4th Grade Science - Life Science

Characteristics of Organisms

• Identify an organism's basic needs (i.e.,air, food, and water)
• Distinguish characteristics of plants and animals through structures that serve different functions
• Be introduced to organisms being classified into kingdoms

Structures & Functions

• Recognize cells as the basic unit of all living things
• Know the relationship of cells, tissues, organs, and systems (i.e., digestive, nervous, circulatory)

Diversity & Adaptation

• Distinguish between vertebrates and invertebrates
• Observe characteristics between warm and cold blooded organisms
• Recognize that organisms have adaptations for defense and survival
• Know that environmental change affects organisms by making some endangered or extinct

Life Cycles

• Recognize organisms resemble their parents through certain characteristics (i.e., hair and eye color)
• Explore why reproduction is necessary for a species to survive

Organisms & Environments

• Be introduced to photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Regulation & Behavior

• Identify relationships within a food chain through producers, consumers, decomposers, herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores
• Explain how organisms can be affected by a change in the environment

Populations & Ecosystems

• Recognize various populations and communities make-up an ecosystem