Mystery Science Lesson Plans 4th

Grade Topic/ Overview Student Link - Links good

Web of Life - Ecosystems and food web until June 2020

4th Lesson #1: https://mysteryscience.com/e

The anchoring phenomenon for this unit cosystems/mystery-0/ecosyst
focuses on attempts to grow food in an em-design-modeling/242?cod
enclosed ecosystem. Students generate e=MTA1NTkyNjE&t=student
observations and questions about the
phenomenon and create an initial design
solution to growing food inside a dome for two
years

4th Lesson #2: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In this Mystery, students develop their thinking cosystems/mystery-1/food-ch
about the predator/prey relationships between ains-predators-herbivores-car
living things. In the activity, Eat or Be Eaten, nivores/119?code=MTA1NTk
students play a card game in which they make yNjE&t=student
food chains with predators and prey, and
producers and consumers. The students who
make the longest food chains win the game!

4th Lesson #3: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In this Mystery, students discover the cosystems/mystery-2/plant-n
surprising nutrient which accounts for most of eeds-air-water/94?code=MTA
a plant's food. In the activity, Weighing Air, 1NTkyNjE&t=student
students blow up balloons and place them on
both sides of a large balance scale
constructed from a yardstick. Then, students
let the air out of all the balloons on one side of
the balance to directly observe that air has
weight.

4th Lesson #4: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In this Mystery, students discover the role cosystems/mystery-3/decomp
fungi play in decomposing dead materials and osers-matter-cycle/95?code=
in creating soil. In the activity, Mold Terrarium, MTA1NTkyNjE&t=student
students plan and conduct an investigation to
discover the factors affecting decomposition.
Students fill Ziploc bags with different types of
foods and change environmental conditions to
study how different variables affect mold
growth. They then observe mold growth over a
period of two weeks.
4th Lesson #5: https://mysteryscience.com/e
In this Mystery, students discover the critical cosystems/mystery-4/decomp
role earthworms play in decomposing dead osers-nutrients-matter-cycle/2
material and releasing nutrients into the soil. 15?code=MTA1NTkyNjE&t=s
During a two-part activity, Ask a Worm, tudent
students observe earthworms and then design
their own “fair test” investigations of earthworm
behavior. Students first make close
observations of worms. Then, students
conduct a simple experiment with multiple
trials to figure out if worms prefer dry or wet
areas. They consider what a “fair test” is and
design an experiment to answer other
questions about worms.

4th Lesson #6: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In this Mystery, students combine what they cosystems/mystery-5/ecosyst
have learned about plants, animals, and ems-matter-cycle/216?code=
decomposers to see how they interact in an MTA1NTkyNjE&t=student
ecosystem. In the activity, Pond Ecosystem
Game, students first build a pond ecosystem
that will support a sunfish. To succeed, they
must make sure that carbon dioxide levels are
healthy for both plants and animals. Then,
students play a game called Big Fish where
they compete to make a healthy ecosystem for
a sunfish.

4th Lesson #7: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In this Mystery, students investigate the cosystems/mystery-6/food-we
hypothesis that an asteroid impact caused the bs-flow-of-energy/212?code=
extinction of the dinosaurs. In the activity, MTA1NTkyNjE&t=student
Create a Dinosaur Food Web, students use
cards and construction paper connectors to
create a food web from the time of the
dinosaurs. Using this model, they follow the
flow of energy through the food web and figure
out why dinosaurs went extinct but some other
animals survived.

4th Lesson #8: https://mysteryscience.com/e

In the Performance Task, students evaluate a cosystems/mystery-7/ecosyst
list of proposed organisms for a Mars habitat. em-argument/222?code=MT
They write an argument for or against the A1NTkyNjE&t=student
proposal as a good ecosystem. In Part 2,
students make recommendations on how to
improve the ecosystem.