Curriculum Map: Science 4
Course: Science 4 Sub-topic: Uncategorized
Grade(s): 4
Course
Description:
Course
Textbooks,
Workbooks,
Materials
Citations:
Course Long
Term Transfer
Goals:
4th Grade Science - integrated course that covers Life, Earth and Physical Science
Harcourt HSP Pennsylvania Science: Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science
Animal Studies - STC 4
Electric Curcuits - STC 4
Sound Waves - FOSS
Students will be able to independently use their learning to:
1. Approach science as a reliable and tentative way of knowing and explaining the natural world and apply this understanding to a variety of situations.
2. Weigh evidence and use scientific approaches to ask questions, investigate, make informed
decisions about how they live their daily lives, and engage in their vocations and communities.
3. Make and use observations to identify and analyze relationships and patterns in order to explain
phenomena, develop models, and make predictions.
4. Evaluate systems, including their components and subsystems, in order to connect how form
determines function and how any change to one component affects the entire system.
5. Explain how the natural and designed worlds are interrelated and the application of scientific
knowledge and technology can have beneficial, detrimental, or unintended consequences.
Unit: Unit 1 - Life Science
Unit
Description:
The Grade 4 Life Science Unit focuses on the world of living things and ecosystems. Unit Big Ideas: 1. All organisms are made of cells and can be characterized by common aspects of their structure
and functioning.
2. Organisms grow, reproduce, and perpetuate their species by obtaining necessary resources
through interdependent relationships with other organisms and the physical environment.
3. Heredity refers to specific mechanisms by which characteristics or traits are passed from one
generation to the next via genes, and explains why offspring resemble, but are not identical to their
parents.
4. Biological evolution explains both the unity and diversity of species and provides a unifying
principle for the history and diversity of life on earth.
Unit Concepts:
1. All living things reproduce, and some engage in behaviors that help their offspring to survive.
2. Animals (consumers) depend on their surroundings to get what they need including food, water,
shelter, and a stable temperature.
2.b. Plants (producers), depend on air, water, minerals (in the soil), and light to grow.
Page 1 of 12
2.c. Some organisms, (decomposers), break down dead or decaying material to obtain energy.
3. Many characteristics involve both inherited traits and environmental factors.
4. Sometimes the differences in characteristics between individuals of the same species provide
advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
4.b. Humans, like all other organisms, obtain living and nonliving resources from their
environments.
Unit
1
​ . Obtain and share information to explain that patterns of behaviors between parents and offspring
Competencies: promote survival.
1.b. Discuss how some organisms can reproduce on their own, and some reproduce with two
parents.
2. Construct a representation in which plants and animals depend on their environment and each
other to meet their needs.
3. Use evidence to compare characteristics inherited from parents, characteristics caused by the
environment, and those resulting from both.
4. Use evidence to explain how some characteristics that vary among individuals of the same kind of
organism can provide advantages to survive, find mates, and reproduce.
4.b. Use evidence to demonstrate how humans, like all other organisms, obtain living and nonliving resources from their environment.
Unit Essential
Questions:
​1. How do organisms live, grow, respond to their environment, and reproduce?
2. How and why do organisms interact with their environment and what are the effects of these
interactions.
3. How are the characteristics of one generation passed to the next? How can individuals of the
same species and even siblings have different characteristics?
​4. How can there be so many similarities among organisms yet so many different kinds of plants,
animals, and microorganisms? How does biodiversity affect humans?
Unit Academic
Vocabulary &
Definitions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. ​behaviors
parents
offspring
survival
reproduce
representation
consumer
stable
producer
decomposer
energy
decay
characteristics
inherited traits
environmental factors
siblings
generation
survive
reproduce
living
Page 2 of 12
21. non-living
Unit Student
Learning
Outcomes:
Unit Materials: Harcourt HSP Pennsylvania Science: Life Science Animal Studies - STC 4
STANDARDS
STATE: Pennsylvania SAS Academic Standards (2009-2013)
3.1.4.A1 (Reinforced)
Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they
share.
3.1.4.A2 (Reinforced)
Describe the different resources that plants and animals need to live.
3.1.4.A3 (Reinforced)
Identify differences in the life cycles of plants and animals.
3.1.4.A4 (Reinforced)
Not covered for this grade.
3.1.4.A5 (Reinforced)
Describe common functions living things share to help them function in a
specific environment.
