Science using Studies Weekly 4 th grade CLASS DESCRIPTION: In this class, Studies Weekly 4th Grade Science (Exploration), the student will explore 3 Big Ideas in each of the three main domains of science, Physical science, Earth and Space science, and Life science. He will study these sciences by learning about the inter-connectedness of each domain's systems and subsystems(systems thinking-sys), by planning, conducting and reporting appropriate investigations of scheduled topics(scientific inquiry-inq), and by applying what he has learned to creatively solve problems in all areas of life(application of science and technology-app). Topics to be covered include: Physical Science Big Idea 1: Force and Motion (PS1) Big Idea 2: Matter: Properties and Change (PS2). Big Idea 3: Energy: Transfer, Transformation, and Conservation (PS3) Earth and Space Science Big Idea 1 : Earth in Space (ES1) Big Idea 2 : Earth Systems Structures and Processes (ES2) Big Idea 3: Earth History (ES3) & Life Science Big Idea 1: Structures and Functions of Living Organisms (LS1) Big Idea 2: Ecosystems (LS2) Big Idea 3: Biological Evolution (LS3) These broad themed Big Ideas will be studied through reading of weekly course material, participating in any corresponding unit investigations and discussing the results of those investigations. LEARNING MATERIALS: Main Curriculum: Studies Weekly - 4th Grade Science (Exploration)(American Legacy Publishing) Studies Weekly - 4th Grade Science (Exploration) Teacher Resources (American Legacy Publishing) GOALS: This class meets one or more of the Essential Academic Learning Requirements or Grade Level Expectations. 4-5 SYSA Systems contain subsystems. 4-5 SYSB A system can do things that none of its subsystems can do by themselves. 4-5 SYSC Systems have inputs and outputs. Changes in inputs may change the outputs of a system. 4-5 SYSD One defective part can cause a subsystem to malfunction, which in turn will affect the system as a whole. 4-5 INQA Question - Scientific investigations involve asking and answering questions and comparing the answers with evidence from the real world. 4-5 INQB Investigate - Scientists plan and conduct different kinds of investigations, depending on the questions they are trying to answer. Types of investigations include systematic observations and descriptions, field studies, models, and open-ended explorations as well as controlled experiments.
4-5 INQC Investigate - An experiment involves a comparison. For an experiment to be valid and fair, all of the things that can possibly change the outcome of the experiment should be kept the same, if possible. 4-5 INQD Investigate - Investigations involve systematic collection and recording of relevant observations and data. 4-5 INQE Investigate - Repeated trials are necessary for reliability. 4-5 INQF Models - A scientific model is a simplified representation of an object, event, system, or process created to understand some aspect of the natural world. When learning from a model, it is important to realize that the model is not exactly the same as the thing being modeled. 4-5 INQG Explain - Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use known scientific principles, models, and theories. 4-5 INQH Communicate - Scientists communicate the results of their investigations verbally and in writing. They review and ask questions about the results of other scientists work. 4-5 INQI Intellectual Honesty - Scientists report the results of their investigations honestly, even when those results show their predictions were wrong or when they cannot explain the results. 4-5 APPA Technology involves changing the natural world to meet human needs or wants. 4-5 APPB People in different cultures all around the world use different materials or technologies to solve the same problems. 4-5 APPC Problems of moderate complexity can be solved using the technological design process. This process begins by defining and researching the problem to be solved. 4-5 APPD Scientists and engineers often work in teams with other individuals to generate different ideas for solving a problem. 4-5 APPE Possible solutions should be tested to see if they solve the problem. Building a model or prototype is one way to test a possible solution. 4-5 APPF Solutions to problems must be communicated, if the problem is to be solved. 4-5 APPG Science and technology have greatly improved food quality and quantity, transportation, health, sanitation, and communication. 4-5 APPH People of all ages, interests, and abilities engage in a variety of scientific and technological work. 4-5 PS1A The weight of an object is a measure of how strongly it is pulled down toward the ground by gravity. A spring scale can measure the pulling force. 4-5 PS1B The relative speed of two objects can be determined in two ways: (1) If two objects travel for the same amount of time, the object that has traveled the greatest distance is the fastest. (2) If two objects travel the same distance, the object that takes the least time to travel the distance is the fastest. 4-5 PS2A Substances can exist in different physical states solid, liquid, and gas. Many substances can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling. 4-5 PS2B Air is a gas. Air fills a closed container completely. Wind is moving air. 4-5 PS2C The total amount of matter is conserved (stays the same) when it undergoes a physical change such as when an object is broken into tiny pieces, when a solid is dissolved in a liquid, or when matter changes state (solid, liquid, gas). 4-5 PS3A Energy has many forms, such as heat, light, sound, motion, and electricity 4-5 PS3B Energy can be transferred from one place to another. 4-5 PS3C Heat energy can be generated a number of ways and can move (transfer) from one place to another. Heat energy is transferred from warmer things to colder things. 4-5 PS3D Sound energy can be generated by making things vibrate. 4-5 PS3E Electrical energy in circuits can be changed to other forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, and motion. Electric circuits require a complete loop through conducting materials in which an electric current can pass.
