Earth and Space Sciences

12/07/09 Science Grade 4 32 Benchmarks

Standard 1: Understands atmospheric processes and the water cycle

SC4.1.1 Knows that water exists in the air in different forms and changes from one form to another through various processes  condensation  precipitation  evaporation  runoff and groundwater

SC4.1.2 Knows that air is a substance that surrounds us, takes up space, and moves around us as wind  weather conditions at a location are determined primarily by temperature, humidity and pressure of air masses over that location

Standard 2: Understands Earth's composition and structure

SC4.2.1 Knows how features on the Earth's surface are constantly changed by a combination of slow and rapid processes  erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment caused by waves, wind, water, and ice  volcanic eruptions  earthquakes  oceans and natural resources

Standard 3: Understands the composition and structure of the universe and the Earth's place in it

SC4.3.1 Knows that the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the Sun and that the Moon orbits the Earth  the length of daylight and darkness varying with the seasons  the appearance of the Moon changing as it moves in a path around Earth to complete a single cycle SC 4.3.2 Knows that the patterns of stars in the sky stay the same, although they appear to slowly move from east to west across the sky nightly and different stars can be seen in different seasons  Knows that the patterns of the stars stay the same  Knows that stars appear to move from east to west across the sky nightly  Knows that different stars can be seen in different seasons

SC 4.3.3 Knows that telescopes magnify distant objects in the sky (e.g., the Moon, planets) and dramatically increase the number of stars we can see

Life Science

Standard 4: Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts

SC4.4.1 Knows that many characteristics of an organism are inherited from its parents and other characteristics result from an individual’s interactions with the environment  inherited vs. acquired or learned

Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms

SC4.5.1 Knows that plants and animals progress through life cycles and the details of these life cycles are different for different  insect  flowering plants  mammals

SC4.5.2 Knows that living organisms have distinct structures and body systems that serve specific functions in growth, survival, and reproduction  various body structures for walking, flying, or swimming  parts of a plant

Standard 6: Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment

SC4.6.1 Knows the organization of simple food chains and food webs  in all environments, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources  photosynthesis is carried on by green plants and other organisms containing chlorophyll  Sun’s energy is converted into and stored as chemical energy in the form of sugar  the major source of atmospheric oxygen is photosynthesis  carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and oxygen is released during photosynthesis  green plants are the producers of food which is used directly or indirectly by consumers  food webs identify feeding relationships among producers, consumers and decomposers in an ecosystem

SC4.6.2 Knows that all organisms (including humans) cause changes in their environments, and these changes can be beneficial or detrimental  the community and the physical factors with which it interacts compose an ecosystem  give adequate resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase  lack of resources, habitat destruction and other factors such as predation and climate limit the growth of certain populations in the ecosystem  relationships among organisms may be competitive, harmful or beneficial  some microorganisms are essential to the survival of other living things  the environment may contain dangerous levels of substances (pollutants) that are harmful to organisms  the good health of environments and individuals require the monitoring of soil, air and water and taking steps to keep them safe  in ecosystems, balance is the result of interactions between community members and their environment  the environment may be altered through the activities of organisms  alterations are sometimes abrupt or occur over time (succession)

Standard 7: Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life

SC4.7.1 Knows different ways in which living things can be grouped and purposes of different groupings  plants/animals  bones/no bones  insects/spiders  live on land/live in water Physical Science

Standard 8: Understands the structure and properties of matter

SC4.8.1 Knows that matter has different states and that each state has distinct physical properties; some common materials such as water can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling  solids  liquids  gas

SC4.8.2 Knows that substances can be classified by their physical and chemical properties  magnetism  conductivity  density  solubility  boiling and melting points & freezing

SC4.8.3 Knows that materials may be composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification  during a physical change a substance keeps its chemical composition and properties  during a chemical change, substances react in characteristic ways to form new substances with different physical and chemical properties

Standard 9: Understands the sources and properties of energy

SC4.9.1 Knows that heat is often produced as a byproduct when one form of energy is converted to another form  when machines and living organisms convert stored energy to motion  energy is transformed in many ways  energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion, or potential energy, which depends on relative position

SC4.9.2 Knows the organization of a simple electrical circuit  battery or generator, wire, a complete loop through which the electrical current can pass  electrical energy can be produced from a variety of energy sources and can be transformed into almost any other from of energy  without touching them, material that has been electrically changes attracts uncharged material, and may either attract or repel other charged material

Standard 10: Understands forces and motion

SC4.10.1 Knows that the Earth's gravity pulls any object toward it without touching it

SC4.10.2 Knows that electrically charged material pulls on all other materials and can attract or repel other charged materials

SC4.10.3 Knows that when a force is applied to an object, the object either speeds up, slows down, or goes in a different direction  friction is a force that opposes motion  a machine can be made more efficient by reducing friction  some common ways of reducing friction include lubricating or waxing surfaces  force is directly related to an object’s mass and acceleration  the greater the force, the greater the change in motion  an object’s motion is the result of the combined effect of all forces acting on the object  a moving object that is not subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed in a straight line  an object at rest will remain at rest

Standard 11: Understands the nature of scientific knowledge

SC4.11.1 Knows that although the same scientific investigation may give slightly different results when it is carried out by different persons, or at different times or places, the general evidence collected from the investigation should be replicable by others

SC4.11.2 Knows that good scientific explanations are based on evidence (observations) and scientific knowledge

SC4.11.3 Knows that scientists make the results of their investigations public; they describe the investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations

SC4.11.4 Knows that scientists review and ask questions about the results of other scientists' work Standard 12: Understands the nature of scientific inquiry

SC4.12.1 Knows that scientific investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing the answer to what scientists already know about the world

SC4.12.2 Knows that scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer  naturalistic observation of things or events  data collection  controlled experiments

SC4.12.3 Plans and conducts simple investigations  formulates a testable question  makes systematic observations  develops logical conclusions

SC4.12.4 Uses appropriate tools and simple equipment to gather scientific data and extend the senses  thermometers  magnifiers  microscopes  calculators  graduated cylinders

SC4.12.5 Knows that different people may interpret the same set of observations differently

Standard 13: Understands the scientific enterprise

SC4.13.1 Knows that people of all ages, backgrounds, and groups have made contributions to science and technology throughout history

SC4.13.2 Knows that although people using scientific inquiry have learned much about the objects, events, and phenomena in nature, science is an ongoing process and will never be finished

SC4.13.3 Knows that scientists and engineers often work in teams to accomplish a task