What does a student learn in StateWashington,GradeGrade 4,SubjectScience?

Students explore how energy moves from one object to another and how moving objects carry energy. Then they use what they learned to design and build a real device that changes one kind of energy into another.

Faster-moving objects carry more energy. Students look at real examples, like a rolling ball or a moving car, and use what they observe to explain the connection between speed and energy.

Students watch and record what happens when sound, light, heat, or electricity moves from one place to another. The goal is to show, with real observations, that energy travels.

Students predict what will happen to the energy when two objects crash into each other, then test whether they got it right. They learn that energy moves or changes form when things collide.

Students design and test a simple device that changes one kind of energy into another, like turning movement into sound or light, then revise the design based on what they learn from testing.

Students investigate how energy moves and behaves, including as waves, then design a way to use energy patterns to send a message.

Waves carry energy that can push or pull objects. Students build a model showing how waves vary by height (amplitude) and length, and how those patterns explain what a wave can move.

Students build a diagram showing how light bounces off an object and travels into the eye. This explains why we can only see things when light reaches them.

Students design and compare ways to send information using patterns, like Morse code or light signals, then decide which solution works best.

Students build or draw models of plants and animals to show how body parts work. They explain what each structure does inside and outside the organism, like how roots pull in water or how bones hold a body upright.

Plants and animals have body parts inside and out that help them live and grow. Students look at structures like roots, lungs, or eyes and explain what job each one does.

Animals take in information through their senses, process it in the brain, and react. Students use a model to show how this works, like explaining why a dog's ears perk up at a sound before it turns to look.

Students look at rocks, landforms, and fossils to figure out how Earth's surface has shifted, eroded, or built up over millions of years. Evidence like layered rock or ancient shells tells the story of how a place used to look.

Rock layers and fossils act like a record of Earth's past. Students read patterns in those layers to explain how a landscape, like a canyon or hillside, has changed over millions of years.

Students investigate rocks, landforms, and bodies of water to find patterns in how Earth's surface looks and why it changes over time. Evidence from the natural world, not just a textbook, drives the explanation.

Rocks, soil, and land slowly break apart and shift over time. Students observe and measure how water, wind, ice, or plants wear down and move earth materials, then use what they find as evidence of how land changes.

Reading a map, students look for patterns in where mountains, valleys, volcanoes, and ocean trenches show up. The goal is to notice that these features are not scattered randomly but tend to cluster in the same regions.

Students research how human activity changes the environment, then design solutions that reduce the damage natural events like floods or wildfires cause to people and communities.

Students research where energy comes from, such as sunlight, wind, or oil pulled from the ground, and explain how using those resources changes the environment around us.

Students look at problems caused by earthquakes, floods, or other natural events and compare different solutions for reducing the damage. The goal is to find the best option, not just the first one.

Students identify a real problem, build or draw a model of a possible fix, test it, and use what they find to make it better. The design has to meet specific requirements and stay within set limits.

Students pick a real problem worth solving, then set the rules before building anything: what the solution must do, what materials are allowed, and how much time or money can be spent.

Students come up with more than one solution to a problem, then compare them side by side to see which one best fits the rules and limits they were given.

Students test a model or prototype by changing one thing at a time, watching what breaks or falls short, and using what they learn to make the design better.

Students research a local environmental problem using multiple sources, then work with community members to help find real solutions.

Students research a local environmental issue, then present findings that include more than one source and show how different people in the community see the problem differently.

Students pick a spot on school grounds and collect data to show how buildings, pavement, or other human-made structures affect the surrounding air, water, or wildlife.

Students use science ideas to design solutions to real environmental problems, then think through what those solutions mean for their community and for the land and people of Washington.