4-5 ES1A Earth is approximately spherical in shape. Things on or near the Earth are pulled toward Earth s center by the force of gravity. 4-5 ES1B Earth s daily spin relative to the Sun causes night and day. 4-5 ES1C Earth s nearly circular yearly orbit around the Sun causes us to see different constellations at different times of year. 4-5 ES1D The Sun is a star. It is the central and largest body in our Solar System. The Sun appears much brighter and larger in the sky than other stars because it is many thousands of times closer to Earth. 4-5 ES2A Earth materials include solid rocks and soil, water, and gases of the atmosphere. Materials have different physical and chemical properties which make them useful in different ways. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use. 4-5 ES2B Weathering is the breaking down of rock into pebbles and sand caused by physical processes such as heating, cooling, and pressure, and chemical processes such as acid rain 4-5 ES2C Erosion is the movement of Earth materials by forces such as wind, moving water, ice forming, and gravity. 4-5 ES2D Soils are formed by weathering and erosion, decay of plant matter, transport by rain through streams and rivers, and deposition of sediments in valleys, riverbeds, and lakes. 4-5 ES2E Soils are often found in layers, with each layer having a different chemical composition and different physical properties. 4-5 ES2F Erosion plays an important role in the formation of soil, but too much erosion can wash away fertile soil from ecosystems and farms. 4-5 ES3A Different kinds of events caused the formation of different kinds of fossils. 4-5 ES3B By studying the kinds of plant and animal fossils in a layer of rock, it is possible to infer what the environment was like at the time and where the layer formed. 4-5 LS1A Plants and animals can be sorted according to their structures and behaviors. 4-5 LS1B Plants and animals have different structures and behaviors that serve different functions. 4-5 LS1C Certain structures and behaviors enable plants and animals to respond to changes in their environment. 4-5 LS1D Plants and animals have structures and behaviors that respond to internal needs. 4-5 LS1E Nutrition is essential to health. Various kinds of foods are necessary to build and maintain body structures. Individuals have responsibility for their own health and food choices. 4-5 LS2A An ecosystem includes all of the populations of living organisms and nonliving physical factors in a given area. Living organisms depend on one another and the nonliving physical factors in their ecosystem to help them survive. 4-5 LS2B Plants make their own food using energy from the sun. Animals get food energy by eating plants and/or other animals that eat plants. Plants make it possible for animals to use the energy of sunlight 4-5 LS2C Plants and animals are related in food webs with producers (plants that make their own food), consumers (animals that eat producers and/or other animals), and decomposers (primarily bacteria and fungi) that break down wastes and dead organisms, and return nutrients to the soil. 4-5 LS2D Ecosystems can change slowly or rapidly. Big changes over a short period of time can have a major impact on the ecosystem and the populations of plants and animals living there. 4-5 LS2E All plants and animals change the ecosystem where they live. If this change reduces another organism s access to resources, that organism may move to another location or die. 4-5 LS2F People affect ecosystems both positively and negatively. 4-5 LS3A In any ecosystem, some populations of organisms thrive and grow, some decline, and others do not survive at all. 4-5 LS3B Plants and animals inherit many characteristics from their parents. Some inherited characteristics allow organisms to better survive and reproduce in a given ecosystem.
