4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
Rose Tree Media School District
Unit: Microworlds
Big Ideas &
Essential
Questions
Living systems at all
levels
of
organization
demonstrate the
complementary
nature
of structure
and function.
All living things are
composed of cells,
the fundamental unit
of life. Cells have
structures that help
them survive in
specific
environmental
conditions.
Magnification
reveals that all living
things are made up
of one or more cells.
Students investigate
both living and
nonliving specimens
with a variety of
magnifiers, including
the microscope.
Revised July 2014 SFW
Approx. Time Allotment: 4 weeks
Concepts and
Competencies
1. Students will learn the
properties and function magnifiers.
a. Using magnifiers,
including hand lenses and
microscopes, students will
observe living and nonliving specimens.
2. Students will become skilled at
using microscopes, slides, cover
slips, droppers, and other related
apparatus.
a. Prepare microscope
slides for viewing
b. Determine which of
various objects can be
magnified.
c. Measure small objects
using hair-widths and
millimeters
3. Students will identify a variety
of specimens, both living and nonliving, under magnification.
a. Describe how
microorganisms have
many of the same needs
as other living things.
b. Describe the
interactions between living
things and their
environment.
c. Communicate detailed
observations through
Standards
and
Eligible
Content
3.2.4.A1
3.2.4.A2
3.2.4.A6
3.1.4.A1;
3.1.4.A2;
3.1.4.A3;
3.1.4.A5;
3.1.4.A8;
3.1.4.B1;
3.1.4.B2;
3.1.4.B5;
3.1.4C1;
3.1.4.C2;
3.1.4.C3;
3.1.4.A9,
B6, C4
Key Vocabulary
Cell
Field of view
Focus
Lens
Magnifier
Microscope
Microscopic
Organism
Slide
Specimen
Wet-mount slide
Materials and
Resources
STC Microworlds
Teacher’s Guide
STC Microworlds
Student Activity
Book
STC Microworlds kit
Live specimens of
organisms
Suggested Activities / labs and
assessments (formative &
summative)
Teacher may use any and all of the
following strategies to elicit
responses and engage students:




Science folders to
record observations

Microscopes

Live specimens

Classroom
computers/Internet
sites of interest and
interactive websites
Videos on Discovery
Ed and Brain Pop

