Grade 4 Science OLS Standards

Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence

Science is a Human Endeavor

Science is a Way of Knowing

Scientific Inquiry, Practice and Applications

Nature of Science (K-8)

Physical Science

Life Science

Earth and Space Science

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Physical Science

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Life Science

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Learning Progression

Complexity c

Complexity b

Complexity a

Earth and Space Science

Social Interactions

All students must use these scientific processes with appropriate laboratory safety techniques to construct their knowledge and understanding in all science content areas.

Observe and ask questions about the world that can be answered through scientific investigations.

Design and conduct scientific investigations using appropriate safety techniques.

Use appropriate mathematics, tools and techniques to gather data and information.

Develop and communicate descriptions, models, explanations and predictions.

Think critically and ask questions about the observations and explanations of others.

Communicate scientific procedures and explanations.

Apply knowledge of science content to real-world challenges.

Science assumes the universe is a vast single system in which basic laws are consistent. Natural laws operate today as they did in the past and they will continue to do so in the future. Science is both a body of knowledge that represents a current understanding of natural systems and the processes used to refine, elaborate, revise and extend this knowledge.

Science is both a body of knowledge and processes to discover new knowledge.

Science is a way of knowing about the world around us based on evidence from experimentation and observations.

Science assumes that objects and events occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

Science has been, and continues to be, advanced by individuals of various races, genders, ethnicities, languages, abilities, family backgrounds and incomes.

People from many generations and nations contribute to science knowledge.

People of all cultures, genders, and backgrounds can pursue a career in science.

Scientists often work in teams.

Science affects everyday life.

Science requires creativity and imagination.

Science is not static. Science is constantly changing as we acquire more knowledge.

Science develops theories based on a body of scientific evidence.

Science explanations can change based on new scientific evidence.

Earth's surface has specific characteristics and landforms that can be identified.

Earth’s surface has specific characteristics and landforms that can be identified. About 70 percent of Earth’s surface is covered with water, and most of that is the ocean. Only a small portion of Earth’s water is freshwater, which is found in rivers, lakes, groundwater, and glaciers. Earth’s surface can change due to erosion and deposition of soil, rock, or sediment. Catastrophic events such as flooding, volcanic activity, and earthquakes can also create landforms.

Explain how a surface process has changed an area of the Earth’s surface.

Using a visual or actual field observation, describe specific landform features.

Match a surface process to the landform that it creates (e.g., volcanic activity can create an island).

Match the names of landforms to a picture or description.

Identify a characteristic of the Earth’s surface.

Identify Earth’s landforms.

Given a series of pictures showing deposition (delta forming, riverbank getting bigger) place them in order.

Identify products of deposition (e.g., delta forming, hill, river bank getting bigger).

Given a series of pictures showing erosion (mud washing across a road, hill getting smaller) place them in order.

Match landforms to the process that formed them.

Identify agents of erosion (e.g., wind, water, ice).

Go outside the school or watch a video and identify a place where erosion is occurring.

Show on a diagram where to find ground water.

Choose the picture of Earth which shows the correct distribution of water and land.

Match given pictures or descriptions to names of landforms.

Identify given pictures of landforms and features (e.g., mountains, volcanoes, lakes, oceans, rivers and their floodplains, islands).

The surface of Earth changes due to weathering.

The surface of Earth changes due to weathering. Rocks change shape, size, and/or form due to water or glacial movement, freeze and thaw, wind, plant growth, acid rain, pollution, and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, flooding, and volcanic activity. Note: Differentiating between chemical and physical weathering is not the focus at this grade level.

Describe ways that weathering (e.g., freezing/thawing, plant growth, flooding, wind, acid rain, etc.) affects landforms.

Match a change in a landform caused by weathering to the type of weathering that occurred (e.g., a crack getting larger from water freezing).

Identify an effect of weathering.

Sequence a series of pictures that illustrate weathering (e.g., sidewalk break with plants coming through, statue wearing away due to acid rain).

Categorize pictures of weathering into their causes (wind, water, plant growth, freeze-thaw).

Describe the effects that catastrophic events have on Earth’s surface.

Identify types of catastrophic events (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding)

Identify that repeated freezing and thawing weathers earth materials.

