Course Standards
General Course Information and Notes
Version Description
This course offers students an opportunity to deepen science, mathematics, engineering, and technology skills. The primary content focus will be to expand knowledge of current grade level standards in mathematics and science by applying that content in a real world, hands-on situation involving engineering and technology. For fourth grade, themes will focus on the investigation of number sense, measurement, geometry, earth science, life science, and physical science concepts.
Students will participate in various hands-on STEM activities in this supplemental course to assist in the mastery of current grade level mathematics and science standards.
Instructional Practices
Teaching from a range of complex text is optimized when teachers in all subject areas implement the following strategies on a routine basis:
- Ensuring wide reading from complex text that varies in length.
- Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
- Emphasizing text-specific complex questions, and cognitively complex tasks, reinforce focus on the text and cultivate independence.
- Emphasizing students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.
- Providing extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).
Science and Engineering Practices (NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, 2010)
- Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
- Developing and using models.
- Planning and carrying out investigations.
- Analyzing and interpreting data.
- Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking.
- Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering).
- Engaging in argument from evidence.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.
English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes Section:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English Language Learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in science and math. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL's need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: http://www.cpalms.org/uploads/docs/standards/eld/SC.pdf.
General Information
- Class Size Core Required
Educator Certifications
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Read more from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald in Part Two of this three-part series. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to compare and contrast the archetypes of two characters in the novel.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part One: Examining an Archetype in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories" [coming soon].
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to determine the key traits of a main character named Princess Irene in excerpts from the fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. In this interactive tutorial, you’ll also identify her archetype and explain how textual details about her character support her archetype.
Make sure to complete all three parts of this series!
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Two: Examining Archetypes in The Princess and the Goblin."
Click HERE to view "Archetypes -- Part Three: Comparing and Contrasting Archetypes in Two Fantasy Stories" [coming soon].
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to identify aspects of setting and character as you analyze several excerpts from “The Yellow Wallpaper," a chilling short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. You'll also determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting better reveal her emotional and mental state.
This interactive tutorial is Part One in a two-part series. By the end of Part Two, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting. Click below to launch Part Two.
The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part Two
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore how objects can be compared and sorted based on their physical properties in this fishing-themed, interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to examine several excerpts from the chilling short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which explores the impact on its narrator of being confined to mostly one room. In Part Two of this tutorial series, you'll determine how the narrator’s descriptions of the story’s setting reveal its impact on her emotional and mental state. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the narrator changes through her interaction with the setting.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two. Click HERE to launch "The Power to Cure or Impair: The Importance of Setting in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' -- Part One."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Practice distinguishing between observations and inferences that are based on observations as you help Darius fill in his science notebook in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the mysterious poem “The House on the Hill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson in this interactive tutorial. As you explore the poem's message about the past, you’ll identify the features of a villanelle in the poem. By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a villanelle contributes to the poem's meaning.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn to discriminate between observations and inferences in scientific investigations, explore the importance of objectivity in science, classify different scientific methods, and distinguish empirical evidence from ideas and feelings within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem "The New Colossus." By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning.
Make sure to complete Part One before beginning Part Two.
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part One: Exploring the Significance of 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Continue to explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in Part Two of this two-part series. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete Part One first. Click HERE to launch "Analyzing the Beginning of The Red Umbrella -- Part One: How Setting Influences Events."
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In Part One, explore the significance of the famous poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, lines from which are engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
This famous poem also happens to be in the form of a sonnet. In Part Two of this two-part series, you’ll identify the features of a sonnet in the poem. By the end of this tutorial series, you should be able to explain how the form of a sonnet contributes to the poem's meaning. Make sure to complete both parts!
Click HERE to launch "A Giant of Size and Power -- Part Two: How the Form of a Sonnet Contributes to Meaning in 'The New Colossus.'"
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore excerpts from the beginning of the historical fiction novel The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez in this two-part series. In Part One, you'll examine how setting influences events. In Part Two, you'll examine how setting influences characters.
Make sure to complete both parts! Click HERE to launch Part Two.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to write a great "CER" paragraph that includes a claim, evidence, and reasoning with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 2 in a two-part series. Click HERE to open part 1.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover what a virus is, actions that cause viruses like the flu to spread from one person to another, and strategies to decrease the spread of viruses to others.
This interactive tutorial is part 1 in a two-part series. Click HERE to open part 2.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In this video, SaM-1 introduces a part 2 twist to the Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) challenge. In the optional twist, students will need to design a prototype toy suitable for a Florida panther with an injured leg. This first video provides background information on why and how animals need to be entertained.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
In this video, SaM-1 introduces a Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) challenge for the students. This video provides background information on why and how animals need to be entertained. Students will have the opportunity to apply what they learned about physical properties and measuring linear lengths as they are asked to design a prototype toy for Florida panthers housed at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.
