2017 – 2018 Science
Fourth Grade Instructional Planning Checklist
Vision:
Elmore County Public School System strives to prepare students to be
responsible and productive citizens in an ever-changing world.
Mission:
Elmore County Public Schools’ mission is to provide relevant, engaging, positive
learning environments where students are empowered to realize their selfworth through continuous academic, social, and emotional growth.
1
Fourth Grade
GRADES 3-5 Overview
In Grades 3-5, students are introduced to disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts in the domains of Physical Science; Life Science; Earth and Space
Science; and Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science through content and participation in scientific and engineering practices. Direct experiences
with physical models and materials remain important as students develop their ability to reason and communicate in multimodal scientific contexts. Students in
Grades 3-5 ask increasingly sophisticated questions that stem from their observations, experiences, and prior learning. While students engage in the practices of
science and engineering, they revise and extend their understanding of the role of science in the natural and technological environments in which they live.
Physical evidence derived from numeric measurements and recorded data becomes an important part of students’ emerging scientific explanations.
Learning environments in Grades 3-5 encourage a full range of inquiry, including opportunities to carry out scientific investigations and engineering design
projects related to the disciplinary core ideas. Students engage in written and oral communication about the texts they read, the phenomena they observe, and the
conclusions they draw from their scientific investigations and engineering projects. The role of mathematics becomes increasingly important as students produce
and present numerical data in various forms such as tables and graphs. Being engaged in learning environments where content knowledge and scientific and
engineering practices are intertwined, helps students develop more scientifically accurate and coherent conceptions of the laws and principles that govern the
physical world.
Effective science instruction in Grades 3-5 provides students with opportunities for a variety of scientific activities and scientific thinking. Classroom experiences
include investigations that range from those structured by the teacher to those that emerge from students’ own questions. Students have opportunities to decide
which data to gather, the variables that should be controlled, and which tools and instruments are needed to carry out investigations. Through participation in
scientific and engineering practices, students develop their abilities to work in groups to design solutions to problems stemming from real-world scientific
scenarios. Domain-specific core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and performance expectations within the content standards create a framework for instructional
planning and student learning.
Grade 4 students’ view of the natural world includes many scientifically accurate components. They recognize the role of evidence in scientific thinking and are
beginning to include evidence in their scientific explanations. Fourth graders enjoy an active learning environment with opportunities to manipulate physical
materials and construct models.
Fourth-grade students learn disciplinary core ideas from the three scientific domains of Physical, Life, and Earth and Space Sciences while demonstrating their
learning in the context of the content standards for this grade level. In Physical Science, students construct explanations based on evidence connecting the speed of
an object to the energy of that object, including the transference of energy in its various forms. They obtain information about sources, uses, and environmental
effects of renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Additionally, fourth-grade students analyze wave patterns with observable wavelengths and amplitudes.
In Life Science, students compare the internal and external structures of plants and animals, obtain and communicate information about human body systems, and
investigate ways animals process information. In Earth and Space Science, Grade 4 students examine evidence to construct explanations for both slow and rapid
changes on Earth’s land features, describe patterns of Earth’s land and water based on maps, and carry out investigations relating to erosion. The disciplinary core
ideas of the Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science (ETS) domain are integrated within the content standards of the three scientific domains and are
denoted with an asterisk (*).
Grade 4 content standards provide students with opportunities for investigation, observation, and explanation of a variety of scientific phenomena. Through
participation in specific engineering design projects, they find answers regarding which components of a device change energy from one form to another, how
wave patterns can be used to transfer information, and how to limit the effects of harmful natural Earth processes on human life.
2
STRUCTURE OF THE STANDARDS
Each content standard in this document addresses the three scientific dimensions listed below and as described in the 2012 National Research Council (NRC)
publication, A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Standards outline the knowledge and skills of science
and engineering that all students should know and be able to do by the end of high school.
