Unit Plan 31 (Grade 4 Science): Earth Materials & Processes

Focus: Connect weathering, erosion, deposition, rock layers, and Earth features to explain how landscapes change over time.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Science (Earth & Space Science)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this integrative unit, students pull together earlier learning about rocks, fossils, weathering, erosion, and Earth features. They explore how water, ice, wind, and gravity break down and move rock, how deposition builds new landforms, and how rock and fossil patterns show changes over long time scales. Using maps, models, and simple investigations, students explain how everyday processes and deep-time processes both shape Earth’s surface.

Essential Questions

• How do weathering, erosion, and deposition work together to change Earth’s surface?
• What can rock layers and fossils tell us about how landscapes have changed over time?
• How do maps of Earth features (mountains, valleys, faults, volcanoes, rivers) show patterns in where changes happen?
• Why is it important to understand Earth processes when we build roads, homes, and communities?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe and give examples of weathering, erosion, and deposition, and explain how each process changes land.
2. Use rock and fossil evidence in simple models to explain how a landscape has changed over time.
3. Analyze Earth feature maps to find patterns in mountains, valleys, faults, volcanoes, and bodies of water.
4. Connect everyday weathering/erosion (e.g., sidewalks cracking, soil washing away) to larger landform changes.
5. Create a “Earth Processes Story Map” that combines diagrams, maps, and explanations of how an area changed over time.

Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 4-ESS1-1 — Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in landscapes over time.
  • Example: Use a cross-section diagram with marine fossils at one level and land fossils above to explain that the area was once underwater.
• 4-ESS2-1 — Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or water/ice/wind erosion on Earth’s surface.
  • Example: Compare how much soil is removed from trays at different slopes or with/without plant cover.
• 4-ESS2-2 — Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth features.
  • Example: Identify where mountains, faults, volcanoes, and major rivers occur and discuss why they cluster in certain regions.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can describe and show how weathering, erosion, and deposition change land.
• I can use rock layers and fossils to tell a before-and-after story of how a place changed over time.
• I can read a map of Earth features and point out patterns in where mountains, valleys, and volcanoes are found.
• I can connect small changes (cracks, loose soil) to bigger landform changes over long periods.
• I can make an Earth Processes Story Map that someone else can use to understand how a landscape changed.