• As members of the “upper” grades of elementary school, 4th graders deepen their learning and skills, preparing them for middle school. Fourth graders are still viewed as and learn as elementary school students do. Developmentally, most 4th graders are very much still children; they enjoy and learn from play and thrive in nurturing and warm environments. However, the content of most 4th grade curricula pushes students to think, analyze, and learn in more sophisticated and structured ways. Students are taught to deeply think about and make connections in what they read and learn; write with clarity, flow, and structure similar to that of traditional essays; and learn more complex concepts across all subjects. In addition, 4th graders are encouraged to be more independent in their learning, depending less on the teacher‘s guidance and researching, planning, and revising their work more by themselves. - Scholastic

     

     

  • Math

      

    4th Grade Domains:

    CC.4.CC: Counting & Cardinality

    CC.4.OA: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

    CC.4.NBT: Number and Operation in Base Ten

    CC.4.G:  Geometry

    CC.4.MD: Measurement and Data

    CC.4.NF: Numbers and Fractions

     

    4th Grade Mathematical Practices:

    CC.4 - 12.MP.1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them

    CC.4 - 12.MP.2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively

    CC.4 - 12.MP.3: Construct viable arguments and critique reasoning of others

    CC.4 - 12.MP.4: Model with mathematics

    CC.4 - 12.MP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically

    CC.4 - 12.MP.6: Attend to precision

    CC.4 - 12.MP.7: Look for and make use of structure

    CC.4 - 12.MP.8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

     

     

  • Science

     

    The Energy Module provides firsthand experiences in physical science dealing with the anchor phenomenon of energy. The five investigations focus on the concepts that energy is present whenever there is motion, electric current, sound, light, or heat, and that energy can transfer from one place to other. The guiding question for the module is how does energy transfer between systems?

    Students investigate electricity and magnetism as related effects and engage in engineering design while learning useful applications of electromagnetism in everyday life. Students conduct controlled experiments by incrementally changing variables to determine how to make an electromagnet stronger. They investigate how the amount of energy transfer changes when balls of different masses hit a stationary object. Students explore energy transfer through waves (repeating patterns of motion) that results in sound and motion. They gather information about how energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and how that affects the environment. They explore alternative sources of energy that use renewal resources.

     

    Geology is the study of our planet’s earth materials and natural resources. Because they are so ubiquitous and abundant, they are often taken for granted. The Soils, Rocks, and Landforms Module provides students with firsthand experiences with soils and rocks and modeling experiences using tools such as topographic maps and stream tables to engage with the anchor phenomenon of the surface of Earth’s landscape—the shape and the composition of landforms. The driving questions for the module are What are Earth’s land surface made of? and Why are landforms not the same everywhere?

     

    Students study the behavior of Hermit Crabs in the Life Science Module.

  • Engineering & Technology