DIMENSION 1: SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES








DIMENSION 2: CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS







Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for
engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Patterns
Cause and effect
Scale, proportion, and quantity
Systems and system models
Energy and matter
Structure and function
Stability and change
DIMENSION 3: DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS
Physical Sciences




Matter and Its Interactions
Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Energy
Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
Life Sciences




From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Unity and Diversity
Earth and Space Sciences



Earth’s Place in the Universe
Earth’s Systems
Earth and Human Activity
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science


Engineering Design
Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society
3
Before quality instruction can occur, there must be a plan for what teachers want students to learn. One process for planning includes the following three
steps.
1. Identify desired outcomes found in the standards.
2. Determine acceptable evidence of student learning by designing evaluation activities.
3. Develop activities and learning experiences that will engage all students in exploring, explaining, and expanding their understanding of the scientific and
engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas in the standards.
Five E + IA Instructional Model
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Intervene or Accelerate
Student interest is stimulated and connections are made to prior knowledge and between past and
present experiences. Student thinking is focused on learning outcomes as they become mentally
engaged in the practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas of the unit or lesson.
Students investigate initial ideas and solutions in a context within which they can identify. Using
investigation, research, discourse, text, and media, students actively explore situations and build common
experiences that serve as a basis for developing an understanding of the concept within context.
Students are provided the opportunity to collaborate, communicate, and construct meaning from their
experiences based on an analysis of the exploration. This phase emphasizes the importance of students
developing evidence-based explanations founded upon their observations and experiences obtained through
investigations. Teachers clarify understanding through definitions, labels, and explanations for abilities,
concepts, practices, and skills.
Students reflect upon, expand, and apply conceptual understanding of scientific concepts to new and
unfamiliar situations in order to cultivate a broader and deeper understanding of concepts through new
experiences within new contexts and situations.
Students are assessed on understanding of scientific concepts. Assessment provides opportunities for
teachers to evaluate understanding of concepts and practices identified in the standards. This phase helps
teachers know if students are learning in order for appropriate next steps to occur.
When some students do not learn the first time, intervention strategies may be implemented to further
explain and elaborate upon concepts to a greater extent in order to clarify understanding. Students who
have demonstrated proficiency may be able to enrich or accelerate learning through more challenging,
engaging, and exploratory experiences.
4
5
Column Definitions
 Evidence of Student Attainment: “What could students do to show attainment of this standard?”
 Teacher Vocabulary: “What are key terms in the standard that are essential for the teacher to interpret and understand in order to lead students to grade level
attainment?”
 Skills: “What procedural skill(s) does the student need to demonstrate for attainment of this standard?”
 Knowledge: “What does the student need to know to aid in attainment of this standard?”
 Understanding: “What will students understand to attain the standard?”
Standard 1
Standard: 4. E.1. Use evidence to explain the relationship of the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
Resources
Evidence of Student
Attainment:
Teacher Vocabulary:
Knowledge:
Skills:
Understanding:
Dates Taught/Tested
Students:
 Use evidence, e.g. measurements, observations, and patterns, to explain the
relationship between energy and speed.
 Construct
 Energy
 Relative speed
 Evidence
 Explanation
 Phenomenon
Students know:
 Motion can indicate the energy of an object.
 The observable impact of a moving object interacting with its surroundings reflects
how much energy can be transferred between objects and therefore relates to the
energy of the moving object.
 The faster a given object is moving the more observable the impact it can have on
another object.
 The speed of an object is related to the energy of the object.
Students are able to:
 Articulate from evidence to explain the observable impact of the speed of an object
and the energy of an object.
Students understand that:
 Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Energy
Science and Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
6
Crosscutting Concepts:
Energy and Matter
Standard 2
Standard: 4. E.2. Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
a. Provide evidence that heat can be produced in many ways (e.g., rubbing hands together, burning leaves) and can move from one object to another by conduction.
b. Demonstrate that different objects can absorb, reflect, and/or conduct energy.
c. Demonstrate that electric circuits require a complete loop through which an electric current can pass.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to
place by sound.
 Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to
place by light.
 Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to
place by heat.
 Plan and carry out investigations that explain transference of energy from place to
place by electric currents.
 Provide evidence that heat can be produced in many ways.
 Provide evidence that heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
 Demonstrate that different objects can absorb energy.
 Demonstrate that different objects can reflect energy.
 Demonstrate that different objects can conduct energy.
 Demonstrate that electric circuits require a complete loop for the electric current to
pass through.
Construct
Kinetic
Absorb
Open circuit Radiation
Motion
Teacher Vocabulary:
Transfer
energy
Reflect
Close circuit Convection
Electrical
Energy
Friction
Circuit
Heat
Collision
energy
Potential
Conduction
Stored
energy
energy
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat.
 The transfer of energy, including the following:
 Collisions between objects.
 Light traveling from one place to another.
 Electric currents producing motion, sound, heat, or light.
 Sound traveling from one place to another.
 Heat passing from one object to another.
 Motion, sound, heat, and light causing a different type of energy to be observed after
an interaction.
 Heat is produced in many ways.
 Heat can move via conduction.
 The properties of different objects cause them to be able to absorb, reflect, and/or
conduct energy.
7

Electric currents pass through a circuit.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Collaboratively plan and carry out an investigation that converts energy one form to
another.
o Identify the phenomenon.
o Identify the evidence to address the purpose of the investigation.
o Collect the data.
 Construct an explanation using evidence about heat production.
 Develop a model demonstrating that different objects can absorb, reflect, and/or
conduct energy.
 Develop a model demonstrating electric circuits.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
 Heat energy can be produced in many ways.
 The properties of objects, e.g. ability to absorb, reflect, or conduct energy, relate to
their function.
 Electric energy can be transferred through circuits.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Energy
Designing Solutions; Developing and Using Models
8
Crosscutting Concepts:
Energy and Matter
Standard 3
Standard: 4. E.3. Investigate to determine changes in energy resulting from increases or decreases in speed that occur when objects collide.
Resources
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Use evidence from investigations to describe changes in energy that occur when
objects collide.
collide
relative brightness
inertia
Teacher Vocabulary:
relative motion
phenomenon
momentum
relative speed
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Qualitative measure of energy (e.g. relative motion, relative speed, relative
brightness) before the collision.
 Mechanism of energy transfer.
 Energy can transfer between colliding objects.
 Energy can transfer to the surrounding air when objects collide resulting in sound
and heat.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Plan and carry out an investigation to determine changes in energy that occur when
objects collide.
o Identify the evidence to address the purpose of the investigation.
o Collect the data.
 Use data to provide evidence that energy is present whenever there are moving
objects, sound, light, or heat and that it can be transferred from place to place.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Energy
Science and Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and D
9
Dates Taught/Tested
Crosscutting Concepts:
Energy and Matter
Standard 4
Standard: 4. E.4. Design, construct, and test a device that changes energy from one form to another (e.g., electric circuits converting electrical energy into motion,
light, or sound energy; a passive solar heater converting light energy into heat energy). *
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Given a problem to solve, students collaboratively design a device that converts
energy from one form to another.
criteria
design
transform
imagine
Teacher Vocabulary:
constraint
construct
evidence
plan
energy
kinetic
engineering
create
device
potential
design
improve
convert
process
ask
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Energy can be transferred from place to place by electric currents.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Use scientific knowledge to generate design solutions that convert energy from one
form to another.
 Describe the given criteria and constraints of the design, which include the
following:
 The initial and final forms of energy.
 Describe how the solution functions to transfer energy from one form to another.
 Evaluate potential solutions in terms of the desired features.
 Modify the design solutions to make them more effective.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
 Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones but are limited by
available resources.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Energy
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Energy and Matter
10
Standard 5
Standard: 4. E.5. Compile information to describe how the use of energy derived from natural renewable and nonrenewable resources affects the environment (e.g.,
constructing dams to harness energy from water, a renewable resource, while causing a loss of animal habitats; burning of fossil fuels, a nonrenewable resource, while
causing an increase in air pollution; installing solar panels to harness energy from the sun, a renewable resource, while requiring specialized materials that necessitate
mining).
