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Science 4
Curriculum Science Grade 4
PDF Grade-Set: k-9
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Big Ideas
Grandes idées
All living things sense and respond to their environment.
All living things sense and respond to their environment
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
- How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?
Matter has mass, takes up space, and can change phase.
Matter has mass, takes up space, and can change phase
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How can you explore the phases of matter?
- How does matter change phases?
- How does heating and cooling affect phase changes?
Energy can be transformed.
Energy can be transformed
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- What is energy input and energy output?
- What is energy conservation?
- What is the relationship between energy input, output, and conservation?
The motions of Earth and the moon cause observable patterns that affect living and non-living systems.
The motions of Earth and the moon cause observable patterns that affect living and non-living systems
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How do seasons and tides affect living and non-living things?
- What changes are caused by the movements of Earth and the moon?
Learning Standards
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Curricular Competencies
Students are expected to be able to do the following:
Questioning and predicting
Questioning and predicting
Questioning and predicting
Order is a pattern that can be recognized as having levels—big to small, simple to complex—or as a process with a sequence of steps.- Key questions about order:
- How is order apparent in the adaptations of forest animals in BC?
- How does the order of seasons impact local plants and animals?
Demonstrate curiosity about the natural world
Observe objects and events in familiar contexts
Identify questions about familiar objects and events that can be investigated scientifically
Make predictions based on prior knowledge
Planning and conducting
Suggest ways to plan and conduct an inquiry to find answers to their questions
Consider ethical responsibilities when deciding how to conduct an experiment
Safely use appropriate tools to make observations and measurements, using formal measurements and digital technology as appropriate
Make observations about living and non-living things in the local environment
Collect simple data
Processing and analyzing data and information
Experience and interpret the local environment
Identify First Peoples perspectives and knowledge as sources of information
Sort and classify data and information using drawings or provided tables
Use tables, simple bar graphs, or other formats to represent data and show simple patterns and trends
Compare results with predictions, suggesting possible reasons for findings
Evaluating
Make simple inferences based on their results and prior knowledge
Reflect on whether an investigation was a fair test
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence
Identify some simple environmental implications of their and others’ actions
Applying and innovating
Contribute to care for self, others, school, and neighbourhood through individual or collaborative approaches
Co-operatively design projects
Transfer and apply learning to new situations
Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving
Communicating
Represent and communicate ideas and findings in a variety of ways, such as diagrams and simple reports, using digital technologies as appropriate
Express and reflect on personal or shared experiences of place
place
Place is any environment, locality, or context with which people interact to learn, create memory, reflect on history, connect with culture, and establish identity. The connection between people and place is foundational to First Peoples perspectives of the world.- Key questions about place:
- How does what you know about place affect your observations, questions, and predictions?
- How does understanding place help you analyze information and recognize connections and relationships in your local environment?
- How does place connect with stewardship?
- How can you be a steward in your local environment?
Content
Students are expected to know the following:
sensing and responding:
- humanshumanse.g., the five senses
- other animalsother animalse.g., echolocation, UV sensors, magnetoreception, infrared sensing, etc.
- plantsplantse.g., response to light, touch, water, gravity, etc.
biomes as large regions with similar environmental features
biomes
biomes are regions grouped by similar temperature and precipitation (e.g., climate: long-term weather patterns)- terrestrial biomes
- aquatic/marine biomes
phases of matter
the effect of temperature on particle movement
effect of temperature
solids, liquids, and gases change with heating (e.g., boiling point, melting point [melting chocolate]) and cooling (e.g., freezing point [making ice cream]), and these physical changes are reversible energy:
- has various formsvarious formsenergy can be described in these ways: the energy of motion (kinetic), light, sound, thermal, elastic, nuclear, chemical, magnetic, gravitational, and electrical
- is conservedconservedthe law of conservation of energy — energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be changed
devices that transform energy
devices that transform energy
devices that transform energy change input energy into a different output energy (e.g., glow stick [chemical to light], wind-up toy [elastic to mechanical], flashlight [electrical to light]). local changes caused by Earth’s axis, rotation, and orbit
Earth’s axis, rotation, and orbit
Earth’s axis, rotation, and orbit cause changes locally:- day and night: animals are nocturnal (active at night) and diurnal (active during day)
- annual seasons: plants and animals respond to the seasons (drop leaves, change colour)
the effects of the relative positions of the sun, moon, and Earth including local First Peoples perspectives
the effects of the relative positions of the sun, moon, and Earth
- phases of the moon, tides, etc.
- tides affect living organisms
- lunar and solar eclipses
local First Peoples perspectives
teachings and stories about the sun and the moon Note: Some of the learning standards in the PHE curriculum address topics that some students and their parents or guardians may feel more comfortable addressing at home. Refer to ministry policy regarding opting for alternative delivery.