Watch a pothole grow throughout the winter (in the community or time lapse video) and describe the process that is causing it grow.

Identify that wind and moving water weather earth materials.

Recognize that weathering is a process in nature that changes the shape, size and/or form of rocks.

The surface of Earth changes due to erosion and deposition.

The surface of Earth changes due to erosion and deposition. Liquid water, wind, and ice physically remove and carry rock, soil, and sediment (erosion) and deposit the material in a new location (deposition). Gravitational force affects movements of water, rock, and soil.

Predict the effect on a landform when a natural force is introduced (e.g., erosion and deposition).

Identify a change in a landform that was caused by erosion or deposition (e.g., formation of valleys, sand dunes, etc.).

Identify natural forces that can move rock and soil (e.g., erosion and deposition).

Given a natural process predict what effect it will have a particular landform (e.g., a flood will deposit mud on roads in the floodplain, a wind storm will blow mulch out of flowerbeds).

Identify features that result from glaciers (e.g., using Google Earth, geologic maps, pictures).

Identify geologic features in Ohio (e.g., using topographic maps or aerial photographs).

Categorize changes in a landform as deposition or erosion.

Trace the path of water in the process of erosion and deposition.

List wind, water and ice as agents of erosion and deposition.

Recognize that erosion and deposition are processes in nature that move eEarth materials (e.g., soil, rocks).

Describe the effects of water running down a pile of sand or soil.

Watch a time lapse video of erosion or deposition in action and identify changes that occur.

Changes in an organism's environment are sometimes beneficial to its survival and sometimes harmful.

Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial to its survival and sometimes harmful. Ecosystems can change gradually or dramatically. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce and others die or move to new locations. Ecosystems are based on interrelationships among and between biotic and abiotic factors. These include the diversity of other organisms present, the availability of food and other resources, and the physical attributes of the environment.

Given an ecosystem, describe changes that could be harmful or beneficial to an organism in that ecosystem.

Describe environmental changes that are sudden or gradual.

Within a given ecosystem, identify which organisms would benefit or which organisms would be harmed after a change occurs.

Match environmental changes as sudden or gradual.

Identify that a given change in an ecosystem can be beneficial or harmful to a specific organism in that ecosystem.

Identify environmental changes as sudden or gradual.

Given a series of pictures showing deposition (delta forming, riverbank getting bigger) place them in order.

Identify products of deposition (e.g., delta forming, hill, river bank getting bigger).

Given a series of pictures showing erosion (mud washing across a road, hill getting smaller) place them in order.

Match landforms to the process that formed them.

Identify agents of erosion (e.g., wind, water, ice).

Go outside the school or watch a video and identify a place where erosion is occurring.

Show on a diagram where to find ground water.

Choose the picture of Earth which shows the correct distribution of water and land.

Match given pictures or descriptions to names of landforms.

Identify given pictures of landforms and features (mountains, volcanoes, lakes, oceans, rivers and their floodplains, islands). Given a picture of an ecosystem describe a change that would be beneficial to an organism and a change that would be harmful.

Sort the effects of a change in an ecosystem as harmful or beneficial to a population of organisms.

Given a series of pictures of environmental changes, identify them as gradual or sudden.

Identify a connection between an abiotic factor and a living organism in an environment.

List the resources in the environment that support living things.

Sort pictures into categories of biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving).

Fossils can be compared to one another and to present-day organisms according to their similarities and differences.

Fossils can be compared to one another and to present-day organisms according to their similarities and differences. The concept of biodiversity is expanded to include different classification schemes based upon shared internal and external characteristics of organisms. Most species that have lived on Earth are extinct. Fossils provide a point of comparison between the types of organisms that lived long ago and those existing today

Explain the pre-historic environment that a fossil organism may have lived in and compare that to the present day environment where the fossil was found.

Given a set of fossils and present day organisms, explain why some fossil organisms do not have a present day representative.

Given a fossil organism, identify the prehistoric environment it would have lived in, and compare that to the present day environment where the fossil was found.

Given a set of fossils and present day organisms, sort them by similar characteristics.

Match a fossil to an ecosystem that it would have lived in.

Match a fossil with a representation of the organism.

Explain why we have found fossils of some animals that no longer exist.

Match a fossil to an environment where it may have lived.

