Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Students explore the biosphere's environments and ecosystems, learning along the way about the plants, animals, resources and natural cycles of our planet. Over the course of lessons 2-6, students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems - exploring energy and nutrient flows, basic needs of plants and animals, and decomposers. Students learn about food chains and food webs. They are introduced to the roles of the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles. They test the effects of photosynthesis and transpiration. Students are introduced to animal classifications and interactions, including carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, predator and prey. They learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of new products. As everyday applications are interwoven into the lessons, students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence within ecosystems can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities.

The purpose of this task is to foster a classroom discussion that will highlight the difference between multiplicative and additive reasoning.

The purpose of this task is to assess studentsŐ understanding of multiplicative and additive reasoning.

In the everyday electrical devices we use calculators, remote controls and cell phones a voltage source such as a battery is required to close the circuit and operate the device. In this hands-on activity, students use batteries, wires, small light bulbs and light bulb holders to learn the difference between an open circuit and a closed circuit, and understand that electric current only occurs in a closed circuit.

CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideEquitable and Inclusive Curriculum  The CSDE believes in providing a set of conditions where learners are repositioned at the center of curricula planning and design. Curricula, from a culturally responsive perspective, require intentional planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development of units and implementation of lessons. It is critical to develop a learning environment that is relevant to and reflective of students’ social, cultural, and linguistic experiences to effectively connect their culturally and community-based knowledge to the class. Begin by connecting what is known about students’ cognitive and interdisciplinary diversity to the learning of the unit. Opposed to starting instructional planning with gaps in students’ knowledge, plan from an asset-based perspective by starting from students’ strengths. In doing so, curricula’s implementation will be grounded in instruction that engages, motivates, and supports the intellectual capacity of all students.Course Description:  In Grade 4, instructional time should focus on three critical areas: (1) developing understanding and fluency with multi-digit multiplication, and developing understanding of dividing to find quotients involving multi-digit dividends; (2) developing an understanding of fraction equivalence, addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators, and multiplication of fractions by whole numbers; (3) understanding that geometric figures can be analyzed and classified based on their properties, such as having parallel sides, perpendicular sides, particular angle measures, and symmetry. Upon completion of this course students will have the ability to: Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems; Gain familiarity with factors and multiples; Generate and analyze patterns; Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers; Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic; Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering; Build fractions from unit fractions; Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions; Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements; Represent and interpret data; Geometric measurement: understand concepts of angle and measure angles; and Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles. Aligned Core Resources:Core resources is a local control decision.  Ensuring alignment of resources to the standards is critical for success.  There are tools that are available to assist in evaluating alignment, such as CCSSO’s Mathematics Curriculum Analysis Project and Student Achievement Partner’s Instructional Materials Evaluation Tool.  In addition EdReports and Louisiana Believes are two sources of completed reviews for a variety of resources.  Connecticut is currently working on providing additional alignment guidance for the most frequently used resources across the state. Aligned Core Programs:  The CSDE in partnership with SERC has engaged with providers of high-quality vetted resources to provide additional alignment guidance to the CSDE model curriculum.  High-quality instructional resources are critical for improving student outcomes. The alignment guidance is intended to clarify content and support understanding for clear implementation and coherence. Materials selection is a local control decision and these documents have been provided from participating publishers to assist districts in implementation. Use of the materials from these publishers is not required. These aligned core programs meet expectations as reported by EdReports. If your resource is not listed below, you are encouraged to review EdReports to ensure the alignment of your resource to the Connecticut Core Standards. Strong alignment of curricula and instructional materials have the potential to support student engagement of meaningful grade level content daily and teacher growth.  Achievement First Math Grade 4enVisions Grade 4Eureka Grade 4Fishtank Plus Math Grade 4HMH into Math Grade 4Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics Grade 4i-Ready Math Grade 4Reveal Math Grade 4Financial Literacy Connections:The State of Connecticut is committed to implementing high-quality Financial Literacy instruction at all grade levels beginning in kindergarten. Financial Literacy supports students’ academic performance in several subject areas. The K-5 Model Math Curricula embeds tasks that align the mathematical content and skill to the essential Financial Literacy concepts such as income, spending, saving, investing, credit and risk.  The concepts contained in the learning tasks are designed to be rich, hands-on activities with developmentally appropriate real-world connections.  The tasks are identified by grade level and embedded in the appropriate units so that students can demonstrate mastery of what they need to know and be able to do by the end of their K-5 school experience. In this way, elementary students will be prepared to build upon Financial Literacy knowledge as they advance through middle and high school. Additional Course Information:  Major work of Grade 4 mathematics focuses on multiplication and division of whole numbers and fractions including concepts, skills, and problem solving. Fluencies expected for Grade 4 include:    Add/subtract within 1,000,000  Habits of Mind/SEIH/Transferable Skills Addressed in the Course: The Standards for Mathematical Practice describe the thinking processes, habits of mind, and dispositions that students need to develop a deep, flexible, and enduring understanding of mathematics. They describe student behaviors, ensure an understanding of math, and focus on developing reasoning and building mathematical communication. Therefore, the following should be addressed throughout the course: Make sense of problems & persevere in solving them Reason abstractly & quantitatively Construct viable arguments & critique the reasoning of others Model with mathematics Use appropriate tools strategically Attend to precision Look for & make use of structure Look for & express regularity in repeated reasoning 

