WCPS 2021-2022

Grade 4 Unit 1A: Earth Features and Processes

Overarching Concept for ELA, Science, and Social Studies: Systems
A Study In Cause and Effect
Stage 1 - Desired Results
Earth Features and Processes

Transfer Goals:
The students will use their learning to…
❏ S3: Design and conduct an authentic scientific investigation in order to collect and analyze data.
❏ S1: Select and evaluate reliable sources of information to address real world problems.
❏ ELA 2: Read, comprehend, and analyze increasingly complex texts and media produced for various audiences and purposes.
❏ ELA 4: Produce effective writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate for various audiences and purposes.

Learning Goals:
● Students will investigate and explain the effects of Earth’s natural processes in order to identify and describe patterns in Earth’s features.
● Students will analyze the structure of scientific texts in order to gather information and support comprehension of patterns in Earth’s features.

Key Content, Practices, Skills & Processes:

Essential Questions & Enduring Standards
Understandings

Stage 2 - Assessment
Assessment & Success Criteria:
Diagnostic Assessment: Weathering and Erosion/Text Structure Diagnostic Task
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Standard(s) Assessed:
● RI 4.5, 4-ESS2-1, 4MP1.P.CCC.1

Science Progress Monitoring Options

Summative/Cornerstone Task:
CORNERSTONE TASK (Stream Restoration Cornerstone Task includes the teacher's directions and links to the student task, success criteria, scoring guide/rubric and SchoolNet
directions.)
Note: Scores will be entered in SchoolNet for the 21-22 Grade 4 Science Cornerstone Task. (Window: September 13-27, 2021; Scoring Due: October 4, 2021
Standard(s) Assessed:
● 4-ESS2-1 Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
● 4MP1.P.CCC.1, 4MP1.P.CCC.2, 4MP1.P.CCC.3, 4MP1.P.CCC.4

Success Criteria: Formative Measures:

Science: Performance Tasks:

● I explained the effects of earth’s natural processes over time. ● The Oldest Rock Layer (4MP1.P.CCC.1, 4MP1.P.CCC.2)
● I designed and conducted an authentic scientific investigation to collect data.
● I generated and compared multiple solutions to reduce the negative impact on ELA Standard RI 4.5 Assessments:
humans. ● Goalbook Assessment Resources
● I selected and evaluated reliable sources of information to address real world
problems. Power Writing:
● I produced a variety of informational products about earth’s natural processes (lab ● Weathering and Erosion
report, poster, essay, newspaper article, newcast, weather report etc)
Language and Foundational Skills
Reading: ● RF4.3 - NEW Foundational Reading Skills Progression
● I identified and analyzed the overall structure of the text or part of the text. Foundational Skills Alignment: Roots & Affixes - 4th Grade

Writing: ● RF4.4 - 3 Minute Fluency Assessments/Fluency Rubric

● I wrote an informative text that conveyed ideas and information clearly.
○ I introduced a topic clearly and grouped related information in paragraphs.
○ I developed the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and
examples.
○ I linked ideas using transitional words and phrases.
○ I used precise language and domain-specific vocabulary.
○ I provided a concluding statement.

Common Student Misconceptions or Errors: ***misconception statements in bold

● Earth is the same today as it always has been and any changes to the Earth were sudden.
○ There are many processes that cause Earth and Earth’s surface to change. Some of these changes are abrupt, such as a natural disaster. Most changes occur over a very
long period of time. Human activities like digging soil or driving cars on the road can all change Earth’s surface over time.
● Rock is so hard that nothing can break it.
○ There are different types of rocks, and some of them break much more easily than others. For example, limestone and calcite are classified as soft rock, which means it can
easily be broken down over time due to weathering. Even hard rocks can be broken by natural forces acting over thousands or millions of years.
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● Weathering is the same thing as erosion.
○ Weathering is a process of breaking down rock into smaller pieces. Erosion is the process of moving these pieces (called sediment) by wind, water, ice, and gravity.
● Weathering and erosion have the same effect in all environments.
○ As the environment changes over time, the rates of erosion and deposition are affected. For example, a river may dry up due to a change in climate, which means sediments
are no longer eroded or deposited by the water.

● Teacher Note: Text structure moves beyond simply identifying the structure. The goal is to analyze the author’s purpose and how the structure supports the purpose. This will allow
students to utilize appropriate structure in their own note taking and writing tasks.

Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Summary of Recommended Learning Events:
Learning Goal(s):
● Students will investigate and explain the effects of Earth’s natural processes in order to identify and describe patterns in Earth’s features. (4-ESS1-1 and 4-ESS2-1)
● Students will analyze the structure of scientific texts in order to gather information and support comprehension of patterns in Earth’s features. (RI 4.5)

Key Academic and Content Vocabulary Development:

● erosion: Erosion is the moving of ● fossil: A fossil is a trace of a plant or ● topographic map: detailed record of ● Paleontologist: a scientist that
sediment from one place to another. animal that lived long ago. a land area, giving geographic studies fossils
● weathering: Weathering happens ● deposition: Deposition is the laying positions and elevations for both ● Geologist: a person who studies the
when rocks break apart, wear away, down of sediment and rock in a new natural and man-made features history of the earth through rocks and
or dissolve into smaller particles, or place. ● cause and effect: relationship rock formations
when the materials in the rock are ● rock layer: layer of rock often formed between two things when one thing ● silt: fine sand, clay, or other material
changed. one on top of the other makes something else happen carried by moving water and
● root wedging: roots grow into the ● ice wedging: As water freezes ● sedimentary rock: Sedimentary rock deposited at the bottom of a body of
cracks in rocks and force the cracks (expands) and melts in cracks in rock, is rock formed from sediment from the water like the ocean
open as they continue to grow the rock will break down. weathering and erosion of rock on
● sediment: Sediment is material that Earth’s surface.
comes from the weathering of rock.

Launch Explore Before Explain Apply and Act

Time Lapse with See, Think, Wonder Science Materials Inventory ~ Delivered the week of August 28th
Visible Thinking Routine OR Grand Summative Task:
Canyon Visible Thinking w/ Parts, Learning Pathway: ● Stream Restoration CORNERSTONE
Purposes, and Complexities Visible Rock Layers and Fossils>Weathering and Erosion TASK
Thinking Routine (Synchronous)
Begin with...Rock Layers and Fossils Performance Tasks:
● The Oldest Rock Layer
Note: You could use any time lapse Rock Layers Investigation ● MWEE Sample Projects
video that shows how the Earth’s ● Teacher Sample and Student Organizer ● What Washes Away and What
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landscape changes over time. (Slow Do We Do? Planning Doc. and

changes) The observations shared by Generation Genius: Earth’s Landscape main lesson video (School Login Information) Slide Deck
students may include what they ● Formative Assessments: Generation Genius Earth’s Landscape Assessment or ● Exploring Invasive Species
remember from Grade 2 about fast Rock Layers Oldest to Youngest, Fossils and Rock Layers ● Informed Citizens Take Action
and slow changes to the Earth’s for Playground Erosion
surface. As a 4th grader, they will National Geographic Exploring Science Interactive e-book:
need to think about how scientists can ● Earth Science, Think Like a Scientist,
prove or provide evidence about ○ Chapter 27: The Badlands
changes. How will they gather ○ Chapter 28: Iceland
evidence/collect data about changes? ○ Chapter 29: Identify Evidence
This is part of planning and carrying Access Directions: Myngconnect.com, Select For Educators
out a scientific investigation. Login: [email protected]
Password: password
Provides access to all grade levels, teacher resources, and student book. (same login used
with students)

Assessment Probes from Paige Keely:

● How Old is Earth?(p.87), Is It a Fossil? (p. 91), Sedimentary Rock Layers (p.95)

Next...Weathering and Erosion

Google Earth Time Lapse feature (only available on laptops not iPads)
● Focus: How could a scientist use time lapse photography or videos as a way to
collect evidence? What data could be collected from time lapse photos or videos?
How could the data be organized?

Calvert Cliffs Investigation (Including Text)

National Geographic Exploring Science Interactive e-book:

● Earth Science
○ Chapter 10: Investigate Weathering and Erosion
○ Chapter 14: Make Observations or Generation Genius DIY Investigation
(School Login Information)
○ Chapters 6-9 and 11-12: Weathering and Erosion topics
● Note: All Grade 4 Teachers have been provided a sediment tube to use as a teacher
demo.
● Graphic Organizer and Teacher Sample
Access Directions: Myngconnect.com, Select For Educators
Login: [email protected]
Password: password
Provides access to all grade levels, teacher resources, and student book. (same login used
with students)

Generation Genius: School Login Information

● Weathering and Erosion DIY Activity
○ Use the video in this DIY for students to make observations. (sound off)
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Students use the video in lieu of doing it with materials.

● Weathering and Erosion Main Lesson Video
● Formative Assessments: Generation Genius Weathering and Erosion Assessment
or Grand Canyon

NSTA Interactive ebook: Geology on the Move

● Students and teachers access the books by going to:https://my.nsta.org/group/student
Select Washington County Public Schools from the first drop down, Interactive E-
books from the second drop down, and enter WCPS2020 for the pass code.