Recognize that environments change (compare prehistoric fossil environments to current day environments).

Match pictures of extinct organisms to modern organisms that are similar

Identify differences between pictures of extinct organisms to modern organisms that are similar

Recognize that some types of organisms that lived in the past no longer exist.

Compare a fossil to a representation of the organism.

Identify a fossil.

Note: Introductory material about fossils can be found in 2.LS.2 for students who need an earlier entry point.Sequence a series of pictures that illustrate weathering (e.g., sidewalk break with plants coming through, statue wearing away due to acid rain).

Categorize pictures of weathering into their causes (wind, water, plant growth, freeze-thaw).

Describe the effects that catastrophic events have on Earth’s surface.

Identify types of catastrophic events (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding)

Identify that repeated freezing and thawing weathers earth materials.

Watch a pothole grow throughout the winter (in the community or time lapse video) and describe the process that is causing it grow.

Identify that wind and moving water weather earth materials.

Recognize that weathering is a process in nature that changes the shape, size and/or form of rocks.

When objects break into smaller pieces, dissolve, or change state, the total amount of matter is conserved.

When objects break into smaller pieces, dissolve, or change state, the total amount of matter is conserved. When an object is broken into smaller pieces, when a solid is dissolved in a liquid, or when matter changes state (solid, liquid, gas), the total amount of matter remains constant. Note: Differentiation between mass and weight is not necessary at this grade level.

Make a prediction about what will happen to the mass of an object after a change of state occurs.

When given multiple objects, make changes to their physical state and measure the mass before and after the changes are made to determine conservation of mass.

Recognize that the mass of a given object remains the same before and after a physical change is made to that object.

Given the mass before dissolving, breaking or a phase change, predict the mass after the change.

Explain why the mass before and after a change are the same (all the same materials are still there).

Recognize that the total mass does not change when substances are dissolved (e.g., measure the mass of water plus salt while separated and after the salt is dissolved in the water).

Recognize that mass does not change when physical changes occur (e.g., measure the mass before and after breaking an object into pieces, melting ice, or rearranged Legos into a new structure).

Note: Measuring mass was introduced in 3.PS.1.Given a natural process predict what effect it will have a particular landform (e.g., a flood will deposit mud on roads in the floodplain, a wind storm will blow mulch out of flowerbeds).

Identify features that result from glaciers (e.g., using Google Earth, geologic maps, pictures).

Identify geologic features in Ohio (e.g., using topographic maps or aerial photographs).

Categorize changes in a landform as deposition or erosion.

Trace the path of water in the process of erosion and deposition.

List wind, water and ice as agents of erosion and deposition.

Recognize that erosion and deposition are processes in nature that move Earth materials (e.g., soil, rocks).

Describe the effects of water running down a pile of sand or soil.

Watch a time lapse video of erosion or deposition in action and identify changes that occur.

Energy can be transferred from one location to another or can be transformed from one form to another.

Energy can be transferred from one location to another or can be transformed from one form to another. Energy transfers from hot objects to cold objects as heat, resulting in a temperature change. Electric circuits require a complete loop of conducting materials through which an electrical energy can be transferred. Electrical energy in circuits can be transformed to other forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, and motion. Electricity and magnetism are closely related.

Sort objects by whether or not they transfer energy.

Describe how one form of energy is transformed to another form.

Identify examples of how different types of energy may be transferred or how different types of energy may not be transferred.

Demonstrate how energy can be transformed.

Identify an example of energy transfer (e.g., the handle of a pot on the stove may become hot to the touch, showing transfer of thermal energy from the pot to your hand).

Identify an example of how a type of energy can transform to another type of energy (e.g., electricity transforms to light energy when a lamp is turned on).

Demonstrate how an electromagnet shows that electricity causes a magnetic field.

Demonstrate how a complete electric circuit can cause an energy transformation (e.g., light a bulb, ring a buzzer).

Identify that some materials transfer electrical energy better than others (e.g., copper versus rubber).

Recognize that a complete loop is need for electric energy to flow in a circuit.

Design a way to determine which materials will keep a drink hot or cold the longest.

Identify that some materials transfer heat energy more easily than others (e.g., styrofoam versus metal).

