Nova Scotia · Grade 4
Science, Grade 4
Nova Scotia’s Grade 4 science course, from Life Science: Habitat to Earth and Space Science: Rocks and Minerals.
- Units
- 4
- Lessons
- 8
- Skills
- 25
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 7 skills
Life Science: Habitat
Exploring Local Habitats
Characteristics of local habitats
I can describe different local habitats and the organisms that live in each one.
Skill 1.1
What organisms need to survive
I can explain the factors a plant or animal needs to survive in its habitat.
Skill 1.2
Effects of changes in a habitat
I can explain how a change in a habitat, like a drought or a new building, affects the living things there.
Skill 1.3
How Habitats Are Connected
Relationships in a habitat
I can analyse how organisms and their environment relate to each other in a local habitat.
Skill 1.4
Food webs in a habitat
I can build and analyse a food web that shows what eats what in a habitat.
Skill 1.5
Human impacts on local habitats
I can explain how human actions can harm or help local habitats.
Skill 1.6
How habitats connect to each other
I can show that habitats are connected to each other - animals, water, and energy move between them.
Skill 1.7
The official wording · 7 outcomes
- 1.1
- Investigate characteristics of a variety of local habitats and the organisms that inhabit them
- 1.2
- Investigate factors necessary for survival of a plant or animal in a local habitat
- 1.3
- Investigate the effect of changes in a habitat
- 1.4
- Analyse relationships among organisms and the environment in a local habitat
- 1.5
- Analyse food webs in a local habitat
- 1.6
- Investigate human impacts on local habitats
- 1.7
- Investigate interconnectiveness of habitats
Key ideas
A habitat is the place where an organism lives and gets what it needs.
Organisms in a habitat depend on each other and on the non-living environment.
Different habitats (pond, forest, field, shore) have different living things.
Some relationships are eating (a predator and its prey), some are helping (bees and flowers).
A habitat provides food, water, shelter, and space.
Watch out for
- Thinking a habitat is just an empty place - it is a whole home with living and non-living parts working together.
- Thinking organisms live independently - they are connected to each other and to the environment.
- Thinking the same animals live in every habitat - each habitat has its own kinds of organisms.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 5 skills
Physical Science: Light
Properties of Light
Natural and artificial light sources
I can tell natural light sources from artificial (human-made) ones.
Skill 2.1
How light is absorbed, reflected, and bent
I can show four things light can do: be absorbed, pass through (transmitted), bounce off (reflected), and bend (refracted).
Skill 2.2
Measuring light with probeware
I can use a light sensor (probeware) to measure how bright the light is in different places.
Skill 2.3
How We Use Light
Technologies that use light
I can name technologies that use light and tell what they do with it.
Skill 2.4
Optical devices
I can explain how optical devices like magnifiers, lenses, and mirrors help us see.
Skill 2.5
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 2.1
- Investigate natural and artificial sources of light
- 2.2
- Investigate how light is absorbed, transmitted, reflected and refracted
- 2.3
- Measure light using probeware
- 2.4
- Investigate technologies that use light
- 2.5
- Investigate optical devices
Key ideas
A light source is something that makes its own light.
A technology is a tool or device people invented to do a job.
Natural sources: the sun, fire, lightning, some animals (fireflies).
Some technologies make light (flashlights, headlights, screens).
Artificial sources: light bulbs, flashlights, screens, candles made by people.
Watch out for
- Thinking the moon makes its own light - it reflects sunlight, so it is not a light source.
- Thinking only lamps use light - many technologies use light in different ways.
- Thinking anything bright is a light source - a mirror is bright but only reflects light.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 6 skills
Physical Science: Sound
Sound Around Us
How the environment affects sound
I can explain how things in the environment affect the sounds we hear, like distance, walls, and wind.
Skill 3.1
Devices that make and receive sound
I can name devices that make sound, make it louder, or receive sound, and tell what each does.
Skill 3.2
Measuring sound with probeware
I can use a sound sensor (probeware) to measure how loud different sounds are and compare them.
