Units for Grades 3, 4

Buoyancy - Students experiment with a variety of materials and designs and investigate variables that affect the buoyancy of objects. Suggested length: 4 weeks. 

Butterflies - Students observe the biological process of metamorphosis and learn to care for and feed butterflies. Students practice humane treatment of animals. Suggested length: 12 weeks. 

Pollination - Students grow Wisconsin Fast Plants, a variety of mustard, which can go through a complete life cycle in a little over forty days. Students use dried honey bees to pollinate flowers to produce fruit. Suggested length: 7 weeks. 

Sky Calendar - Students observe the sky and use models to better understand the astronomy behind units of time. Suggested length: 4 weeks.

Sound - Students study sound by making various devices which produce sounds. Suggested length: 6 weeks. 

Structures - Students explore the properties of various building materials by constructing structures. Suggested length: 6 weeks. 

Systems & Simple Machines - Students learn that a system is a group of objects that interact. Students investigate how simple and compound machines are systems. Relationships between simple machines, force and work is a focus. Suggested length: 6 weeks.

Grade 4

Birds & their Adaptations - Students observe birds to learn about their physical and behavioral properties, and how they are adapted to their environment. Food chains, food webs and habitats are also taught. Suggested length: 10 weeks. 

Crayfish - Students practice humane treatment of animals while they learn about the structure and behavior of crayfish by observing respiration, reaction to stimuli, feeding habits and territorial behavior. Suggested length: 7-13 weeks, fall only. 

Design Technology: Wheels - Students research, plan, construct, test and evaluate models of their own design. Models will be built to scale from drawings made on centimeter grid sheets. Suggested length: 6 weeks. 

Electrical Circuits - Students construct and test simple circuits. Investigations include series and parallel circuits, conductors, resistance and how to make a fuse. Suggested length: 9 weeks. 

Magnets - Students explore the properties of magnets and magnetic materials. Suggested length: 4 weeks. 

Mystery Matter - Students investigate the physical and chemical properties of powders as they try to match the properties of a powder found at the scene of a crime. Students observe the interactions of these materials with a variety of chemical indicators. Suggested length: 6 weeks.