Science in Year 1: what Lärkompis practises
In Year 1 of Swedish school (around age 7), Lärkompis practises 16 skills in science (biology, physics and chemistry), linked to 28 of 39 items in the core content of Lgr22, the Swedish national curriculum, for Years 1–3. The areas are force and motion; body and health; materials and substances; nature through the year; and systematic investigations. Each skill has five difficulty levels, and the skills are practised in 5 mini-games, including Kunskapsjakten (Knowledge Hunt), Labbet (The Lab) and Vändspelet (The Flip Game).
Lgr22 sets out core content for each stage (Years 1–3), not for each year. So Lärkompis spreads the skills across the years using its own time windows, and these are estimates. For Year 1, this means that 10 skills start this year and 6 skills started earlier and are still being practised. The figure 28 of 39 counts the items in the core content from Skolverket (the Swedish National Agency for Education) that at least one skill links to; it does not mean the whole item is covered.
What Lärkompis practises in Year 1
The 16 skills in science in Year 1 are grouped into 5 areas following Skolverket's syllabus. Under each skill you can see the first and the last difficulty level, so you know how far the exercises go.
Force and motion
- Centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, plus harder guess-first questions.
- Gravity, friction and balance in play and movement Level 1: Choose from three options with pictures. Level 5: Mixed.
- The bodies of the solar system and how they move, and humans in space Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, put five steps in order and answer harder guess-first questions.
Body and health
- Food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, plus harder guess-first questions.
- Some organs, their names and what they do Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, plus harder guess-first questions.
- Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch Level 1: Choose from three options. Level 5: Mixed, in all formats.
- Heat, light, sound, taste and smell through the senses, and reading a thermometer Level 1: Choose the right body part from three options. Level 5: Mixed: thermometers, the senses and guess first.
- Shadows, echoes, rainbows, mirror images and thunder Level 1: Choose from three options with pictures. Level 5: Mixed.
Materials and substances
- Sorting materials by appearance, magnetism and whether they float, plus recycling Level 1: The right container from three options, with pictures. Level 5: Mixed: sorting, recycling and guess first.
- Ice, water and steam – melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation Level 1: Choose from three options. Level 5: Mixed, in all formats.
Nature through the year
- Seasons and months in the right order Level 1: Choose from three options. Level 5: Mixed, in all formats.
- Animals, plants and trees in the local area Level 1: Questions with at most three clearly different options. Level 5: Match four question–answer pairs, plus mixed yes/no questions.
- Grouping animals, plants and fungi in the local area Level 1: Animal, plant or fungus, with three options and a picture. Level 5: Mixed: sort six things and answer guess-first questions.
- Seasons, life cycles and how animals adapt to winter Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, put five steps in order and answer harder guess-first questions.
- Seasons, clouds, wind and precipitation Level 1: Questions with at most three clearly different options. Level 5: Match four question–answer pairs, plus mixed yes/no questions.
Systematic investigations
- Simple investigations: guess, test, observe and record Level 1: Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud. Level 5: Match five pairs, put five steps in order and answer harder guess-first questions.
What the syllabus says, in short
The Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3 in science, summarised in our own words for the parts Lärkompis practises in Year 1. Read the full text in Skolverket's English translation of Lgr22.
- The changing seasons, the life cycles of some animals and plants, and which animals, plants and fungi live near home.
- The body and health, for example parts of the body, food, sleep and exercise.
- Force and motion, such as gravity, friction and how things balance.
- Materials and substances around us, for example how water freezes, melts and evaporates.
- Simple investigations and recording them with pictures and text.
How to help at home with science in Year 1
Year 1 is very much about the basics, and much of the learning happens through talk, play and short moments. Ten minutes on several days a week sticks better than one long session a week, because practice spread out over time is remembered better than practice all in one go. Ask curious questions (“why do you think that happens?”) and try small experiments at home, for example in the kitchen or on a walk.
- Talk about mistakes as information. Say out loud when you make a mistake yourself and how you put it right. Ask your child: “What did you learn from this mistake?” Children pick up on how parents see failure, and it shapes how they see their own mistakes. As a conversation: about 5 minutes.
- Keep reading together for years. Keep reading aloud, or listening to a book together, long after your child can read on their own. Talk about the text. It builds vocabulary and togetherness. Recent studies suggest the effect is smaller than once thought, but it is still good time spent together. When reading: about 15 minutes.
- Better questions than “how was school?”. Try: “What was the most fun/hardest thing today?”, “What made you laugh?”, “Tell me something you learned that I don’t know.” Give it time and wait. Silence is an answer too. As a conversation: about 5 minutes.
