Grade 04: Science

In this unit, 'Adaptation in plants', you learn to link plant features to desert, water and cold habitats. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Adaptation in plants' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: link plant features to desert, water and cold habitats. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Define adaptation in plants. An adaptation is a feature that helps a plant survive in its habitat. Plants cannot move away, so their roots, stems and leaves must suit the place: little water in a desert, lots of water in a pond, and freezing cold on a mountain.
2. Step 2, Study a desert plant. A cactus has a thick, fleshy stem that stores water. Its leaves are narrow spines, which lose very little water and keep animals away. Its roots spread wide just under the sand to catch rare rain. Its waxy skin seals water in.
3. Step 3, Study a water plant. A water lily has leaves that float flat on top, to catch sunlight. Its stems have air spaces so that it floats and the roots in the mud can get oxygen. The stems are soft and bendy, so they move with the water without snapping.
4. Step 4, Study a cold-habitat plant. A pine tree has narrow needle leaves with a waxy coat, which lose little water when the ground is frozen. Its cone shape and bending branches let snow slide off, so branches do not break under the weight.
5. Step 5, Build a comparison table with columns Habitat, Plant, Feature, Job. Row 1: desert, cactus, thick stem, stores water. Row 2: pond, water lily, air spaces, floats. Row 3: cold mountain, pine, sloping branches, sheds snow. Add a fourth row, a date palm with deep roots that reach water.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a plant has thin, waxy leaves, spines and a swollen stem. Which habitat suits it, and why? Answer: a desert, because the swollen stem stores water, spines and waxy skin reduce water loss.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Link plant features to desert, water and cold habitats: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Animal adaptations and food chains', you learn to build food chains and explain adaptation. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Animal adaptations and food chains' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: build food chains and explain adaptation. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Learn the roles. A food chain shows who eats whom. It starts with a producer, a green plant that makes its own food from sunlight. A consumer eats other living things. Herbivores eat plants, and carnivores eat animals. Arrows point to the eater, showing the direction energy moves.
2. Step 2, Build a land chain: grass, grasshopper, frog, snake, eagle. Grass is the producer. The grasshopper is the first consumer. The frog and snake are middle consumers, and the eagle is at the top. Write it with arrows: grass → grasshopper → frog → snake → eagle.
3. Step 3, Build a sea chain: tiny floating plants (plankton) → small fish → tuna → shark. The producer is the plankton, which makes food in sunlight near the surface. The shark has no natural enemies in this chain. Draw the arrows pointing to the eater each time.
4. Step 4, Explain energy loss. Each animal uses most of the energy it eats for moving and keeping warm. Only about a tenth passes on. If grass holds 10,000 units, the grasshopper gets about 1,000, the frog about 100 and the snake about 10. So chains are short.
5. Step 5, Explain adaptation within a chain. An eagle has sharp eyes, hooked beak and strong claws for catching prey. A frog has a long sticky tongue for insects. A grasshopper is green and hides in grass. Each feature helps it eat or avoid being eaten.
6. Step 6, Your turn: build a three-link desert chain from seeds, a desert mouse and a fox, and say which energy amount the fox gets if seeds hold 1,000 units. Answer: seeds → mouse → fox; the mouse gets about 100 and the fox about 10 units.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Build food chains and explain adaptation: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'The human body: digestion and teeth', you learn to describe digestion and care for teeth. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'The human body: digestion and teeth' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: describe digestion and care for teeth. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Follow digestion from the mouth. Digestion breaks food into tiny pieces that the blood can carry. In the mouth, teeth chew and saliva starts to digest starch. Chew a plain cracker for a minute: it begins to taste a little sweet. Do this only with clean food at home.
2. Step 2, Follow food onward. The food pipe moves it to the stomach, where muscles churn it with acid and juices. Next, the small intestine finishes digestion and moves nutrients into the blood. The large intestine takes back water, and waste leaves the body.
3. Step 3, Learn tooth types. An adult has 32 teeth: 8 incisors for cutting, 4 canines for tearing, 8 premolars and 12 molars for grinding. Check: 8 + 4 + 8 + 12 = 32. Young children have 20 milk teeth, which later fall out and are replaced.
4. Step 4, Know the parts of a tooth. The hard white outside is enamel, which protects the tooth. Under it is softer dentine, and inside is the pulp, with nerves and blood. Bacteria in plaque turn sugar into acid, and the acid wears away enamel, causing holes called cavities.
5. Step 5, Plan tooth care. Brush for two minutes, twice a day, with fluoride toothpaste, and clean between teeth. Eat fewer sweets and sugary drinks, and ask a dentist how often to visit, since advice varies (check the current figure). Make a chart and tick each day you brush morning and night.
