Quebec Grades 3–4 science curriculum

Outcome Describes the effects of a force on an object (sets it in motion, changes its motion, stops it). Used in the balloon rocket and egg-drop lessons.

Lessons: Build It, Launch It (Can you drop an egg without breaking it?, What makes a paper plane fly farthest?, How does a rocket push itself into space?)

Practice: Build It, Launch It workbook · Pushes, Pulls and Magnets workbook · Forces at Work: Gravity, Resistance, Levers and Pulleys workbook

Outcome Describes the effects of a force on an object (sets it in motion, changes its motion, stops it). Rolling-ball and magnet-pull tests.

Lessons: Pushes, Pulls and Magnets (Why does a ball stop rolling?, Can a magnet work through a table?, How far will a paper clip jump?)

Practice: Pushes, Pulls and Magnets workbook · Build It, Launch It workbook · Forces at Work: Gravity, Resistance, Levers and Pulleys workbook

Outcome Describes the characteristics of motion (e.g. direction, speed) (a much earlier cycle than the unit's level; the unit goes further by calculating speed).

Lessons: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop

Practice: Forces and Motion: Crash, Push and Stop workbook

Outcome Describes the observable properties of crystals (colour, geometric patterns). The salt and Epsom salt crystal lesson.

Lessons: Earth and Sky at Home (Where do rainbows come from?, How do crystals grow?, How does a cloud form?)

Practice: Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook · Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating workbook · Solids, Liquids and Gases workbook · Grade 4 Rocks and Minerals

Outcome Explains the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and infiltration). The cloud-in-a-jar lesson covers condensation only (partial).

Lessons: Earth and Sky at Home (Where do rainbows come from?, How do crystals grow?, How does a cloud form?)

Practice: Our Living Planet workbook · The Water Cycle, Start to Finish workbook · Weather Detectives workbook

Outcome Describes the observable properties of crystals (colour, geometric patterns). Snowflakes and frost crystals.

Lessons: Winter Science at Home (Can you make frost in a can?, Why does salt melt ice?, What's inside a snowflake?)

Practice: Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook · Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating workbook · Solids, Liquids and Gases workbook · Grade 4 Rocks and Minerals

Outcome Explains the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and infiltration). Window water bags and sweating cup.

Lessons: Our Living Planet (Can a jar keep itself alive?, Where does rain come from?)

Practice: Our Living Planet workbook · The Water Cycle, Start to Finish workbook · Weather Detectives workbook

Outcome Explains the water cycle (evaporation, condensation) (the puddle and cup lessons).

Lessons: Solids, Liquids and Gases (Where does a puddle go?, Why does ice float?)

Practice: Our Living Planet workbook · The Water Cycle, Start to Finish workbook · Weather Detectives workbook

Outcome Associates the buoyancy of a volume of liquid in an identical volume of a different liquid with the densities of these liquids (relative density). The lava-lamp lesson.

Lessons: Kitchen Chemistry for Families

Practice: Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook · Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating workbook · Solids, Liquids and Gases workbook · Grade 4 Rocks and Minerals

Outcome Demonstrates that physical changes such as phase changes do not change the properties of matter.

Lessons: Solids, Liquids and Gases (Where does a puddle go?, Why does ice float?)

Practice: Earth and Sky at Home workbook · Winter Science at Home workbook

Outcome Describes the growth stages of a flowering plant (a partial, adjacent-cycle match: seed to seedling only).

Lessons: Plants and Seeds: What Does a Seed Need? (What's inside a seed?, What does a seed need to grow?, Why do plants grow toward the window?)

Practice: Who Lives Here? workbook

Outcome Explains the sensorial functions of certain parts of the anatomy (skin, eyes, mouth, ears, nose).

Lessons: Your Senses: How Does Your Body Know?

Practice: Your Senses: How Does Your Body Know? workbook

Outcome Names means used by human beings to limit their energy consumption and to conserve energy (the classroom electricity audit).

Lessons: Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better

Practice: Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better workbook · Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact workbook

Outcome Illustrates a simple food chain (3 or 4 links), here extended to a food web.

Lessons: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom?

Practice: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom? workbook · Our Living Planet workbook

Outcome Identifies habitats and the animal and plant populations found in them; describes relationships between living things such as predation (the schoolyard count and the yarn web).

Lessons: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom?

Practice: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom? workbook · Our Living Planet workbook

Outcome Identifies natural sources of energy (sun, moving water, wind) and explains that sunlight, moving water and wind are renewable sources of energy (a lower-cycle match).

Lessons: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From (Where does our classroom's electricity come from?, Can the wind power our school?, Why don't we use solar power everywhere?)

Practice: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From workbook · Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better workbook · Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact workbook

Outcome Describes the methods invented by humans to transform renewable sources of energy into electricity (hydroelectric dam, wind turbine, solar panels) (a lower-cycle match).

Lessons: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From (Where does our classroom's electricity come from?, Can the wind power our school?, Why don't we use solar power everywhere?)

Practice: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From workbook · Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up workbook