Grade 4 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 science in the Saskatchewan Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Life Science: Habitats and Communities (HC4.1–HC4.3): Investigate the interdependence of plants and animals, including humans, within habitats and communities. Analyze the structures and behaviours of plants and animals that enable them to exist in various habitats. Assess the effects of natural and human activities on habitats and communities, and propose actions to maintain or…
- Physical Science: Light (LI4.1–LI4.3): Investigate the characteristics and physical properties of natural and artificial sources of light in the… Analyze how light interacts with different objects and materials to create phenomena such as shadows, reflection… Assess personal, societal, and environmental impacts of light-related technological innovations including optical…
- Physical Science: Sound (SO4.1–SO4.3): Explore natural and artificial sources of sound in the environment and how those sounds are detected by humans and… Draw conclusions about the characteristics and physical properties of sound, including pitch and loudness, based… Assess personal, societal, and environmental impacts of sound-related technologies.
- Earth and Space Science: Rocks, Minerals, and Erosion (RM4.1–RM4.3): Investigate physical properties of rocks and minerals, including those found in the local environment. Assess how human uses of rocks and minerals impact self, society, and the environment. Analyze how weathering, erosion, and fossils provide evidence to support human understanding of the formation of…
Easy ways to practise science at home
- Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks.
- Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month.
- Ask “What do you think will happen?” and then test it.
- Visit a park, beach or creek and look for living things and their habitats.
What each unit covers
Habitats & Communities
Habitats as places that meet the needs of living things, communities of interacting species, why habitats have limits, how species depend on each other, and how human actions can help or harm.
Food Chains & Webs
Producers, consumers and decomposers, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, how energy moves along a food chain, and why a food web is a more complete picture.
Light
Natural and artificial light, things that make light and things that reflect it, shadows, transparent, translucent and opaque materials, mirrors, refraction, and how light technology affects people and wildlife.
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.
Rocks, Minerals & Mining
Mineral properties (hardness, lustre, streak), igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, the Canadian Shield, and how Saskatchewan's potash, uranium and gold mining helps and affects people and the land.
Erosion & Fossils
Weathering and erosion by water, wind, ice and glaciers, deposition, how fossils form, the T. rex Scotty from Eastend, and how fossils are evidence of Earth's long history.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Meeting is the goal for every outcome. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exemplary
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Saskatchewan report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 4 child with science?
Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks. Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 4 science in Saskatchewan?
The Saskatchewan Curriculum Grade 4 science units include habitats & communities, food chains & webs, light, sound, rocks, minerals & mining, erosion & fossils.
Free printable Grade 4 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.