2015-2016
Elmore County Pacing and Resource Guide
Alabama Course of Study - Science
Fourth Grade
Elmore County Vision Statement
Elmore County Public School System strives to prepare students
to be responsible and productive citizens in an ever-changing world.
Elmore County Mission Statement
Elmore County Public Schools’ mission is to provide
relevant, engaging, positive learning environments where
students are empowered to realize their self-worth through
continuous academic, social and emotional growth.
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 1
Elmore County Science Pacing Guide at a Glance
4th Grade
Website to ALCOS – Science
For on-line resources view this web site.
http://www.alsde.edu/html/sections/doc_download.asp?section=54&id=3350&sort=4http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/science2009/wooden_desk_na.html
Grades for Science
Minimum of 6 and maximum of 8 daily/ and or test grades per quarter
5 Test Grades
3 Daily Grades (Teacher Discretion- Suggestion: use Intervention Readers teacher Guide Collection Sheets to go along with chapter)
1 Project
Project Suggestion:
Life Cycle Poster
Animal and Plant Cells
 Draw and Label
 Make a Model Cell – TE 31 – Could be a group project
See TE for other suggestions for projects.
See TE for investigations that can be used for projects.
Study Sheets
Review and Test Preparation at the end of each chapter
 Students will answer questions on notebook paper.
 Students will complete this in class.
 Vocabulary may be done on Building Vocabulary Sheet
Tests – Not Weighted
Chapter Test Assessment: See Example: Page 28H highlighted in purple.
Chapter Test will be given in entirety to include inquire and critical thinking skills.
Teacher Made Assessments
Harcourt School Publishers Online Assessment (Resource)
Performance Task can be used as a project or as a daily grade.
All teacher tests must align with the ALCOS.
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 2
First Quarter Chapters 1 - 3
Pacing and Resources
Unit A: A World of Living Things
Chapter
1
ALCOS
4.6
4.6.1
4.6.2
4.6.3
4. 5
4.5.1
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms.
 Describing the organization of cells into tissues, organs, and organ systems
 Describing the grouping of organisms into populations, communities, and
ecosystems
 Classifying common organisms into kingdoms, including Animalia, Plantae,
Protista, Fungi, Archaebacteria, and Eubacteria
Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.
 Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular
habitats
4.5.4
Examples: behaviors—migration, hibernation, mimicry;
body structures—quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet
Resources
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.com
/menus/science2009/wooden_de
sk_na.html
Science Level Reader
4.1 – Classifying Plants &
Animals
4.2 – Energy From Plants
4.4 – Parasitic Life
4.1 – Plant and Animal
Classification
4.3 – Pond Life
 Identifying characteristics of organisms, including growth and development,
reproduction, acquisition and use of energy, and response to the environment
2
4.5
4.5.1
4.5.2
4.5.4
Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.
 Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular
habitats


Science Level Reader
4.2 – Weird Plant
4.1 – Reptile or Amphibian?
Examples: behaviors—migration, hibernation, mimicry;
body structures—quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet
Describing life cycles of various animals to include incomplete and complete
metamorphosis
Examples:
damsel fly, mealworms
Identifying characteristics of organisms, including growth and development,
reproduction, acquisition and use of energy, and response to the environment
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 3
First Quarter Chapters 1 - 3
Pacing and Resources
Chapter
3
ALCOS
4.5
4.5.1
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Resources
Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.

Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular
habitats
Examples:
behaviors—migration, hibernation, mimicry;
body structures—quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet
Second Quarter Chapters 4 - 5
Pacing and Resources
Unit B: Looking at Ecosystems
Chapter
4
ALCOS
4.6
4.6.2
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms.

Describing the grouping of organisms into populations, communities, and
ecosystems
Resources
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.com
/menus/science2009/wooden_de
sk_na.html
Science Level Reader
4.4 – Ecosystem Changes
4.3 – Ecosystems
4.3 – Life in an Ecosystem
5
4.5.3

Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain
Example: producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and third-level
consumer
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 4
Third Quarter Chapters 7 – 9, and 12
Pacing and Resources
Unit C: Earth’s Changing Surface
Chapter
7
ALCOS
4.7
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Describe geological features of Earth, including bodies of water, beaches, ocean ridges,
continental shelves, plateaus, faults, canyons, sand dunes, and ice caps.
Resources
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.c
om/menus/science2009/wood
en_desk_na.html
Social Studies Level Readers
 Earth and Water, High &
Low Landforms and
Waterways
 The Shape of Our Land
Leveled Readers
4.9 – The Changing Surface of
the Earth
Quick Reads
D-2, Geography & How We
Live, pages 10-19
Six Minute Solutions
Secondary Level
213 – Rivers & Canals
Six Minute Solutions,
Intermediate Level
314 – The Birth of a River
321 – Glaciers: Rivers of Ice
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 5
Unit D: Space
Chapter
9
ALCOS
4.9
4.9.1
4.9.2
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Describe the appearance and movement of Earth and its moon.
 Identifying the waxing and waning of the moon in the night sky
 Identifying lunar and solar eclipses
Resources
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.c
om/menus/science2009/wood
en_desk_na.html
Quick Reads
A-2, Stars, pages 38-47
Six Minute Solutions
Secondary Level,
408 - The Moon
Six Minute Solutions,
Intermediate Level,
108 – The Moon
9
4.10
4.10.1
Describe components of our solar system.
 Defining comets, asteroids, and meteors
12
4.2
4.2.1
Compare different pitches of sound produced by changing the size, tension, amount, or type
of vibrating material.
 Describing the relationship between the structure of the ear and hearing
Unit E: Energy
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.c
om/menus/science2009/wood
en_desk_na.html
Leveled Readers
4.14 – Light and Sound Waves
4.14 – Sound and Light
Quick Reads
C-3, Sound, pages 38-47
Six Minute Solutions
Intermediate Level,
318- Sounds: Moving
Waveforms
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 6
Fourth Quarter Chapters 13 - 15
Pacing and Resources
Chapter
13
ALCOS
4.3
4.3.1
STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES FOR READING & LITERATURE
Resources
Recognize how light interacts with transparent, translucent, and opaque materials.
Examples: transparent—most light passes through,
translucent—some light passes through,
opaque—no light passes through