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Combine information across complex texts and other reliable media to describe how
the use of energy derived from natural renewable and nonrenewable resources
affects the environments.
natural resources
air pollution
effects
impact
Teacher Vocabulary:
natural renewable
pollution
affects
solution
nonrenewable
solar energy
habitat
derived
environment
solar panel
harness
resources
resources
fossil fuels
Knowledge:
Students know:
 How energy is derived from natural resources.
 How energy resources derived from natural resources address human energy needs.
 Positive and negative environmental effects of using each energy resource.
 The role of technology in improving or mediating the environmental effects of using
a given resource.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Waves, which are the regular patterns of motion, can be made in water by disturbing
the surface.
 When waves move across the surface of deep water, the water goes up and down in
place; there is no net motion in the direction of the wave except when the water
meets a beach.
 Waves of the same type can differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength
(spacing between wave peaks).
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and their use
affects the environment in numerous ways.
 Resources are renewable over time, while others are not.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Energy
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Cause and Effect
11
Standard 6
Standard: 4. WAT.6. Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength, and including that waves can cause objects to move.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Develop a model of waves to describe patterns of amplitude.
 Develop a model of waves to describe patterns of wavelength.
 Develop a model of waves that describes patterns that cause objects to move.
Patterns
Wave amplitude
Model
Teacher Vocabulary:
Propagated
Wavelength
Relevant components
Waves
Net motion
Peaks
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Waves can be described in terms of patterns of repeating amplitude and wavelength
(e.g., in a water wave there is a repeating pattern of water being higher and then
lower than the baseline level of the water).
 Waves can cause an object to move.
 The motion of objects varies with the amplitude and wavelength of the wave
carrying it.
 The patterns in the relationships between a wave passing, the net motion of the
wave, and the motion of an object caused by the wave as it passes.
 How waves may be initiated (e.g., by disturbing surface water or shaking a rope or
spring).
 The repeating pattern produced as a wave is propagated.
 Waves, which are the regular patterns of motion, can be made in water by disturbing
the surface. When waves move across the surface of deep water, the water goes up
and down in place; there is no net motion in the direction of the wave except when
the water meets a beach.
 Waves of the same type can differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength
(spacing between wave peaks).
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Develop a model to make sense of wave patterns that includes relevant components
(i.e., waves, wave amplitude, wavelength, and motion of objects).
 Describe patterns of wavelengths and amplitudes.
 Describe how waves can cause objects to move.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 There are similarities and differences in patterns underlying waves and use these
patterns to describe simple relationships involving wave amplitude, wavelength, and
the motion of an object.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Developing and Using Models
Patterns
12
Waves and Their Application in Technologies
for Information Transfer
Standard 7
Standard: 4. WAT.7. Develop and use models to show multiple solutions in which patterns are used to transfer information (e.g., using a grid of 1s and 0s representing
black and white to send information about a picture, using drums to send coded information through sound waves, using Morse code to send a message). *
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Develop a model to show multiple solutions in which patterns are used to transfer
information.
 Use a model to show multiple solutions in which patterns are used to transfer
information.
transmit
accuracy
coded
Teacher Vocabulary:
transfer
digitized
signals
decoded
convert
Knowledge:
Students know:
 About digitized information transfer. (e.g., information can be converted from a
sound wave into digital signals such as patterns of 1s and 0s and vice versa; visual or
verbal messages can be encoded in patterns of flashes of light to be decoded by
someone else across the room).
 Ways that high-tech devices convert and transmit information. (e.g., cell phones
convert sound waves into digital signals, so they can be transmitted long distances,
and then converted back into sound waves; a picture or message can be encoded
using light signals to transmit the information over a long distance).
 Information can be transmitted over long distances without significant degradation.
