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  • 4th Grade

    Earth and Human Activity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

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

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

Science and Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

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)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  • Why Do Buildings Fall in Earthquakes?

      Students find out how and why earthquakes affect buildings and how the impact on buildings can be reduced by viewing the Why Buildings Fall in Earthquakes video. The role of mass, resonance, stiffness, and oscillation in building design are ...

  • Escaping the Giant Wave

      By reading this fictional account of the effects of a tsunami as seen through the eyes of two children, students will gather factual information explaining the tsunami phenomenon, warning systems, and effects that might occur. Parts of the ...

  • Tsunami Awareness

    This 3 minute, 17 second video allows students to experience the phenomenon of a tsunami. It uses informative captions to explain what a tsunami is, how it is formed, and how its impact can be lessened for humans. The focus of a tsunami’s origi ...

  • "How Tsunamis Work?"

    This lesson is based upon the video “The Science of Tsunamis.”  Students watch the video, which describes the effects of the phenomenon of tsunamis on ancient civilizations, how tsunamis form, their impacts today, and ways that human ...

  • "Is This School Ready?"

    This 7-10 day 5E inquiry lesson set allows students to develop questions about how natural earth changes affect human life. As they research answers to those questions using suggested websites and nonfiction sources, they work to locate, select, and ...

  • Save Our Shore (Coastal Engineering)

    In Save our Shore, students can build upon prior knowledge they have of erosion and possibly relate to what they know of damage that was done by Hurricane Sandy or Hurricane Katrina. Save our Shore includes a two minute video show ...

  • Quake Shake: Beyond Toothpicks and Marshmallows

    This engineering activity (Lesson 3) is part of a unit on Earth’s Changing Surface, highlighting earthquakes and how humans can prepare and protect themselves from the forces of nature. The unit follows the 5E model where the students are engag ...

  • Shake it Up with Seismographs

    Students work in teams to design their own seismographs using everyday materials, (string, wire, paper, pencil, marker, pen, paper clips, glue, cardboard, poster board, foil, rubber bands, tape, pan or tray, clay) then test their design to recor ...

  • Humans and the Earth: Grades 3-5: Living in an Earthquake Zone

    Students observe types of destruction that occur when an earthquake strikes an area in this 5E structured lesson. Students view teacher selected videos before comparing observed earthquake destruction depicted in the Seymour Simon book, Ear ...

  • Engineering to Prevent Natural Disasters: Save Our City!

    Students learn about natural hazards and the means engineers have developed to detect these hazards as a means of preventing  natural disasters. Students match engineered natural disaster prevention devices with natural hazards they mi ...

  • Survive That Tsunami! Testing Model Villages in Big Waves

    Students use a table-top tsunami generator to test how different materials used in house models (created by students and the teacher) are impacted by a simulated tsunami. Students discuss the work of engineers who design buildings and use high-t ...

  • Getting the Right Angle on the Story

    This informational text shows students how tsunamis form and behave. It also describes how scientists are collecting data to create models that can be used to predict tsunamis . Animations/computer models are also included to enhance student knowledg ...

  • Testing Model Structures: Jell-O Earthquake in the Classroom

    Students investigate which building types are structured to withstand earthquake damage. They take on the role of engineers as they design their own earthquake resistant buildings, then test them in a simulated earthquake activity. Students also deve ...

  • Engineering for the Three Little Pigs

    This activity helps to demonstrate the importance of rocks, soils, and minerals in engineering and how using the right material for the right job is important. The students build 3 different sand castles composed of varying amounts of sand, water, a ...

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Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.