Download FOURTH GRADE Science Curriculum Framework Skills

FOURTH GRADE Science Curriculum Framework
1—Investigations will be integrated with social studies (e.g., landforms in PA) and mathematics where
appropriate.
Social studies unit on Pennsylvania will include identifying Pennsylvania’s important agricultural
products, identifying local natural resources, and identifying PA crops that provide food for the table and
fiber for textiles
2—Investigations will be integrated with language arts—non-fiction reading, writing.
--Content delivered via whole group reading, guided reading, and independent reading (with
leveled, non-fiction readers).
--Students will keep a “scientist’s notebook.”
3—Studies will include core field trips and Earth Day.
4—Units will include grade level assessments of content, skills, and understandings.
5—Classrooms will display word walls with science core unit vocabulary
Skills emphasized throughout Grade 4 are observing, describing, comparing,
questioning, organizing observations, planning and conducting investigations,
communicating observations through drawing/ writing, and acquiring a science
vocabulary.
Introduction to the Scientific Process (Integrated into all science units K-5)
Assessment Anchors:
S4.A.1.3
S4.A.2.1
S4.A.2.2
S4.A.3.1
S4.A.3.2
S4.A.3.3
Essential Question: What does a scientist do?
Understandings:
□ Scientists as individuals or as a group use a scientific process to question and to
explore the world and to solve problems.
o Observe
o Question
o Collect information
o State hypothesis
o Experiment
o Record and study data
o Draw conclusions
□ A scientist uses his/her five senses to describe the objects in the world.
o (K-1) Identify the five senses
o Use the five senses to describe objects
o Develop vocabulary to describe.
□ A scientist observes carefully. A scientific fact can be supported by making
observations.
o Observe carefully. Describe what you see.
o Distinguish between a scientific fact and an opinion, providing clear
explanations that connect observations and results (S4.A.1.1.1)
□ A scientist keeps a notebook to record his/her process (experiences, observations,
and thinking).
□ A scientist uses tools to help him/her observe carefully
o Magnets
o Magnifying glasses
o Microscopes
o Thermometers
o Rulers/tape measures (Measurement is emphasized)
o Scales
o Gauges (rain, wind)
o Technology
□ A scientist
o identifies systems and describes relationships among parts of a familiar
system (S4.A.3.1)
o uses models to illustrate simple concepts and compares the models to
what they represent (S4.A.3.2)
o identifies and makes observations about patterns that regularly occur in
nature (S4.A.3.3)
In fourth grade each student keeps a FOSS (Full Option Science System) Student
Notebook for each unit.
Unit #1—Earth Science
FOSS kit investigations: “Earth’s Materials”—Exploring the Earth’s features and
processes that change the Earth
Unit length:
Pennsylvania State Assessment Anchor Standards: S4.A.2.1.1, S4.A.2.1.2,
S4.A.2.1.3, S4.A.2.1.4, S4.A.2.2.1, S4.A.3.3.1, S4.3.3.2, S4.D.1.1.1, S4D.1.1.2,
S4.D.1.1.3
Essential Question: How does the Earth’s surface change over time?
Understandings:
□ Water systems impact shoreline.
□ Shoreline features include bays, inlet, and marsh.
□ There is a role and relationship between global, national, and local
watersheds/drainage basins.
□ There are cycles and processes that continually reshape the Earth (e.g., rock cycle,
water cycle).
□ The Earth’s landforms (e.g., volcanoes, mountains, valleys, canyons, islands)
continually change.
□ Rocks (sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic) and soils (humus, clay, sand, and
silt) can be classified based on their properties
□ Changes in the Earth’s surface are due to slow processes (weathering, erosion,
and deposition) and rapid processes (landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods,
earthquakes).
□ Rocks are made up of a variety of minerals.
□ Earth’s materials are used as building materials, fuel, and a medium for growing
plants.
□ The Earth’s layers consist of a crust, mantle, and core.
□ The Earth consists of land and water.
□ The land contains rocks, soil, and sand.
□ There are many properties around which rocks can be grouped.
□ The Earth has mountains, hills, valleys, oceans, rivers, and lakes. Ocean water is
salty. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams are filled with fresh water.
□ Natural resources are useful materials, which come from the Earth and need to be
preserved. Some examples are water, rocks, wood, oil, coal, and gas.
□ Soil is made of rocks and organic materials.
□ Earth’s terrestrial features include mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains.
□ Earth’s water features include oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and streams.
□ Earth’s terrestrial features change due to erosion and weathering.
□ Different types of fossils include casts, molds, and preserved parts of plants and
animals. (Crystal Cave??)
□ There are certain climate and conditions necessary for fossil formation.
□ Fossils of plants and animals that lived long ago can help us identify the condition
of Earth’s early environments.
