School News Go Red Wings!

Mark the Dates!

Thursday March 1st PTO Reading Night @6PMWednesday March 7th Interim Reports sent homeMarch 26-30th Spring Break!!

~~~ SOL Testing!Dates:

Reading – May 17, 2018Math – May 22, 2018VA Studies – May 25, 2018

How to prepare!

Practice released SOL tests: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/

sol/released_tests/index.shtml

SOLPass.org Jefferson Lab VDOE Practice Tests Study Guides Reading Passages Curriculum Guides

Classroom News Looking Ahead:

VA Studies We will complete VS8: Reconstruction and begin VS9: 20th and 21st Century. Please use your study guides to review these concepts and vocabulary at home. Math We will focus on fractions and decimals. Practice your math facts! Science We will experiment with Adaptations and Ecosystems - Review this vocabulary! Reading We will begin Prefixes and Suffixes.

Williamsburg Field Trip – Medical Information A Note from the Health Clinic Specialist

Parents, If you wish to provide medication to the school

health office before your child’s field trip in order to have the medication carried on the trip, please fill out authorization forms and bring the medication to school several days before the field trip. The health clinic specialist will want to review the medication and the medication authorization forms and see that the medication and forms are all in order. A similar procedure is needed for over the counter medication as well. Bringing in medication the day before or the day of the field trip and finding that certain medication guidelines have not been met may cause a situation in which correction or verification of proper information might not be able to be done in time for the field trip. Please do not send medication to school with your child.

The medication will n ot be sent on the field trip. Contact: Sylvia.ORourke@lcps.org

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

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SPRING BREAK! ~~~ SPRING BREAK! ~~~ SPRING BREAK!

5 6 7Interims Go Home

8 9

PTOReadingNight @ 6pm

PTO Meeting@ 3:15PM

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19 20 21 22 23

26 27 28 29

March Madness!

March 2018

Cardinal Ridge

4th Grade

Dr. Seuss Day

Williamsburg Field Trip – Payment

** Money for the field trip can be paid online during the following weeks if it hasn’t already been submitted:

http://osp.osmsinc.com/loudounva/ Payment period ends March 30th

30Final Williamsburg

Payments DUE March 30

R E P R O D U C I B L E 5 4

SCIENCE UPDATE

CHAPTER FIVE LIVING SYSTEMS

Explore the amazing way animals adapt to their environments!

HOW CAN I HELP AT HOME?

Try these fun projects with your child: • Pick a species of animal in your yardor nearby natural area. Together, keep adaily journal on this species for a week.Make observations about behavior. Payspecial attention to how the speciesinteracts with the living (plants andanimals) and nonliving (water, soil,rocks, air) components of its ecosystem.• Pick an animal from a TV show orbook. Help your child write at least sixadaptations about this animal and howthese adaptations help it survive. Try toinclude at least two behavioraladaptations.• Create a habitat with crayons orcolored pencils/markers. Add ananimal to this habitat that is perfectlycamouflaged.• Have your child write downeverything you eat for dinner. Decide ifeach food orginated from an animal orplant. Are you a family of omnivores,herbivores, or carnivores?• Measure a square in your yard ornearby natural area that is one yard byone yard. Mark it with sticks. Visit thisarea at least twice a day to makeobservations about the insects you findthere.

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION, REASONING, AND LOGIC

4.5 The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals, including humans, in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the

nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include: a) plant and animal adaptations;b) organization of populations, communities, and ecosystems and howthey interrelate;c) flow of energy through food webs;d) habitats and niches;e) changes in an organism’s niche at various stages in its life cycle; andf) influences of human activity on ecosystems.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF MY CHILD? In order to meet this standard, it is expected that students will:

• distinguish between structural (physical) and behavioral adaptations.• investigate and infer the function of basic adaptations.• understand that adaptations allow an organism to succeed in a givenenvironment.• explain how different organisms use their unique adaptations to meettheir needs.• describe why certain communities exist in given habitats.• illustrate the food webs in a local area.• compare and contrast the niches of several different organisms withinthe community.• compare and contrast the differing ways an organism interacts with itssurroundings at various stages of its life cycle. Specific examples includea frog and a butterfly.• differentiate among positive and negative influences of human activityon ecosystems.