In the optional twist, students will need to design a prototype toy suitable for a Florida panther with an injured leg. The optional twist also has a SaM-1 video to introduce the twist challenge.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about the natural resources all around us in this interactive science tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about important natural resources, including limestone, silicon, and phosphate in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Compare the methods and results various groups have when they search for amphibians in an ephemeral wetland in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about natural resources that humans use for energy in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the Law of Conservation of Mass using your favorite building blocks in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Join in coaching the local soccer team and learn about the motion of objects with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about mechanical energy, including its two forms--kinetic energy and potential energy--with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the poem “The Railway Train” by Emily Dickinson in this interactive tutorial. Learn about personification and vivid descriptions and determine how they contribute to the meaning of a poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore electrical energy and electricity in this interactive tutorial about forms of energy.
This is the fourth tutorial in a five-part series. Click below to open the others in the series.
- Part 1: Light Energy
- Part 2: Heat Energy
- Part 3: Sound Energy
- Part 4: Electrical Energy
- Part 5: Mechanical Energy (Coming soon)
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn about sound, one of the main types of energy, as you complete this interactive science tutorial.
This is the fourth tutorial in a five-part series. Click below to open the others in the series.
- Part 1: Light Energy
- Part 2: Heat Energy
- Part 3: Sound Energy
- Part 4: Electrical Energy
- Part 5: Mechanical Energy (Coming soon)
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover what heat energy is and the role it plays on the Earth in this interactive tutorial.
This is the fourth tutorial in a five-part series. Click below to open the others in the series.
- Part 1: Light Energy
- Part 2: Heat Energy
- Part 3: Sound Energy
- Part 4: Electrical Energy
- Part 5: Mechanical Energy (Coming soon)
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Light is all around us and we need it to survive. In this interactive tutorial, learn about light energy and how it works!
This is the first tutorial in a five-part series. Click below to open the others in the series.
- Part 1: Light Energy
- Part 2: Heat Energy
- Part 3: Sound Energy
- Part 4: Electrical Energy
- Part 5: Mechanical Energy (Coming soon)
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" and examine words, phrases, and lines with multiple meanings. In this interactive tutorial, you'll analyze how these multiple meanings can affect a reader’s interpretation of the poem.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Discover the methods scientists use to solve problems, answer questions, and make discoveries in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources, creating a Works Cited page, and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore food chains found in many Florida ecosystems as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore energy flow in the environment through food chains as you complete this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the path energy takes from the Sun to producers to consumers.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how to define, declare and initialize variables as you start the journey to "bee" a coder in this interactive tutorial. Variables are structures used by computer programs to store information. You'll use your math skills to represent a fraction as a decimal to be stored in a variable. This is part 1 of a series of 4 in learning how to code.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the life cycle of different Florida seed plants: the longleaf pine and the orange tree.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the life cycles of animals including simple, complete metamorphosis and incomplete metamorphosis in this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn how electrical energy is produced from earth's natural resources. In this interactive tutorial, explore the process to power buildings and other electronic devices.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore different types of natural resources and analyze the aspects of non-renewable and renewable resources in this interactive tutorial. You'll be challenged to question what we do with our resources and why it is so important to consider what we do with them after we have used them.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Dig into the effects weathering and erosion have had on the shaping of our landscape. Sift through the rocks of our world and how weathering has cut and shaped them and how erosion has transported and molded the surfaces of the Earth.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the three categories of rocks and what makes each one unique.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Cite text evidence and make inferences about the "real" history of Halloween in this spooky interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Learn more about that dreaded word--plagiarism--in this interactive tutorial that's all about citing your sources and avoiding academic dishonesty!
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore the characteristics of minerals in our rock formations and what makes them unique. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn about simple tests that are used to identify minerals.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Join Baby Bear to answer questions about key details in his favorite stories with this interactive tutorial. Learn about characters, setting, and events as you answer who, where, and what questions.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Educational Game
This game allows students an opportunity to identify different kinds of rocks based on an actual photograph of the rock as well as characteristics of the rock, which are also shown.
Type: Educational Game
Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Physics is a weighty subject, but this discussion of magnets and illusion brings a little levity.
Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.
Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast
Video/Audio/Animations
This animation depicts key events of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which launched in late 2011 and landed a rover, Curiosity, on Mars in August 2012.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Interactive website that would assist students in grade 4 to understand the BIG IDEA 16:Heredity and Reproduction in an engaging way.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Watch a demonstration of an experiment which tests the effectiveness of two different insulators. The participants will demonstrate their thinking as they run an experiment, identify variables and collect data.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
The students will watch a short video that shows them how sound is created and how it is interpreted by our brain.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
The students will watch a short video showing how different pitches are made.
Type: Video/Audio/Animation
Virtual Manipulative
Consider a wide range of possibilities when problem solving by experimenting with materials. Play around with objects and ideas to discover that there may be more than one solution. You will have an opportunity to explore with an assortment of objects to create a path for a ball to take.
Type: Virtual Manipulative