Thursday 12.20.

4th Grade Science
Patterns on Earth
Lesson 15

Teacher Facing
December 18, 2024

Student Assistance Form

(SAF)

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What is a SAF?

A SAF is an electronic referral form submitted when a Houston ISD student’s need
has been identified. Information provided in a SAF is immediately sent to a caring

professional to be processed.

Wraparound

Team

Campus

Staff

Students

Parents

Community

Members

School

Counselors

District

Personnel

Service
Providers

Who can submit a SAF?

SAF

Instructions

Scan

Submit a Student Assistance Form (SAF) to notify a caring professional

about your needs. A SAF can be submitted to connect you to

resources/services for:

Do You Have a Need? Submit a SAF

www.HoustonISDsaf.com

•Housing

•Transportation

•and more!

•School Supplies

•Attendance

Submit a SAF by scanning the QR code or typing

•Mental Health

•Food/Clothing

MRS Icons

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Critical Slides

Slides with this icon are critical for
student mastery of the lesson
objective. While adjustments to meet
students’ individual needs are still
encouraged, please do not remove
this portion of the lesson.

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Timer Options (Soft Music)

7

Timer Options (Silent)

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Timer Options (Fun Music)

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Emergent Bilingual Support

To support English learners in language
acquisition, consider using the following
resources:

●

Thinking Stems

●

Language Functions Tool

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Teacher Background

In grade 4, students are expected to understand that rocks are porous. A rock that is porous allows a liquid or air to flow
through small spaces or holes in the rock. A rock that has been shaped through weathering and erosion may allow soil to
collect in or on it, which can provide locations for plants to grow. In grade 5, students will discuss the formation of
sedimentary rock and fossil fuels within those holes.

In kindergarten, students were introduced to physical properties of rocks when they sorted rocks by shape, size, color, and
texture. This is their second exposure to physical properties of rocks. Resources such as metals, gems, and ground water
and energy resources such as petroleum, natural gas, and heated water (geothermal energy) can be contained within layers
of rock. These resources are mined or drilled (wells).

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Materials

Student

Teacher

●variety of rocks

●student activity sheet

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Possible Student Misconceptions

●Students may not realize that natural resources are within rocks

●Students may think that all rocks are the same

Physical Property

A characteristic that
describes something

Rock

A hard, nonliving,
natural resource from
the Earth

Size

The total amount of
physical space that a
person or thing
occupies; how large or
small someone or
something is

Color

A characteristic such as
red, blue, green, yellow,
etc., that you see when
you look at something

Hardness

The quality of
something being hard.
The ability of a
substance to scratch
another substance or
be scratched

Texture

How rough or smooth an
object feels

Luster

How the surface of
a mineral reflects
light.

4th Grade Science
Patterns on Earth
Lesson 15

December 18, 2024

21

Do Now

Which is the Odd One?

Why is it the Odd One Out?

Reduce
Reuse

Reproduce

Recycle

____________ is the odd one out because
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

Replaced

Replenished

Not in our lifetime

In our lifetime

____________ is the odd one out because
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________

Select the name of the object in each category that you think does not match
with the others. Explain why you circled the object you chose.

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Patterns on Earth

LO:SWBAT determine physical properties of different
rocks.

DOL: Given scenarios, SW correctly determine physical
properties of different rocks in at least 4 of 5 questions.

SCI.4.11C Determine the physical properties of rocks that allow Earth's natural resources to be stored there
SEPs 4.1A, 4.1D, 4.3C, 4.4B
RTCs 4.5A

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Essential Understandings &

Guiding Questions

What are the physical properties of rock?

Why is important to know the properties of rocks?

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Lesson Vocabulary

physical properties

rock

size

color

hardness

texture

luster

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What do you notice or wonder?

How can you describe and sort these rocks?

Observe each rock. List the physical properties using the word

bank below.

Rock

Drawing

Size

Color

Hardness

Texture

Luster

small

medium

big

large

gray
white
clear
black

red

orange
yellow

soft

fragile
chalky
crumbly

firm

compact

tough
hard

bumpy

smooth

rough

sandy

shiny

glassy

dull

silky

Word Bank

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How can you describe and sort these rocks?

Sort the rocks into different

groups.

Explain how you sorted the rocks.

Group A

Group B

I grouped the rocks in Group A because
they all …..

I grouped the rocks in Group B because
they all …..

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What is a rock?

A rock is a hard material from the earth. The rocks in the picture
are different sizes. Some are smooth. Some are rough.

Photo credit: Kenneth Keifer/Shutterstock

Copyright © Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. Savvas is not responsible for any modifications made by end users to the content posted in its original format.

How can you describe rocks?

This rock has a smooth texture.
It is round.

This rock has a rough texture.
It is not round.

Copyright © Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. Savvas is not responsible for any modifications made by end users to the content posted in its original format.

Rocks that are the same

Sort the rocks two different ways

color

texture

rocks

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Rocks are nonliving solid material made of different minerals. Rocks come in
all shapes and sizes. Rocks can be described and named according to color,
texture, hardness, and size. Rocks can be described as being rough or
smooth, large, or small. Rocks that are really huge are called boulders. Rocks
that are smaller may be called pebbles or gravel.

What are some ways to describe rocks?

Size

Color

Hardness

Texture

Small

Gray

Firm

Hard

Smooth

Big

Large

Orange

Brown

Firm

Hard

Rough

Sandy

Pebbles

Boulder

Luster describes how the surface of the rock reflects light. It can be shiny
(metallic), glassy, dull, or silky.

How can you describe a rock’s luster?

Pyrite

Shale

Metallic Luster

Metallic minerals

Looks golden

Dull
Non-reflective

minerals

Shiny

Chalky

Dull Luster

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All rocks are different. There are many ways to compare and sort rocks.

What are ways to classify rocks?

Size

Color

Hardness

Texture

Image by Artur Pawlak from Pixabay

7 centimeters

long
Gray

Firm

Hard

Rough outside,
smooth inside

8 centimeters

long

Transparent,

light brown

Firm

Hard

Smooth

How can you compare the size and color of two rocks below?
The flint rock and the quartz rock are about the same ______.

They are different ________.

Flint

Quartz

How can you compare the texture of the two rocks?

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What type of scientist studies rocks?

A geologist is a scientist who studies rocks, minerals, and the Earth. They try
to understand how the Earth was formed, how it has changed over time, and
what is inside it. They also help find useful things like gold, oil, and other
natural resources.

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Let’s revisit the phenomenon.

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Observe the rock in the picture below.

Image by pen_ash from Pixabay

Describe the physical properties of the rock using color, size, and texture.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Copyright © Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. Savvas is not responsible for any modifications made by end users to the content posted in its original format.

During a field trip, the students test several rocks by
scratching them against each other. What are the students
learning from this test?

A. Which rock is the heaviest

B. The texture of the rocks

C. The hardness of the rocks

D. The luster of the rocks

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DOL: Given
scenarios, SW
correctly determine
physical properties
of different rocks in
at least 4 of 5
questions.

Demonstration of Learning

●Some images used in this lesson are taken from Adobe Stock. Adobe Stock
https://stock.adobe.com

●Some images used in this lesson are taken from Great Minds. Great Minds
https://digital.greatminds.org

●Some images used in this lesson are taken from SAVVAS realize. SAVVAS
realize https://www.savvasrealize.com

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Copyright for Reference