Standards are the floor. Mastery and understanding are the goal.

Explore how each subject becomes a coherent sequence of knowledge, reasoning, practice, and transfer—not a disconnected checklist.

Grade 4 Science

19 curriculum outcomes with explicit teaching progressions

Select a record to inspect its progression

Energy · 4-PS3-1

Relate speed to the energy of a moving object

Independently use evidence to construct an explanation that the faster an object moves, the more energy it possesses, without using quantitative measures of speed or a precise definition of energy. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can design an investigation, such as rolling a ball down ramps of different heights, to produce comparable evidence of how a moving object's speed affects the objects it collides with.
  2. 2I can collect and organize evidence, such as the distance a block is pushed, showing that a faster-moving object produces a greater effect than the same object moving slower.
  3. 3I can use the collected evidence to construct an explanation that a faster-moving object possesses more energy than the same object moving more slowly.
Energy · 4-PS3-2

Observe evidence of energy transfer by sound, light, heat, and electric currents

Independently make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents, without taking quantitative measurements of energy. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can make observations, such as feeling vibration from a speaker or warmth near a heat source, that provide evidence energy is transferred by sound and by heat.
  2. 2I can make observations, such as a dark object warming in sunlight, that provide evidence light transfers energy from place to place.
  3. 3I can make observations of a simple circuit, such as a battery lighting a bulb or turning a motor, that provide evidence an electric current transfers energy to produce light, heat, sound, or motion.
Energy · 4-PS3-3

Predict energy changes in collisions

Independently ask questions and predict the outcomes of collisions between objects, reasoning about how a collision changes each object's speed and therefore its energy, with emphasis on the change in energy rather than on the forces involved. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can ask a testable question about how the speed of a moving object before a collision might affect what happens to the object it collides with.
  2. 2I can predict how the energy of two colliding objects will change based on their speeds before the collision.
  3. 3I can carry out a collision investigation to test a prediction and revise reasoning about how the objects' speeds and energy changed.
Energy · 4-PS3-4

Design a device that converts energy from one form to another

Independently apply scientific ideas about energy transfer to design, test, and refine a device, such as a circuit that converts electrical energy to motion, light, or sound, or a passive solar heater that converts light to heat, within given constraints on materials, cost, or time. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify the form of stored energy a device will start with and the form of energy, such as motion, light, sound, or heat, it must convert that energy into, given the design's criteria and constraints.
  2. 2I can build a prototype device, such as a simple circuit or solar heater, and test whether it converts energy from one form to another as intended.
  3. 3I can use evidence from testing to refine a device's design so it converts energy more effectively within its materials, cost, or time constraints.
Waves Information · 4-PS4-1

Model wave patterns using amplitude and wavelength

Independently develop a model of waves, such as a diagram, analogy, or physical model using wire, that describes wave patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and shows that waves can cause objects to move, without including interference effects, electromagnetic waves, non-periodic waves, or quantitative measurements. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify the amplitude and wavelength of a wave pattern shown in a diagram or physical model, such as a wire or rope wave.
  2. 2I can develop a model showing that a point on a wave, such as a floating object on water, moves up and down in place as a wave passes, without traveling with the wave.
  3. 3I can use a wave model to describe how a wave's motion can cause an object, such as a floating cork, to move as the wave passes.
Waves Information · 4-PS4-2

Model how reflected light allows objects to be seen

Independently develop a model, such as a labeled diagram with light-ray arrows, to describe that objects are seen when light reflects off their surface and enters the eye, without describing the cellular mechanisms of vision or how the retina works. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can model the path light travels from a light source to the surface of an object.
  2. 2I can model that light reflects off the surface of an object in many directions when it strikes the object.
  3. 3I can complete a model showing reflected light traveling from an object into the eye, and explain that this is what allows the object to be seen.
Waves Information · 4-PS4-3

Compare pattern-based solutions for transferring information

Independently generate and compare multiple solutions, such as coded drumbeats, a grid of 1s and 0s representing a picture, or morse code, that use patterns to transmit information from one place to another. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can design a pattern, such as a sequence of sound pulses or a grid of symbols, that encodes a simple piece of information using an agreed-upon code.
  2. 2I can send and decode a designed pattern to test whether it accurately transfers the intended information to a receiver.
  3. 3I can compare multiple pattern-based solutions for transferring information based on how accurately and reliably each transfers the intended message.
Organisms · 4-LS1-1

Argue that structures function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction

Independently construct an argument, using examples such as thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, hearts, stomachs, lungs, brains, and skin, that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, or reproduction, limited to macroscopic structures. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify an internal or external structure of a plant or animal and state the specific function it serves for survival, growth, behavior, or reproduction.
  2. 2I can gather evidence, such as observations or research, showing how a specific structure helps a plant or animal survive, grow, behave, or reproduce.
  3. 3I can construct an argument, supported by evidence, that a plant's or animal's structures function to support its survival, growth, behavior, or reproduction.
Organisms · 4-LS1-2

Model how animals sense, process, and respond to information

Independently use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process that information in their brain, and respond to it in different ways, emphasizing the system of information transfer rather than the mechanisms of sensory receptors or memory. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify examples of different sense receptors, such as eyes, ears, or skin, and the specific type of information each one detects.
  2. 2I can develop a model showing sensory information traveling from a sense receptor to the brain for processing.
  3. 3I can complete a model showing that an animal's brain processes sensory information and produces a response, and give examples of different responses to the same type of sensory information.
Earth History · 4-ESS1-1

