Students learn how air masses and fronts create weather and find out how meteorologists track weather changes and make predictions that help keep people safe. Students learn how the angle of sunlight and different surfaces on the earth affect air temperature. Students learn that natural resources are useful things the earth produces and how people can conserve natural resources.
Students learn about cloud formation, humidity, precipitation, and the water cycle.
Students learn about the effects of weathering and erosion on land forms and ways to prevent erosion. Students learn about bodies of water and land forms, the way volcanoes and earthquakes can change the land, and the ways people try to safeguard themselves from earthquake damage. Students learn about the properties of minerals and the formation and characteristics of different types of rock and soil. Students learn how temperature is related to air pressure and wind and how air pressure and wind are measured. By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of the changes in the earth and sky.