|
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
Grade 4 Indiana's Academic Standards as outlined for fourth grade and how, through participation in our interactive program, teachers and students would review these important principles. English/Language Arts Reading: vocabulary development. Learn the origin of the root words used in science and better understand how the parts of each word help explain its meaning. Use word search and crossword puzzles as handouts to enhance vocabulary and review concepts presented. Listening and Speaking: comprehension and analysis and evaluation of oral communication. Use science to evaluate hypotheses, collect new information through observations and direct measurements, evaluate data by comparing and contrasting results, and summarize what was discovered in concluding statements. Mathematics Computation, Algebraic Functions. Use algebra and the functions of addition, multiplication and division to quantitate various sugars in food products. Measurement. Use soil monoliths and Indiana soil maps to discuss the concept of time from a geological standpoint. Discuss the concept of time from a digestive standpoint as the early processes of starch digestion are studied using simple hands-on experiments. Discuss the concept of an acre. Data Analysis and Probability: problem solving. Enhance student problem solving skills by using graphing techniques to illustrate results. Learn triangular graphing while determining soil texture. Relate enzyme activity and substrate concentration with reaction time. Use filter paper to show capillary movement and the separation of colors into a chromatograph. Use clays that contain contrasting water-binding capacities and have the students monitor the evaporation (measuring weight changes) of water from these clays and show the results of this work using line graphs. Science Scientific Thinking: computation and estimation, manipulation and observation. Estimate the reaction time for digestion assays varying enzyme and substrate concentrations. Introduce charge and show result of an electric current flowing in soil. Use filter paper to show capillary movement and the separation of colors into a chromatograph. The Physical Setting: our earth and forces of nature. Waves, wind, water, and glacial ice form our soil and shape/reshape Earth's land surface by erosion. Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals. Discuss how soil evolves from rocks due to weathering and erosion, and learn the components of soil through texture analysis. Discuss clay and its negative charge and the ultimate effect it and organic matter have on nutrient movement in soils. The Living Environment: interdependence of life and evolution, human identity. Visit a wetlands site, observe the interaction of plants and animals in various ecosystems, and learn how buffer strips and wetlands purify runoff from fields. In all environments there is constant change as organisms grow, dye and decay. Food from plants provides energy and materials for growth and repair of the body. Discuss the nutrient component of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Using hands-on lab techniques examine how food is digested. Discuss the processing of food by industry, and how nutrients are altered. The Mathematical World: shapes and symbolic relationships. Utilize Lego TM blocks to build molecules of starch. Common Themes: systems. Do erosion experiments with and without plants and discuss the different outcomes as water moves through soil. Social Studies Geography: physical systems and human systems. Using soil maps and monoliths discuss the past and current geography of Indiana and see how the glacial periods shaped Indiana's landscape and environment. Look at interactions of the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere and their subsequent effects on the ecosystem. Look from a historical perspective where the Miami, Shawnee and early settlers traveled and lived in relation to the physical environment of Indiana. If you have any questions please e-mail either Sherry Fulk-Bringman at sherryfb@purdue.edu or Suzanne Cunningham at scunningham@purdue.edu . S. Fulk-Bringman and S. M. Cunningham |
|
||||||
