Grade 04 Science - EC: S4.A.1.1.1
Grade 04 Science - EC: S4.A.1.1.1
Continuum of Activities
The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.
This continuum of activities offers:
- Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
- Questions/activities that grow in complexity
- Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance
Activities
- What is a scientific fact?
- What is an opinion?
- Identify a series of statements as SCIENTIFIC FACT or OPINION.
- List five scientific facts. Tell why they are scientific facts.
- List five opinions sentences. Tell why they are opinions.
- Write a paragraph explaining observations that support a given scientific fact.
- Compare and contrast a series of scientific facts and opinion statements. Create a chart listing the signal words used in fact statements and signal words used in opinion statements.
- Write a paragraph telling your friend about your day yesterday. Include three sentences that are facts and three sentences that are opinions. Using a red crayon, underline the sentences in your paragraph that are facts. Using a blue crayon, underline the sentences in your paragraph that are opinions.
- Look around your classroom. Write five facts and five opinions about the things around you. Compare your facts and opinions with a classmate’s. Are they similar? Different? How?
Answer Key/Rubric
- A scientific fact is any observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and accepted as true; any scientific observation that has not been refuted.
- Opinion is a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge; a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.
- Student correctly identifies statements as FACT or OPINION.
- Student lists five tangible scientific facts. Student clearly explains why they are facts.
- Student lists five tangible opinions. Student clearly explains why they are opinions.
- See rubric below.
- Student is able to correctly identify words often used in scientific facts and words often used in opinion statements.
- See rubric below.
- Student is able to investigate his/her surroundings and formulate a list of five facts and five opinions. Student adequately critiques his/her own list and recognizes similarities and differences with a classmate’s.
Suggested Rubric: This rubric may be used to assess a student’s overall mastery of the standard or eligible content:In Need of Significant Improvement/Reinforcement
Basic Understanding
Mastery
Student is unable to distinguish between a scientific fact and an opinion, and unable to provide clear explanations that connect observations and results.
Student is able to distinguish between a scientific fact and an opinion, as well as provide explanations that connect observations and results.
Student is able to precisely distinguish between a scientific fact and an opinion, providing clear and thoughtful explanations that connect observations and results.
