Browse All Standards

4th Grade

Earth and Human Activity

 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations
 

 

Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans. 4-ESS3-2

Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity.

Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

Science and Engineering Practices

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 builds on K–2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.

Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design solution. (4-ESS3-2)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ESS3.B:  Natural Hazards

A variety of natural hazards result from natural processes. Humans cannot eliminate natural hazards but can take steps to reduce their impacts. (4-ESS3-2)

ETS1.B:  Developing Possible Solutions

Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions. (secondary to 4-ESS3-2)

Crosscutting Concepts

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change. (4-ESS3-2)

Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science

Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World

Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to increase their benefits, to decrease known risks, and to meet societal demands. (4-ESS3-2)

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy
  • RI.4.1 - Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. (4-ESS3-2)
  • RI.4.9 - Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. (4-ESS3-2)
Mathematics
  • 4.OA.A.1 - Interpret a multiplication equation as a comparison, e.g., interpret 35 = 5 x 7 as a statement that 35 is 5 times as many as 7 and 7 times as many as 5. Represent verbal statements of multiplicative comparisons as multiplication equations. (4-ESS3-2)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (4-ESS3-2)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (4-ESS3-2)