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Your fourth grade science lessons should inspire your children to love science! The topics taught become a launchpad for your child’s curiosity, turning them into investigators and problem-solvers.

Scientific inquiry and investigation

Engineering & technology

Changes in matter and energy

Solar System & Universe

Living things, life cycles, and food webs

Fourth graders explore three different branches of science this year: physical science, life science, and earth & space science. When homeschooling, you have the freedom to focus on the concepts that you choose, but some of the most common topics covered in fourth grade science curriculum are:

What Science Should a 4th Grade Know?

 4th Grade Science Goals/Objective

By the end of their fourth grade year, your student should be much more than an observer of science–he/she should be an active participant. An effective 4th grade science curriculum builds on the knowledge your student has gained in the previous school years to focus on deeper understanding of scientific concepts. It also connects those concepts to other areas of the curriculum such as math and literacy.

Some of the specific goals to reach for in fourth grade science include:

Representing data in tables and graphical displays.

Formulate predictions in the realm of science based on observed cause and effect relationships.

Participate in scientific activities and learning practices, using scientific language and tools.

Comparing and contrasting attributes of things with a focus on communicating the similarities and differences.

Exploring the components of various systems and explaining the relationships between them.

Fourth grade science students are becoming more sophisticated in their ability to explain and describe scientific concepts. They will speculate about the observations they make. They will also connect the topics they are learning about to their own experiences.

When choosing your ideal fourth grade science program, you will want to make sure that your curriculum uses hands-on, student-centered, and inquiry-based approaches to keep your student engaged and motivated to learn.

 4th Grade Science Scope & Sequence

  • Chapter 1: “Number Sense”
    Lesson 1: Read Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Compare Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Ordinal Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Count Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Place Value – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Compare with Place Value – 2 Activities Lesson 7: Count by Twos and Fives – 2 Activities Lesson 8: Odd and Even Numbers – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Number Sense
  • Chapter 2: “Fractions”
    Lesson 1: Equal and Unequal Parts – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Halves and Fourths – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Thirds – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Equal Fractions – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Fractions
  • Chapter 3: “Operations”
    Lesson 1: Adding and Subtracting – 4 Activities Lesson 2: Place Value – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Equal Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 4: One-digit Addition – 2 Activities Lesson 5: One-digit Subtraction – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Sum of Three Addends – 6 Activities Lesson 7: Two-digit Addition – 6 Activities Lesson 8: Zero as a Placeholder – 2 Activities Lesson 9: Addition and Subtraction Strategies – 7 Activities Lesson 10: One-Digit Word Problems – 2 Activities Lesson 11: Problem Solving Strategies – 2 Activities Lesson 12: Estimation Language – 2 Activities Lesson 13: Estimate – 3 Activities Chapter Test: Operations
  • Chapter 4: “Money”
    Lesson 1: Coin Values – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Count Money – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Model Money Amounts – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Add and Subtract Money – 3 Activities Chapter Test: Money
  • Chapter 5: “Patterns”
    Lesson 1: Sort Using One Attribute – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Sort Using Two Attributes – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Rules for Sorting – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Build Patterns – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Classify Patterns – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Picture and Number Patterns – 2 Activities Lesson 7: Repeating and Growing Patterns – 2 Activities Lesson 8: Patterns on a Hundreds Chart – 2 Activities Lesson 9: Skip Counting – 2 Activities Lesson 10: Extend Number Patterns – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Patterns
  • Chapter 6: “Algebra”
    Lesson 1: Order Property – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Numbers – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Fact Families – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Number Sentences – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Equal and Unequal – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Greater Than and Less Than – 2 Activities Lesson 7: Solve for Unknown Numbers – 3 Activities Chapter Test: Algebra
  • Chapter 7: “Shapes”
    Lesson 1: Straight and Curved Lines – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Open and Closed Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Plane and Solid Shapes – 4 Activities Lesson 4: Special Plane Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Attributes of Plane Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Name Solid Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 7: Attributes of Solid Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 8: Congruent Shapes – 3 Activities Chapter Test: Shapes
  • Chapter 8: “Positions”
    Lesson 1: Positions of Objects – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Direction Words – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Position Words – 2 Activities Lesson 4: The Number Line – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Positions
  • Chapter 9: “Using Shapes”
    Lesson 1: Slides and Turns – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Congruent Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Symmetry – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Using Shapes
  • Chapter 10: “Spatial Sense”
    Lesson 1: Build Shapes – 6 Activities Lesson 2: Plane and Solid Shapes – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Perimeter and Area – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Shapes Around Us – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Pattern Blocks – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Spatial Sense
  • Chapter 11: “Time”
    Lesson 1: Calendar – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Passage of Time – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Tools for Telling Time – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Time to the Hour and Half-hour – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Time to the Hour and Half-hour – 2 Activities Lesson 6: Elapsed Time – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Time
  • Chapter 12: “Length”
    Lesson 1: Non-standard Units – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Compare Lengths – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Customary Units – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Tools and Units – 2 Activities Lesson 5: Metric Units – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Length
  • Chapter 13: “Weight”
    Lesson 1: Non-standard Units – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Compare Weights – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Customary Units – 3 Activities Lesson 4: Metric Units – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Weight
  • Chapter 14: “Capacity”
    Lesson 1: Non-standard Units – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Compare Capacity – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Customary Units – 2 Activities Lesson 4: Metric Units – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Capacity
  • Chapter 15: “Temperature”
    Lesson 1: Measure Temperature – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Compare Temperature – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Temperature
  • Chapter 16: “Graphing”
    Lesson 1: Tally Table – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Pictographs – 2 Activities Lesson 3: Bar Graphs – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Graphing
  • Chapter 17: “Using Data”
    Lesson 1: Compare Data – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Make Predictions – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Using Data
  • Chapter 18: “Probability”
    Lesson 1: Certain or Impossible – 2 Activities Lesson 2: Most and Least Likely – 2 Activities Chapter Test: Probability
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