Curriculum

CURRICULUM INTRODUCTION | GRADE 1 | GRADE 4

Grade 4 Units

Every Insights unit focuses on engaging students in the practices of science and helping them make explicit connections between key practices identified in each activity and how they engaged with those practices during the activity.

Below you will find an overview and a sample activity for each unit.

Changing Landscapes

Landscapes are in a state of constant change due to natural processes (e.g., landslides, erosion, animal homes) and human activity. The focus of this unit is erosion, a natural process at the heart of landscape change, which refers to the movement of sand, soil, rock, and other natural materials from one place to another. Over the course of the nine activities in the unit, students explore some of the imaging tools scientists use to document changes in landscapes (photos, satellite images, and maps), create models of processes that produce these changes, and investigate possible solutions to preventing coastal erosion.

The activities in this unit are aligned with the NGSS standards for Grade 4 Earth's Systems: Processes that Shape the Earth.

Unit Overview (pdf)
Sample Activity: Looking for Evidence of Landscape Change in Our Local Environment

Teacher's Guide (pdf)

Bones and Skeletons

In order for an individual organism to survive it must have structures that enable it to meet its needs. Students focus on one prominent internal structure of some animals: the skeletal system. By investigating bones, students begin to make inferences about how some animals survive as they move, eat, and protect themselves, thus connecting structures of bones with their functions.

The activities in this unit are aligned with the NGSS standards for Grade 4 Structure, Function, and Information Processing.

Unit Overview (pdf)
Sample Activity: Grouping Mystery Bones (pdf)