Copyright 2012, Five Ponds Press. All Rights Reserved

GRADE FOUR

R E P R O D U C I B L E 7 2

LIVING SYSTEMS STUDY GUIDE

An organism is a living thing.

One organism is part of a population. A population is the number of one type of organism living in one location.

Populations of plants and animals living together make up a community.

All the living and nonliving parts of communities in the same area make up an ecosystem.

Organisms have structural and behavioral adaptations to help them survive.

Energy is transferred through food webs. A food web is a graphic picture of how the living things in an ecosystem are connected through energy.

Structural adaptations are physical attributes that help organisms meet their life needs. Examples: fins to swim, teeth to chew, claws to dig, color to camouflage, ears to hear, tails for balance, spikes on seeds to catch a ride with animals

Behavioral adaptations are behaviors organisms perform to meet their life needs. Examples: migrating in order to reproduce, finding food and water, or escaping poor weather, digging in the soil to find food, hiding from predators, or regulating body temperature, squirting ink to distract predators, dropping leaves to conserve energy

Human Impact Humans can have an impact on ecosystems. • Negative Impact: Clearing landwithout replanting, using harmfulchemicals on lawns and trees,overhunting and overfishing, andpolluting.

A role an organism has in an ecosystem. SEAGRASS NICHE:

• Makes its own food using the sun’s energy• Food source for migrating birds, such as the Canada Goose• Provides habitat for juvenile shrimp, crabs, and fish• Once decayed, becomes a food source for many filter feeders such as

oysters and clams• Roots keep soil in place• Leaves trap sediment to keep water clear

• Positive Impact: Managing landresponsibly, adhering to fishing andhunting laws, reducing pollutionand waste.

Surviving in an Ecosystem

Niche

Energy Transfer in an

Ecosystem

Questions to AskYour Child to HelpPrepare for the Test

SOL Essential Questions:• What were some of theproblems Virginians faced duringthe period of Reconstructionfollowing the Civil War?• What measures were takenduring Reconstruction to resolveVirginia’s problems?• What impact did “Jim Crow”laws have on whites, AfricanAmericans, and American Indiansin Virginia?• What happened to the rights ofAfrican Americans afterReconstruction?• What changes took place inVirginia to boost the economicgrowth?

What Are We Studying Now?Virginia was a changed place in the years following the

end of the Civil War. This chapter develops students’understanding of the Reconstruction period in Virginia. Itdiscusses the problems facing Virginia after the war;segregation; and the eventual growth of the economy due toindustry, technology, and transportation.

Places to Visit to Enhance Learning• Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy• Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine and Museum inTazwell County (open April through October)• Valentine Richmond History Center in Richmond• Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke• Check to see if your community has a local railwaymuseum

Talk About It!• Ask your child what his or her priorities would be if heor she were the President of the United States following theCivil War. What would be addressed first?• Talk through your day today and imagine together whatit would have been like if the money in your wallet (or bankaccount) were worthless.• Discuss how discrimination today is illegal, and yet youwitness or experience it in today’s world. Talk with yourchild about the magnitude of the discrimination that musthave been present when it was legal.• Brainstorm a list of all the major cities in Virginia yourfamily has visited. As you name cities, have studentsconsider the railroads and highways that make the citiesaccessible.• Point out where your child has seen coal in thecommunity—in a mine, on a train, at a loading dock, etc.and discuss how it is still a factor in Virginia’s economy.

CHAPTEREIGHT:

RECONSTRUCTION

R E P R O D U C I B L E 1 0 6

Parent

©2010, Five Ponds Press. All Rights Reserved

a) identifying the effects of Reconstructionon life in Virginia.• Reconstruction: the period following the CivilWar in which Congress passed laws designed torebuild the country and bring the Southernstates back into the Union• Millions of freed African Americans neededhousing, education, clothing, food, and jobs.• Virginia’s economy was in ruins: money hadno value; banks were closed; railroads, bridges,plantations, and crops were destroyed.• The Freedmen’s Bureau was a governmentagency that provided food, schools, and medicalcare for freed African Americans and others inthe Virginia.• Sharecropping was a system common inVirginia after the war in which freedmen andpoor white farmers rented land from alandowner by promising to pay the owner witha share of the crop.

