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

Students identify a question about the natural world or a problem that could be fixed with a design, then check whether that question or problem can actually be tested or built.

Students build or draw models, such as a diagram of a water cycle or a simple bridge design, to show how something works. The model helps explain an idea that's hard to see or describe in words alone.

Students plan a test, collect real data, and use what they find to check whether their idea holds up.

Students look at data from experiments or investigations and describe what it shows. They spot patterns, like temperatures rising over time or one material always outperforming another.

Students use numbers, measurements, and simple calculations to back up what they notice in science. Instead of just describing what happened, they show it with data.

Students take what they observed or measured and write an explanation for why it happened, backing it up with evidence from their investigation.

Students look at two different explanations or solutions, weigh the evidence behind each, and make a case for which one holds up better.

Students read science articles or experiment results, decide what the information means, and explain their findings clearly to others.

Students examine what everyday materials are made of and why they behave the way they do. They look at how tiny particles interact to explain things like melting, dissolving, and mixing.

Students test how pushes and pulls change the speed or direction of objects. They learn why things stay still or keep moving, and what it takes to stop them.

Students explore how energy moves and changes, such as when sunlight warms a surface or a moving ball hits another object. They learn that energy doesn't disappear; it just shifts from one form to another.

Students study how waves (like sound and light) move energy from one place to another. They also explore how waves carry information, the way a phone signal or radio broadcast travels through the air.

Students examine how living things are built and how they work, from the tiny cells inside them to the larger systems those cells form, like a heart or a root.

Students trace how food, water, and nutrients move through an ecosystem, from plants to animals to decomposers. They also study how living things in a community depend on and affect each other.

Students study how traits like eye color or height pass from parents to offspring, and why siblings can look similar but not identical. Not every trait copies exactly; small differences show up from one generation to the next.

Students look at how living things are alike and different, then explore why species change over generations. The focus is on what drives those changes over time.

Students learn where Earth fits in the solar system and how the planets move in predictable patterns. They also look at evidence that tells us how Earth itself formed and changed over a very long time.

Students learn how Earth's land, water, air, and living things connect and affect one another. They investigate what happens when these systems interact, like how rain shapes the land or how plants change the soil.

Students explore how things people do, like building roads or burning fuel, change the land, air, and water around them. They also look at how earthquakes, floods, and storms disrupt daily life and communities.

Students identify a problem, sketch or build possible solutions, then test and improve their design until it works better. This is the core loop engineers use every time they build something new.

Engineers solve problems using tools and materials that come from society's needs, and those solutions shape how people live. Students explore how a new invention can change daily life and how everyday problems push engineers to build something new.