High tech devices, such as computers or cell phones, can receive and decode
information - convert form to voice - and vice versa.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Generate multiple design solutions that use patterns to transmit a given piece of
information.
 Apply the engineering design process to develop a model to show multiple solutions
to transfer information.
 Describe the given criteria for the design solutions.
 Describe the given constraints of the design solutions, including the distance over
which information is transmitted, safety considerations, and materials available.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Similarities and differences in the types of patterns used in the solutions to
determine whether some ways of transmitting information are more effective than
others and addressing the problem.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Waves and Their Application in Technologies
Developing and Using Models
Patterns
for Information Transfer
13
Standard 8
Standard: 4. WAT.8. Construct a model to explain that an object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eyes.
Resources
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Construct a model and use it to explain that in order to see objects that do not
produce their own light, light must reflect off the object and into the eye.
reflection
translucent
refraction
Teacher Vocabulary:
opaque
transparent
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Light enters the eye, allowing objects to be seen.
 Light reflects off of objects, and then can travel and enter the eye.
 Objects can be seen only if light follows a path between a light source, the object,
and the eye.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Construct a model to make sense of a phenomenon.
 Identify relevant components of the model including: light (including the light
source), objects, the path that light follows, and the eye.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 An object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eyes.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Waves and Their Application in Technologies
for Information Transfer
Science and Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
14
Dates Taught/Tested
Crosscutting Concepts:
Cause and Effect
Standard 9
Standard: 4. MO.9. Examine evidence to support an argument that the internal and external structures of plants (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, colored petals,
xylem, phloem) and animals (e.g., heart, stomach, lung, brain, skin) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Argue from evidence to support that the internal and external structures of plants
function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
 Argue from evidence to support that the internal and external structures of animals
function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
argue
evidence
external
survival
behavior
Teacher Vocabulary:
articulate
internal
structure
function
reproduction
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Internal and External structures serve specific functions within plants and animals.
 The functions of internal and external structures can support survival, growth,
behavior and/or reproduction in plants and animals.
 Different structures work together as part of a system to support survival, growth,
behavior, and/or reproduction.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Articulate an explanation from evidence explaining how the internal and external
structures of plants and animals function to support survival, growth, behavior, and
reproduction.
 Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence collected, including whether
or not it supports a claim about the role of internal and external structures of plants
and animals in supporting survival, growth, behavior, and/or reproduction.
 Use reasoning to connect the relevant and appropriate evidence to support an
argument about the function of the internal and external structures of plants and
animals.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various
functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
From Molecules to Organisms: Structures
Engage in Argument from Evidence
Systems and System Models; Structure and
and Processes
Function
15
Standard 10
Standard: 4. MO.10. Obtain and communicate information explaining that humans have systems that interact with one another for digestion, respiration, circulation,
excretion, movement, control, coordination, and protection from disease.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Obtain information explaining that humans have systems that interact with one
another for digestion, respiration, circulation, excretion, movement, control,
coordination, and protection from disease.
 Communicate information explaining that humans have systems that interact with one
another for digestion, respiration, circulation, excretion, movement, control,
coordination, and protection from disease.
communicate
function
circulation
coordination
Teacher Vocabulary:
articulate
interactions
excretion
protection
obtain
digestion
movement
disease
structure
respiration
control
body systems
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Humans have systems that interact with one another.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the digestive system.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the respiratory system.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the circulatory system.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the excretory system.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the systems that contribute to movement,
control, and coordination.
 The purpose, functions, and interactions of the systems that protect the body from
disease.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Obtain information by reading and comprehending grade-appropriate complex texts
about the interacting systems in the human body.
 Evaluate information about interactions and functions of human body systems by
comparing and/or combining across complex texts and/or other reliable media.
 Communicate information orally and/or in written formats about interactions and
functions of human body systems.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 The body is a system of interacting parts that makes up a whole and carries out
functions its individual parts cannot.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
From Molecules to Organisms: Structures
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Systems and System Models
and Processes
16
Standard 11
Standard: 4. MO.11. Investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses, process that information, and respond to it in different ways (e.g.,
skunks lifting tails and spraying an odor when threatened, dogs moving ears when reacting to sound, snakes coiling or striking when sensing vibrations).
