4th grade Science
17 units matched to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
Focus areas
- Mixtures, conservation of matter, energy, waves and circuits
- Seasons, Moon phases and the water cycle
- Weathering, weather and climate, and energy resources
- Food webs, plant structures and inherited traits
Units
Unit 1
Particles & Mass
Solids, liquids and gases at the particle level, how temperature changes particle speed, and conservation of mass (melting or dissolving doesn't change the total mass), with some adding of grams.
TEKS student expectation: 4.6(A); 4.6(C) · measuring mass and temperature, and that matter is conserved
Unit 2
Mixtures & Solutions
Telling pure substances from mixtures, mechanical mixtures from solutions, solutes and solvents, comparing concentration, and choosing separation methods like filtering, evaporation, magnets and distillation.
TEKS student expectation: 4.6(B) · comparing mixtures and solutions of solids and liquids in liquids
Unit 3
Thermal Energy
Where heat comes from (the sun, fire, friction, food), how heat moves from warmer things to cooler things, and which materials are conductors or insulators, including reading simple experiment graphs.
TEKS student expectation: 4.8(B) · conductors and insulators of thermal energy
Unit 4
Gravity & Magnets
Gravity pulls objects toward Earth. Magnets have a north and south pole; like poles repel and unlike poles attract. Children learn which materials are magnetic and that non-contact forces get weaker with distance.
TEKS student expectation: 4.7 · gravity and magnetism as forces that act at a distance
Unit 5
Energy, Speed & Collisions
Practices how an object's speed relates to its energy, what happens to energy when objects collide, and devices that change energy from one form to another.
TEKS student expectation: 4.8(A) · energy transferred by objects in motion and in collisions
Unit 6
Waves & Codes
Practices how waves have amplitude and wavelength and can make objects move, and how patterns like codes, flashes and digital signals carry information.
TEKS student expectation: 4.8(A) · energy carried by waves
Unit 7
Sound
Vibrations and sound waves, pitch and volume, how sound travels through different materials but not through empty space, echoes and absorbing sound, how we hear, and how noise and sound devices affect people and animals.
TEKS student expectation: 4.8(A) · sound as vibrations that transfer energy
Unit 8
Circuits
Conductors and insulators, what each part of a circuit does, and how series and parallel circuits behave and where each is used.
TEKS student expectation: 4.8(B); 4.8(C) · electrical conductors and insulators, and closed circuits that make light and heat
Unit 9
Water World
The water cycle, where our water comes from, and simple ways to save water and keep rivers clean.
TEKS student expectation: 4.10(A) · the water cycle, powered by the Sun
Unit 10
Energy from the Sun
Practices how plants get the materials they need for growth mostly from air and water, and how the energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun.
TEKS student expectation: 4.12(A) · producers making food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide
Unit 11
Traits & Variation
Practices how plants and animals inherit traits from their parents, how traits vary within a family, and how the environment can change traits like size or health.
TEKS student expectation: 4.13(B) · inherited and acquired traits
Unit 12
Built to Survive: Plants
Practices how the structures and functions of plants help them survive in their environment: waxy leaves and spines that save water, deep or wide roots, thick stems that store water, and leaves shaped for sun or shade, with Texas plants such as prickly pear, mesquite, live oak and bald cypress.
TEKS student expectation: 4.13(A) · plant structures and functions that help plants survive in their environment
Unit 13
Seasons & Moon Phases
Practices reading data to find and predict patterns in the seasons (temperature and hours of daylight through the year) and in the Moon's appearance as it goes through its phases about every month.
TEKS student expectation: 4.9(A); 4.9(B) · patterns of change in the seasons and in the Moon's appearance
Unit 14
Weather or Climate?
Practices telling weather (conditions on one day) from climate (the usual pattern over many years), using Texas examples: the dry, sunny climate of far West Texas and the humid climate of the Gulf Coast.
TEKS student expectation: 4.10(C) · telling weather from climate
Unit 15
Texas Energy Resources
Practices renewable and nonrenewable resources and their advantages and disadvantages, why energy matters to modern life, how conservation and recycling help, and the properties of rocks (pores and spaces) that let oil, gas and groundwater be stored underground. Uses Texas examples such as West Texas wind farms and oil and gas fields.
TEKS student expectation: 4.11(A); 4.11(B); 4.11(C) · renewable and nonrenewable resources, why energy matters, and the rocks that store oil, gas and water
Unit 16
Weathering, Erosion & Fossils
Practices slow changes to Earth's surface from weathering, erosion and deposition by water, wind and ice, and what rock layers and fossils (including common Texas fossils such as sea shells in limestone) say about past environments.
TEKS student expectation: 4.10(B); 4.12(C) · weathering, erosion and deposition, and past environments shown by fossils
Unit 17
Food Webs & Decomposers
Practices how matter cycles and energy flows through food webs, including the roles of the Sun, producers, consumers and decomposers, with Texas examples such as prairie grasses, jackrabbits and coyotes.
TEKS student expectation: 4.12(B) · matter cycling and energy flow through food webs, including producers, consumers and decomposers
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