100% gap on 18 light and wave energy passages — light described without photon mechanism, wave energy framed as transferable substance. 1 confirmed FSE: water wave model used for light without distinguishing wave types. 22 clean observational passages on senses and eye anatomy. 100% practices.
| Program | Sprocket Learning — Grade 4: Waves (Light, Sound, and Information) |
| Lesson Title | Waves (5 learning sets, 23 lessons) |
| Publisher | Sprocket Learning |
| Author | Sprocket Learning Team |
| Grade Band | Grade 4 (3-5 calibration) |
Foundation Errors: Every mechanism passage on light and wave energy lacks any connection to photons, atoms, or molecules. Light is described behaviorally — bouncing, traveling in straight lines, creating shadows — but the curriculum never says what light is. Wave energy is framed as a transferable substance that moves from water to objects to land. The curriculum also uses water wave behavior as its model for light without ever distinguishing that water waves and light waves are fundamentally different types of waves. The observational content on senses and eye anatomy is clean. The physics is not.
Five learning sets across 23 lessons. LS1 covers senses and memory through a sensory maze and animal comparisons. LS2 explores eye anatomy and vision across species — structure-function work with data collection and model building. LS3 investigates light behavior: shadows, reflection, transparency. LS4 uses wave tank investigations to explore amplitude, wavelength, and energy. LS5 applies wave and light concepts to engineering design challenges for wildlife. All light and wave energy explanations lack photon or molecular grounding. Energy in LS4 is consistently framed as a substance that waves carry and transfer.
“Seeing requires light bouncing off an object and entering the eye, and light does not go around objects.” — L3.1
Accurate at the observational level, but describes what light does without saying what light is. Light is photons — electromagnetic radiation emitted by atoms.
“Waves move because energy is transferred to the water, and they can transfer energy to other objects.” — L4.5
Energy framed as a transferable substance. Molecules are displaced by force and push adjacent molecules in sequence. Energy measures that displacement — it does not move from place to place.
“Two beams of light from different sources crossing each other can seem to act as a wave in water crossing another wave.” — L5.1
Confirmed FSE. Water wave model used for light without distinguishing wave types. Water waves are mechanical and require a medium. Light waves are electromagnetic and need no medium. The curriculum never makes this distinction, risking the misconception that light needs a medium to travel.
Practices: 100.0% — Deep (3-5 calibration). All seven practices score PRESENT. Students design wave tank investigations with student-controlled variables, collect systematic data, construct claims from evidence with prediction-test-revise cycles, build and revise eye models with peer feedback, and complete engineering design challenges for wildlife problems. Practices are informational and do not affect the verdict.
The curriculum would need to connect light to photons and distinguish mechanical waves (water, sound — particles bumping) from electromagnetic waves (light — no medium needed). The existing wave tank investigations are structurally sound — the fix is naming the entity (photons for light, molecules for mechanical waves) and explicitly teaching that light waves and water waves are analogous in pattern but different in mechanism.
| Total Passages Scored | 40 |
| Raw Gap Error | 100.0% (18 of 18 mechanism passages FALSE) FALSE = atoms/molecules not present before students are asked to explain. The student is navigating without a starting point. |
| Adjusted Gap Error | 100.0% (18 UNSCAFFOLDED FALSE; 0 SCAFFOLDED) UNSCAFFOLDED = no atomic grounding at all. LESSON_ATOMS = atoms mentioned elsewhere in lesson but not connected to this concept. |
| Substance-Model Errors (REI) | 6 Curriculum treats a process or outcome as a substance - "heat flows," "energy is stored," "electricity flows like water." Student builds a substance ontology. |
| Label-as-Explanation (LAE) | 2 Curriculum provides a name and treats it as an explanation - "this happens because of gravity." Student believes knowing the name IS understanding the concept. |
| Vague-Entity Errors (AEC) | 0 Curriculum uses vague entities ("tiny particles," "building blocks") without specifying atoms or molecules. Student invents their own model with macroscopic properties. |
| Factual Science Errors (FSE) | 1 total (1 confirmed, 0 review) - Confirmed: curriculum uses water waves as model for light without distinguishing mechanical (medium-dependent) from electromagnetic (no medium). Students may conclude light needs a medium to travel. Statements that are scientifically incorrect - not imprecise framing, but wrong. Any confirmed FSE = Not Recommended. |
| Practices | 100.0% - Deep Seven practices scored PRESENT, PARTIAL, or ABSENT and averaged: asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and argument from evidence. Higher is better, the opposite direction from gap and map errors. Reported but not part of the Foundation Score or the verdict. |
100% gap on mechanism passages with energy-as-transferable-substance concentrated in wave sections. 1 confirmed FSE: water wave model used for light without distinguishing mechanical from electromagnetic waves. 22 clean observational passages on senses and eye anatomy. Strong practices (100%) built on missing physics foundation.
Practices are genuinely strong — 100% across all seven categories at 3-5. Student-designed wave tank investigations with controlled variables, systematic data collection, claims from evidence with prediction-test-revise cycle, progressive eye model revision with peer feedback, evidence-based argumentation, and full engineering design cycles for wildlife problems.
Pairs with the Grade 4 Energy unit (also 0% foundation, 100% gap). Both share 100% practices and the same structural pattern. The Energy unit has a higher map error rate (74.3% vs 20.0%) because energy-as-substance is its entire framework. This unit has 1 confirmed FSE for the water/light wave conflation.
shallow by design - Curriculum follows NGSS-aligned sequencing that introduces wave phenomena at Grade 4 and defers photon and electromagnetic theory to middle school. Observational content in LS1-LS2 is clean. Issues emerge in LS4-LS5 where energy mechanism is required and the substance model fills the gap.
Evidence for every entry is published at three levels. Each level states what it contains and what it leaves out.
Scores, verdict, and the full pattern count for this unit are above: adjusted gap, REI / LAE / AEC counts, FSE status, and the seven-practice score. The analysis quotes 3 passages verbatim from the curriculum.
This file covers the unit scored on this page.
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