b) identifying the effects of segregationand “Jim Crow” on life in Virginia forwhites, African Americans, and AmericanIndians.• Segregation: the separation of people, usuallybased on race or religion• Discrimination: an unfair difference in thetreatment of people• During Reconstruction, African Americansbegan to have power in Virginia’s government,and men of all races could vote.• After Reconstruction, these gains were lostwhen “Jim Crow” Laws were passed by theSouthern states. “Jim Crow” Laws establishedsegregation or separation of the races andreinforced prejudices held by whites.• Unfair poll taxes and voting tests wereestablished to keep African American men fromvoting.• African Americans found it very difficult tovote or hold public office.

• African Americans were forced to use separatepoor-quality services such as drinking fountains,restrooms, and restaurants.• African American and white children attendedseparate schools.• “Jim Crow” Laws also had an effect onAmerican Indians.

c) describing the importance of railroads,new industries, and the growth of cities toVirginia’s economic development.• Virginia began to grow in many areas after theCivil War and Reconstruction.• Virginia’s cities grew with people, businesses,and factories.• Railroads were a key to the expansion ofbusiness, agriculture, and industry. Theyfacilitated the growth of small towns to cities.• Other parts of Virginia grew as other industriesdeveloped. Coal deposits were discovered inTazewell County.• The need for more and better roads increased.• Tobacco farming and tobacco products becameimportant Virginia industries.

Essential Knowledge for Chapter Eight (VS.8)The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Reconstruction era:

R E P R O D U C I B L E 1 0 7

©2010, Five Ponds Press. All Rights Reserved

R E P R O D U C I B L E 1 2 3

Parent CHAPTER NINE:

CHANGING TIMES

What Are We Studying Now? Today, Virginia is one of the most important states in our

Questions to Ask to Help Prepare for the Test

nation. This unit will enhance students’ understanding of 20th and 21st century life in Virginia. It discusses changes SOL Essential Questions:

in our society; famous Virginians in the state, in the nation, and throughout the world; the Civil Rights movement; and present day government and economics.

Places to Visit to Enhance Learning • Afro-American Historical Association of FauquierCounty• Alexandria Black History Museum• Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginiain Richmond• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond• Capitol Building in Richmond• Marshall Museum in Lexington• Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in Staunton

Talk About It! • Brainstorm a list of words that describe yourcommunity’s rural and urban qualities.• If you live in or are near an urban area, discuss whatfactors helped the city grow and what factors areinfluencing its growth today.• Arrange a conversation for your child with an olderperson who is able to share personal stories from any of themany issues in this SOL. Consider grandparents, an elderlyneighbor, or friend. Together, or privately, discuss howthese issues have changed over time.• Share what you know about any of the people discussedin this standard. Then ask your child if he or she can thinkof anyone alive today that is making as significant of animpact in society as these people did.• Identify your region’s products and industries. Take adrive around to show your child examples of these things.

• Why did Virginia change froman agricultural society?• What caused Virginia’s cities togrow?• How did Woodrow Wilson’sactions impact internationalevents?• How did George C. Marshall’sactions impact America’s role withother world nations?• What changes occurred inVirginia as a result of the CivilRights Movement?• What contributions to 20th -21st century life in Virginia weremade by Maggie L. Walker; HarryFlood Byrd, Sr.; Oliver W. Hill, Sr.;Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.; A. LinwoodHolton, Jr.; and L. Douglas Wilder?• What are the three branches ofgovernment in Virginia, and whatare the powers of each branch?• What are the major productsand industries of each region inVirginia?• How have advances intransportation facilitatedmigration and economic growth?• How have advances incommunications and technologyhelped the economy grow?• In what ways is Virginia part ofthe U.S. economy?

