Fourth graders continue to safely conduct investigations, choose appropriate tools, measure, collect, formulate conclusions, and communicate findings.  They draw inferences from simple experiments and study the physical and chemical changes of matter.  Properties of materials and the discovery of new materials formed by combining two or more materials are explored.  Students expand the study of life cycles of plants by examining characteristics, growth, and functions.  Students gather information on the weather and its patterns and how weather impacts the Earth's surface - land, air, and water.  They explore how utilizing technology affects human lives and how technology and inventions change to meet people's needs.

Grade Four Indicators

Earth and Space Sciences

Earth Systems        

1.   Explain that air surrounds us, takes up space, moves around us as wind, and may be measured using barometric pressure.

3.    Identify how water exists in the air in different forms (e.g., in clouds, fog, rain, snow and hail).

4.   Investigate how water changes from one state to another (e.g., freezing, melting, condensation, evaporation).

5.   Describe weather by measurable quantities such as temperature, wind direction, wind speed, precipitation, and barometric pressure.

a.   Choose, use and evaluate appropriateness of weather instruments.

6.   Record local weather information on a calendar or map and describe changes over a period of time (e.g., barometric pressure, temperature, precipitation symbols, cloud conditions).

a.   Use a weather map

b.   Analyze weather maps and make predictions.

c.    Choose, use, and evaluate appropriateness of weather instruments.

d.   Make connections between temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind velocity, and the observable weather conditions.

7.   Trace how weather patterns generally move from west to east in the United States.

a.   Use a weather map.

b.   Analyze weather maps and make predictions.

8.   Describe the weather which accompanies cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus and stratus clouds.

a.  Research storms and look at the conditions required.

Processes That Shape Earth     

9.   Describe how wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth’s land surface by eroding rock and soil in some areas and depositing them in other areas producing characteristic landforms (e.g., dunes, deltas, glacial moraines).

10.  Identify and describe how freezing, thawing and plant growth reshape the land surface by causing the weathering of rock.

11.  Describe evidence of changes on Earth’s surface in terms of slow processes (e.g., erosion, weathering, mountain building, deposition) and rapid processes (e.g. volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides).

a.  Introduce the concept of plate tectonics.

Life Sciences

Heredity        

1.   Compare the life cycles of different plants including germination, maturity, reproduction and death.

a.      Record observations

b.      Measure and graph plant growth

c.       Observe, record, and analyze living plants

d.      Chart, compare and evaluate observations made by others

Diversity and Interdependence of  Life    

2.   Relate plant structures to their specific functions (e.g., growth, survival and reproduction).      

3.   3. Classify common plants according to their characteristics (e.g., tree leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, stems).

a.  Using dicotomous keys, identify and use attributes

b.  Classify plants native to Ohio

4.   Observe and explore that fossils provide evidence about plants that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time.

5.   Describe how organisms interact with one another in various ways (e.g., many plants depend on animals for carrying pollen or dispersing seeds).

Physical Sciences

Nature of Matter        

1.   Identify characteristics of a simple physical change (e.g., heating or cooling can change water from one state to another and the change is reversible).

2.   Identify characteristics of a simple chemical change.  When a new material is made by combining two or more materials, it has chemical properties that are different from the original materials (e.g., burning paper, vinegar and baking soda).

3.   Describe objects by the properties of the materials from which they are made and that these properties can be used to separate or sort a group of objects  (e.g., paper, glass, plastic, metal).

4.   Explain that matter has different states (e.g., solid, liquid and gas) and that each state has distinct physical properties.

Nature of Energy        

5.   Compare ways the temperature of an object can be changed (e.g., rubbing, heating, bending of metal).

Science and Technology

Understanding Technology      

1.   Explain how technology from different areas (e.g., transportation, communication, nutrition, healthcare, agriculture, entertainment, manufacturing) has improved human lives.

2.  Investigate how technology and inventions change to meet peoples’ needs and wants.

Abilities To Do Technological Design   

3.   Describe, illustrate and evaluate the design process used to solve a problem.

Scientific Inquiry

Doing Scientific Inquiry       

1.   Select the appropriate tools and use relevant safety procedures to measure and record length, weight, volume, temperature and area in metric and English units.

 2.   Analyze a series of events and/or simple daily or seasonal cycles, describe the patterns and infer the next likely occurrence. Develop, design and conduct safe, simple investigations or experiments to answer questions.

3.   Explain the importance of keeping conditions the same in an experiment.

4.   Describe how comparisons may not be fair when some conditions are not kept the same between experiments.

5.   Formulate instructions and communicate data in a manner that allows others to understand and repeat an investigation or experiment.

Scientific Ways of Knowing

Nature of Science        

1.   Differentiate fact from opinion and explain that scientists do not rely on claims or conclusions unless they are backed by observations that can be confirmed.

2.   Record the results and data from an investigation and make a reasonable explanation.

3.   Explain discrepancies in an investigation using evidence to support findings.

Ethical Practices       

4.   Explain why keeping records of observations and investigations is important.