Download Life Earth Science, Grades 3 – 6

Earth and Space
Science
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade5/6
Students will give a simple explanation of
what a mineral is and some examples,
e.g., quartz, mica.
Students will identify the three categories
of rocks (metamorphic, igneous, and
sedimentary) based on how they are
formed, and explain the natural and
physical processes that create these
rocks.
Students will understand the changes rocks
go through in the rock cycle. Students will
learn the classification of rocks into
sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous,
and how each type is formed. Students will
understand the properties for identifying
rocks, including hardness, color, luster,
crystal pattern, cleavage, and magnetism.
Students will learn how glaciers can erode
and move rock.
Rocks and Their .
Properties
.
Soil
Students will explain and give examples of Students will understand how soil forms
the ways in which soil is formed (the
from the weathering of rocks. Students will
weathering of rock by water and wind and understand that decaying organisms add
from the decomposition of plants and
necessary nutrients to the soil.
animal remains).
Students will understand how rivers and
waves can move soil, and both erode it
from, and deposit it on land.
Weather
Grade 3
Grade4
Grade 5/6
Students will explain how
air temperature,
moisture, wind speed,
direction, and
precipitation make up the
weather at a particular
place and time.
Students will distinguish
among the various forms
of precipitation, making
connections to the
weather in a particular
place and time.
Students will differentiate
between weather and
climate.
Students will differentiate between
weather and climate.
Students will recognize factors which
affect temperature and precipitation:
distance from equator, elevation, and
distance from oceans.
Students will understand the difference
between weather and climate. Students will
understand how volcanic eruptions affect
weather. Students will learn how oceans,
and ocean temperatures affect weather,
including the El Nino phenomena. Students
will understand the natural and man-made
causes of the greenhouse effect and global
warming.
Students will give examples of how the
surface of the earth changes due to slow
processes such as erosion and
weathering, and rapid processes such as
landslides, volcanic eruptions, and
earthquakes.
Students will study the "Big Bang" theory of
the origin of our universe. Students will
study the structure and composition of the
Earth, and the forces that cause it to
continue to change, including plate tectonics
and volcanic activity.
Earth's History
The Water Cycle
Students will describe
how water on Earth
cycles in different forms
and in different locations,
including underground.
Students will review the three states of
water: solid, liquid, and gas, and the
different properties of each. Students will
understand the concept of humidity,
evaporation, and condensation. Students
will review the dynamics of the water cycle.
Grade 3
The Earth in the Students will recognize
Solar System
that the earth is part of a
system called the “solar
system” that includes the
sun (a star), planets, and
many moons. The earth
is the third planet from
the sun in our solar
system.
Students will recognize
that the earth revolves
around the sun in a
year’s time and that the
earth rotates on its axis.
Students will make
connection between
rotation and day/night.
Grade 4
Grade 5/6
Students will recognize that the earth is
part of a system called the “solar system”
that includes the sun, planets, and many
moons.
Students will study early models of the solar
system, and how the observations of
scientists and improvements in scientific
telescopes improved the accuracy of the
models. Students will review the size,
composition, and distance from the sun of
the planets in the solar system. Students will
learn about asteroids, meteors, meteorites,
and comets. Students will learn how objects
in the solar system affect the earth.
Students will learn the effect of gravity on
movement of objects in the solar system.
Mapping the
Earth
Students will understand the earth's physical
features, including mountains, volcanoes,
islands, canyons, valleys, deserts, lakes,
rivers, and oceans. Students will learn the
theory of plate tectonics and continental
drift, and the effect of these on the creation
of mountains and volcanoes.
Earth'sStructure
Students will understand the terms
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere,
and the interrelationship among them.
Students will understand the layers of the
earth, and the composition, size, and
density of the crust , mantle, and core.