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

Stars and planets look similar in the night sky, but they are very different objects. Students learn what sets them apart by reading, discussing, and comparing details like size, brightness, and what each one is made of.

Telescopes and space probes have changed what we know about stars and planets. Students look at how older and newer tools collect different kinds of information about objects too far away to visit.

Students build an argument explaining why some stars look bigger or brighter in the sky. The key idea: a star's apparent size and brightness depend on how far away it is, not just how large it actually is.

Stars make their own light; planets only reflect light from a star. Students explain what makes each one different, using what they observe about brightness, movement, and position in the night sky.

Models of the solar system (like posters or diagrams) show the order and appearance of planets, but they can't show everything accurately. Students learn what those models get right and where they fall short, such as showing true size differences between planets and the sun.

Students learn why we see phases of the moon and why seasons change. They use models to show how the Earth and moon move around the sun and how that movement changes what we observe from the ground.

Seasons shift how many hours of sunlight Earth gets each day. Students build a model showing why summer days are long and winter days are short, based on how Earth tilts as it orbits the sun.

Students build a model showing how the moon appears to change shape over the course of a month, from a thin sliver to a full circle and back again, based on their own observations.

Students explain why summers are hot and winters are cold: as Earth travels around the sun, its tilt stays fixed, so each hemisphere leans toward or away from the sun at different times of year.

Students trace how water moves from the ground into the air and back down as rain or snow. They learn why puddles disappear, where clouds come from, and how the same water keeps cycling through Earth over and over.

Students watch ice melt into water and water evaporate into air, then trace it back again. The goal is seeing how heat moves the same water through each change.

Water can travel many different paths through the water cycle. Students draw or build models showing how water evaporates into the air, condenses into clouds, and falls back down as rain or snow.

Students read weather maps and recorded data to spot patterns and predict what weather is coming next.

Students learn what a thermometer, rain gauge, barometer, wind vane, and anemometer each measure, then explain how forecasters use that collected data to predict coming weather.

Students read a weather map, spotting cold and warm fronts, air pressure, and precipitation patterns, then use what they find to predict what tomorrow's weather will likely be.

Students look at cloud shapes to guess what weather is coming. Wispy, flat, and puffy clouds each signal different conditions.

Students explain why a week of rainstorms is just weather, while a region's rainy season every year is climate. One is a short-term event; the other is the long-term pattern.

Students learn how light travels, bends, reflects, and passes through objects. They explore what happens when light hits a mirror, a glass of water, or an opaque wall.

Students sort materials by how much light passes through them. A brick that blocks all light is opaque, a clear glass that lets all light through is transparent, and a frosted window that lets some light through is translucent.

Students shine a light at a mirror and watch where the beam goes. They test different angles to see how the mirror changes the direction of the light.

Students bend light using everyday objects like a glass of water or a prism, then describe what they observe. The goal is to see how light changes direction when it passes from one material into another.

Students learn how sound is made and how it changes in pitch or volume. They also explore ways people use sound and light to send messages, like a foghorn warning ships or a flashing signal light.

Students use everyday objects to make sound, then predict what happens when they change how hard or fast something vibrates. The goal is to see how vibration strength and speed affect the sound produced.

Students design and build a device that sends a message across a distance using light or sound, such as a flashlight signal or a drum tap.

Students learn what makes things move, stop, or stay still. They compare situations where forces are equal (balanced) and where one force wins out (unbalanced), and explain what happens to the object each time.

Students plan and run a simple test to see what happens when forces on an object are equal (it stays still) or unequal (it moves), then share what they found.

Students build a case for why gravity pulls objects downward, using examples like a dropped ball or a falling leaf to show how gravity changes the way things move.

Students learn what levers, pulleys, ramps, and other simple machines actually do: they change the direction or amount of force needed to move or lift something. Students ask questions about where these machines show up in everyday tools and how they make hard tasks easier.

Students learn how living things in an ecosystem depend on each other for food and energy. They look at who eats whom and how energy moves from plants to animals and beyond.

Students sort living things into three jobs: producers (plants that make food from sunlight), consumers (animals that eat other organisms), and decomposers (fungi and bacteria that break down dead matter). They show how these roles connect in a diagram or model.

Plants capture sunlight and turn it into food. Students draw or map how that energy moves from plants to the animals that eat them, and finally to decomposers that break down what's left.

Students think through what happens to a food chain or habitat when one part changes, like a predator disappearing or a water source drying up, then describe or sketch how the rest of the ecosystem responds.

Students look up real data about what happens when one animal or plant disappears or takes over, then draw or diagram how that ripple moves through the food chain.