3.1.4.A6 (Reinforced)
Not covered for this grade.
3.1.4.A7 (Reinforced)
Not covered for this grade.
3.1.4.A8 (Reinforced)
MODELS - Construct and interpret models and diagrams of various animal and
plant life cycles.
3.1.4.A9 (Reinforced)
Science as Inquiry
3.1.4.B1 (Reinforced)
Describe features that are observable in both parents and their offspring.
3.1.4.B2 (Reinforced)
Recognize that reproduction is necessary for the continuation of life.
3.1.4.B3 (Reinforced)
Not covered for this grade.
3.1.4.B4 (Reinforced)
Not covered for this grade.
3.1.4.B5 (Reinforced)
PATTERNS - Identify observable patterns in the physical characteristics of
plants or groups of animals.
3.1.4.B6 (Reinforced)
Science as Inquiry
3.1.4.C1 (Reinforced)
Identify different characteristics of plants and animals that help some
populations survive and reproduce in greater numbers. Describe how
environmental changes can cause extinction in plants and animals.
3.1.4.C2 (Reinforced)
Describe plant and animal adaptations that are important to survival.
3.1.4.C3 (Reinforced)
CONSTANCY AND CHANGE - Compare fossils to one another and to currently
living organisms according to their anatomical similarities and differences.
3.1.4.C4 (Reinforced)
Science as Inquiry
3.2.4.A1 (Reinforced)
Identify and classify objects based on their observable and measurable physical
properties. Compare and contrast solids, liquids, and gases based on their
properties.
3.2.4.A2 (Reinforced)
Demonstrate that materials are composed of parts that are too small to be seen
without magnification.
3.2.4.A3 (Reinforced)
Demonstrate the conservation of mass during physical changes such as melting
or freezing.
3.2.4.A4 (Reinforced)
Recognize that combining two or more substances may make new materials
with different properties.
3.2.4.A5 (Reinforced)
MODELS - Use models to demonstrate the physical change as water goes from
liquid to ice and from liquid to vapor.
3.2.4.A6 (Reinforced)
Science as Inquiry
3.2.3.B1 (Mastered)
Explain how movement can be described in many ways.
3.2.3.B2 (Mastered)
Explore energy’s ability to cause motion or create change. Explore how energy
can be found in moving objects, light, sound, and heat.
3.2.3.B4 (Mastered)
Identify and classify objects and materials that are conductors or insulators of
electricity. Identify and classify objects and materials as magnetic or
Page 3 of 12
3.2.3.B5 (Mastered)
3.2.3.B6 (Mastered)
3.2.4.B3 (Mastered)
3.2.4.B7 (Mastered)
3.2.5.B3 (Mastered)
3.2.6.B4 (Mastered)
3.3.4.B3 (Mastered)
3.4.4.A1 (Mastered)
3.4.4.A2 (Mastered)
3.4.4.A3 (Mastered)
3.4.4.D1 (Mastered)
3.4.4.D2 (Mastered)
3.4.4.D3 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E1 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E2 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E3 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E4 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E5 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E6 (Mastered)
3.4.4.E7 (Mastered)
nonmagnetic.
Recognize that light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object or travels
from one material to another.
ENERGY - Recognize that light from the sun is an important source of energy
for living and nonliving systems and some source of energy is needed for all
organisms to stay alive and grow.
Understand that objects that emit light often emit heat.
Science as Inquiry
Demonstrate how heat energy is usually a byproduct of an energy
transformation.
Describe how electric current produces magnetic forces and how moving
magnets produce electric current. Derive Ohm’s Law through investigation of
voltage, current, and resistance.
Science as Inquiry
Understand that tools, materials, and skills are used to make things and carry
out tasks.
Understand that systems have parts and components that work together.
Describe how various relationships exist between technology and other fields.
Investigate how things are made and how they can be improved.
Recognize and use everyday symbols (e.g. icons, simple electrical symbols
measurement) to communicate key ideas. Identify and use simple hand tools
(e.g., hammer, scale) correctly and safely.
Investigate and assess the influence of a specific technology or system on the
individual, family, community, and environment.
Identify tools and devices that have been designed to provide information
about a healthy lifestyle.
Identify the technologies in agriculture that make it possible for food to be
available year round.
Identify types of energy and the importance of energy conservation.
Explain how information and communication systems allow information to be
transferred from human to human.
