MO Science Standards (Grade 4)

Provide evidence to construct an explanation of an energy transformation (e.g. temperature change, light, sound, motion, and magnetic effects).

Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another. [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include electric circuits that convert electrical energy into motion energy of a vehicle, light, or sound; and, a passive solar heater that converts light into heat. Examples of constraints could include the materials, cost, or time to design the device.]

Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Plan and conduct scientific investigations or simulations to provide evidence how natural processes (e.g. weathering and erosion) shape Earth's surfaces.

Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start moving; and, balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all.]

Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on systems of information transfer.]

Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans. [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include designing an earthquake resistant building and improving monitoring of volcanic activity.]

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth's features. [Clarification Statement: Maps can include topographic maps of Earth's land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains, continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.]

Use models to explain that simple machines change the amount of effort force and/or direction of force. [Clarification Statement: Memorization of a simple machine is not the focus. This concept builds on the application of force and motion.]

Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and plant reproduction. [Clarification Statement: Examples of structures could include thorns, stems, roots, colored petals, heart, stomach, lung, brain, and skin.]

Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence from patterns could include rock layers with marine shell fossils above rock layers with plant fossils and no shells, indicating a change from land to water over time; and, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom, indicating that over time a river cut through the rock.]

Plan and conduct a fair test to compare and contrast the forces (measured by a spring scale in Newtons) required to overcome friction when an object moves over different surfaces (i.e., rough/smooth).

Predict how changes in either the amount of force applied to an object or the mass of the object affects the motion (speed and direction) of the object.

Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude or wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, analogies, and physical models using wire to illustrate wavelength and amplitude of waves.]