All 4th Grade Science Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
Tara says there are changes in the landscape over time. She believes that throughout millions of years, rock layers and rock formations change, and this shapes our landforms. Her teacher tells her to find a photograph that supports her claim.
Which photo would be best for her to submit to her teacher as evidence?
The photo that Tara selects for evidence must support the idea that landscapes have changed over millions of years. Two of the images show rocks of different colors or sizes, but they are not showing how the landscape has changed. The photo of the forest does not include rock layers or rock formations. The correct picture is from Switzerland and shows large rock formations that have been worn away by years of weathering and erosion.
Example Question #81 : 4th Grade Science
What does the term landscape mean? Example: There are changes in the landscape throughout the years due to weathering and erosion.
To make an area more attractive with plants
To make an area more attractive with rock formations
Visible features of an area
Invisible features of an area
Visible features of an area
The term landscape is used in science to describe the visible features of an area. If someone were standing on the edge of a canyon, they could explain the scene in terms of appearance, texture, color, relative size, landmarks, etc.. If it is something underground or hidden within a structure, it is not considered to be part of the landscape.
Example Question #2 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
What factors affect how landscapes change?
Human activity
All of these are factors in changing a landscape
Temperature
Moisture
All of these are factors in changing a landscape
Many factors go into changing a landscape, and some will accelerate the process while others will slow it down. Moisture, human activity, and temperature are all factors that will affect how a landscape changes or is formed. Regularly being beaten down by the wind, water, the hot sun, frigid temperatures, and human construction will change the landscape. As water rushes through the base of a canyon, it is breaking apart the rock and moving it. Sand striking the cliffs on a shoreline will tear it apart grain by grain. Water seeping into rocks and then freezing and unfreezing will eventually break the rocks apart. These factors make changes to the landscape.
Example Question #1 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
How are landscape changes recorded by layers of rocks and fossils?
The type of fossils and age of the rock can tell how the landscape has changed over time.
Landscape changes are recorded in writing in the fossils and rock layers over time.
Fossils trap information about the landscape within for scientists to analyze.
Layers of rock and fossils cannot tell us about changes in the landscape.
The type of fossils and age of the rock can tell how the landscape has changed over time.
Layers of rock and fossils are like diaries of how the landscape has changed over time. Each layer contains information about the conditions and the scene at that time. Researchers can analyze the age of the rock and build a picture of what it looked like during that stage. Fossils help scientists to know what living things were in the area at the time and whether there were changes in water levels and weather conditions.
Example Question #5 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
Fossils and rock layers can explain the changes in landscapes over time.
True
False
True
The statement is true. Scientists know that landscapes have changed over the years due to the information collected regarding rock formations, layers, and fossils. Looking at the type of plants or animals in the layers can tell us approximately how long ago they lived. The rock formations can show researchers how the wind and water have battered the area over the year and broken the rocks down. Rock layers and fossils are vital to learning about landscapes.
Example Question #6 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
Humans do not contribute to the changing of landscapes.
True
False
False
Human activity such as cutting down forests and acid rain caused by pollution can cause changes to Earth’s landscapes. General construction is another example of a way in which humans can create semi-permanent changes in the landscape.
Example Question #81 : 4th Grade Science
Jihoon claims that changes to a landscape are only visible above ground. Elicia tells Jihoon that he is wrong because we can see changes to landscapes both above and below ground. Which of the following statements is the BEST support for Elicia’s thinking?
It is difficult to observe changes to landscapes from the underground.
The landscape cannot change if it isn’t exposed to oxygen.
Underground changes to landscapes can be evidenced in caves and underwater trenches.
None of these statements could be used as an argument for Elicia’s claim.
Underground changes to landscapes can be evidenced in caves and underwater trenches.
Changes to landscapes are most commonly viewed above ground; however, they are also visible underground. As shown in the picture, changes can be seen underground in the form of rocky trenches caused by tectonic plate movement, altering the topography of the ocean floor. Another way changes to landscapes can be observed underground is by studying caves and their slowly growing stalagmites, sinkholes, and shifts in their soluble rocks.
Example Question #81 : 4th Grade Science
Erosion does not contribute to changes in the Earth’s landscape.
True
False
False
Erosion causes the removal of rock, soil, and dissolved material from one location, resulting in it being transported to a new location. Erosion can cause bits of existing structures to chip away over time, creating new structures in different places where the sediment is transported. Examples of erosion changing the landscape include caves, cracks in rocks, and riverbanks.
Example Question #9 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
Read the following excerpt about rock formations in Zion National Park:
“Zion has spectacular geology. The arid climate and sparse vegetation expose bare rock and reveal the park’s geologic history. Evidence of deposition (sedimentation), lithification, uplift, weathering, erosion, tectonics, and volcanic activity make the park a showcase for changing landscapes. Volcanic vents, created as a result of the weakening of the Earth’s crust during tectonic events, allowed lava flows and cinder cones to form. Cinder was piled several hundred feet high in classic cone shapes, and lava flowed into valleys. Cinder cones and black basalt flows are visible west of Rockville and on the Kolob Terrace.”
Text courtesy of: https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/teachers/lessonplans/LandscapesActivityGuideADA.pdf
Based on the text, which of the following statements BEST describes the changes to the landscape in Zion National Park?
Zion National Park’s structures are due solely to volcanic activity.
Erosion had a more significant effect on the landscape of Zion National Park than weathering did.
Many different geological changes occurred over time to create the landscape we see today in Zion National Park.
Volcanic activity did not cause the landscape of Zion National Park to change.
Many different geological changes occurred over time to create the landscape we see today in Zion National Park.
The text explains that many different methods of geological change have been at play in altering the topography of Zion National Park, including deposition (sedimentation), lithification, uplift, weathering, erosion, tectonics, and volcanic activity. While it does give information about the volcanic activity in the park, it does not claim that volcanic activity caused a more significant change to the landscape than any other method of change.
Example Question #1 : Support An Explanation For Changes In Landscapes
Fossils are evidence of changes to Earth’s landscape.
True
False
True
Most fossils are formed when an animal dies and gets buried in mud or silt. Over time, sedimentary rock forms on top of the animal’s bones, creating a fossil. This is evidence of change to the landscape because we can age the fossil-based on the different layers of sediment in which it is encased, which also gives us insight into the changes that have occurred in that area of the world over time.
All 4th Grade Science Resources
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