6. Step 6, Your turn: which teeth cut an apple, and where does digestion of starch begin? Answer: the incisors cut the apple; digestion of starch begins in the mouth, where saliva starts to break it down.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Describe digestion and care for teeth: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'States of matter', you learn to compare solids, liquids and gases and show changes of state. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'States of matter' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: compare solids, liquids and gases and show changes of state. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Compare three samples. A stone is a solid with fixed shape and volume. Water is a liquid with fixed volume that takes the shape of its container. Air in a balloon is a gas that fills the whole balloon.
2. Step 2, Pour 100 mL of water from a tall glass into a wide bowl. It still measures 100 mL, but the shape changed. A gas would spread out to fill the whole bowl. Record: solid keeps shape, liquid keeps volume, gas keeps neither.
3. Step 3, Show melting. Put 50 g of ice cubes in a cup at room temperature of about 25 C. After some time it becomes 50 g of water. Mass stays the same because nothing is lost, only the state changes.
4. Step 4, Show boiling and condensing. Heat water in a pan with adult help until steam rises at about 100 C (at sea level). Hold a cold plate above the steam. Water droplets form on it. This is condensation, gas to liquid.
5. Step 5, Write the changes: melting solid to liquid, freezing liquid to solid, evaporation liquid to gas, condensation gas to liquid. Heating drives melting and evaporation; cooling drives freezing and condensation.
6. Step 6, Your turn: what happens to a puddle at noon on a hot day, and which change is it? Answer: it dries up by evaporation, liquid water becoming water vapour gas.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Compare solids, liquids and gases and show changes of state: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Sound', you learn to explain how sound is made, travels and changes in pitch and loudness. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Sound' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: explain how sound is made, travels and changes in pitch and loudness. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Stretch a rubber band over an open box and pluck it. You see it vibrate and hear a sound. Touch it lightly and the sound stops. Conclusion: sound is made when objects vibrate.
2. Step 2, Test pitch. Pluck a short band and a long band of the same thickness stretched over the box. The shorter, tighter band vibrates faster and gives a higher pitch. Pitch depends on how fast the vibration is: more vibrations per second means higher pitch.
3. Step 3, Test loudness. Hit a drum softly, then hard. The harder hit makes a bigger vibration and a louder sound. Loudness depends on the size of the vibration, measured in decibels, and has no link to pitch.
4. Step 4, Test travel. Tie a string between two paper cups and pull it tight. Speak into one cup while a friend listens to the other 5 m away. Sound travels along the string. It also travels through air, water and solids, but not through empty space.
5. Step 5, Record in a table: short band, high pitch, soft; long band, low pitch, soft; drum hit hard, loud. Conclusion: vibration makes sound, speed of vibration sets pitch, and size of vibration sets loudness.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a guitar string is made shorter by pressing it. Is the pitch higher or lower? Answer: higher, because a shorter string vibrates faster.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Explain how sound is made, travels and changes in pitch and loudness: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Electricity and circuits', you learn to build a simple circuit and test conductors and insulators. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Electricity and circuits' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: build a simple circuit and test conductors and insulators. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Gather one 1.5 V cell, a bulb, a switch and 3 wires. Connect cell, wire, bulb, wire, switch, wire back to the cell in one closed loop. Close the switch and the bulb lights.
2. Step 2, Draw the circuit with symbols: cell as two parallel lines, bulb as a circle with a cross, switch as a gap with a lever, wires as straight lines. Open the switch and the loop is broken, so the bulb goes out.
3. Step 3, Test objects by placing each in the gap of the circuit. Copper coin: bulb lights. Iron nail: lights. Rubber eraser: no light. Plastic spoon: no light. Wooden pencil body: no light. Pencil lead graphite: lights.
4. Step 4, Sort results. Conductors let current pass: copper, iron, graphite, aluminium foil. Insulators do not: rubber, plastic, wood, glass. Metals are generally good conductors.
5. Step 5, Explain safety. Never test with mains sockets. Use cells only. Wires are covered with plastic because plastic is an insulator, so it keeps current inside the metal and protects people.
6. Step 6, Your turn: a bulb does not light with a steel key in the gap, but lights with a spoon. What could be wrong with the key? Answer: it may be coated with plastic or paint that insulates, so scrape the coating and retest.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Build a simple circuit and test conductors and insulators: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