4-5 LS3C Some characteristics and behaviors result from an individual plant s or animal s interactions with the environment and are not passed from one generation to the next by heredity. 4-5 LS3D Fossils provide evidence that many plant and animal species are extinct and that species have changed over time. LEARNING ACTIVITIES: The student will complete 7 Studies Weekly units, in order, per quarter. Completion of units will consist of reading the Studies Weekly for that unit, participating in any corresponding investigation (i.e. experiment) and discussing the results of those investigations. Additional learning may be assigned through additional reading assignments, worksheets, educational games, apps, videos or websites. Class Syllabus: Quarter 1 September Unit 1: Investigating Science Unit 2: Properties of Matter Unit 3: Changes in Matter September Learning Goals: 4-5 INQA, 4-5 INQB, 4-5 INQC, 4-5 INQD, 4-5 INQG, 4-5 PS2A, 4-5 PS2B, 4-5 PS2C October Unit 4: A Microscopic World Unit 5: Energy Unit 6: Light and Sound Unit 7: Magnets and Electricity October Learning Goals: 4-5 INQA, 4-5 PS3A, 4-5 PS3B, 4-5 PS3C, 4-5 PS3D, 4-5 PS3E Quarter 2 November Unit 8: Move It! Unit 9: Force Factor Unit 10: Shaping the Earth November Learning Goals: 4-5 INQH, 4-5 INQI, 4-5 PS1A, 4-5 PS1B, 4-5 ES2A, 4-5 ES2B, 4-5 ES2C, 4-5 ES2F December Unit 11: Oceans and Waterways Unit 12: Soil December Learning Goals: 4-5 INQA, 4-5 INQF, 4-5 ES2A, 4-5 ES2D, 4-5 ES2E January Unit 13: Weather and Climate Unit 14: Natural Disasters Quarter 3 Unit 15: To Protect and Conserve January Learning Goals: 4-5 ES2A, 4-5 LS2F February
Unit 16: Stars, Moons and Planets Unit 17: Earth's Place in the Universe Unit 18: Science and Technology February Learning Goals: 4-5 ES1A, 4-5 ES1B, 4-5 ES1C, 4-5 ES1D, 4-5 APPH, 4-5 APPA, 4-5 APPB, 4-5 APPC, 4-5 APPD, 4-5 APPE, 4-5 APPF, 4-5 APPG March Unit 19: Cells and Organisms Unit 20: Heredity and Diversity Unit 21: Ecosystems March Learning Goals: 4-5 INQE, 4-5 LS1A, 4-5 LS1C, 4-5 LS2A, 4-5 LS2B, 4-5 LS2C, 4-5 LS2D, 4-5 LS2E, 4-5 LS3A, 4-5 LS3B, 4-5 LS3C Quarter 4 April Unit 22: Competition and Adaptation Unit 23: Earth's Plants Unit 24: Earth's Animals April Learning Goals: 4-5 LS1B, 4-5 LS1C, 4-5 LS1D May Unit 25: Endangered and Extinct Species Unit 26: Our Body's Systems Unit 27: Keeping Fit and Healthy May Learning Goals: 4-5 ES3A, 4-5 ES3B, 4-5 LS1E, 4-5 LS2F, 4-5 LS3D, 4-5 SYSA, 4-5 SYSB, 4-5 SYSD June Unit 28: Science and Medicine June Learning Goals: 4-5 INQA EVALUATION: For successful completion of this course, the student will complete at least 70% of the lessons/goals, at a minimum of 70% accuracy. Timeline of completing units: September: Units 1-3 October: Units 4-7 November: Units 8-10 December: Units 11-12 January: Units 13-15 February: Units 16-18 March: Units 19-21 April: Units 22-24 May: Units 25-27 June: Unit 28