an hour. What happens to the ground?
  • A.It gets wet
  • B.It gets hotter
  • C.It warms less, because less sunlight reaches it
4.Why is the sand in the sun warmer than the sand under the tree?
  • A.The tree makes the other sand cold
  • B.It is a different kind of sand
  • C.Sunlight falls on it and warms it
5.What does sunlight do to the things it lands on?
  • A.It cools them
  • B.It warms them
  • C.It makes them heavier
6.Why is a metal bench in the sun too hot to sit on?
  • A.Sunlight has been warming it
  • B.Metal is always hot
  • C.Somebody heated it
7.Snow melts first on one side of the yard. Which side?
  • A.The side in the shade
  • B.The side the sun shines on
  • C.Both sides at once

LessonPrint · K-PS3-1 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Sun Does to the Ground

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 19 degrees. 2. Sunlight warms the ground it falls on. 3. It would get warmer, because sunlight would fall on it.
  2. 2.Sunlight warms the sunny puddle, so it dries faster
  3. 3.It warms less, because less sunlight reaches it
  4. 4.Sunlight falls on it and warms it
  5. 5.It warms them
  6. 6.Sunlight has been warming it
  7. 7.The side the sun shines on

More practice for K-PS3-1

Find out what sunlight does to the ground.

Teaching this next? What the Sun Does to the Ground is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

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Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to K-PS3-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.