KWL Charts
Brainstorming
Forming hypotheses prior to
learning activities
Learning Centers that
include magnifying glasses,
microscopes with slides or
objects to observe
Demonstration of proper use
of magnifying glasses or
hand lenses
Modeling of use of
microscopes
Diagrams of parts and
functions of the parts of the
microscope (overhead,
computer generated, etc.)
Classroom discussions
Pre Unit assessment: Observing a
penny
Post Unit assessment: Sharing What
We Know about Microworlds.
Rose Tree Media School District
writing, drawing, and
discussion.
Revised July 2014 SFW
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
Rose Tree Media School District
Unit: Ecosystems
Big Ideas &
Essential
Questions
Interactions within
and among living
systems cause
changes in matter
and energy.
Organisms are
linked
to each
other and to their
environments in a
web of
relationships.
An ecosystem is
a community of
organisms that
interact with each
other and the
environment.
Humans may
affect ecosystems
in many ways.
Revised July 2014 SFW
Approx. Time Allotment: 4 weeks
Concepts and Competencies
1. Students will recognize an ecosystem as an
interdependent community of organisms.
a. Define how an ecosystem is an
interdependent community of organisms
b. Categorize organisms in which they serve
in an ecosystem: producer, consumer, or
decomposer.
c. Categorize organisms in which they serve
in an ecosystem: producer, consumer, or
decomposer and how energy flows within an
ecosystem.
d. Categorize diversity of organisms in an
ecosystem: producer, consumer, or
decomposer.
2. Students will understand the health and growth of
an ecosystem is affected by natural and manmade
variables, such as water, sunlight, and pollution.
a. View the bottle ecosystem as a model of
the environmental problems in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed.
b. Describe the effects of acids and bases
upon the stability and viability of their
ecosystems.
c. Introduce the concept of water cycle and
watershed.
d. Describe the effects of fertilizer on the
enhanced growth of agriculture
e. Safely and appropriately use
thermometers, pH paper and other tools to
observe, measure, move, organisms, and
check conditions of ecocolumn.
f. View the effects of human produced
pollution on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
g. Observe how organisms adapt to their
Standards
and
Eligible
Content
3.1.4.A1;
3.1.4.A2;
3.1.4.A3;
3.1.4.A5;
3.1.4.A8;
3.1.4.B1;
3.1.4.B2;
3.1.4.B5;
3.1.4C1;
3.1.4.C2;
3.1.4.C3;
3.1.4.A9,
B6, C4
Key
Vocabulary
Adapt
Materials and
Resources
STC Ecosystems
Teacher's Guide
Suggested Activities /
labs and assessments
(formative &
summative)
Class discussion
Aquarium
Aquatic
STC Ecosystems
Student Activity
Book
Brainstorming
STC Ecosystems
Kit
Forming hypotheses prior to
learning activities
Science folders to
record
observations
Construction of the
ecocolumns
KWL charts
Consumer
Ecology
Ecosystem
Exoskeleton
Fossil fuel
Gastropod
Photosynthesis
Producer
Scavenger
Sediment
Terrarium
Terrestrial
Watershed
Science (Leveled)
Readers –
Ecosystems
classroom
computers/Internet
sites of interest
and interactive
websites
Daily maintenance of the
ecocolumns
Addition of pollutants into
the ecocolumns
Addition of and care of
organisms into the
ecocolumns.
Teacher may use any and
all of the following strategies
to elicit responses and
engage students:
Class discussion
Construct Venn diagrams
Idea webs
KWL chart
Rose Tree Media School District
niche in an ecosystem.
h. Measure pH of soil and water using pH
paper.
i. Observe characteristics of aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems using hand lens.
Design and construct controlled experiments
to determine effects of various pollutants.
3. Students can relate the model of the ecocolumn to
the larger complex relationships which exist in our
environment.
a. Discuss the pros and cons in the use of
fossil fuels and the effects of negative by
product acid rain, as well as road salt, and
fertilizer on our environment.
b. Examine the creation of acid rain and
examine how it affects our watersheds.
c. Describe and record changes in
ecosystems over time using detailed notes.
Benchmark #4. Students will appreciate the tradeoffs
on quality of life by reducing the use of some made
pollutants and their effects on society's quality of life.
a. Note the change over time in their
ecosystem caused by pollution.
b. Use scientific inquiry to design
investigation into the effects of pollution on
ecosystems.
c. Interpret effects of pollution using
detailed observations of ecocolumns.
d. Discuss the role of the farmer and his/her
use of fertilizer and technology on the
increased production of food for society.
e. Discuss the loss of organisms and habitat
due to human interference.
f. Note the changes to local (Chesapeake
Bay and Ridley Creek) environments due to
human interference.
g. Interpret experimental results, and draw
conclusions about how changing variables
affects the outcomes of experiments.
h. Infer cause and effect in real-world
Revised July 2014 SFW
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
Create and test a planned
experiment with variables
Student journals
Detailed notes
Draw observations
Written quizzes
Teacher observation
Teacher made tests and
checklists
Oral classroom
presentations
Rose Tree Media School District
situations based on observations of
constructed model of ecosystems.
Revised July 2014 SFW
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
Rose Tree Media School District
Unit: Motion and Design
Big Ideas & Essential
Questions
Motion and Design:
Students will design and
build vehicles to develop
an understanding of the
interrelationship between
energy, force, friction, and
gravity of moving objects.
The success of
techno-logical
products depends on
the scientific characteristics of their design
and their value in
application.
Successful vehicle
design requires an
understanding of
energy, force, and
friction, as well as of
the properties of
materials and cost
considerations.
Models may be used
to test and adapt the
variables and
Revised July 2014 SFW
Approx. Time Allotment: 4 weeks
Concepts and Competencies
1. Students will develop an understanding of
the interrelationship between energy, force,
friction, and gravity of moving objects by
designing and building their own vehicles
and recording their designs using technical
two and three view drawings.
a. Describe patterns that regularly
occur and reoccur in nature.
b. Explain how scale is an important
attribute of natural and human made
objects, events, and phenomena.
c. Predict the effect of an applied
force on how a vehicle moves.
d. Show that an unbalanced force is
needed to make a resting object
move, to bring a moving object to
rest, or to change the direction of a
moving object.
e. Evaluate vehicle design and
friction.
f. Describe that air resistance is a
force that can slow the speed of a
moving vehicle.
g. Describe the effects of gravity on
moving objects.
2. Students will design, build, test, and
modify vehicles to meet design requirements
using the concepts of motion.
a. Identify the parts and functions of
the parts of a vehicle, including the
Standards
and
Eligible
Content
3.2.4.B1;
3.2.4.B2;
3.2.4.B6
Key
Vocabulary
Materials and
Resources
Aerodynamic
Air resistance:
Blueprint
Drag
Dynamics
Force
Friction
Gravity
Kinetic Energy
Mass
Potential
energy
Prototype
Recursive
Speed
Technological
design
Tension
Three-view
drawing
Variable
STC Motion and Design
Teacher's Guide
STC Motion and Design
Student Activity Book
STC Motion and Design
Kit
Science folders to
record observations
Science (Leveled)
Readers – Motion and
Design
Classroom
computers/Internet
sights of interest and
interactive websites
Suggested Activities /
labs and
assessments
(formative &
summative)
Pre and post
assessments
Embedded assessment
Teacher may use any and
all of the following
strategies to elicit
responses and engage
students:
 Think and wonder
(STC Teacher’s
Guide)
 Find Out for Yourself
(STC Teacher’s
Guide)
 Ideas to explore
(STC Teacher’s
Guide)
 Classroom
discussions
 Brainstorming of
topics and ideas
 Forming hypotheses
prior to learning
activities
 Webbing of concepts
and ideas
 Venn diagrams
 Cooperative learning
groups
 Learning centers
Rose Tree Media School District
compon-ents that
affect the
efficiency of a design.
Revised July 2014 SFW
wheels and the propeller.
b. Construct scale models of
vehicles to test the forces of gravity,
friction, and weight on an object.
c. Record vehicle designs through
drawing.
d. Record and compare distances a
vehicle travels under various
conditions.
e. Design, build, test, and modify
vehicles to meet design
requirements.
f. Build vehicles from technical two
and three-view drawings.
4th Grade Science Course Curriculum
1. Journal documentation
of activity observations.
2. Final "design
challenge" from STC.
3. Recording of
observations.
4. Class discussion
5. Observational check
lists (teacher)
6. Self assessments
( see T. Gd. p.173)
7. Oral presentations
8. Teacher made quizzes
and tests.
9. Group work