Recognize that a transportation system has many parts that work together to
help people travel and to move goods from place to place.
Identify key aspects of manufacturing processes (designing products, gathering
resources and using tools to separate, form and combine materials in order to
produce products).
Understand that structures rest on foundations and that some structures are
temporary, while others are permanent.
Topic: Animal Studies Core Lesson Big
Ideas:
Lesson 1 begins with a class brainstorming session. Students share what they know about frogs, crabs, and
millipedes and what they think is important to know about these animals in order for them to survive in the
classroom. Students also discuss the ways they think scientists study animals. This lesson serves as a pre-unit
assessment of students’ knowledge about animals’ needs and animals’ dependence on their habitats. Lesson 2 builds on the discussion of animals’ needs that began in Lesson 1. Students read about and discuss
the natural habitats of the three animals—dwarf African frog, fiddler crab, and millipede—they will bring into
the classroom. As a result, student groups propose which environmental elements need to go into a habitat
for each animal. In Lessons 3 through 6, the class uses its proposals to create a classroom habitat for dwarf African frogs
and fiddler crabs and begins to care for the animals outside of their natural habitats. After recording the
questions they have about each animal, students establish individual animal logs for recording their
observations over time. The class discusses which characteristics are important to study in order to compare
the animals, something that they will do in later lessons. They also explore the purpose of scientific drawings
in comparing and contrasting animals. Students closely observe the frog and crab and begin to log the
animals’ characteristics. Through a reading selection, students learn about an actual research study in which
researchers are examining the behavior of dolphins. Finally, the class begins profiling the characteristics of
each animal’s habitat on a Habitat Information Table. By the end of Lesson 6, students have established and
maintained two habitats. In Lesson 7, they observe how the frogs and crabs interact with the living and
nonliving elements in the habitats. In addition, students have an opportunity to answer some of their own
Page 4 of 12
questions about the animals and to exchange information with each other in a class science meeting. Lessons 8 and 9 introduce the third animal, the millipede. Students repeat their activities from Lessons 3
through 6. As they compare and contrast the frog, crab, and millipede, students focus on such habitat
conditions as climate, moisture, other living things, and light. Now that students have collected a great deal of data in their animal logs, they are ready to discuss this
information and identify some of the daily behavior patterns of the three animals. To link the animals’
behaviors to the conditions in their habitats, students conduct a simple experiment that tests the animals’
reactions to a change in light. Students compare the animals’ behaviors during the experiment with their
behaviors under normal conditions and suggest reasons why the animals responded as they did. In Lesson 11, students begin to study the fourth classroom animal: the human. They discuss the habitats in
which this animal lives, its survival needs, and its structures and behaviors. This activity lays the groundwork
for later lessons in which students will discover that humans can take steps most other animals cannot in order
to meet their needs. Having spent much time observing and discussing the four animals as each relates to its habitat, students are
ready for the embedded assessment in Lesson 12. Students move from making general observations on all
the animals to observing one specific behavior of one animal. Having read about how researchers study a
specific dolphin behavior in Lesson 5, students now develop a research question on one of their three
animals. They also develop behavioral observation guidelines that will help them answer their research
questions. Through this process, students apply their understanding of key skills they have been developing
throughout the unit, such as gathering information by observation, using observation logs, and discussing
data with peers. While students’ work on the research projects proceeds, the class compares and contrasts the animals’
structures and behaviors inLessons 13 through 15. In so doing, students discover how an animal is suited
to life in its particular habitat and why most animals would not survive as well in a habitat with vastly different
conditions. Students also read about hard-to-observe characteristics of the frog, crab, and millipede and about
the beaver, which like the human, can alter its habitat to meet its needs. In Lesson 16, students present their research results to the class. By discussing results with peers who have
researched the same behavior, students further recognize the importance of sharing research findings within a
scientific community. Lesson 17 is a post-unit assessment that is matched to several assessments in the first
few lessons. The Additional Performance and Self-Assessments (see Section 5) provide further questions and
challenges for evaluating student progress. This is a challenging unit for students. They are responsible for the care of three different animals. They
collect information on each animal through firsthand observation and research. As students apply this
information to compare the animals’ lifestyles, they develop an understanding that most animals are suited to
life in a particular habitat. Students begin to become aware that the diversity of life is directly related to our
planet’s various environmental conditions. They recognize the ways animal life is adapted to those conditions.
