Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Quarter 1
Core Curriculum Map—4th Grade Science
Life Science
Concept
Inherited
Traits
Objective
4C1: Discuss inherited
traits (e.g., webbed feet,
beaks). Compare these
with changes that can
occur to individual
organisms due to life events
(broken leg, scar from an
accident).
SC1.1
Essential
Vocabulary
Inherited
traits
Instructional Material
AK Department of Fish and
Game Salmon Unit
Assessment
Teacher
Activities/Reflections
Objective Scoring Guide
p.1
National Geographic:
Life Cycles
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Organism
Variety
4C2: Discuss that there are
a variety of organisms in
any given habitat –
familiar, unfamiliar, fossil,
microscopic.
SC1.1
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Change in
Organisms
Over Time
4C3: Using fossil evidence,
discuss the changes of
organisms over time. (This
can be addressed under
Earth Science while
discussing the formation of
sedimentary rocks.)
[4] SC1.2 and [5] SC1.2
Population
Community
National Geographic
Exploring Ecosystems
Objective Scoring Guide
p.2
Delta Science Reader
Food Chains and Webs
Disappearing Lake by
Debbie Miller
National Geographic:
Rock Records (to be
ordered)
Objective Scoring Guide
p.3
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Needs of
4C4: Describe the basic
Revised June 6, 2008
AK Department of Fish and
Developed by MSBSD Science Writing Team
Objective Scoring Guide
Page 1 of 5
** Indicates suggested supplemental materials.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Living Things
Quarter 1
Game Salmon Unit
characteristics (grow,
reproduce, take in
sustenance, etc) and
requirements of living
things (food, water, space,
etc).
SC2.2
p.4
National Geographic:
Exploring Ecosystems
Animal Life Cycles
Life Cycles**
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Local Plants
and Animals
** “Our Wild Neighbors”
www.nps.gov/aplic/forkids.
htm
4C5: Identify and describe
local plants and animals in
various Alaskan habitats.
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Alaska
Organisms
and the
Environment
4C6: Analyze and explain
the relationship between
physical characteristics of
Alaskan organisms (i.e.
Ptarmigan has feathers on
its feet and its feathers turn
white in winter) and the
environment in which they
live (streams, wetlands,
forests, and tundra)
SC1.1
Objective Scoring Guide
p.5
**“Alaskan Animal
Adaptations”
http://www.nps.gov/bela/fo
rkids/alaskan-animaladaptations.htm
Environment
Alaska Trees &
Wildflowers**
An Introduction to Familiar
Plants
Waterford Press
**“Our Wild Neighbors”
www.nps.gov/aplic/forki
ds.htm
Objective Scoring Guide
p.6
National Geographic:
Exploring Ecosystems
AK Dept. Fish and Game
Birds and Beaks Kit
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analysis
Food Webs
4C7: Identify food webs of
Revised June 6, 2008
Energy
Delta Science Reader
Developed by MSBSD Science Writing Team
Objective Scoring Guide
Page 2 of 5
** Indicates suggested supplemental materials.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
familiar plants and
animals. Diagram how
energy flows through a
food web. Describe the
effects of removing one
link.
SC3.2
Pyramid
Food Web
4C8: Illustrate that
producers, consumers, and
decomposers are
interdependent in food
chains and food webs.
Food Chains and Webs
p.7
Salmon Stream** by
Carol Reed-Jones
AK Dept. of Fish and
Game Salmon Unit
Delta Science Reader
Food Chains and Webs**
Objective Scoring Guide
p.8
Migrate
National Geographic:
Exploring Ecosystems
Objective Scoring Guide
p.9
Microscope
AK Dept. of Fish and Game
Salmon Unit
Objective Scoring Guide
p.10
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analysis
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
Quarter 1
Consumers
Decomposers
Producers
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application
Survival
4C9: Discuss that in any
particular environment,
some kinds of plants and
animals survive well, some
survive less well, and some
cannot survive.
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Tool Selection
4C10: Choose appropriate
tools (i.e., hand lens,
microscopes, ruler,
balance,) to examine the
basic structural
components (e.g., stems,
leaves, fish scales, wings) of
living things.
[4] SC2.1
** http:// www.globe.gov/r
-Site Map
-Elementary Globe
“Discoveries at Willow
Creek”
FOSS Assessment
Checklist
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluation
Revised June 6, 2008
Developed by MSBSD Science Writing Team
Page 3 of 5
** Indicates suggested supplemental materials.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Living vs Non
living
4C11: Identify examples of
living and non-living things
and the relationship
between them (e.g., living
things need water,
herbivores need plants).
[Local example:
investigating a nearby
habitat (meadow, wetland,
forest, playground)]
[4]SC3.1
Ecosystem
Quarter 1
National Geographic:
Exploring Ecosystems
Objective Scoring
Guide p.11
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Advancements in
Science
Delta Science Reader
Food Chains and Webs
4EFG6: Discuss how an
individual's curiosity has
led to advancements in
science (e.g., George
Washington Carver, Marie
Curie).
[4] SG4.1
Objective Scoring
Guide p.37
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Competition
4C12: Recognize that
producers may compete
with producers and
consumers may compete
with consumers for
resources in an ecosystem
(Trees/plants compete for
space, light, water with
other trees/plants,
Bears/wolves compete for
moose).
Competiti
on
AK Department of Fish and
Game Salmon Unit
Objective Scoring Guide
p.12
Project Wild:
“How Many Bears Can
Live in This Forest?”
“Oh Deer!”
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Interdependence of
4C13: Demonstrate that
some plants depend on
Revised June 6, 2008
National Geographic:
Plant Power
Developed by MSBSD Science Writing Team
Objective Scoring Guide
p.13
Page 4 of 5
** Indicates suggested supplemental materials.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Plants and
Animals
animals for pollination and
seed dispersal. Illustrate
how animals depend on
plants for food and shelter.
Quarter 1
AK Dept. of Fish and
Game Salmon Unit
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application
Limiting
Factors
4C14: Identify the limiting
factors in Alaskan habitats
(e.g., weather, human
influence and species
interactions) that
determine which plants
and/or animals survive.
[4] SA 3.1
AK Dept. of Fish and
Game Salmon Unit
Objective Scoring Guide
p.14
Project Aquatic: “Hooks
and Ladders” **
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Comprehension
Revised June 6, 2008
Developed by MSBSD Science Writing Team
Page 5 of 5
** Indicates suggested supplemental materials.