Grade 4 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 science in the Ontario Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- A1 STEM Investigation and Communication Skills: Use a scientific research process, a scientific experimentation process, and an engineering design process to conduct investigations, following appropriate health and safety procedures
- A2 Coding and Emerging Technologies: Use coding in investigations and to model concepts, and assess the impact of coding and of emerging technologies on everyday life and in STEM-related fields
- A3 Applications, Connections, and Contributions: Demonstrate an understanding of the practical applications of science and technology, and of contributions to science and technology from people with diverse lived experiences
- B1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess impacts of human activities on habitats and communities, and analyse actions for minimizing negative impacts and enhancing positive ones
- B2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of habitats and communities and of interrelationships among the organisms that live in them
- C1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the impacts on society and the environment of technological innovations related to light and sound
- C2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of light and sound as forms of energy that have specific characteristics and properties
- D1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Evaluate the impacts of various machines and their mechanisms on society and the environment
- D2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles and functions of machines and their mechanisms
- E1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the social and environmental impacts of geological processes and of human uses of rocks and minerals
- E2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of rocks, minerals, and Earth’s geological processes
Easy ways to practise science at home
- Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks.
- Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month.
- Ask “What do you think will happen?” and then test it.
- Visit a park, beach or creek and look for living things and their habitats.
What each unit covers
Habitats & Communities
Habitats as places that meet the needs of living things, communities of interacting species, why habitats have limits, how species depend on each other, and how human actions can help or harm.
Food Chains & Webs
Producers, consumers and decomposers, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, how energy moves along a food chain, and why a food web is a more complete picture.
Adaptations
Features such as webbed feet, thick fur, camouflage, big ears and water-storing stems, and how each helps a plant or animal survive in a particular habitat.
Light
Natural and artificial light, things that make light and things that reflect it, shadows, transparent, translucent and opaque materials, mirrors, refraction, and how light technology affects people and wildlife.
Sound
Vibrations and sound waves, pitch and volume, how sound travels through different materials but not through empty space, echoes and absorbing sound, how we hear, and how noise and sound devices affect people and animals.
Machines in Our Lives
Levers, wheels and axles, pulleys, gears, ramps and wedges, naming a mechanism's parts (such as the fulcrum), and comparing the effects of machines on daily life and the environment.
Gears, Levers & Motion
Rotary, linear and back-and-forth motion, how gears of different sizes change speed, how pulleys and levers change force and direction, and how a bicycle moves.
Rocks & Minerals
How igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form, the rock cycle, and testing minerals for hardness, streak and lustre. Many Ontario rocks, like those of the Canadian Shield, are igneous and metamorphic.
Fossils, Mining & Earth Processes
How fossils form and what they tell us, everyday uses of rocks and minerals, mining in Ontario (nickel at Sudbury, salt near Windsor and Goderich), recycling, and how earthquakes, volcanoes and mining affect people and the environment. First Nations, Métis and Inuit geological knowledge is not covered here.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Level 1
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Level 2
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Level 3
- Has it! Level 3 is the provincial standard. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Level 4
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Ontario report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 4 child with science?
Try a kitchen experiment, such as what dissolves in water and what floats or sinks. Keep a simple weather or moon log for a month. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 4 science in Ontario?
The Ontario Curriculum Grade 4 science units include habitats & communities, food chains & webs, adaptations, light, sound, machines in our lives.
Free printable Grade 4 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.