R E P R O D U C I B L E 1 2 4

Essential Knowledge for Chapter Nine (VS.9)The student will demonstrate knowledge of twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Virginia by:

a) describing the economic and social transition from a • Integration: full equality of all races in the use of public facilitiesrural, agricultural society to a more urban, industrialized • The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in 1954 (Brown v. Board ofsociety, including the reasons people came to Virginia from Education) that “separate but equal” public schools wereother states and countries. unconstitutional.• During the early 20th century, agriculture began to change. • All public schools, including those in Virginia, were ordered to• Old systems of farming were no longer effective. desegregate.• Crop prices were low. • Virginia’s government established a policy of Massive Resistance,• People moved from rural to urban areas for economic which fought to “resist” the integration of public schools. opportunities. • Some schools were closed to avoid integration.• Technological developments in transportation, roads, railroads, • The policy of Massive Resistance failed, and Virginia’s publicand streetcars helped cities grow. schools were integrated.• Coal mining spurred the growth of Virginia towns and cities as • Harry F. Byrd, Sr. led a Massive Resistance Movement against thepeople moved from the countryside to find jobs. desegregation of public schools.• During the 20th century, Northern Virginia has experienced d) identifying the political, social and/or economic growth due to increases in the number of federal jobs located in the contributions made by Maggie Walker; Harry F. Byrd, Sr.;region. Oliver W. Hill, Sr.; Arthur R. Ashe, Jr.; A. Linwood Holton,• In the late 20th century and early 21st century, Northern Virginia Jr.; and L. Douglas Wilder. and the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) Region have grown due to • Maggie L. Walker was the first African American woman tocomputer technology. establish and become a bank president in the United States.• People have moved to Virginia from many other states and • Harry F. Byrd, Sr., as governor, was known for a “Pay As You nations. Go” policy for road improvements, and he modernized Virginiab) identifying the impact of Virginians, such as Woodrow state government.Wilson and George C. Marshall, on international events. • Oliver W. Hill, Sr. was a lawyer and civil rights leader who• Woodrow Wilson was a 20th century President who wrote a plan worked for equal rights of African Americans. He played a key rolefor world peace. in the Brown v. Board of Education decision.• George C. Marshall was a military leader who created an • Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. was the first African American winner of aeconomic plan to ensure world peace. major men’s tennis singles championship. He was also an author c) identifying the social and political events in Virginia andeloquentspokespersonforsocialchange. linked to desegregation and Massive Resistance and their • A. Linwood Holton, Jr., as governor of Virginia, promoted racialrelationship to national history. equality, and appointed more African Americans and women to • Segregation: the separation of people, usually based on race or positions in state government than previous governors. religion • L. Douglas Wilder, as governor of Virginia, was the first African• Desegregation: abolishment of racial segregation American to be elected a state governor in the United States.

Essential Knowledge (VS.10)The student will demonstrate knowledge of government geography and economics by:

a) identifying the three branches of Virginia government andthe function of each.• The government of Virginia is divided into three branches.• The General Assembly is the legislative branch of the Virginiagovernment that makes state laws. It is divided into two parts—theSenate and the House of Delegates.• The governor heads the executive branch of the state government.The executive branch makes sure that state laws are carried out.• The judicial branch is the state’s court system. The judicial branchdecides cases about people accused of breaking the law and whetheror not a law agrees with Virginia’s constitution.

b) describing the major products and industries of Virginia’sfive geographic regions.• Coastal Plain (Tidewater): Products- seafood, peanuts; Industries-shipbuilding, tourism, military bases• Piedmont: Products- tobacco products, information technology;Industries- Federal and state government, farming, horse industry• Blue Ridge Mountains: Products- apples; Industries- recreation,farming

• Valley and Ridge: Products- poultry, apples, dairy, beef;Industries- farming• Appalachian Plateau: Products- coal; Industries-coal mining

c) explaining how advances in transportation,communications, and technology have contributed toVirginia’s prosperity and role in the global economy.• Virginia’s transportation system (highways, railroads, and airtransportation) moves raw materials to factories and finishedproducts to markets. Virginia exports agricultural and manufacturedproducts including tobacco, poultry, coal, and large ships.• Virginia has a large number of communications and othertechnology industries.• Tourism is a major part of Virginia’s economy.• Because many federal workers live and/or work in Virginia, thefederal government has a significant impact on Virginia’s economy.

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