- Pause when things boil over. Nobody learns anything in the heat of the moment. Say “let’s take a break: water and five minutes”. Come back with a smaller piece. Your relationship is worth more than the homework. When it is hard going: about 5 minutes.
How you can tell it has clicked in Year 1
- Food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends: Your child can explain why we wash our hands.
- Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch: Your child can say which sense goes with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin.
- Heat, light, sound, taste and smell through the senses, and reading a thermometer: Your child knows that heat moves from something warm to something cold.
- Shadows, echoes, rainbows, mirror images and thunder: Your child can play with their shadow and explain why it is there.
Common pitfalls in Year 1
- Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch: Mixes up taste and smell.
- Heat, light, sound, taste and smell through the senses, and reading a thermometer: Reads the thermometer from the wrong end.
- Shadows, echoes, rainbows, mirror images and thunder: Thinks a shadow is a thing that follows you around.
- Sorting materials by appearance, magnetism and whether they float, plus recycling: Thinks heavy things always sink and light things always float.
If science practice in Year 1 often ends in tears or takes far too long, stop for the day and write a few lines to the teacher about what was hard. That is useful information for the school, not a failure.
Games that practise it
In Year 1 science, Lärkompis uses 5 mini-games. In these games, playing is the practice, so your child learns while they play. There are no points or streaks, and no ads.
Kunskapsjakten (Knowledge Hunt)
A quiz show in a TV studio, where Vera leads the questions up a ladder. There are lifelines but no points: the ladder fills up with the questions your child has worked through. In Year 1, the game practises 16 skills: centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play; gravity, friction and balance in play and movement; food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends; some organs, their names and what they do; and more.
Labbet (The Lab)
Guess first, then find out. The tasks are based on checked facts. In Year 1, the game practises 16 skills: centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play; gravity, friction and balance in play and movement; food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends; some organs, their names and what they do; and more.
Vändspelet (The Flip Game)
A memory game where two cards that go together stay face up, for example 3 + 4 and 7. In Year 1, the game practises 7 skills: centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play; food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends; some organs, their names and what they do; heat, light, sound, taste and smell through the senses, and reading a thermometer; and more.
Tidslinjen (The Timeline)
Your child puts cards on a line in the right order, for example events, steps or numbers. A card in the right place turns over and shows the answer. In Year 1, the game practises 5 skills: seasons and months in the right order; seasons, life cycles and how animals adapt to winter; seasons, clouds, wind and precipitation; the bodies of the solar system and how they move, and humans in space; and more.
Sorteringsbandet (The Sorting Belt)
A calm conveyor belt of things that your child puts in the right box by following a rule. In Year 1, the game practises 2 skills: sorting materials by appearance, magnetism and whether they float, plus recycling; and grouping animals, plants and fungi in the local area.
Questions about science in Year 1
What does Lärkompis practise in science in Year 1?
Lärkompis has 16 skills in science in Year 1, for example “Centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play”; “Gravity, friction and balance in play and movement”; “Food, sleep, hygiene, exercise and friends”; “Some organs, their names and what they do”; and “Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch”. Each skill has five levels. In “Centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play”, for example, level 1 is “Choose the right word from three options, with pictures and read-aloud” and level 5 is “Match five pairs, plus harder guess-first questions”. The app adjusts the level to how your child is doing.
What comes after Year 1 in science?
In Year 2, Lärkompis practises 18 skills in science, and new that year are “Centre of gravity, equilibrium, balance and friction in play”; “Some organs, their names and what they do”; and “Forms of water: evaporation, boiling, condensation, melting and freezing”. Most of it builds on what your child practised in Year 1.
Which mistakes are common in science in Year 1?
Common mistakes that Lärkompis covers include “Mixes up taste and smell” in “Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch” and “Reads the thermometer from the wrong end” in “Heat, light, sound, taste and smell through the senses, and reading a thermometer”. When an answer is wrong, the app shows how to think it through instead of just marking it wrong, and the parent panel shows what your child is practising right now.
Does Lärkompis follow Lgr22 in science in Year 1?
Yes. Every exercise in science in Year 1 is linked to an item in the Lgr22 core content for Years 1–3; 28 of 39 items in science (biology, physics and chemistry) have at least one linked skill. Lärkompis is a complement at home and does not replace teaching.
How much does it cost to practise science in Year 1 with Lärkompis?
Lärkompis costs SEK 49, once, for all subjects and every child in the family, with future updates included. You can try science in Year 1 for free first, without an account.
More years and subjects
The same year in other subjects:
