PK–12 Essential Standards and Benchmarks

Kahua Standards and Benchmarks

PK-12 essential standards and benchmarks for Hawaiian-focused education.

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Pre-K - Science

In addition to HFCS ‘Āina-based Learning Competencies (click to view), the PK-12 Science Kahua is grounded in the belief that the purpose of science is “Science is best defined as a careful, disciplined, logical search for knowledge about any and all aspects of the universe, obtained by examination of the best available evidence and always subject to correction and improvement upon discovery of better evidence. What's left is magic. And it doesn't work.” (year, Randi).

End of school year grade level outcomes were crosswalked with the HFCS Vision of the Graduate (2013), NGSS, Fountas and Pinnell, and were prioritized using the following criteria (Reeves, 2004): 1) Endurance, 2) Leverage, 3) Readiness, 4) Assessment Requirements.

  • S.PK.1Learn about my various moʻokūʻauhau (i.e. my ʻohana, my school, my home/school ʻāina).
  • S.PK.2Use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words to kilo, identify, name, and read environmental indicators (i.e. senses, intuition, prior knowledge) in order to make inferences and predictions.
  • S.PK.3Demonstrate loina when participating in cultural protocol (i.e. schoolwide piko, oli mahalo, puka kula, kamaʻāina/malihini).
  • S.PK.4Frequently interact with my ʻāina at various times of day and year to develop a relationship with ʻāina.
  • S.PK.5Celebrate the accomplishments of historical and contemporary Hawaiian community leaders and emulate their actions (i.e. aliʻi, ʻōpūaliʻi/kapu aloha, kiaʻi).

  • S.PK.6Begin to use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words to kilo and use multiple senses to describe the natural and/or designed world.
  • S.PK.7Ask family members and peers questions relating to observations of the natural and/or designed world.
  • S.PK.8Demonstrate loina when participating in scientific investigations (e.g. working together with peers, following steps, using tools safely).
  • S.PK.9Draw, perform, and use models (i.e. shapes, blocks, pictures) to describe observations and results from scientific investigations.
  • S.PK.10Kilo to gather information about the natural and designed world, and begin to use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words to communicate ideas orally.

  • S.PK.11Learn about one’s family’s genealogical succession (moʻokuʻāuhau) and culture, including demonstrating loina when participating in protocol to gain a sense of belonging by knowing where one comes from.
  • S.PK.12Identify oneself using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words where possible, to describe family lineage.
  • S.PK.13Begin to learn about the accomplishments of historical Hawaiian community leaders and how their actions were for the betterment of all, both the people and the environment.

  • S.PK.14Identify the characteristics of familiar locations such as home and school, describe objects and activities associated with each, recognize the routes between them, and begin using simple directional language in English and ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi.
  • S.PK.15Comprehend larger familiar locations, such as the characteristics of the community and region (including hills and streams, weather, common activities) and the distances between familiar locations (eg home and school), and compare the home community with those of others.
  • S.PK.16Begin to use ‘ōlelo Hawaiʻi words to kilo, identify, and name familiar places in the natural environment that one frequently interacts with to develop a relationship with ʻāina and begin to build a sense of place.
  • S.PK.17Demonstrate loina when participating in guided/modeled cultural protocol before entering a specific place and/or wahi pana.

  • S.PK.18Begin to use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi words to kilo, identify, name, and read environmental indicators (i.e. senses, intuition, prior knowledge) to describe the natural environment.
  • S.PK.19Interact with ʻāina frequently throughout the day and the year to begin to understand one’s connection to all things (animate, inanimate) and develop relationships to ʻāina.
  • S.PK.20Show an interest in nature (including plants, animals, and weather), begin to understand human interactions with the environment (eg pollution in the ocean or a stream), and the importance of taking care of plants and animals.
  • S.PK.21Show an interest in a wider range of natural phenomena including those outside direct experience (eg snow for a child living in Hawaiʻi), and the positive and negative impacts of people on the natural world (e.g. recycling, putting trash in trash cans).

  • S.PK.22Use drawings, globes, and maps to describe and make sense of the connections to the physical world.
  • S.PK.23Create drawings, maps, and models to represent familiar and unfamiliar places; become more skilled at using globes, maps, and map symbols; and use maps for basic problem solving (such as locating objects) with adult guidance.
  • S.PK.24Learn about and use drawings, maps, and globes to describe the moʻokuʻauhau of specific places in the community where one lives and attends school to understand one’s connection to the physical world.