Unit 5: Americans We Celebrate
Topic 1: Martin Luther King Jr.
Students will learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and his life. They will discuss how his experiences as a young child affected his actions as an adult. Teachers will lead an age-appropriate discussion about how Martin Luther King Jr. worked for equality for all Americans. Students can think of actions they can take to live a life of kindness towards others just like Martin Luther King Jr. did.
Unit 6: Map and Globes
Students will begin this unit by learning about about maps and what they represent. They will be able to talk about key features such as a compass rose, key or legend, landforms, water, etc. Students will be able to read, create, and use maps of familiar places such as their house, school, a park, etc. Students will also discuss similarities and differences between different maps. It is helpful to show students real maps or images of real maps of familiar places.
Unit 4: Wants and Needs in Our School and Community
This unit focuses on economic concepts. Students will learn the difference between a need and a want, as well as a good and a service. Students will be able to identify examples of each following class discussions and activities using two-column notes. They will also be able to describe producers and consumers and their relationships to goods and services. Finally, students will learn about different types of scarcity.
Contributions of People Associated with National Holidays
Martin Luther King Jr.
Students will learn about the contributions of Martin Luther King Jr. and his work to achieve equality for all Americans in age-appropriate ways. Students will learn about his life and how he gave speeches and led peaceful protests to bring about change in our country. They can also discuss their hopes and goals for their own communities and how they can help achieve those goals. There is a specific lesson about MLK Jr. on the DESE website and linked below that you may use.
Mapping Our World
In this scope, students will use observations to make a map of a surrounding area. They will learn how shapes and colors can represent landforms and bodies of water on a map or model. Students will also solidify their understandings that maps help us navigate our surroundings.
Explore 1: Activity - Map the Classroom
In this activity, the teacher has models of landforms set up in the classroom, and students create a map of the area.
Explore 2: Engineering Solution - Real Estate Model
Students construct a salt dough model using criteria and constraints and representing landforms and bodies of water with shapes and colors.
**Be sure to prepare the salt dough ahead of time. It works best if it is refrigerated after making it.
Forms of Water on Earth
In this scope, students learn that water is found in oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds around the world, as well as how to identify these bodies of water and their locations on a map. Students will learn that water exists in both solid and liquid form. Students will also learn that most of earth's water is salt water and that usable freshwater is limited.
Explore 1: Activity: Water All Around
Students create a model to show why water forms where it does.
**If you are able to freeze your own ice cubes, it helps to add food coloring so students can better see the flow of water down the bowl.
Explore 2: Research- Water on Earth
Students will choose two questions about water to research. They will gather information from multiple sources such as books on Epic, Pebble Go, or student search engines to find answers to their questions. They will then present their findings.
Missouri and the Civil War
Unit 3: Missouri and the Civil War is an approximately 16-day unit focusing on Missouri's role in the Civil War and on Missouri's Constitution. Students will learn which states were part of the Confederacy and which states were part of the Union and how this affected Missouri as a border state. Students then study how our state changed as a result of Reconstruction. Students finish the unit learning how Missouri has continued to change and respond to challenges up to today.
Environmental Traits
How can the environment affect an organism’s traits? In Topic 1 of Unit 2: Life Science Part 2, Students will use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
Explore 1: Classify the Traits Students read a story and record evidence of various traits of the different characters. Another option is to read the Reading Science article about dolphins found under the Elaborate tab.
Explore 2: Match It!: Students play a game where they take turns trying to find matching pairs of different types of inherited or environmental traits.
A New Nation
In this unit, students will learn what factors influenced conflicts of the past and of the present. With support, students will analyze the United States Constitution with emphasis on the Bill of Rights. Additionally, students will explain the significance of national symbols during this time period, such as the Statue of Liberty, Bald Eagle, American Flag, National Anthem, and Liberty Bell. In their reading and writing units, 4th graders will return to the events leading up to the Revolutionary War.
The next Science unit doesn't start until March on the Pacing Guide.
Earth's Systems Interactions
Explore 1: The Four Spheres of Earth Students work in groups to build a diorama highlighting the different spheres of Earth.
Explore 2: Systems Interactions Students move through stations to identify and describe the relationships between the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere.
Explore 3: OPTIONAL Modeling the Systems (previously The Clash of Earth's Systems) Students work in groups to design a model illustrating how two of the following systems interact: the atmosphere, the biosphere, the geosphere, and the hydrosphere.
The next Social Studies unit does not start until March on the Pacing Guide.