Science, Technology & Engineering (Grade 4)

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Science instruction in Norfolk Public Schools emphasizes critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving through hands-on inquiry and design. Students are encouraged to support their ideas with evidence, refine models, and connect science to real-world issues.

In Fourth Grade, students study waves and information transfer, energy and motion, and patterns of the Earth’s features such as erosion and weathering. They also explore life science topics such as internal and external structures that support survival, growth, and behavior. Engineering projects challenge them to design, build, and improve solutions to practical problems.

Core Resources

Foss Science:

The founding principle of the FOSS program was to enlist students not as passive recipients of information but as active investigators of phenomena. This approach engages and advances learners of all languages and cultures, taking advantage of prior experiences so all students can reason scientifically—a goal that has only gained relevance with time.

Mystery Science:

Children are naturally curious. Elementary school years are the time to nurture that curiosity. These are the years when children form habits of thinking that will live with them for the rest of their lives. This is when they form their view of the world. This is the time to teach children how to think critically, how to solve problems. This is the opportunity to nurture each child’s burning curiosity, guide them as they explore their world, and ensure that they develop the most important skill of all: the ability to figure things out for themselves

Units by Term

To enable the sharing of resources, all classes do not do the same units at the same time. The following units are taught throughout the year.

Life Science:

Animal and Plant Adaptations

Animal Adaptations
Learned Behavior & Instinct
Plant Adaptation

Earth and Space Science and Technology & Engineering:

Earth's Features and Processes

Volcanoes & Patterns of Earth's Features
Volcanoes & Rock Cycles
Weathering & Erosion
Sedimentary Rock & Fossils
Erosion, Natural Hazards, & Engineering

Physical Science:

Energy and Energy Transfer

Speed and Energy
Gravitational Energy, Speed, and Collisions
Collisions & Energy Transfer
Energy Transfer & Engineering

Electricity, Light, and Heat

Renewable Energy and Natural Resources
Energy Transfer & Engineering
Heat Energy and Energy Transfer

Report Card Standards

Competency in these report card standards are the end-of-year goals.

Scientific Skills and Practices

Generates questions that can be tested in a classroom investigation; designs, and carries out investigations to answer a question
Uses evidence to draw conclusions and support scientific claims
Communicates observations and information clearly through writing, drawing, and discussion

Earth and Space Sciences

Gives examples of how the surface of the Earth changes due to processes such as mountain building, erosion, weathering, and deposition

Life Science

Construct an argument that animals and plants have internal and external structures that support their survival, growth, and behavior.

Physical Science

Recognizes that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents

Technology & Engineering

Applies the principles of engineering/design process (ask, imagine, plan, create, improve) to solve a problem