In this unit, 'Earth and the solar system', you learn to describe the sun, Earth and moon and why we have day and night. Lessons are short and playful, with objects, pictures and talk. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Observe: see, touch, measure or watch a safe demonstration linked to 'Earth and the solar system' and write what you notice.
• Explain: use the key words of the unit to say what is happening and why, in a few lines.
• Use it: describe the sun, Earth and moon and why we have day and night. Use a diagram, table or short calculation where it fits.
• Test and conclude: say what evidence supports your answer and what you would change.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Model day and night. In a dark room shine a torch on a ball with a sticker marking your town. Rotate the ball slowly anticlockwise. When the sticker faces the torch it is day, when it turns away it is night.
2. Step 2, Explain: Earth spins once on its axis every 24 hours. The side facing the Sun has day, the side facing away has night. The Sun does not move across the sky; the apparent movement is because of Earth's spin.
3. Step 3, Put sizes in order. The Sun is a star and is about 109 times wider than Earth. The Moon is smaller than Earth, about a quarter of its width. The Earth goes round the Sun once in about 365 days, one year.
4. Step 4, Observe the Moon. It does not make its own light; it reflects sunlight. The Moon goes round Earth in about 27 days. Draw the Sun, Earth and Moon in a row with labels and arrows showing orbit paths.
5. Step 5, Use a shadow stick. Suppose a 30 cm stick casts a long shadow of 50 cm at 8 am, a short 10 cm one at noon, and a long one at 4 pm. This shows the Sun's position in the sky changes through the day.
6. Step 6, Your turn: how long does one spin of Earth take, and what does one spin give us? Answer: 24 hours, which gives one day and one night.

Activity. About 20 to 30 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: one page in your learning book.

Standard to meet. Describe the sun, Earth and moon and why we have day and night: at least 4 of 5 attempts correct, said or written, with one real example from home or school.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Using my five senses

Notes: Name the five senses and use them to describe a safe object. Notes: place a leaf, a smooth stone and a soft cloth in a bag; learners touch and describe each. Never taste or smell unknown things; teach children to ask first. Grades 1 and 2.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Fair tests

Notes: Describe a fair test by naming what is changed, what is measured and what stays the same. Notes: plant two seed pots, one in light and one in the dark, with equal water and soil. Learners say the one changed factor, and draw both pots after a week. Grades 3 and 4.

This course: Grade 04 Science is at this level. Its units include Adaptation in plants; Animal adaptations and food chains; The human body: digestion and teeth; States of matter and more.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Measuring and recording

Notes: Measure length, mass, time and temperature and record them in a table. Notes: a plant grows 2 cm in 4 days, which is 0.5 cm a day. Learners take three readings of 12, 14 and 13 mm, find the mean of 13, and say why repeats help. Grades 5 and 6.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Variables, graphs and density

Notes: Apply a formula and draw a graph from a fair test. Notes: density equals mass over volume; a metal block of 54 g and 20 cm3 has density 2.7 g/cm3. Learners plot mass against volume for three blocks and read the gradient. Dry the benchtop before using water. Grades 7 and 8.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Evidence, anomalies and models

Notes: Analyse data, spot an anomaly and judge how well a model fits the evidence. Notes: readings of 5.1, 5.3, 5.2 and 7.9 hold one anomaly at 7.9, so the mean of the rest is 5.2. Learners suggest a cause, repeat the trial and write a conclusion that cites the numbers. Grades 9 and 10.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Modelling and curve fitting

Notes: Apply least-squares fitting and error reasoning to link data to a model. Notes: the points (1,2.1), (2,3.9), (3,6.2), (4,7.8), (5,10.1) give slope 1.99 and intercept 0.05, with R squared 0.997. Learners explain what the intercept means and whether a straight line is right.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Study design and sample size

Notes: Evaluate and create a study with a clear hypothesis, controls, sample size and ethics approval. Notes: to detect a 5-unit difference with spread 10 at 5 per cent significance and 80 per cent power needs about 63 per group. Learners write a pre-registered plan and list the risks and consent steps.