4th Grade Teachers

4th Grade Summary: 

Students learn the importance of the kelp forest and how they can help protect it. Content focuses on the anatomy of kelp, how animals use the kelp forest and how students are connected to the kelp forest through watersheds. 

During Exploration Day at La Jolla students are introduced to the anatomy of kelp, the kelp forest ecosystem and the animals that live there. They use scientific tools to identify animals that live in and around the kelp forest and investigate how these animals utilize the habitat while building their belief that they can recognize and do science.

During the Make a Difference Day at the Living Lab, students learn how they can help protect the kelp forest today and in the future.  Students learn how their community is connected to the kelp forest through the watershed and make a difference today by picking up plastic trash in the canyon.  Students learn how they can make a difference in the future by becoming science leaders who explore places like the kelp forest to innovate ways to improve human lives.   Students also meet a science leader who shares their career pathway and challenges and obstacles they have faced along the way to becoming a science leader. Collectively, these experiences build students’ belief that science is important and relevant, and that they can make a difference in the world.

Students love exploring the kelp forest, using scientific tools, getting to know science leaders, and making a difference in the world!

NGSS Alignment:

Performance Expectation 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

DCI LS1.A: Structure and Function: Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.

Crosscutting Concepts
Systems and System Models – students understand that a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot. They can also describe a system in terms of its components and their interactions.

• Adams Elementary
• Central Elementary
• Cherokee Point Elementary
• Edison Elementary
• Franklin Elementary
• Hamilton Elementary
• Joyner Elementary
• Normal Heights Elementary
• Rosa Parks Elementary
• Rowan Elementary

• Kelp Forest Information
  • What is a kelp forest? (NOAA National Ocean Service)
  • Kelp Forests: A Description (NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries)
  • Kelp Forest (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

• Lesson Plans and Activities
  • Post Program Exit Ticket
  • Post Program Reflection Sheets – Example 1 ;  Example 2
  • Climate Science Alliance Educator Resources – Explorer Backpacks, Book Club, Traveling Trunks & Digital Resources
    • Check out materials for your students on various topics, including: Oceans, Pollinators, Chemistry, Food Systems, Carnivores, & more!
  • “Kelp Forest Bingo” Activity (Birch Aquarium)
  • “Kelp Forest Engineer Challenge” Lesson Plan (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
  • “Take a Virtual Dive in the Kelp Forest” Video (California Academy of Sciences)
  • Kelp Growth Activity
  • Kelp Forest Conservation Food Web Activity
  • Virtual Squid & Seastar Dissection: Invertebrate Investigation

• Science Careers
  • Skype a Scientist
  • Black in Science: Organization that supports and amplifies Black voices in the field of Marine Sciences.
    • Black in Science Youtube Channel