Students also begin to see that learning about animals involves long-term observation of the animals both in
nature and under the care of humans.
Core Lesson
Materials:
Animal Studies - STC 4
Topic: Unit: Unit 2 - Earth and Space
Unit
Description:
Unit Big Ideas:
The Grade 4 Earth and Space Unit focuses on the Earth's changing surface and weather and space. 1. The universe is composed of a variety of different objects, which are organized into systems each
of, which develops according to accepted physical processes and laws.
2. The Earth is a complex and dynamic set of interconnected systems (e.g. geosphere, hydrosphere,
atmosphere, biosphere) that interact over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales.
3. The Earth's processes affect and are affected by human activities
Page 5 of 12
Unit Concepts:
1. The phases of the Moon are caused by the orbit of the moon around the Earth.
2. Changes in seasons are due to the inclination of Earth's axis of rotation combined with Earth's
orbit around the Sun.
3. Earth’s spin axis is fixed in direction over the short term but tilted relative to its orbit around the
sun. The seasons are a result of the Earth’s tilt on its axis and are caused by the differential intensity
of sunlight on different areas of Earth across the year.
Unit
1. Use scientific data from a variety of sources to identify geographic patterns in geologic
Competencies: phenomena and identify potential hazards.
2. Investigate renewable and nonrenewable resources used in the construction of buildings,
preparation of food, transportation, and other aspects of the community.
Unit Essential
Questions:
1. What are the predictable patterns caused by different objects in the solar system? How do objects
in the universe appear and behave?
2. How do we describe and interpret earth's features, their origins, and the processes that shape
them?
3. How do Earth's processes and human activities affect each other?
Unit Academic
Vocabulary &
Definitions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. mountain
range
trench
earthquake
volcano
geographic
geologic
transportation
community
resources
materials
energy
Unit Student
Learning
Outcomes:
Page 6 of 12
Unit Materials: Harcourt HSP Pennsylvania Science: Earth Science
Connects to Social Studies
STANDARDS
STATE: Pennsylvania SAS Academic Standards (2009-2013)
3.3.4.A1 (Reinforced)
Describe basic landforms. Identify the layers of the earth. Recognize that the
surface of the earth changes due to slow processes and rapid processes.
Topic: Phases of the Moon Core Lesson
Phases of the Moon
Description:
Core Lesson
1. How do Earth and its Moon move?
Essential
2. How do objects move in the Solar System?
Questions:
3. What other objects can be seen in the sky?
Core Lesson Big
Ideas:
Objects in space, including Earth and its moon, move in a regular and observable patterns.
Core Lesson
Academic
Vocabulary &
Definitions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. axis
orbit
telescope
moon
phases
solar system
planet
comet
star
sun
constellation
galaxy
universe
measure
pattern
phase
position
cyclical pattern
season
rotation
tide system
eclipse
earths orientation
tilt
Unit: Unit 3 - Physical Science
Unit
Description:
Unit Big Ideas:
The Grade 4 Physical Science Unit focuses on matter and energy, and forces and motion.
1
​ . Matter can be understood in terms of the types of atoms present and the interactions both
between and within atoms.
Page 7 of 12
2. Interactions between any objects can cause changes in one or both between and within atoms.
3. Interactions of objects or systems of objects can be predicted and explained using the concept of
energy transfer and conservation.
4. Waves are a repeating pattern of motion that transfers energy from place to place without overall
displacement of matter.
Unit Concepts:
1. When objects touch or collide, they push on one another and can change motion or shape. Magnets create a magnetic field that can exert an attracting or repelling force on other objects that
can affect motion.
1.b. Materials that allow electricity to flow are conductors; those that do not are insulators.
1.c. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.
1.d. An open circuit is an incomplete electric pathway; a closed circuit is a complete pathway.
1.e. A core of iron or steel becomes an electromagnet when electricity flows through a coil of
insulated wire surrounding it.
1.f. A system can appear to be unchanging when processes within the system are going on at
opposite but equal rates (e.g. water behind a dam is at a constant height because water is flowing
in at the same rate that water is flowing out).
2. Energy can be moved from place to place by moving objects or through sound, light, or electric
currents.
2.b. Energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat.
2.c. When objects collide, energy can be transferred from one object to another, thereby changing
their motion. In such collisions, some energy is typically also transferred to the surrounding air. As
a result, the air gets heated and sound is produced.