National Geographic Exploring Science Interactive e-book (myngconnect.com):

● Earth Science Chapters 6-9
Access Directions: Myngconnect.com, Select For Educators
Login: [email protected]
Password: password
Provides access to all grade levels, teacher resources, and student book. (same login used
with students)

Assessment Probes from Paige Keely:

● Is It Erosion? (p.99), Can a Plant Break Rocks? (p.103), Mountains and Beaches
(p.111), How Do Rivers Form? (p.117)

The Strongest Mountain (Culminating STEM activity) 4MP1.P.CCC.1, 4MP1.P.CCC.2

READER’S AND WRITER’S WORKSHOP

*Resource Access Information*

Text Resources:
● National Geographic Exploring Science (myngconnect.com)
○ Earth Science

Read Aloud or Shared Reading:

Consider the following focus areas for any of the Texts/ Resources:
● L.4.4.b - Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues
to the meaning of a word.
○ de
○ ion
○ ology, ologist
● RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure…
● Text Evidence
● Author’s Purpose (and it’s alignment to structure)
● Reading Strategies- Summarizing, Questioning, and Determine Importance

Calvert Cliffs Investigation (Including Text)

● Consider text structure and purpose
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● Many images provides, consider generating text for the images and investigations to
match a specific author’s purpose.

Texts/ Resources:
● Where Does the Sand on Beaches Come From? - Wonderopolis
● How Deep is the Grand Canyon? - Wonderopolis
● Where Can You Find Fossils? - Wonderopolis
● How are Rocks Made? - Wonderopolis
● Do Rocks Dissolve? - Wonderopolis
● Trade Books:
○ Fossils Tell of Long Ago
○ How Mountains are Made
○ Erosion
○ Rocks Hard, Soft, Smooth, Rough
○ If You Find a Rock
● Lightbox Books:
○ Water
○ Ice
○ Wind
○ Rock Cycle
● NSTA E-Books: https://my.nsta.org/group/student Select Washington County Public
Schools from the first drop down, Interactive E-books from the second drop down, and
enter WCPS2020 for the pass code.
○ Fish Out of Water
■ Student Notebook PDF
■ Article: Why Are There Fish in the Desert?
○ Geology On the Move

● PebbleGo Next: (Science>Earth Science>Geosphere)

○ Earth Materials
■ Fossils
■ Rocks
■ Rock Layers and Rock Cycle
○ Erosion and Weathering
○ Natural Wonders of Earth
○ Tectonic Plates
○ What is the Geosphere?

Cause & Effect Relationships:

● How Does Erosion Happen? (NewsELA)
● Power Writing Sample with content aligned to this unit

Goalbook Resources- Texts, Tasks, Questions, and Resources

● Explanatory/Informative Writing Resources
● Text Structure Resources
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● Text Structure Presentation

● Text Structure Bookmark
● Text Structure Graphic Organizers
● Text Structure w/Color Student Response Boxes

*NEW*- Gr. 4 Writing Resources Document

● Arranged by type of writing and specific skills
● Writing Strategies, Servallo; Goalbook; Other resources

If Students… then try..

If students demonstrate lack of Context, then try: If students are ready for a challenge, then try:
● Text Structure ● Create a presentation that informs about weathering and erosion in a geographical
○ Use mini lesson: Reading Strategies - Serravallo area of their choice. (Could be their own home, or anywhere in the United States)
Consider Structure (pages 240-241) ● Unit 1A - Erosion/Weathering Bitmoji Classroom - Students can use this resource as
a way to research more and take notes as you see fit.
● *If a student’s comprehension is not adequate, use the Flowchart for Literacy
Intervention to give additional PreviLearn Diagnostic assessments to determine ● Students can make sequential diagrams to show formation or changes by water to
instructional next steps. Earth’s surface.
● Provide students with a single grain of sand from a local (or the closest) beach and
If student need communication support, then try: ask them to trace back to the origin of the grain of sand. What journey do they think
● Help students compare and contrast these processes by providing sentence stems, it took before ending up on the beach?
such as: Erosion is . . . Deposition is . . .Things that cause erosion and deposition ● DRAFT Magnet Grade 4 Proficiency Map DRAFT
include . . .
● When using photographs, help the students write captions or write new captions to
describe change and/or processes. Goalbook UDL Strategy Wizard
● When looking at photos of rock layers help students see the relationship between
the layer at the bottom being in the pile the longest amount of time makes it the
oldest. Items in this pile would also be older than the layer at the top. (shortest
amount of time, youngest) Layers to Time Game and Solve a Sedimentary Layers
Puzzle
● Use mini lesson: Thinking with Patterns to help students with recognizing patterns in
science.
If student need visualization support:
● Have students act out/simulate processes. For example: Rub two rocks together to
show how rock can be broken down (a process called weathering) into tiny particles
and that these particles become soil.
● If possible, use photos of rock outcropping or road side cuts (Sideling Hill) that are
found in areas that are familiar to the student.
● Use Is it Erosion (pages 99-102) as a sort of examples and non-examples. Have
students look for examples of erosion in their local area. If possible, take photos and
use them to explain how erosion changed the area.

Other Resources for Targeted Instruction:

● Foundational Skills Learning Progression PreK- Grade 5
● High Impact LIteracy Practices
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● Goalbook UDL Strategy Wizard