• District
  • High School
  • Middle School
  • Elementary School
  • Athletics
  • The Arts
  • Technology
Core Content and Skills
Science 4
2007-2008
BOE Approved
 

Organizing Ourselves for Doing Science
 Content 
 Skills 
Knowledge of Scientists and what they do


 
Identify behaviors that promote inquiry and collaboration


Discuss, describe and record what science means to them in their science journals


List and/or demonstrate at least five safety procedures


 
Observation


 
Make scientific observations using their senses


Describe their observation in written and/or picture form


 
Procedures


 
Follow procedures to observe and describe findings and results


Modify procedures to be clearer and be more precise


Describe their observations in written and/or picture form


Share their findings with others and actively seek their interpretations and ideas


 
Predictions


 
Make predictions and revise them if necessary


Conduct and investigation using steps as outlined by the Scientific Method and/or Lab Format(i.e. question, prediction, materials, procedure, results, conclusion).


Record observations


Write a conclusion


 
Measurement


 
Measure in metric units


Record and state the measured amount and the unit used for measuring an object


Using metric units, demonstrate how to correctly use a thermometer to measure temperature; a balance scale to measure mass (weight); a graduated cylinder to measure volume; and a ruler to do linear measurements


 
Investigation


 
Conduct an investigation using the steps of the scientific method


Record their results and observations using a descriptive narrative as well as a bar graph


Write a conclusion


Determine average of data


 
 
Organizing Ourselves for Doing Science ( continued)
 Content 
 Skills 
 
 
 
Digestion, Nutrients, Food Chain and Food Webs
 Content 
 Skills 
Food Chains and Food Webs


Digestion and the Food Pyramid


 
Define and diagram a food chain

Define and diagram a food pyramid

Define and create a food web

Identify living things that are producers

Classify animals according to the type of food they eat. (i.e. herbivores, carnivores, omnivores

Identify and locate the bones of prey

Observe and construct the skeletal structure of some prey of the owl

Describe the food habits of a predator and how it digests food

Make connections of what they observed to the food chain, food pyramid and food web

Explain that the digestive tract is actually one long food tube where food passes through our body

Describe the path that food travels through the digestive tract

Identify the major organs of the digestive tract as the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum

Explain the role of the teeth in the process of digestion

Identify four major types of teeth, their location in the mouth, and their functions in digestion

Determine tht digestion begins in the mouth

Distinguish the difference between mechanical digestion and chemical digestion

Conclude that saliva in the mouth changes starch to sugar

 
 
Digestion, Nutrients, Food Chain and Food Webs
 Content 
 Skills 
 
 
 
Digestion, Nutrients, Food Chain and Food Webs
 Content 
 Skills 
 
 
 
Simple Machines
 Content 
 Skills 
Simple Machines
Levers
Wedges
Wheel & axle
Pulley
Gears


 
Identify the fulcrum, load and effort of a lever.

Construct a lever and demonstrate how it makes work easier

Describe that to lift a heavy weight should be closer to the fulcrum

Recognize that a lever does not mean you do less work, but rather that it makes it easier to move an object by applying less force

Describe how a wedge is used to make work easier

Give examples of 5 wedges used in everyday life

Identify a wheel and axle as a simple machine

Identify wheels and axles that are used in our everyday lives

Demonstrate how wheels and axles make work easier

Recognize that a pulley is a simple machine that facilitates the lifting of an object

Draw and label the parts of a pulley

Describe how the size of a large gear affects the number of turns of a smaller gear

Describe how common tools make use of gears

Describe the effect of the direction of one gear compared to another

Identify and list the simple machines and tools used to help early settlers meet their daily needs

Identify and label the simple machines found in a grist mill

 
 
Organization of the Earth
 Content 
 Skills 
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Erosion
Types of Rocks
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic



 
Compare the apple model to what scientists believe are the main layers of Earth

Create a clay model of the main labers of Earth

research, identify and describe the Earth's layers and its properties

identify reasons why it is believed that the continents were once joined together as one big super continent

understand that the Earth's crust is broken into moving plates that fit together like puzzle pieces

explain the theory of plate tectonics

relate earthquakes, volcanoes and mountains to movement of the Earth's plates

describe the Earth's outer layer, the crust, is broken into pieces called plates

demonstrate the three types of plate movement using their hands as models

demonstrate and describe the causes and effects of an earthquake

identify that faults are where earthquakes occur

relate some of the negative impacts of earthquakes on humans and other living things

identify that mountains form in two ways by folding and faulting

compare the different forces that cause mountains to form

describe the difference between a folded mountain and a fault-block mountain

recreate models of folded and fault-block mountains and differentiate between them

identify that mountains can be formed by doming and volcanic action

describe the differences between a domed mountain and a volcanic mountain

demonstrate through modeling how domed mountains and volcanic mountains are formed

 
 
 
Putnam Valley Central School District, 146 Peekskill Hollow Road, Putnam Valley, NY 10579
Phone (845) 528-8143 Fax (845) 528-0274