What your child learns in Year 4 Science
New curriculum, taught from 2027
Lessons
1Solids, liquids and gases, and how they changeMaterials2Temperature: measuring how hot or coldMatter Interactions and Energy3Contact and non-contact forces: ramps, magnets and gravityMotion and Forces4Earth spins and orbits: days, years and the Sun's pathEarth and Space5Day, night and shadows: modelling the Sun and EarthEarth and Space6Eggs, live young, seeds and spores: how living things beginOrganism Diversity7Flowers, fruits and seeds, and how seeds travelOrganism Diversity8Skeletons, shells and stems: how living things are held upLife Processes9Habitats: where living things find what they needEcosystems
Physical science
4 areasMaterials: States of matter
- How solids, liquids and gases behave, and why powders count as solids
- Melting, freezing, evaporating and condensing as physical changes
- Water freezing at 0 °C and boiling at 100 °C
- Testing a prediction about melting and recording results in a table
Matter interactions and energy: Temperature
- Measuring temperature in degrees Celsius with a thermometer
- Reading a scale by working out what each small mark is worth
- Predicting a temperature, then measuring it
- Checking accuracy by repeating readings and spotting odd results
Motion and forces: Contact and non-contact forces
- Why heavier things need bigger forces, and how ramps and wheels help
- Contact forces compared with magnetism and gravity, which act across a gap
- Magnet poles that attract and repel, and which metals magnets pick up
- Following a method and checking whether it was followed
Earth and space: Sun and Earth
- Earth's spin making day and night, and its orbit making a year
- Why the Sun seems to rise in the east and set in the west
- How shadows change length and direction through the day
- Galileo's evidence from Venus, and modelling the Sun and Earth with a torch and a ball
Biological science
3 areasOrganism diversity: Reproduction
- Eggs and live young, and the mammals that lay eggs
- Seeds, spores, and new plants grown from cuttings
- Pollination, fertilisation and how fruits form
- How seeds are spread by wind, hooks, animals and bursting pods
- Looking inside a flower and making a scientific drawing
Life processes: Support and movement
- Vertebrates and invertebrates
- How skeletons and muscles protect and move the body
- The shared bone pattern of arms and legs
- Exoskeletons, shells and soft bodies, and how stems hold plants up
Ecosystems: Habitats
- What a habitat provides: water, food, air and shelter
- How living things share a habitat and affect each other
- Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzees
- Surveying a habitat and showing the results in maps and pictographs
How is Year 4 maths going?
See the Year 4 maths guideSummarised by Vertex Academy from the New Zealand Curriculum, Science Years 0 to 10 (August 2026), Ministry of Education. Vertex Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry of Education.