Grade Four

The fourth-grade standards stress the importance of using information, analyzing data, and validating experimental results. Defining variables in experimentation is emphasized, and making simple predictions from picture, bar, and basic line graphs is underscored. Questioning and hypothesizing become more detailed at this level. Students are introduced to basic principles of electricity and to the concept of motion. Relationships are investigated in the interactions among the Earth, moon, and sun and among plants and animals and their environments. In examining weather phenomena and conditions, students identify various factors, make predictions based on data, and evaluate the results. The importance of natural resources in Virginia is emphasized.