Grade 4 Science Tutor
Four grade students delves into the field of habitats and communities and explores the scientific concepts of light and sound. Mechanics looks at gears and pulleys and we round off with rocks and minerals.
Overall Expectations
- Analyse the effects of human activities on habitats and communities
- Investigate the interdependence of plants and animals within specific habitats and communities
- Demonstrate an understanding of habitats and communities and the relationships among the plants and animals that live in them
- Evaluate the impact of pulleys and gears on society and the environment
- Investigate ways in which pulleys and gears modify the speed and direction of, and the force exerted on, moving objects
- Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles and functions of pulley systems and gear systems
- Assess the impact on society and the environment of technological innovations related to light and sound
- Demonstrate an understanding of light and sound as forms of energy that have specific characteristics and properties
- Assess the social and environmental impacts of human uses of rocks and minerals
- Investigate, test, and compare the physical properties of rocks and minerals
- Demonstrate an understanding of the physical properties of rocks and minerals
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Grade 4 Science Sample Curriculum
Understanding life systems: Habitats and communities
- Analyse the positive and negative impacts of human interactions with natural habitats and communities, and evaluate ways of minimizing the negative impacts
- Identify reasons for the depletion or extinction of a plant or animal species, evaluate the impacts on the rest of the natural community, and propose possible actions for preventing such depletions or extinctions from happening
- Build food chains consisting of different plants and animals, including humans
- Use scientific inquiry/research skills to create a living habitat containing a community, and describe and record changes in the community over time
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including habitat, population, community, adaptation, and food chain
- Demonstrate an understanding of habitats as areas that provide plants and animals with the necessities of life
- Demonstrate an understanding of food chains as systems in which energy from the sun is transferred to producers (plants) and then to consumers (animals) identify factors that affect the ability of plants and animals to survive in a specific habitat
- Demonstrate an understanding of a community as a group of interacting species sharing a common habitat
- Classify organisms, including humans, according to their role in a food chain
- Identify animals that are carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores
- Describe structural adaptations that allow plants and animals to survive in specific habitats
- Explain why changes in the environment have a greater impact on specialized species than on generalized species
- Demonstrate an understanding of why all habitats have limits to the number of plants and animals they can support
- Describe ways in which humans are dependent on natural habitats and communities
- Understand habitats as areas that provide plants and animals with the necessities of life
- Understand food chains as systems in which energy from the sun is transferred to producers (plants) and then to consumers (animals)
Understanding structures and mechanisms: Pulleys and gears
- Assess the impact of pulley systems and gear systems on daily life
- Assess the environmental impact of using machines with pulleys and gears and suggest ways to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts
- Investigate changes in force, distance, speed, and direction in pulley and gear systems
- Use technological problem-solving skills to design, build, and test a pulley or gear system that performs a specific task
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including pulley, gear, force, and speed
- Use a variety of forms to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes
- Describe the purposes of pulley systems and gear systems
- Describe how rotary motion in one system or its components is transferred to another system or component in the same structure
- Describe how one type of motion can be transformed into another type of motion using pulleys or gears
- Describe how gears operate in one plane and in two planes
- Distinguish between pulley systems and gear systems that increase force and those that increase speed
- Identify pulley systems and gear systems that are used in daily life, and explain the purpose and basic operation of each
- Explain how the gear system on a bicycle works
- Identify the input components that drive a mechanism and the output components that are driven by it
Understanding Matter and Energy: Light and sound
- Assess the impacts on personal safety of devices that apply the properties of light and/or sound, and propose ways of using these devices to make our daily activities safer
- Assess the impacts on society and the environment of light and/or sound energy produced by different technologies, taking different perspectives into account
- Follow established safety procedures for protecting eyes and ears
- Investigate the basic properties of light
- Investigate the basic properties of sound
- Use technological problem-solving skills to design, build, and test a device that makes use of the properties of light or sound
- Use scientific inquiry/research skills to investigate applications of the properties of light or sound
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including natural, artificial, beam of light, pitch, loudness, and vibration, in oral and written communication
- Identify a variety of natural light sources and artificial light sources
- Distinguish between objects that emit their own light and those that reflect light from other sources
- Describe properties of light, including the following: light travels in a straight path; light can be absorbed, reflected, and refracted
- Describe properties of sound, including the following: sound travels; sound can be absorbed or reflected and can be modified
- Explain how vibrations cause sound
- Describe how different objects and materials interact with light and sound energy
- Distinguish between sources of light that give off both light and heat and those that give off light but little or no heat
- Identify devices that make use of the properties of light and sound
Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Rocks and Minerals
- Assess the social and environmental costs and benefits of using objects in the built environment that are made from rocks and minerals
- Analyse the impact on society and the environment of extracting and refining rocks and minerals for human use, taking different perspectives into account
- Use a variety of tests to identify the physical properties of minerals
- Use a variety of criteria to classify common rocks and minerals according to their characteristics
- Use scientific inquiry/research skills to investigate how rocks and minerals are used, recycled, and disposed of in everyday life
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including hardness, colour, lustre, and texture
- Use a variety of forms to communicate with different audiences and for a variety of purposes
- Describe the difference between rocks (composed of two or more minerals) and minerals (composed of the same substance throughout), and explain how these differences determine how they are used
- Describe the properties that are used to identify minerals
- Describe how igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks are formed
- Describe the characteristics of the three classes of rocks