2.d. When objects collide, the contact forces transfer energy so as to change the motion of each
object.
2.e. Magnets can exert forces on other magnets or on magnetizable materials, causing energy
transfer between them (e.g. leading to changes in motion) even when the objects are not touching.
2.f. The expression "produce energy" typically refers to the conversion of stored energy into a
desired form for practical use. It is important to be able to concentrate energy so that it is available
for use where and when it is needed (e.g. batteries).
3. Waves are regular patterns of motion, and 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; it does not
move horizontally.
3.b. Waves of the same type can differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength (spacing
between wave peaks).
3.c. Waves, which are 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; it does
no move in the direction of the wave - observe, for example, a bobbing cork or seabird- except
when the water meets the beach.
3.d. Earthquakes cause seismic waves which are waves of motion in the Earth's crust.
3.e. An object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eyes.
3.f. The color people see depends on the color of the available light sources as well as the
properties of the surface.
3.g. Digitized information (e.g. the pixels of a picture) can be stored for future recovery or
transmitted over long distances without significant degradation. High-tech devices, such as
computers or cell phones, can receive and decode information - convert it from digitized form to
voice - and vice versa.
Page 8 of 12
Unit
1. Investigate the push and pull forces between objects not in contact with one another.
Competencies:
1.b. Design and refine solutions to a problem by using magnets to move objects not in contact with
one another.
1.c. Investigate and describe conductors and insulators.
1.d. Construct serial and parallel circuits and describe the path of electrons in the circuit.
1.e. Construct open and closed circuits utilizing switches.
1.f. Construct an electromagnet and describe how one can make the electromagnet stronger or
weaker.
1.g. Construct an explanation for why an object subjected to multiple pushes and pulls might stay
in one place or move.
2. Carry out investigations to provide evidence that energy transferred from place to place by
sound, light, heat, electric currents, interacting magnets, and moving or colliding objects.
2.b. Obtain and communicate information for how technology allows humans to concentrate,
transport, and store energy for practical use.
2.c. Design and construct a device that converts energy from one form to another using given
design criteria.
2.d. Design and test a solution to a problem that utilizes the transfer of electric energy in the
solution using given design constraints.
2.e. Develop a model using examples to explain differences between renewable and non-renewable
sources of energy.
2.f. Carry out investigations to provide evidence that energy is transferred from place to place by
sound, light, heat, electric currents, interacting magnets, and moving or colliding objects.
2.g. Construct simple explanations for how forces on an object cause the object to change its
energy.
2.h. Construct a simple explanation for the relationship between energy and motion.
2.i. Demonstrate the energy transfer between two objects using a magnet and another object.
2.j. Obtain and communicate information explaining how technology allows humans to concentrate,
transport, and store energy for practical use.
3. Identify the patterns of waves by observing their motion in water.
3.b. Provide evidence that waves transfer energy to objects as a wave passes.
3.c. Use a model to describe the amplitude and wavelength of waves.
3.d. Plan data collection methods and make observations to provide evidence that waves transfer
energy to objects.
3.e. Describe how similar seismic waves are to other types of waves.
3.f. Investigate and provide evidence that the color people see depends on the color of the available
light sources as well as the properties of the surface of the object reflecting the light.
3.g. Obtain and communicate information about modern devices that are used to transmit and
receive digital information.
Page 9 of 12
Unit Essential
Questions:
1. How can one explain the structure, properties, and interactions of matter?
2. How can one explain and predict interactions between objects within systems?
3. How is energy transferred and conserved?
4. How are waves used to transfer energy and information?
Unit Academic
Vocabulary &
Definitions:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. collision
magnets
attract
repel
insulator
conductor
electricity
serial circuit
parallel circuit
system
open circuit
closed circuit
switch
electromagnet
energy
sound
light
electric current
heat
magnets
collision
conversion
energy transfer
renewable
non-renewable
force
motion
production
stored energy
battery
waves
energy
information
motion
energy transfer
amplitude
wavelength
seismic waves
earthquake
reflection
refraction
color
digitized information
pixels
encode
decode
transmit
Unit Materials: Harcourt HSP Pennsylvania Science: Physical Science
Electric Circuits - STC 4
Sound Waves - FOSS
Page 10 of 12
STANDARDS
STATE: Pennsylvania SAS Academic Standards (2009-2013)
3.2.4.B1 (Mastered)
Describe objects in the world using the five senses.
