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Subject Area - 3:
Science and Technology and Engineering Education
  • Standard Area - 3.3: Earth and Space Sciences
  • Organizing Category - 3.3.A: Earth Structure, Processes and Cycles
  • Grade Level - 3.3.4.A: GRADE 4
Standard - 3.3.4.A3

Recognize that fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time.

  • Assessment Anchor - S4.A.3

    Systems, Models, and Patterns

    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.1 Identify systems and describe relationships among parts of a familiar system (e.g., digestive system, simple machines, water cycle).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.1 Categorize systems as either natural or human-made (e.g., ballpoint pens, simple electrical circuits, plant anatomy, water cycle).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.2 Explain a relationship between the living and nonliving components in a system (e.g., food web, terrarium).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.3 Categorize the parts of an ecosystem as either living or nonliving and describe their roles in the system.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.4 Identify the parts of the food and fiber systems as they relate to agricultural products from the source to the consumer.
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.2 Use models to illustrate simple concepts and compare the models to what they represent.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.1 Identify what different models represent (e.g., maps show physical features, directions, distances; globes represent Earth; drawings of watersheds depict terrain; dioramas show ecosystems; concept maps show relationships of ideas).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.2 Use models to make observations to explain how systems work (e.g., water cycle, Sun-Earth-Moon system).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.3 Use appropriate, simple modeling tools and techniques to describe or illustrate a system (e.g., two cans and string to model a communications system, terrarium to model an ecosystem).
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.3 Identify and make observations about patterns that regularly occur and reoccur in nature
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.3.1 Identify and describe observable patterns (e.g., growth patterns in plants, weather, water cycle).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.3.2 Predict future conditions/events based on observable patterns (e.g., day/night, seasons, sunrise/sunset, lunar phases).
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.C.1

    Structure, Properties, and Interaction of Matter and Energy

    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.C.1.1 Describe observable physical properties of matter.
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.1.1.1 Use physical properties [e.g., mass, shape, size, volume, color, texture, magnetism, state (i.e., solid, liquid, and gas), conductivity (i.e., electrical and heat)] to describe matter.
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.1.1.2 Categorize/group objects using physical characteristics.
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.D.1

    Earth Features and Processes that Change Earth and Its Resources

    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.D.1.1 Describe basic landforms in Pennsylvania.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.1.1 Describe how prominent Earth features in Pennsylvania (e.g., mountains, valleys, caves, sinkholes, lakes, rivers) were formed.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.1.2 Identify various Earth structures (e.g., mountains, watersheds, peninsulas, lakes, rivers, valleys) through the use of models.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.1.3 Describe the composition of soil as weathered rock and decomposed organic remains.
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.D.1.2 Identify the types and uses of Earth’s resources.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.2.1 Identify products and by-products of plants and animals for human use (e.g., food, clothing, building materials, paper products).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.2.2 Identify the types and uses of Earth materials for renewable, nonrenewable, and reusable products (e.g., human-made products: concrete, paper, plastics, fabrics).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.2.3 Recognize ways that humans benefit from the use of water resources (e.g., agriculture, energy, recreation).
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.D.1.3 Describe Earth’s different sources of water or describe changes in the form of water.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.3.1 Describe types of freshwater and saltwater bodies (e.g., lakes, rivers, wetlands, oceans).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.3.2 Explain how water goes through phase changes (i.e., evaporation, condensation, freezing, and melting).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.3.3 Describe or compare lentic systems (i.e., ponds, lakes, and bays) and lotic systems (i.e., streams, creeks, and rivers).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.1.3.4 Explain the role and relationship of a watershed or a wetland on water sources (e.g., water storage, groundwater recharge, water filtration, water source, water cycle).
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.D.2

    Weather, Climate, and Atmospheric Processes

    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.D.2.1 Identify basic weather conditions and how they are measured.
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.2.1.1 Identify basic cloud types (i.e., cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and cumulonimbus) and make connections to basic elements of weather (e.g., changes in temperature, precipitation).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.2.1.2 Identify weather patterns from data charts or graphs of the data (e.g., temperature, wind direction, wind speed, cloud types, precipitation).
      • Eligible Content - S4.D.2.1.3 Identify appropriate instruments (i.e., thermometer, rain gauge, weather vane, anemometer, and barometer) to study weather and what they measure.
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