Use rock layers and fossils as evidence of landscape change

Independently identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers, such as marine shell fossils layered above plant fossils or a canyon's layered walls, to support an explanation for how a landscape changed over time, using relative time rather than specific ages or the mechanisms of rock formation. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify the relative order in which a sequence of rock layers formed, reasoning that older layers are typically found beneath younger ones.
  2. 2I can interpret what a pattern of fossils within different rock layers, such as marine shells above plant fossils, indicates about past conditions in that location.
  3. 3I can use evidence from rock-layer and fossil patterns to construct an explanation for how a landscape, such as a canyon, changed over time.
Earth Systems · 4-ESS2-1

Gather evidence of weathering and erosion

Independently make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion caused by one form, water, ice, wind, or vegetation, by testing a variable such as slope angle, amount of vegetation, wind speed, or water flow. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify one variable, such as slope angle, wind speed, vegetation amount, or water flow, that could affect the rate of weathering or erosion by a single agent.
  2. 2I can make observations or measurements, such as the amount of sediment moved, that provide evidence of weathering or erosion caused by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
  3. 3I can use collected observations or measurements as evidence to describe how the tested variable affected the rate of weathering or erosion.
Earth Systems · 4-ESS2-2

Analyze maps to describe patterns in Earth's features

Independently analyze and interpret data from maps, such as topographic maps of land and ocean floor or maps of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes, to describe patterns in the locations of earth's major features. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can read a map, such as a topographic map or a map of earthquake locations, to identify the pattern in where a specific earth feature occurs.
  2. 2I can compare patterns shown on two or more maps, such as maps of volcanoes and continental boundaries, to identify a relationship between them.
  3. 3I can use evidence analyzed from maps to describe a pattern in the location of one of earth's major features, such as mountain ranges or earthquake zones.
Earth Human Systems · 4-ESS3-1

Describe how energy and fuels come from natural resources and affect the environment

Independently obtain and combine information from multiple sources to describe that energy and fuels, such as wind, water behind dams, sunlight, fossil fuels, and fissile materials, are derived from natural resources that are either renewable or non-renewable, and that using them affects the environment, such as through habitat loss or air pollution. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify examples of renewable natural resources, such as wind, water, and sunlight, and non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels and fissile materials, used for energy.
  2. 2I can obtain and combine information from multiple sources describing how a specific natural resource is used to produce energy or fuel.
  3. 3I can describe, using combined information, an environmental effect that results from using a specific renewable or non-renewable natural resource for energy.
Earth Human Systems · 4-ESS3-2

Compare solutions to reduce impacts of natural hazards

Independently generate and compare multiple solutions, such as earthquake-resistant building designs or improved volcanic monitoring, that could reduce the impacts on humans of a natural earth process, limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify specific ways a natural earth process, such as an earthquake, flood, tsunami, or volcanic eruption, can impact humans.
  2. 2I can generate multiple possible solutions, such as a building design or a monitoring system, that could reduce a natural hazard's impact on humans.
  3. 3I can compare multiple generated solutions to determine which best reduces a natural hazard's impact on humans given the situation's criteria and constraints.
Engineering Design · 3-5-ETS1-1

Define a design problem with criteria and constraints

Independently define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want, specifying the criteria the solution must meet for success and the constraints on materials, time, or cost. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can identify the need or want that a simple design problem is meant to address.
  2. 2I can state specific criteria that a solution to a design problem must meet to be considered successful.
  3. 3I can state the constraints on materials, time, or cost that limit possible solutions to a design problem.
Engineering Design · 3-5-ETS1-2

Compare possible solutions using criteria and constraints

Independently generate multiple possible solutions to a design problem and compare them based on how well each is likely to meet the problem's criteria for success and its constraints on materials, time, or cost. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can generate more than one possible solution to a design problem given its criteria and constraints.
  2. 2I can evaluate how well each possible solution is likely to meet the design problem's criteria for success and its constraints.
  3. 3I can compare multiple evaluated solutions to identify which is likely to best meet the problem's criteria and constraints.
Engineering Design · 3-5-ETS1-3

Plan fair tests to identify a design's failure points

Independently plan and carry out a fair test of a model or prototype in which variables are controlled and possible failure points are considered, in order to identify aspects of the design that can be improved. across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can plan a test of a model or prototype that controls variables so only one factor changes between trials.
  2. 2I can carry out a planned fair test and identify specific points where the model or prototype failed to perform as intended.
  3. 3I can use identified failure points from testing to identify specific aspects of the model or prototype that can be improved.
Computer Science · EEP-CS.4

Model data and program decisions

Independently organize data and create a program that uses variables and conditions to make decisions across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can explicitly teach and model how to organize observations as data with meaningful labels using a concrete computing example.
  2. 2I can apply how to track a changing value with a variable using a traced example or representation.
  3. 3I can independently build and test a conditional decision using varied data in a new computing context and explain the evidence that the solution works.
Ai Literacy · EEP-AI.4

Question and verify generated information

Independently evaluate an ai response for accuracy, missing context, and unsupported claims before using it across representations and contexts.

Component progression

  1. 1I can explicitly teach and model how to separate checkable claims from opinions and suggestions with an age-appropriate ai-use scenario.
  2. 2I can apply how to verify important claims with reliable sources or direct evidence by comparing responsible and irresponsible choices.
  3. 3I can independently mark uncertainty and omit claims that cannot be supported in a new learning context while preserving the learner's own thinking and responsibility.
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