Solid Earth Project- 4th Grade- Mrs. Chenu
This semester we will be studying Earth Science. The goal of this unit is for you to have hands-on experience with rocks and minerals, and understanding of how rocks and minerals are constantly changing at the Earth' surface. During the investigations we will be conducting in class you will learn the following:
California 4th Grade Standards Addressed:
Earth Sciences
ES4 The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them. As a basis for understanding this concept:
ES4a Students know how to differentiate among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks be referring to their properties and methods of formation (the rock cycle).
ES4b Students know how to identify common rock-forming minerals (including quartz, calcite, feldspar, mica and hornblende) and ore minerals by using a table of diagnostic properties.
ES5 Waves, wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface. As a basis for understanding this concept:
ES5a Students know some changes in the earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
ES5b Students know natural processes, including freezing and thawing and the growth of roots, cause rocks to break down into smaller pieces.
ES5c Students know moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places (weathering, transport, and deposition).
Investigation and Experimentation
I&E6 Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Student will:
I&E6a Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists' explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
I&E6b Measure and estimate the weight, length, or volume of objects.
I&E6c Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
I&E6d Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
I&E6f Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.
- Learn that rocks are composed of minerals and that minerals cannot be physically separated into other materials.
- Use measurement in the context of scientific investigations.
- Use evaporation to investigate rock composition.
- Investigate the effect of vinegar (acid) on a specific mineral, calcite.
- Identify and organize minerals with a diagnostic table of color, hardness, streak, luster, cleavage, and other special properties.
- Become familiar with the processes that form igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and their place in the rock cycle.
- Understand the processes that slowly change Earth's surface (physical and chemical weathering, erosion, and deposition) and those that cause more rapid changes (landslides, volcanism, floods, and earthquakes).
- Follow written instructions to conduct a scientific investigation.
- Develop questions and perform scientific investigations to test predictions and draw conclusions.
California 4th Grade Standards Addressed:
Earth Sciences
ES4 The properties of rocks and minerals reflect the processes that formed them. As a basis for understanding this concept:
ES4a Students know how to differentiate among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks be referring to their properties and methods of formation (the rock cycle).
ES4b Students know how to identify common rock-forming minerals (including quartz, calcite, feldspar, mica and hornblende) and ore minerals by using a table of diagnostic properties.
ES5 Waves, wind, water and ice shape and reshape Earth's land surface. As a basis for understanding this concept:
ES5a Students know some changes in the earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion, and some changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes.
ES5b Students know natural processes, including freezing and thawing and the growth of roots, cause rocks to break down into smaller pieces.
ES5c Students know moving water erodes landforms, reshaping the land by taking it away from some places and depositing it as pebbles, sand, silt, and mud in other places (weathering, transport, and deposition).
Investigation and Experimentation
I&E6 Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Student will:
I&E6a Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists' explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
I&E6b Measure and estimate the weight, length, or volume of objects.
I&E6c Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
I&E6d Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
I&E6f Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.
References
Science content standards for California public schools: kindergarten through grade twelve (2000). Sacramento: California Department of Education.
Science framework for California public schools: kindergarten through grade twelve (2000). (page 56).Sacramento: California Department of Education.
Solid Earth Module (October 6, 2010). Fossweb California. Retrieved January 14, 2011 from http://www.fossweb.com/ca/modules3-6/SolidEarth/index.html
Science framework for California public schools: kindergarten through grade twelve (2000). (page 56).Sacramento: California Department of Education.
Solid Earth Module (October 6, 2010). Fossweb California. Retrieved January 14, 2011 from http://www.fossweb.com/ca/modules3-6/SolidEarth/index.html