Science Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools - January 2010
Grade 4 SOL's
Life Processes 4.4
The student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life processes. Key concepts include
a) the structures of typical plants and the function of each structure;
b) processes and structures involved with plant reproduction;
c) photosynthesis; and
d) adaptations allow plants to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment.
4.5 Living Systems
The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals, including humans, in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include:
a) plant and animal adaptations;
b) organization of populations, communities, and ecosystems and how they interrelate;
c) flow of energy through food webs;
d) habitats and niches;
e) changes in an organism’s niche at various stages in its life cycle; and
f) influences of human activity on ecosystems.
a) the structures of typical plants and the function of each structure;
b) processes and structures involved with plant reproduction;
c) photosynthesis; and
d) adaptations allow plants to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment.
4.5 Living Systems
The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals, including humans, in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include:
a) plant and animal adaptations;
b) organization of populations, communities, and ecosystems and how they interrelate;
c) flow of energy through food webs;
d) habitats and niches;
e) changes in an organism’s niche at various stages in its life cycle; and
f) influences of human activity on ecosystems.
Understanding the Standard
This standard focuses on the basic life processes and anatomy of plants. It represents a more in-depth treatment of the plant structures and the processes associated with plant reproduction. Photosynthesis is introduced in this standard. Closely related standards from previous grades include K.6, 1.4, and 2.4. This standard also is closely connected with concepts presented in science standard 4.5. It is intended that students will actively develop and utilize scientific investigation, reasoning, and logic skills (4.1) in the context of the key concepts presented in this standard.
4.4
· For many typical green plants, there are anatomical structures that perform certain basic functions. For example, roots anchor the plants and take water and nutrients from the soil. Plant stems provide support and allow movement of water and nutrients.
· Plants can be divided into two general groups: those that produce seeds and those that produce spores.
· Many seed-producing plants have roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.
· Seeds vary considerably in size. Orchids, for example, produce seeds as small as dust particles. The coconut is one of the largest seeds in the plant kingdom. In many seeds, the protective outer seed coat is resistant to physical damage and may also contain waxes and oils that help prevent water loss.
· The embryo within the seed begins as a single cell, the zygote. The basic organs of the plant body can be found in the embryo. In some seeds the embryonic leaves are quite large, filling most of the volume of the seed. The embryonic leaves are a major source of stored food for the embryo. Beans are an example of plants with large embryonic leaves. In many other plants the embryonic leaves are relatively small, and the embryo is nourished by a tissue called endosperm.
· Pollination is part of the reproductive process of flowering plants. Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from the stamens to the stigma.
· The stamen and pistil are reproductive parts of the flower. The sepals are the small leaves that form the housing of the developing flower.
Some plants reproduce with spores. These include ferns and mosses.
· Green plants produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Green plants use chlorophyll to produce food (sugar), using carbon dioxide, water, enzymes and other chemicals, and sunlight. Leaves are the primary food-producing part of these plants.
· Oxygen is released during photosynthesis.
· Plants adapt to changes in their environment in order to survive. Dormancy is a plant adaptation. Dormancy is a period of suspended life processes brought on by changes in the environment.
4.5
This standard focuses on the relationships among plants, animals, and the nonliving environment and brings together several elements of both Life Processes and Living Systems. This standard assumes students have a basic understanding that all living organisms are interrelated and dependent in some way on other living organisms and their environment. Plants and animals in ecological systems live in a web of interdependence in which each species contributes to the functioning of the overall system. Organisms live in a habitat to which they are structurally and behaviorally adapted. Certain conditions within environments determine which organisms and communities succeed there. This standard builds upon previous standards 1.5, 2.4, 2.5. 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6. It is intended that students will actively develop and utilize scientific investigation, reasoning, and logic skills (4.1) in the context of the key concepts presented in this standard.
· Organisms have structural adaptations or physical attributes that help them meet a life need.
· Organisms also have behavioral adaptations, or certain types of activities they perform, which help them meet a life need.
· All the organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time are a population.
· Populations of species that live in the same place at the same time together make up a community.
· The organization of communities is based on the utilization of the energy from the sun within a given ecosystem. The greatest amount of energy in a community is in the producers.
· Within a community, organisms are dependent on the survival of other organisms. Energy is passed from one organism to another.