□ Solid rocks are earth materials, and they have different physical and chemical
properties that make them useful in different ways, for example as building
materials.
□ Earth materials provide many of the resources humans use.
FOSS kit content:
“Mock rocks”
□ Rocks can be separated into their components.
□ Rocks exhibit a variety of properties, including shape, size, color, and texture.
□ Water, settling, and evaporation can separate rocks into their components.
□ Crystals form from evaporation of a saltwater mixture.
□ Rocks are composed of earth materials called minerals that cannot be physically
broken apart any further.
“Scratch test”
□ Rocks are composed of earth materials that cannot be physically broken apart any
further.
□ The property of hardness can be used to seriate minerals.
□ Examples of minerals are quartz, fluorite, calcite, and gypsum.
“Calcite quest”
□ Calcite is a mineral that fizzes when placed in an acid.
□ Minerals have different properties.
□ Rocks can easily be tested for the presence of calcite using an acid such as
vinegar.
□ Examples of rocks are sandstone, limestone, marble, and granite.
“Take it for granite”
□ Rocks are made of minerals.
□ The rock granite is made up of the minerals mica, feldspar, quartz, and
hornblende.
□ Some mineral properties are color and hardness.
□ Properties of minerals are used to find out which minerals make up a rock.
FOSS kit skills:
√ Measure to gather data.
√ Collect and organize data.
√ Observe, describe, and record properties of materials.
√ Organize (e.g., minerals on the basis of the property of hardness).
√ Investigate (e.g., the effect of vinegar).
√ Record and discuss (e.g., observations about rock).
√ Compare observations and results.
√ Identify (e.g., one ingredient from a mixture).
√ Sort objects (e.g., according to properties).
√ Ask and answer questions about objects and materials.
√ Plan and conduct simple investigations.
√ Employ tools to gather data.
√ Use data to construct reasonable explanations.
√ Communicate investigations and explanations.
Core Vocabulary:
Vinegar, acid, mineral, rock, geologist, dissolve, evaporation, component, properties,
texture, settling, crystal, mixture, seriate, quartz, fluorite, gypsum, calcite, sandstone,
limestone, marble, granite, mica, feldspar, hornblende
Assessments:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unit #2: Physical Science, Chemistry, Physics
FOSS kit investigations: “Magnetism and Electricity”—Exploring forms, sources,
conversion, and transfer of energy; exploring structures, properties, and interactions of
matter and energy
Unit length:
Pennsylvania State Assessment Anchor Standards: S4.A.1.3.1, S4.A.1.3.2,
S4.A.1.3.3, S4.A.2.1.1, S4.A.2.1.2, S4.A.2.1.4, S4.A.2.2.1, S4.A.3.1.1, S4.A.3.2.2,
S4.A.3.2.3, S4.C.1.1.1, S4.C.1.1.2, S4.C. 2.1.1, S4.C.2.1.2, S4.C.2.1.3, S4.C.3.1.1
Essential Questions: What is the relationship between force, energy, and magnetism?
How can matter change?
Understandings:
□ Certain materials are attracted to magnets
□ Magnets attract or repel one another
□ There is a connection between a compass and a magnet.
□ Magnetic fields can be created by using at least two different magnets.
□ Electricity is a source of energy.
□ Static electricity can attract and repel objects.
□ Circuits can be opened and closed.
□ Experiments with electricity demonstrate energy flow.
□ Conductors allow the movement of electricity through the object (e.g., aluminum
foil, paper clips, metal screws, steel nails, metal washers).
□ Insulators prevent the flow of electricity through the object (e.g., popsicle sticks,
toothpicks, bark, plastic utensils, plastic cups, rubber bands, straws, rulers).
□ Batteries convert chemical energy into electrical energy.
□ Magnetism can be produced by electricity flowing through wire
(electromagnetism).
□ Electric circuits require a complete loop through which an electric current can
pass.
□ Different materials can conduct electricity and heat.
□ There is a difference between the physical and chemical properties of matter.
□ Heat moves easily from one object to another through direct contact in some
materials (conductors) and not so easily through other materials (insulators).
□ Energy can be transferred from one place to another, and some materials transfer
energy better than others.
□ Heat can be produced through rubbing, burning, and using electricity.
□ Energy flows through objects or systems.
□ There is a connection between magnetism and electricity.
FOSS kit content:
“The force”
□ Magnets stick to metal objects made of iron.
□ Magnetic interactions are caused by the magnetic force.
□ Magnets display forces of attraction and repulsion that decrease with distance.
□ Magnetism can be induced in a piece of steel that is close to or touching a magnet.
“Making connections”
□ Electricity flows through pathways called circuits.
□ A switch is a device used to open and close circuits.