Skill 3.3
How Sound Changes
Vibration is the source of sound
I can show that sound comes from something vibrating (moving back and forth quickly).
Skill 3.4
How materials change sound
I can test how different materials absorb, reflect, or let sound pass through.
Skill 3.5
Making high, low, loud, and soft sounds
I can make high and low sounds (pitch) and loud and soft sounds (volume), and explain how.
Skill 3.6
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- 3.1
- Investigate the impact of environmental factors on sound
- 3.2
- Investigate devices that produce, amplify and receive sound
- 3.3
- Measure sounds in the environment using probeware
- 3.4
- Investigate vibration as the source of sound
- 3.5
- Test how various materials and states of matter absorb, reflect and transmit sound
- 3.6
- Investigate how high pitched, low pitched, loud and soft sounds can be made
Key ideas
Sound travels through the air (and other materials) from its source to our ears.
A vibration is a fast back-and-forth movement.
Sound gets quieter the farther away you are from its source.
All sounds are made by something vibrating (a plucked string, vocal cords, a drum skin).
Walls and objects can block, muffle, or echo sound.
Watch out for
- Thinking sound is just as loud no matter how far away - it fades with distance.
- Thinking sound can happen without movement - every sound comes from a vibration.
- Thinking sound passes freely through everything - walls block and muffle it.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 7 skills
Earth and Space Science: Rocks and Minerals
Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils
Properties of rocks and minerals
I can describe properties of local rocks and minerals, like colour, hardness, shine, and texture.
Skill 4.1
How fossils form
I can explain how a fossil forms from the remains of a living thing over a very long time.
Skill 4.2
Sorting local rocks and minerals
I can classify local rocks and minerals into groups by their properties.
Skill 4.3
Uses of rocks and minerals
I can name ways people use rocks and minerals and explain why each is chosen.
Skill 4.4
How Earth's Surface Changes
How rocks change
I can explain how rocks change over time - breaking down, being carried away, and forming again.
Skill 4.5
Erosion
I can explain erosion - how wind, water, and ice carry away soil and broken rock.
Skill 4.6
Human impacts on the rock cycle
I can explain how people affect the rock cycle and Earth's surface, such as by mining, building, or protecting land.
Skill 4.7
The official wording · 7 outcomes
- 4.1
- Investigate properties of rocks and minerals in the local environment
- 4.2
- Investigate how fossils are formed
- 4.3
- Classify local rocks and minerals
- 4.4
- Analyse uses of rocks and minerals
- 4.5
- Investigate how rocks change
- 4.6
- Investigate erosion
- 4.7
- Investigate human impacts on the rock cycle
Key ideas
Rocks are made of one or more minerals.
Rocks slowly change over a very long time (the rock cycle).
Properties include colour, hardness, luster (shine), texture, and streak.
Weathering breaks big rocks into smaller pieces.
We can test hardness by scratching and observe shine and colour.
Watch out for
- Thinking rocks and minerals are the same word for the same thing - a rock is made OF minerals.
- Thinking rocks never change - they change very slowly over long times.
- Thinking all rocks are grey and dull - they come in many colours and textures.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows Nova Scotia’s own curriculum for Science, Grade 4.
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches Science, Grade 4 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep Science, Grade 4 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 28
- Fillable fields
- 1,334
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about Science, Grade 4
What is Science, Grade 4?
Nova Scotia’s Grade 4 science course: 4 units and 25 skills, from Life Science: Habitat to Earth and Space Science: Rocks and Minerals.
What units are in Science, Grade 4?
1. Life Science: Habitat, 2. Physical Science: Light, 3. Physical Science: Sound and 4. Earth and Space Science: Rocks and Minerals.
Is there a provincial exam for Science, Grade 4?
No. Nova Scotia gives no provincial exam for Science, Grade 4.
What comes after Science, Grade 4?
Science, Grade 5.
Can MapleMind help with Science, Grade 4?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Science, Grade 4, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for Science, Grade 4
Practise every skill of Science, Grade 4 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
