Fresno Unified School District

Fourth Grade Science Curriculum Guide

Fourth Grade Science

The California Science Content Standards include Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science.  Fourth graders continue to safely conduct investigations, choose appropriate tools, measure, collect, formulate conclusions, and communicate findings through writing. They learn to formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships, differentiate observation from inference, and conduct multiple trials to test their predictions. They learn to design and build simple electrical circuits and experiement with components such as wires, batteries, and bulbs. They will observe that electrically charged objects may either attract or repel one another and that electrical energy can be converted into heat, light, and motion. Students expand the study of ecology by examining the relationships between animals and plants. Students gather information on the weather and its patterns and how erosion impacts the Earth's surface. They explore how utilizing technology affects human lives and how technology and inventions change to meet people's needs.

Please refer to specific pages in the Harcourt Science Teachers' Edition and ePlanner on CD for detailed information needed for lesson plan development. These resources will also provide references for recommended best practices and effective strategies to attain mastery of the California Science Content Standards in Fourth Grade Science. 

Grade 4 Science Kit Contents - Click here to download printable pdf version

Recommended minutes of instruction: 120 per week.

Fourth grade science standards are assessed on the Science Content Standards Test given to students in grade five.