New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

This WebQuest was created for forth grade students based on the following New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards:

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Descriptive Statement: Thinking in spatial terms is essential to knowing and applying geography. It enables students to take an active, questioning approach to the world around them and to ask what, where, when, and why questions about people, places and environments and to formulate answers to critical questions about past, present, and future patterns of spatial organization, and to anticipate the results of events in different locations. Thinking spatially, students learn to devise their own mental maps, which relationships and students' perceptions and attitudes about the area. Thinking spatially enables students to predict what might happen given specific conditions. Spatial concepts and generalizations are powerful tools for explaining the world at all levels, from local to global. They are the foundation for geographical understanding.

Descriptive Statement: Students need to understand the interaction of human and environmental factors. The study of human systems includes the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on the earth's surface; the characteristics, distribution and complexity of the earth's cultures; patterns and networks of economic interdependence; processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement; and how cooperation and conflict influence the division and control of the earth's surface.

Descriptive Statement: Students should learn how people are able to live in various kinds of physical environments by developing patterns of spatial organization that take advantage of opportunities and avoid or minimize limitations.

• Explain how people depend on the physical environment and how they modify the environment.
• Identify the consequences of natural environmental changes and crises and human modifications of the environment, and explain how an event in one location can have an impact upon another location.

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards
for Science

STANDARD 5.1 (SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP PROBLEM-SOLVING, DECISION-MAKING AND INQUIRY SKILLS, REFLECTED BY FORMULATING USABLE QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES, PLANNING EXPERIMENTS, CONDUCTING SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIONS, INTERPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, AND COMMUNICATING RESULTS.

 Develop strategies and skills for information–gathering and problem-solving, using appropriate tools and technologies.

A. Habits of Mind

1. Raise questions about the world around them and be willing to seek answers through making careful observations and experimentation.

4. Know that when solving a problem it is important to plan and get ideas and help from other people.

B. Inquiry and Problem Solving

1. Develop strategies and skills for information–gathering and problem-solving, using appropriate tools and technologies.

2. Identify the evidence used in an explanation

• A.. Atmosphere and Weather
• C. Processes that Shape the Earth
• D. How We Study the Earth

• A. Natural Systems and Interactions
• B. Human Interactions and Impact

Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards And Progress Indicators

Standard 2:
All Students Will Use Information, Technology, And Other Tools

Descriptive Statement: Students will be expected to develop skills in the use of information, up-to-date educational technology, and other tools to improve learning, achieve goals, and produce products and presentations. They will learn to develop, locate, summarize, organize, synthesize, and evaluate information. Students will be expected to use technological tools, such as telecommunications networking, for problem-solving, writing, and research.

Cumulative Progress Indicators

All students will be able to:

• Access technology-based communication and information systems.
• Access and assess information on specific topics using both technological (e.g., computer, telephone, satellite) and print resources available in libraries or media centers.
• Use technology and other tools to solve problems, collect data, and make decisions.
• Use technology to present designs and results of investigations.

Standard 3:
All Students Will Use Critical Thinking, Decision Making And Problem-Solving Skills

Descriptive Statement: Students will be expected to develop original thoughts and ideas, think creatively, develop habits of inquiry, and take intellectual and performance risks. They will be expected to recognize problems, devise a variety of ways to solve these problems, analyze the potential advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, and evaluate the effectiveness of the method ultimately selected.

Cumulative Progress Indicators

All students will be able to:

• Interpret and analyze data to draw conclusions.
• Conduct systematic observations.

Standard 4:
All Students Will Demonstrate Self-Management Skills.

Descriptive Statement: Students will be expected to address issues related to personal development, such as accepting responsibility for their own learning and understanding expectations for performance. They are also expected to demonstrate positive work behaviors and ethics, the ability to work individually and cooperatively in groups, and respect for others of diverse cultural and social backgrounds.

Cumulative Progress Indicators

All students will be able to:

• Work cooperatively with others to accomplish a task
• Apply study skills to expand their own knowledge and skills.

Click the logo below for the New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Content Standards