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses.
 Investigate different ways animals process the information they receive and how they
respond to it.
investigate
perception
senses
process
Teacher Vocabulary:
evidence
receptors
sensory
memories
transmit
information
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Different types of sense receptors detect specific types of information within the
environment.
 Sense receptors send information about the surroundings to the brain.
 Information that is transmitted to the brain by sense receptors can be processed
immediately as perceptions of the environment and/or stored as memories.
 Immediate perceptions or memories processed by the brain influences an animal's
actions or responses to features in the environment.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Identify different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.
 Identify evidence of different ways animals receive, process, and respond to
information to be investigated.
 Plan ways to Investigate different ways animals receive, process, and respond to
information.
 Collect and communicate data of different ways animals receive, process, and
respond to information.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Sensory input, the brain, and behavioral output are all parts of a system that allows
animals to engage in appropriate behaviors.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
From Molecules to Organisms: Structures
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Systems and System Models
and Processes
17
Standard 12
Standard: 4. ES.12. Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations and fossils in rock layers that Earth changes over time through
both slow and rapid processes (e.g., rock layers containing shell fossils appearing above rock layers containing plant fossils and no shells indicating a change from
land to water over time, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom indicating that over time a river cut through the rock).
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations that
Earth changes over time through both slow and rapid processes.
 Construct explanations by citing evidence of fossils in rock layers that Earth changes
over time through both slow and rapid processes.
 Cite evidence from patterns in fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for
changes in a landscape over time.
Evidence
Fossils
Landscape
Teacher Vocabulary:
Patterns
Rock Layers
Marine fossils
Rock Formations
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Different rock layers found in areas can show either marine fossils or land fossils.
 Ordering of rock layers (e.g. layer with marine fossils found below layer with land
fossils).
 Presence of particular fossils (e.g., shells, land plants) in specific rock layers as
evidence of Earth's changes over time.
 The occurrence of events (e.g., earthquakes) due to Earth forces.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Observe evidence from rock patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to
support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
 Identify evidence from rock patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to
support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
 Articulate and describe from evidence patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock
layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
 Use reasoning to connect the evidence to support the explanation including the
identification of a specific pattern of rock layers and fossils.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due
to earth forces, such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types
indicate the order in which rock layers were formed.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Earth’s Systems
Constructing, Explanations and Designing Solutions
Patterns
18
Standard 13
Standard: 4. ES.13. Plan and carry out investigations to examine properties of soils and soil types (e.g., color, texture, capacity to retain water, ability to support
growth of plants).
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Identify the properties of soil.
 Plan and carry out an investigation that examines the various types of soil and soil
properties.
 Describe the data collected that will serve as the basis for the evidence.
color
types of soil (sand, silt, clay, humus)
Teacher Vocabulary:
absorbency
infiltration
texture
particle size
capacity
structure
properties of soil
consistency
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Soil properties (particle size, color, texture).
 Soil types (sand, silt, clay, and humus).
 Relationship between soil types and water.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Plan and conduct simple tests using various soil types.
 Collect, describe and evaluate data.
 Articulate and explain from evidence the properties of soil and soil types.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort and classify soil types by
property.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Earth’s Systems
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Patterns
19
Standard 14
Standard: 4. ES.14. Explore information to support the claim that landforms are the result of a combination of constructive forces, including crustal deformation,
volcanic eruptions, and sediment deposition as well as a result of destructive forces, including erosion and weathering.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Support the claim that landforms can be the result of a combination of constructive
forces, including crustal deformation, volcanic eruptions, and sediment deposition.
