 |
Targeted Content Standards and Benchmarks
California State Content Standards
Science Standards, Grade 4
Science Standards
Investigation and Experimentation
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.
- Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists' explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
- Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
- Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
Life Science
- Understand that all organisms need energy and matter to live and grow.
- Recognize that living organisms depend on one another and their environment for survival. In a particular environment, some kinds of plants survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
Math Standards
Statistics, Data Analysis, and Probability
Students organize, represent, and interpret numerical and categorical data, and clearly communicate their findings.
- Identify the mode(s) for sets of categorical data and the mode(s), median, and any apparent outliers for numerical data sets.
- Interpret one- and two-variable data graphs to answer questions about a situation.
Mathematical Reasoning
Students make decisions about how to approach problems.
- Analyze problems by identifying relationships, distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information, sequencing and prioritizing information, and observing patterns.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum Focal Points and Connections
As of 2006, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) released math curriculum focal points to describe an approach to curriculum development. The approach focuses on areas of emphasis in each grade from prekindergarten through grade 8. (Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics*)
This Unit Plan meets the following curriculum focal points and connections:
Focal Points
- Grade 4: Measurement: Developing an understanding of area and determining the areas of 2-dimenstional shapes
- Grade 5: Geometry, Measurement and Algebra: Describing 3-dimensional shapes and analyzing their properties, including volume and surface area
Connections
- Grade 3: Data Analysis: Construct and analyze frequency tables, bar graphs, picture graphs, and line plots and use them to solve problems
- Grade 4: Data Analysis: Continue solving problems using frequency tables, bar graphs, picture graphs, and line plots. Develop and use stem-and-leaf plots.
- Grade 5: Data Analysis: Analyze double-bar and line graphs and use ordered pairs on coordinate grids
Social Studies Standards
Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California.
- Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine locations of places in California and on Earth.
- Distinguish between the North Pole and South Pole, the equator and the prime meridian, and the hemispheres, using coordinates to plot locations.
Student Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Understand why climate and seasons differ across latitudes and change over time
- Use latitude and longitude coordinates to find locations
- Understand how climate and seasons affect plant growth
- Learn the basics of scientific illustration
- Collect, organize, display, and analyze data
- Plan and carry out an investigation to test a hypothesis
- Analyze trends in data to refine predictions
- Develop and deliver a presentation based on investigation
< Return to Wave of Spring
|