3.2.4.B2 (Mastered)
Identify types of energy and their ability to be stored and changed from one
form to another.
3.2.4.B4 (Mastered)
Apply knowledge of basic electrical circuits to the design and construction of
simple direct current circuits. Compare and contrast series and parallel circuits.
Demonstrate that magnets have poles that repel and attract each other.
3.2.4.B5 (Mastered)
Demonstrate how vibrating objects make sound and sound can make things
vibrate. Demonstrate how light can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed by an
object.
3.2.4.B6 (Mastered)
ENERGY - Give examples of how energy can be transformed from one form to
another.
3.4.4.B1 (Mastered)
Describe how technology affects humans in various ways.
3.4.4.B2 (Mastered)
Explain how the use of technology affects the environment in good and bad
ways.
3.4.4.B3 (Mastered)
Explain why new technologies are developed and old ones are improved in
terms of needs and wants.
3.4.4.B4 (Mastered)
Describe how the history of civilization is linked closely to technological
development.
3.4.4.C1 (Mastered)
Understand that there is no perfect design.
3.4.4.C2 (Mastered)
Describe the engineering design process: Define a problem. Generate ideas.
Select a solution and test it. Make the item. Evaluate the item. Communicate
the solution with others. Present the results.
3.4.4.C3 (Mastered)
Explain how asking questions and making observations help a person
understand how things work and can be repaired.
Topic: Electric Circuits Core Lesson Big
Ideas:
Electric Circuits is divided into three parts. The first part, Lessons 1 through 6, introduces students to the
basic properties of electricity. They learn about electric circuits and the parts of a lightbulb. Lesson 1 is a pre-unit assessment in which students brainstorm what they know about electricity. In Lesson
2, students discover how to light a small bulb using a battery and a piece of wire. They also explore the effect
of electric current on a magnetic compass. In Lesson 3, they explore different ways to connect a
circuit. Lesson 4 introduces students to the parts of a bulb and challenges them to trace the path of electricity
through it. They also construct a circuit to light a household bulb. In Lesson 5, students learn how to use some new devices to wire more complex circuits. Lesson
6 introduces students to a circuit tester. They learn about how to use a troubleshooting technique to check
their circuits. The second part of the unit begins with Lesson 7, which introduces students to conductors and insulators.
In Lesson 8, they focus on the filament, an important element of an electric circuit, and construct a device
similar to a lightbulb. By Lesson 9, students are ready to apply what they’ve learned in a new way, as they use their circuit testers to
locate hidden conductors.Lesson 10, the final lesson in this part of the unit, introduces students to the
symbols for such words as “battery,” “switch,” and “bulb,” which are used in circuit diagrams. The third part of
the unit begins with Lesson 11, in which students build a series circuit and a parallel circuit. In Lesson 12,
students find out about another basic electrical device—the switch. In Lesson 13, students apply what they
have learned to build a flashlight. Next, they experiment in Lesson 14 with semiconductor diodes and learn
how they work. They discover the relationship between the passage of a current through the diode and the
positive and negative terminals of a battery. Lesson 15 provides a practical challenge: working in teams, students draw up plans for wiring a small
cardboard house. This activity culminates in Lesson 16, when students use their plans to wire and light the
model house. By the end of this lesson, students will have learned important information about how real
buildings are wired. In Lesson 17, a post-unit assessment, students review and discuss their notebooks and class lists from the
pre-unit assessment in Lesson 1. They make suggestions for confirming, revising, expanding, or clarifying the
Page 11 of 12
observations on the lists. They offer evidence to back up any changes they believe should be made. In their
science notebooks, students write about what they now know about electricity. These experiences enable the
teacher to document students’ progress and help students realize how much they have learned about electric
circuits.
Core Lesson
Materials:
Electric Circuits - STC 4
Topic: Sound Waves Core Lesson Big
Ideas:
Students explore their ability to discriminate between sounds, by dropping objects into a drop chamber and
identifying each object by the property of its sound. They develop a code by assigning letters to objects and
send messages to one another by using their drop code.
Students work in collaborative groups on miniactivities that introduce a sound source and a medium of sound
travel. They observe and compare how sound
travels through solids, water, and air.
Page 12 of 12