Fourth Grade

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.PS4.A.1

Learning GoalStudents can develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of waves.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• developing a model of waves and identifying the following:
  • waves
  • wave amplitude
  • wavelength
  • motion of objects
• identifying and describing that waves can be described in terms of patterns of repeating amplitude and wavelength.
•  using the model to describe the similarities and differences in patterns underlying waves and uses these patterns to describe simple relationships involving wave amplitude, wavelength, and the motion of an object.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• developing a model of waves and identifying some but not all of the following:
  • waves
  • wave amplitude
  • wavelength
  • motion of objects
• identifying and describing that waves can cause an object to move.
• using the model to describe how waves may be initiated.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of waves.

Learning Targets - Waves and Energy Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Develop a model using an analogy, example, or abstract representation to describe a scientific principle.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Waves, which are regular patterns of motion, can be made in water by disturbing the surface. When

waves move across the surface of deep water, the water goes up and down in place; there is no net

motion in the direction of the wave except when the water meets a beach. Waves of the same type can

differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength (spacing between wave peaks).

Cross Cutting Concept
Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, and analyze simple rates of change for natural phenomena.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.PS3.A.1

Learning GoalStudents can use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of energy.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• using evidence to describe that motion can indicate the energy of an object.
• creating models that demonstrate how energy is transferred from a moving object interacting with its surroundings and transferring between objects.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• identifying and describing the relative speed of the object.
• identifying and describing the qualitative indicators of the amount of energy of the object, as determined by a transfer of energy from that object.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of energy.

Learning Targets - Waves and Energy Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct an explanation.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Moving objects contain energy. The faster a given object is moving, the more energy it possesses. Energy can be moved from place to place by moving objects.

Cross Cutting Concept
Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.PS3.B.1

Learning GoalStudents can make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of energy.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• making and recording observations to provide evidence that energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat.
• making and recording observation to provide evidence that energy has been transferred from place to place.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• describing the motion and collision of objects before and after an interaction.
• describing the relative present of sound, light, or heat before and after an interaction.
• describing the presence of electric currents flowing through wires causally linking one for of energy output to another form of energy output.
• describing that energy can be transferred from place to place by:
  • moving objects
  • sound
  • light
  • heat
  • electric currents

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of energy.

Learning Targets - Waves and Energy Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Use evidence (e.g. measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Energy can be moved from place to place by moving objects or through sound, light, heat and temperature change, and magnetic effects.

Cross Cutting Concept
Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.PS3.B.2

Learning GoalStudents can apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of energy.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• designing a solution to a given problem that converts energy from one form to another.
• testing the device and using the results of the test to address problems in the design or improve its functioning.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• designing a solution to a given problem with guidance and support that converts energy from one form to another.
• describing the initial and final forms of energy.
• identifying the device by which the energy will be transformed.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of energy.

Learning Targets - Waves and Energy Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Apply scientific ideas to solve design problems.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
 Energy can be transferred from place to place by electric currents, which can then be used locally to produce motion, sound, heat or light. The currents may have been produced to begin with transforming the energy of motion into electrical energy.

Cross Cutting Concept
Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.PS3.C.1

Learning GoalStudents can use models to explain that simple machines change the amount of effort and/or direction of force.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of simple machines.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• using 3 or more models to explain how the amount of effort and/or direction of forces is changed with a simple machine.
• describing the relationship between the amount of effort and the direction of force when using a simple machine.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• using 1-2 models to explain how the amount of effort and/or direction of forces is changed with a simple machine.
• describing the effort, force, and movement of simple machines.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of simple machines.

Learning Targets - Waves and Energy Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Develop a model using an analogy, example, or abstract representation to describe a scientific principle.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
A simple machine can change the amount of force or distance necessary to do work.

Cross Cutting Concept
A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 1.ESS2.D.1

Learning Goal
Students can identify patterns indicating relationships between observed weather data and weather phenomena (e.g., temperature and types of precipitation, clouds and amounts of precipitation)

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of weather and climate.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• identifying patterns showing the relationship between observed weather data and weather phenomena.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• identifying the signs that different weather is going to happen.
• describing typical attributes of weather.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of weather and climate.

Learning Targets - Weather Unit

Science and Engineering Practices

• Make observations and collect data about local weather conditions (e.g., temperature, types of precipitation, amount of precipitation, clouds, sun, wind). 
• Record weather information using pictures, drawings, and/or writings of observations. 
• Use observations to identify patterns and/or relationships of weather phenomena. 
• Use information from observations to construct an evidence-based account for weather phenomena. 
• Read grade-appropriate texts and/or use media to obtain scientific and/or technical information 
• Determine patterns in and/or evidence about the natural and designed world(s).

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature at a particular time. 
• Temperature varies during the day (e.g., cooler, warmer, hotter, colder). 
• Types of precipitation (e.g., rain, snow, sleet, hail)  Relationships between weather conditions (e.g., precipitation and clouds, temperature, type of precipitation) 
• People measure weather conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns and relationships over time.

Cross Cutting Concept
Weather events have causes that generate observable patterns (e.g., cold temperature cause snow).