 Support the claim that landforms can be the result of destructive forces, including
weathering and erosion.
landform
earthquakes
Teacher Vocabulary:
crustal deformation
continental boundaries
sediment
trenches
deposition
ocean floor structures
erosion
constructive forces
weathering
destructive forces
topography
eruption
volcanoes
geological processes
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Continents and other landforms are continually being shaped and reshaped by
competing constructive and destructive geological processes.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Compare and/or combine information across complex texts and/or other reliable
sources to support the claim that landforms are the result of both constructive and
destructive forces.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Changes in Earth's surface are caused by both constructive and destructive forces.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Earth’s Systems
Science and Engineering Practices:
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
20
Crosscutting Concepts:
Cause and Effect
Standard 15
Standard: 4. ES.15. Analyze and interpret data (e.g., angle of slope in downhill movement of water, volume of water flow, cycles of freezing and thawing of water,
cycles of heating and cooling of water, speed of wind, relative rate of soil deposition, amount of vegetation) to determine effects of weathering and rate of erosion by
water, ice, wind, and vegetation using one single form of weathering or erosion at a time.
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Analyze and interpret data to determine effects of weathering by water, ice, wind, and
vegetation.
 Analyze and interpret data to determine rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, and
vegetation.
sediment
variables
Teacher Vocabulary:
weathering
relative steepness
erosion
analyze
vegetation
interpret
angle of slope
data
transported
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Effects of weathering.
 The rate of erosion of Earth's materials.
 The kind of weathering or erosion to which the Earth material is exposed.
 The change in shape of Earth materials as the result of weathering or the rate of
erosion by motion of water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Represent data about weathering and erosion in tables and/or other graphical displays
to reveal patterns.
 Analyze and interpret data to make sense of weathering and erosion.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Events like weathering and erosion have causes that generate observable patterns and
can be used to explain changes in Earth's landforms.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Earth’s Systems
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Cause and Effect
21
Standard 16
Standard: 4. ES.16. Describe patterns of Earth's features on land and in the ocean using data from maps (e.g., topographic maps of Earth's land and ocean floor;
maps of locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes).
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Describe patterns of Earth's features on land using data from maps.
 Describe patterns of Earth's features in the ocean using data from maps.
patterns
deep ocean trench
Teacher Vocabulary:
data
ocean floor
structures
volcanoes
features
mountains
topographical
earthquakes
continental boundaries
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures,
earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns.
 Volcanoes and earthquakes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries
between continents and oceans.
 Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Organize data using graphical displays from maps of Earth's features.
 Articulate patterns that can be used as evidence to describe Earth's features on land
and in the ocean using maps.
 Use logical reasoning based on the organized data to make sense of and describe the
patterns in Earth's features.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 Earth's features occur in patterns.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Earth’s Systems
Science and Engineering Practices:
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
22
Crosscutting Concepts:
Patterns
Standard 17
Standard: 4. ES.17. Formulate and evaluate solutions to limit the effects of natural Earth processes on humans (e.g., designing earthquake, tornado, or hurricaneresistant buildings; improving monitoring of volcanic activity). *
Resources
Dates Taught/Tested
Evidence of Student
Students:
Attainment:
 Formulate solutions to limit the effects of natural Earth processes on humans.
 Evaluate solutions to limit the effects of natural Earth processes on humans.
Teacher Vocabulary:
Natural Earth Process
Constraint
tornado
Modify
hurricane
Formulate
tsunamis
Evaluate
volcanic eruption
Effects
earthquakes
Hazards
Criteria
Knowledge:
Students know:
 Negative effects of a natural Earth process.
 Solutions that can reduce the effect of natural Earth processes on humans.
Skills:
Students are able to:
 Use scientific knowledge to formulate design solutions to reduce the effects of Earth
process.
 Investigate and test how well design solutions perform under a range of likely
conditions.
 Evaluate and modify multiple solutions to reduce the effects of the Earth processes.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
 A variety of hazards result from natural processes.
 Humans cannot eliminate the hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts.
 Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to increase their
benefits or decrease risks, and to meet societal demands.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
Science and Engineering Practices:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Earth’s Systems
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Cause and Effect
23
24