· All the populations and the nonliving components in an environment that interact with each other form an ecosystem.
· The sun’s energy cycles through ecosystems from producers through consumers and back into the nutrient pool through decomposers.
· A habitat is the place or kind of place in which an animal or plant naturally lives. An organism’s habitat provides food, water, shelter, and space. The size of the habitat depends on the organism’s needs.
A niche is the function that an organism performs in the food web of that community. A niche also includes everything else the organism does and needs in its environment. No two types of organisms occupy exactly the same niche in a community.
· The organization of a community is defined by the interrelated niches within it.
· During its life cycle, an organism’s role in the community — its niche — may change. For example, what an animal eats, what eats it, and other relationships will change.
· Humans can have a major impact on ecosystems.
4.4
· For many typical green plants, there are anatomical structures that perform certain basic functions. For example, roots anchor the plants and take water and nutrients from the soil. Plant stems provide support and allow movement of water and nutrients.
· Plants can be divided into two general groups: those that produce seeds and those that produce spores.
· Many seed-producing plants have roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.
· Seeds vary considerably in size. Orchids, for example, produce seeds as small as dust particles. The coconut is one of the largest seeds in the plant kingdom. In many seeds, the protective outer seed coat is resistant to physical damage and may also contain waxes and oils that help prevent water loss.
· The embryo within the seed begins as a single cell, the zygote. The basic organs of the plant body can be found in the embryo. In some seeds the embryonic leaves are quite large, filling most of the volume of the seed. The embryonic leaves are a major source of stored food for the embryo. Beans are an example of plants with large embryonic leaves. In many other plants the embryonic leaves are relatively small, and the embryo is nourished by a tissue called endosperm.
· Pollination is part of the reproductive process of flowering plants. Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from the stamens to the stigma.
· The stamen and pistil are reproductive parts of the flower. The sepals are the small leaves that form the housing of the developing flower.
Some plants reproduce with spores. These include ferns and mosses.
· Green plants produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Green plants use chlorophyll to produce food (sugar), using carbon dioxide, water, enzymes and other chemicals, and sunlight. Leaves are the primary food-producing part of these plants.
· Oxygen is released during photosynthesis.
· Plants adapt to changes in their environment in order to survive. Dormancy is a plant adaptation. Dormancy is a period of suspended life processes brought on by changes in the environment.
4.5
This standard focuses on the relationships among plants, animals, and the nonliving environment and brings together several elements of both Life Processes and Living Systems. This standard assumes students have a basic understanding that all living organisms are interrelated and dependent in some way on other living organisms and their environment. Plants and animals in ecological systems live in a web of interdependence in which each species contributes to the functioning of the overall system. Organisms live in a habitat to which they are structurally and behaviorally adapted. Certain conditions within environments determine which organisms and communities succeed there. This standard builds upon previous standards 1.5, 2.4, 2.5. 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6. It is intended that students will actively develop and utilize scientific investigation, reasoning, and logic skills (4.1) in the context of the key concepts presented in this standard.
· Organisms have structural adaptations or physical attributes that help them meet a life need.
· Organisms also have behavioral adaptations, or certain types of activities they perform, which help them meet a life need.
· All the organisms of the same species that live in the same place at the same time are a population.
· Populations of species that live in the same place at the same time together make up a community.
· The organization of communities is based on the utilization of the energy from the sun within a given ecosystem. The greatest amount of energy in a community is in the producers.
· Within a community, organisms are dependent on the survival of other organisms. Energy is passed from one organism to another.
· All the populations and the nonliving components in an environment that interact with each other form an ecosystem.
· The sun’s energy cycles through ecosystems from producers through consumers and back into the nutrient pool through decomposers.
· A habitat is the place or kind of place in which an animal or plant naturally lives. An organism’s habitat provides food, water, shelter, and space. The size of the habitat depends on the organism’s needs.
A niche is the function that an organism performs in the food web of that community. A niche also includes everything else the organism does and needs in its environment. No two types of organisms occupy exactly the same niche in a community.
· The organization of a community is defined by the interrelated niches within it.
· During its life cycle, an organism’s role in the community — its niche — may change. For example, what an animal eats, what eats it, and other relationships will change.
· Humans can have a major impact on ecosystems.