Unit Overview/Summary - FOCUS: This unit focusses on operations and algebraic thinking as well as number and operations in base ten.  Learning in this unit will enable students to: Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems; and Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic. 

Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier, and which people have used to provide mechanical advantage for thousands of years. Students learn about the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw and pulley in the context of the construction of a pyramid, gaining insights into tools that have been used since ancient times and are still important today. Through numerous hands-on activities, students imagine themselves as ancient engineers building a pyramid. Student teams evaluate and select a construction site, design a pyramid, perform materials calculations, test a variety of cutting wedges on different materials, design a small-scale cart/lever transport system to convey building materials, experiment with the angle of inclination and pull force on an inclined plane, see how a pulley can change the direction of force, and learn the differences between fixed, movable and combined pulleys. While learning the steps of the engineering design process, students practice teamwork, creativity and problem solving.

In this 43-day module, students use place value understanding and visual representations to solve multiplication and division problems with multi-digit numbers. As a key area of focus for Grade 4, this module moves slowly but comprehensively to develop students’ ability to reason about the methods and models chosen to solve problems with multi-digit factors and dividends.

**NOTE: The New York State Education Department shut down the EngageNY website in 2022. In order to maintain educators' access, nearly all resources have been uploaded to archive.org and the resource links above have been updated to reflect their new locations.**

In this 20-day module, students build their competencies in measurement as they relate multiplication to the conversion of measurement units.  Throughout the module, students will explore multiple strategies for solving measurement problems involving unit conversion.

**NOTE: The New York State Education Department shut down the EngageNY website in 2022. In order to maintain educators' access, nearly all resources have been uploaded to archive.org and the resource links above have been updated to reflect their new locations.**

In this lesson, students learn about sound. Girls and boys are introduced to the concept of frequency and how it applies to musical sounds.

In this lesson, students will explore motion, rockets and rocket motion while assisting Spacewoman Tess, Spaceman Rohan and Maya in their explorations. They will first learn some basic facts about vehicles, rockets and why we use them. Then, the students will discover that the motion of all objects including the flight of a rocket and movement of a canoe is governed by Newton's three laws of motion.

Students gain an understanding of the parts of a plant, plant types and how they produce their own food from sunlight through photosynthesis. They also learn about transpiration, the process by which plants release moisture to the atmosphere. With this understanding, students test the effects of photosynthesis and transpiration by growing a plant from seed. They learn how plants play an important part in maintaining a balanced environment in which the living organisms of the Earth survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their evolving understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Students design and build paper rockets around film canisters, which serve as engines. An antacid tablet and water are put into each canister, reacting to form carbon dioxide gas, and acting as the pop rocket's propellant. With the lid snapped on, the continuous creation of gas causes pressure to build up until the lid pops off, sending the rocket into the air. The pop rockets demonstrate Newton's third law of motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Students learn about population density within environments and ecosystems. They determine the density of a population and think about why population density and distribution information is useful to engineers for city planning and design as well as for resource allocation.

Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light bulb) as they learn how a battery works in a simple circuit and how chemical energy changes to electrical energy. As they learn more about electrical energy, they better understand the concepts of voltage, current and resistance.

Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about the simple machine called a pulley. They learn how a pulley can be used to change the direction of applied forces and move/lift extremely heavy objects, and the powerful mechanical advantages of using a multiple-pulley system. Students perform a simple demonstration to see the mechanical advantage of using a pulley, and they identify modern day engineering applications of pulleys. In a hands-on activity, they see how a pulley can change the direction of a force, the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and the mechanical advantage gained with multiple / combined pulleys. They also learn the many ways engineers use pulleys for everyday purposes.

Students learn about the mechanical advantage offered by pulleys in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity's mechatronic presentation, they learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a dynamic system that is under their control. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics platform and common hardware items, students build a mechanized elevator system. The ability to control different parameters (such as motor power, testing load and pulley arrangement) enables the teacher, as well as the students, to emphasize and reinforce particular aspects/effects of mechanical advantage.

Using common materials (spools, string, soap), students learn how a pulley can be used to easily change the direction of a force, making the moving of large objects easier. They see the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and the mechanical advantage gained with multiple/combined pulleys. They also learn the many ways engineers use pulleys for everyday purposes.