4th Grade
4th Grade
Embedded Files
Unit 1
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Unit 2
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Unit 3
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Unit 4
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Science Pacing Rationale
Science Pacing Rationale
120 total days, 45-minute days
120 total days, 45-minute days
The USBE recommends “daily science instruction” in grades K–6, though the exact structure looks different at each grade level. According to the Elementary and Secondary School General Core Rule (R277-700): “The Superintendent shall place a greater emphasis on a student’s mastery of course material rather than completion of predetermined time allotments for courses.”
To ensure students achieve mastery of the SEEd Standards at their described proficiency levels (outlined in the SEEd Core Guides), we have allotted the following time for 3rd-grade science:
Fourth Grade 120 Total Days - 45-minute days
Curriculum Days ( days): Core OpenSciEd lessons.
Other Days/Flexible ( days): Reserved for assessment, reteach, enrichment, digital tools, and other district-supported resources.
We intentionally paced for 120 instructional days instead of the full 180 to reflect the realities of elementary classrooms. This structure:
Provides time at the beginning of the year for building classroom routines.
Accommodates end-of-year testing.
Preserves space for holidays, school breaks, and traditional school events that are central to the elementary experience.
4th Grade Unit Order Rationale
4th Grade Unit Order Rationale
The Utah SEEd 4th grade standards are organized into four strands: 4.1 Organisms Functioning in their environment, 4.2 Energy Transfer, 4.3 Wave patterns, and 4.4 Observable Patterns in the Sky. These strands represent major areas of learning and are not meant to be taught in isolation or in order, but as connected ideas that build over time.
The OpenSciEd 4th grade curriculum has been adapted for SEEd and organized into a sequence of connected units that reflect how students make sense of the world through phenomena. Each unit engages students in investigating, modeling, analyzing evidence, and designing solutions while integrating core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts.
The unit sequence is intentional. Students begin by exploring how devices on Mars can be powered and communicate with Earth, figuring out how energy transfers through collisions, electrical systems, and light signals. They then analyze fossils and rock layers to understand how environments have changed over time. Next, they investigate how plant and animal structures support survival and response to information. Finally, students explore patterns in the sky to explain Earth’s place in the universe.
Together, these units address all SEEd strands while building a coherent understanding of science across the year.
Unit 1 – Energy Transfer
Students begin the year by investigating how devices on Mars can be powered and communicate with Earth. Through hands-on investigations, they figure out how energy transfers through collisions and how speed and mass affect those interactions. Students then discover that energy can also transfer through electrical systems, even when objects are not touching. To end the unit, students apply their learning to design a Martian rover that can be powered and communicate with Earth. Addresses SEEd standards 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.2.4 and 4.3.1, 4.3.3
Unit 2 – Evidence of Earth's Past
Students analyze fossils and rock layers to find evidence of how organisms and environments have changed over time. They use patterns in fossil structures and their locations in rock layers to make and defend explanations about past environments and how those environments differed from today. Addresses SEEd standards 4.1.3 and 4.1.4
Unit 3 – Organisms Functioning in Their Environments
Students investigate how the internal and external structures of plants and animals support survival in different environments. They develop and use models to explain how animals receive information through their senses, process it, and respond in ways that help. Addresses SEEd standards 4.1.1, 4.1.2, and 4.3.2
Unit 4 – Observable Patterns in the Sky
Students explore patterns in the sky to understand how Earth’s rotation and the orbits of the Moon and Earth around the Sun create predictable cycles. They investigate shadows, track the Sun, Moon, and stars, and analyze data to explain why some constellations appear seasonally while others are visible year-round. By the end of the unit, students use evidence and models to explain these patterns and connect them to Earth’s place in the universe. Addresses SEEd standards 4.4.1, 4.4.2
SEEd standard alignment
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