Identify examples of energy transfers and energy transformations (e.g., watch a machine or video where energy transfers are occurring such as a Rube Goldberg device and identify locations where energy is transferred or transformed).

Identify that energy can change from one form to another (e.g, measure the temperature of a substance (water, air) before and after the sun shines on it and identify that light energy has changed to heat).

Identify that energy can move from place to place. (e.g. measure the temperature of hot water as it cools on a tabletop and identify that heat is leaving the water and entering the air).

Note: Forms of energy are introduced in 3.PS.3.Given a picture of an ecosystem describe a change that would be beneficial to an organism and a change that would be harmful.

Sort the effects of a change in an ecosystem as harmful or beneficial to a population of organisms.

Given a series of pictures of environmental changes, identify them as gradual or sudden.

Identify a connection between an abiotic factor and a living organism in an environment.

List the resources in the environment that support living things.

Sort pictures into categories of biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving).

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Machine Learning

Explain three different machine learning approaches to choose which may be best for a given situation.

Explain how machine learning can create a bias to understand how computers can be biased.

Describe tasks where AI outperforms human tasks and when it does not to describe how humans rely on AI.

Natural Interactions

Use AI systems that are designed to be inclusive and describe how they affect the humans who use them.

Give examples of bias to demonstrate how it can affect decision-making.

Perception

Describe the difference between analog and digital signals to understand their uses.

Give examples of computer perception to understand how it is affected by the environment.

Representation & Reasoning

Create a classification system using a tree structure to understand binary solutions.

Describe how AI represents knowledge to make a reasonable answer.

Societal Impacts

Give examples of bias to demonstrate how it can affect specific groups of people.

ALGORITHMIC THINKING AND PROGRAMMING

Algorithms

Construct and refine an algorithm to accomplish a given task.

Control Structures

Create a program using sequences, events, loops and conditionals to solve a problem.

Modularity

Decompose (i.e., break down) the steps needed or not needed (i.e., abstraction) into precise sequences of instructions to design an algorithm.

Program Development

Use a design process to plan and develop a program that addresses a multi-step problem.

Using guided questions, work through a program to identify errors and discuss possible solutions to repair the program.

Variables and Data Representation

Identify and use a variable, a placeholder for storing a value, to understand how it works in a multi-step process (i.e., algorithm).

COMPUTING SYSTEMS

Devices

Explore external components (i.e., parts) of a computing system and their function to understand and describe the role they play in a computer system.

Hardware and Software

Select and use digital learning tools/devices to support planning, implementing and reflecting upon a defined task.

Diagnose problems and select an appropriate solution from a list of problems and solutions to resolve hardware and software issues.

Troubleshooting

DATA AND ANALYSIS

Data Collection and Storage

Gather and organize multiple quantitative data elements using a tool to perform various tasks.

Identify techniques and formats to store, process and retrieve different types of information.

Inference and Modeling

Utilize data to make predictions and discuss whether there is adequate data to make reliable predictions.

Visualization and Communication

Organize data into subsets to provide different views or commonalities and present insights gained using visual or other types of representations.

IMPACTS OF COMPUTING

Culture

List examples of computing technologies that have changed the global community to express how those technologies influenced and are influenced by cultural practice.

Identify and anticipate diverse user needs to increase accessibility to all users.

Collaborate and consider diverse perspectives to improve digital artifacts.

Safety, Law and Ethics

Use public domain or Creative Commons media, and refrain from copying or using material created by others without permission.

Explain why information should be shared or kept private to protect student identity.

Communicate the importance of protecting your digital footprint.

Describe tradeoffs between allowing information to be public and keeping information private and secure.

Explain the effect of cyber bullying and who to tell if this is happening.

NETWORKS AND THE INTERNET

Cybersecurity

Describe what information should be protected and the importance of a secure password to protect information.

Describe and explain safe usage of various online services such as web, email, video, gaming, cloud services and networked drives.

Internet of Things (IoT)

Explore how information is transferred to the internet from smart and intelligent devices to recognize how the internet and networks operate.

Describe how transferred information is tagged using identifiers to transmit information about the user so students begin to learn that no information on the internet is anonymous.

Networking

Describe how information is broken down to be transmitted over a network to help students gain a better understanding of the internet and networks.

Describe network addresses, names and rules (i.e., protocols) to share or receive information from the global community