Science

Dear Families and Caregivers,

 Our fourth-grade science class is starting a unit called What causes land and things on it to change, and how can we reduce the impacts on humans? as part of the OpenSciEd Elementary science curriculum. This unit develops scientific ideas about Earth's processes that can cause land to change over time and solutions that can be developed to lessen the impact on humans. 

 To begin the unit, students make observations of changes that happened in Acadia National Park. They notice that a road was destroyed, rocks were moved, and trees were scattered around. Students' questions about investigating what could be causing the land to change over time drive their work in this unit. After learning about how the Earth's processes cause the land to change, students begin to wonder about how this impacts humans. Students will then research how experts develop solutions to lessen the impact, and then they apply what they learned to develop and evaluate solutions to reduce erosion. 

Throughout the unit, students will figure out science ideas by

• Investigating how Earth processes such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, wave action, erosion, and weathering cause land to change over time.

• Observing different landscapes in National Parks and the changes that they experience.

• Testing how waves and rainfall cause changes to the land.

• Researching the various ways that experts develop solutions to lessen the impact of Earth processes that affect their communities.

• Develop and evaluate a solution to an erosion problem.