□ An open circuit is an incomplete electric pathway; a closed circuit is a complete
pathway.
□ Materials that allow electricity to flow are conductors; those that do not are
insulators.
“Advanced connections”
□ A circuit with only one pathway for current flow is a series circuit. Components
“share” the electric energy.
□ A circuit with two or more pathways for current flow is a parallel circuit.
Components each have a direct pathway to the energy source.
“Current attractions”
□ A core of iron or steel becomes an electromagnet when electricity flows through a
coil of insulated wire surrounding it.
□ There are a number of ways to change the strength of an electromagnet, including
changing the number of winds of wire around the coil.
“Click it”
□ An electromagnet placed in a complete circuit can be used to make a telegraph.
□ A switch can serve as a key in a telegraph system.
□ A code is a symbolic system for communication.
□ Technology is an application of science.
FOSS kit skills:
√ Observe (e.g., interaction of permanent magnets with a variety of common
materials).
√ Conduct multiple trials, average results, and display results in a graph.
√ Identify (e.g., materials that are conductors and insulators).
√ Analyze and solve circuitry problems.
√ Record and organize data.
√ Observe (e.g., magnetic interactions).
√ Sort (e.g., materials based on whether they conduct electricity).
√ Compare (e.g., strength of electromagnets).
√ Predict conductivity of materials
√ Construct a test circuit and test objects for conductivity
√ Measure (e.g., force of attraction).
√ Investigate variables.
√ Encode and decode clicks produced by a telegraph.
√ Design, conduct, and report own investigation.
√ Use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations.
√ Ask and answer questions.
√ Plan and conduct simple investigations.
√ Employ tools to gather data.
√ Use data to construct reasonable explanations.
√ Communicate investigations and explanations.
√ Identify a simple problem and propose a solution.
√ Evaluate a product or design.
√ Communicate a problem, design, and solution.
Unit #3: Earth and Space Science
FOSS kit investigations: “Sun, Moon, and Stars”---exploring sun, moon, and stars
and their patterns of movement in the sky
Unit Length:
Pennsylvania State Assessment Anchor Standards:
S4.D.3.1.1, S4.D.3.1.2, S4.D.3.1.3, S4.A.3.1, S4.A.3.2,.2 S4.A.3.3
Essential Question: What predictable patterns of change can be observed on and from
Earth?
Understandings:
Earth is one of several planets that orbit the sun in the solar system.
A system is made of parts, and the parts can interact.
Objects in the sky have patterns of movement that can be observed.
Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, giving rise to the cycle of
night and day.
The Earth’s rotation causes the sun, moon, stars, and planets to appear to
orbit Earth once per day.
Telescopes are useful in studying the solar system, as they make distant
objects look closer and larger.
FOSS kit content:
“The Sun”
The Earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night.
Day happens when a location on Earth is facing toward the sun.
Night happens when a location is facing away from the sun.
The sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west every day.
A compass is a tool used to determine directions.
Shadows are the areas of darkness created when an opaque object blocks light.
The shapes of shadows change over a day and depend on the position of the
sun in the sky.
The exact path the sun takes in the sky varies by season.
“The Moon”
Objects in the sky include the moon, stars, and other planets.
The moon orbits Earth.
The moon can appear in the sky during both night and day.
The moon changes its appearance, or phase, in a regular pattern over four
weeks.
Moon phase is the portion of the illuminated half of the moon visible from
Earth.
“The Stars”
Stars are suns positioned at great distances from Earth.
Groups of stars form patterns called constellations.
Stars (constellations) appear to move together across the night sky because the
Earth rotates.
Stars can be observed from Earth’s surface only at night.
Different constellations can be seen during different seasons because Earth
revolves around the Sun.
Stars are different sizes and have different brightnesses.
FOSS kit skills:
√ Observe how the Sun, Earth’s star, rises in the east and sets in the west.
√ Predict the movement of the sun and moon.
√ Predict next step in the sequence.
√ Record observations over time.
√ Observe and record changes in the Moon’s appearance over a month.
√ Analyze observations to discover the sequence of changes that occur during the
moon’s phase cycle.
√ Analyze shadow data; develop explanation about Sun’s daily movements.
√ Use shadow data to predict the position of the Sun in the sky.
√ Use models and simulations to develop explanations.
√ Name the Moon phases.
√ Describe the lunar cycle.
√ Identify several constellations as stable, predictable patterns of stars.
√ Explain the apparent motion of the stars across the night sky.
√ Communicate observations.
Core Unit Vocabulary:
Sun, moon, star, constellation, telescope, rotate, phase, orbit, opaque, compass,
axis, lunar cycle, sunrise, sunset, predictable
Assessment:
CH Rohrbach, Director of Curriculum and Staff Development
04/08, revised 9/10