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 3.ESS3.B.1

Learning Goal
Students can make a claim about the merit of a design solution that reduces the impacts of a weather-related hazard.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of weather and climate.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• evaluating the evidence to determine how the proposed solution addresses the problem, including the impact of the weather-related hazard after the design solution have been implemented.
• evaluating the merits of a given solution in reducing the impact of a weather-related hazard.
• evaluating the benefits and risks a given solution poses when responding to the societal demand to reduce the impact of the hazard.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• identifying weather related hazards.
• identifying problems caused by weather related hazards.
• describing with guidance and support how a proposed solution addresses the problem.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of weather and climate.

Learning Targets - Weather Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem by citing relevant evidence about how it meets the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts.

Cross Cutting Concept
Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 3.ESS2.D.2

Learning Goal
Students can obtain and combine information to describe climates in different regions of the world.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of weather and climate.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• combining obtained information to provide evidence about the climate patterns in a region that can be used to make predictions about typical weather conditions in that region.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• describing the difference between weather and climate.
• collecting information about the climate of a region of the world.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of weather and climate.

Learning Targets - Weather Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Obtain and combine information from books and other reliable media to explain phenomena (observable events).

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Climate describes a range of an area's typical weather conditions and the extent to which those conditions vary over years.

Cross Cutting Concept
Patterns of change can be used to make predictions.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 3.ESS2.D.1

Learning Goal
Students can represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of weather and climate.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• organizing and representing given data by season using tables, pictographs, and/or bar graphs including weather condition data from the same area across multiple seasons and weather conditions data from different areas.
• using patterns of weather conditions in different seasons and different areas to predict the typical weather conditions expected during a particular season in different areas.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• organizing and representing given data with guidance and support by season using tables, pictographs, and/or bar graphs.
• identifying and describing weather conditions across different seasons and in different areas.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of weather and climate.

Learning Targets - Weather Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Represent data in tables and various graphical displays (e.g., bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs) to reveal patterns that indicate relationships.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
 Scientists record patterns of the weather across different times and areas so they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen next.

Cross Cutting Concept
Patterns of change can be used to make predictions.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.ESS1.C.1

Learning Goal
Students can identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• using reasoning to connect the evidence to support the explanation that specific rock layers in the same location show specific fossil patterns.
• using reasoning to connect the evidence to support the explanation that since lower layers were formed first then covered up by upper layers, this pattern indicates that the landscape of the area was transformed onto the landscape indicated by the upper layer.
• using reasoning to connect the evidence to support the explanation that irregularities in the patterns of rock layers indicate disruptions due to Earth forces.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• identifying different rock layers found in an area.
• identifying the order of rock layers.
• identifying the presence of particular fossils.
• identifying the occurrence of events due to Earth forces.
• describing how rock layers are formed.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

Learning Targets - Our Dynamic Earth Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Identify the evidence that supports particular points in an explanation.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due to Earth forces such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types indicate the order in which rock layers were formed.

Cross Cutting Concept

• Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.
• For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.ESS2.A.1

Learning Goa
Students can make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, wind, or vegetation.

Proficiency Scale

4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• making and recording observations to provide evidence on how weathering breaks rocks, soil, and sediments into smaller pieces and moves them around.
• identifying the cause and effect relationships between weathering or erosion, and Earth materials.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• describing the kind of weathering or erosion to which the Earth material is exposed.
• identifying a variety of forces that break down rocks, soil and sediments.
• defining weathering and erosion and describing the similarities and differences between them.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

Learning Targets - Our Dynamic Earth Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence for the explanation of a pattern within a phenomenon.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
Rainfall helps to shape the land and affects the types of living things found in a region. Water, ice, wind, living organisms, and gravity break rocks, soils, and sediments into smaller particles and move them around.

Cross Cutting Concept
Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.ESS2.B.1

Learning Goa
Students can analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features.

Proficiency Scale

4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• using maps to identify areas of the Earth where it can be predicted that features such as mountain chains, deep ocean trenches, volcanoes, and earthquake regions can occur.
• describing that Earth features occur in patterns that reflect information about how they are formed or occur.

2: Student demonstrates he/she is nearing proficiency by:

• recognizing that there are areas of the earth that have common patterns such as mountain chains, deep ocean trenches, volcanoes, and earthquake regions.
•  identify the location of Earth features, including the locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, earthquakes, and volcanoes.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

Learning Targets - Our Dynamic Earth Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Analyze and interpret data to make sense of phenomena using logical reasoning.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
The locations of mountain ranges, deep ocean trenches, ocean floor structures, earthquakes, and volcanoes occur in patterns. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur in bands that are often along the boundaries between continents and oceans. Major mountain chains form inside continents or near their edges. Maps can help locate the different land and water features of Earth.

Cross Cutting Concept
Patterns can be used as evidence to support an explanation.

High Priority Standards (Missouri Learning Standards, National, CREDE, etc.)

Missouri Learning Goal 4.ESS3.A.1

Learning Goa
Students who demonstrate understanding can generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.

Proficiency Scale
4: Student demonstrates advanced application and understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

3: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• designing at least two solutions that reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
• describing and using cause and effect relationships between the Earth’s processes and its observed effect.

2: Student demonstrates mastery with the learning goal as evidenced by:

• designing at least two solutions that reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
• describing and using cause and effect relationships between the Earth’s processes and its observed effect.

1: Student demonstrates limited understanding of Earth’s systems and processes that shape the Earth.

Learning Targets - Our Dynamic Earth Unit

Science and Engineering Practices
Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design solution.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
A variety of hazards result from natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes). Humans cannot eliminate the hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts.

Cross Cutting Concept
Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain changes.