Predicting the reflection or absorption of light by various objects
Unit F: Forces in Motion
14
4.1
4.1.1
4.1.2
4.1.3
4.1.4
4.1.5
Describe how electrical circuits can be used to produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic
fields.
 Identifying ways to use and conserve electrical energy
 Identifying characteristics of parallel and series circuits
 Classifying materials as conductors, nonconductors, and insulators of electricity and
heat
 Identifying relationships among charge, current, and potential energy
 Identifying components of a circuit
Harcourt On-line Resources
http://www.harcourtschool.c
om/menus/science2009/wood
en_desk_na.html
HASP Electricity Kit
Science Level Reader
4.15 – Motion
4.15 – Newton & Gravity
4.15 – Objects in Motion
Quick Reads
B-3, page 75, Smooth or
Rough
Quick Reads
D-3, Electricity, pages 52-61
Describe effects of friction on moving objects.
4.4
 Identifying momentum and inertia as properties of moving objects
4.4.1
 Identifying ways to increase or decrease friction
4.4.2
Chapters 6, 8, 10, 11, and 16 do not align with the ALCOS. You may add these chapters once you finish the ALCOS chapters.
15
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 7
Physical Science
Students will:
1.
Describe how electrical circuits can be used to produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic fields.
 Identifying ways to use and conserve electrical energy
 Identifying characteristics of parallel and series circuits
 Classifying materials as conductors, nonconductors, and insulators of electricity and heat
 Identifying relationships among charge, current, and potential energy
 Identifying components of a circuit
2.
Compare different pitches of sound produced by changing the size, tension, amount, or type of vibrating material.
 Describing the relationship between the structure of the ear and hearing
3.
Recognize how light interacts with transparent, translucent, and opaque materials.
Examples:
transparent—most light passes through,
translucent—some light passes through,
opaque—no light passes through
 Predicting the reflection or absorption of light by various objects
4.
Describe effects of friction on moving objects.
 Identifying momentum and inertia as properties of moving objects
 Identifying ways to increase or decrease friction
Life Science
5.
Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.
 Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular habitats
Examples:
behaviors—migration, hibernation, mimicry;
body structures—quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 8
 Describing life cycles of various animals to include incomplete and complete metamorphosis
Examples: damsel fly, mealworms
 Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain
Example: producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and third-level consumer
 Identifying characteristics of organisms, including growth and development, reproduction, acquisition and use of energy,
and response to the environment
6.
Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms.
 Describing the organization of cells into tissues, organs, and organ systems
 Describing the grouping of organisms into populations, communities, and ecosystems
 Classifying common organisms into kingdoms, including Animalia, Plantae, Protista, Fungi, Archaebacteria, and Eubacteria
Earth and Space Science
7.
Describe geological features of Earth, including bodies of water, beaches, ocean ridges, continental shelves, plateaus, faults,
canyons, sand dunes, and ice caps.
8.
Identify technological advances and other benefits of space exploration.
Examples:
laser, pacemaker, dehydrated food, flame-retardant clothing, global positioning system (GPS), satellite imagery,
global weather information, diagnostic imagery
 Listing highlights of space exploration, including satellites, manned moon missions, the unmanned Mars mission, and an
inhabited space station
 Identifying Alabama’s contribution to the space industry
9.
Describe the appearance and movement of Earth and its moon.
 Identifying the waxing and waning of the moon in the night sky
 Identifying lunar and solar eclipses
10.
Describe components of our solar system.
 Defining comets, asteroids, and meteors
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 9
Projects
Pick a space object other than the whole solar system.
 Comets
 Satellites
 A Particular Planet
 Asteroid Belt
 Milky Way
 Black Hole
Landform Project: Make a Landform
 Mountain
 Prairie
 Erupting Volcanoes
 Earthquake
Other projects as found in the TE
Field Trips
Planetarium
ALA Power Presenters Coming To School
McWane/Civil Rights Institute – Birmingham -
Fourth Grade Science Pacing Guide – Elmore County Public Schools Revised July 2015
Page 10