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

Students learn to tell the difference between a question science can test and a problem engineering can fix. They practice shaping their curiosity into something that can actually be investigated or built.

Students build or draw a model to show how something in nature works or how a designed object is put together. The model helps explain what they observe or predict what might happen next.

Students plan simple experiments, collect data, and check whether their results support their original idea. This is how scientists test whether something they think is true actually holds up.

Students look at data from an experiment, spot patterns in the numbers or results, and explain what those patterns mean.

Students use numbers, measurements, and simple calculations to back up their science ideas. Instead of just describing what they observed, they show it with data.

Students take what they observed or measured and use it to explain why something happened or how a problem could be solved. The explanation has to connect back to real evidence, not just a guess.

Students look at two possible explanations or solutions, then use evidence to argue which one holds up better. Think of it as a science debate backed by data, not opinion.

Students read science articles or diagrams, decide what information matters, and explain their findings in writing or conversation using facts from what they read.

Students examine what everyday materials are made of and explore how tiny particles interact to explain why things melt, dissolve, or change state.

Students test how pushes and pulls change the speed or direction of objects, and explore why some things stay still while others move. The focus is on patterns that show up every time, not one-off results.

Students explore how energy moves from one place to another and changes form, like heat turning into light or motion. They also learn that energy is never lost, just shifted somewhere new.

Students explore how waves (like sound and light) carry energy and move information from one place to another. They investigate real examples, such as how a phone signal or a musical note travels.

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 lung.

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

Students look at how traits like eye color or height get passed from parents to offspring, and why siblings can look similar but not identical.

Students look at how different living things share basic traits while also being surprisingly varied, then explore why those differences matter for survival over time.

Students learn where Earth sits in the solar system and study patterns like the seasons and day-and-night cycle. They also look at clues in rocks and landforms that show how Earth has changed over a very long time.

Students study how Earth's land, water, air, and living things connect and affect each other. They look at what happens when one part changes, like how rainfall shapes the land or how plants slow erosion.

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

Students identify a real problem, come up with ideas to fix it, then test their designs and improve them based on what they learn.

Students explore how new tools and inventions change daily life, and how people's needs shape what engineers build next.