4th Grade
Module 1: Egg Racers
Module Phenomenon:
What happens to energy when objects collide?
Driving Questions:
What is energy and how is it transferred from one thing to another?
How can I increase my car's energy of motion?
How does the energy of a moving object change during a collision?
How can I make my car safer so my egg is not damaged?
Module 2: Sparks Energy, Inc.
Module Phenomenon:
How do people produce and transfer energy for their use?
Driving Questions:
How can people make practical use of energy transfers?
How can people use energy resources to generate electricity?
What are the main energy resources used in the United States?
Module 4: Earthquake Engineering
Module Phenomenon:
How can we reduce the damage caused by earthquakes?
Driving Questions:
How are waves involved in earthquakes?
How can patterns help us predict where earthquakes and volcanoes will occur?
How can building materials and shapes affect the severity of earthquake damage?
How can our understanding of earthquakes and materials help us build safer buildings?
What can we learn from engineers that will help us revise our designs?
How can we redesign our buildings to make them safer during earthquakes?
Module 3: Time Travelling Tour Guides
Module Phenomenon:
How have weathering and erosion sculpted some of Earth’s most interesting landscapes?
Driving Questions:
What makes landscapes change over time?
Why do we see different rock layers in the Grand Canyon?
How did the Colorado River sculpt the Grand Canyon?
What other amazing landscapes have been sculpted by weathering and erosion?
Module 4: Earthquake Engineering
Module Phenomenon:
How can we reduce the damage caused by earthquakes?
Driving Questions:
How are waves involved in earthquakes?
How can patterns help us predict where earthquakes and volcanoes will occur?
How can building materials and shapes affect the severity of earthquake damage?
How can our understanding of earthquakes and materials help us build safer buildings?
What can we learn from engineers that will help us revise our designs?
How can we redesign our buildings to make them safer during earthquakes?
Module 5: Super Survivors
Module Phenomenon:
How do the many parts of my body work together to help me live in the world? Communication involves transferring information through waves or signals.
Driving Questions:
How do internal and external structures work together to help plants and animals live and survive?
How do humans and other animals sense and respond to the environment?
How do humans and other animals take in visual information?
How does the brain make sense of and respond to information?
How do waves affect our ability to communicate?
How can we transfer information over long distances?