In Hong Kong International School, for the fourth - grade lower - level
mathematics curriculum in English, students are expected to have the
following basic knowledge:
Number Sense and Operations
Students should be able to understand and work with whole
numbers up to at least 100,000. They need to know how to read,
write, and compare these numbers. For example, they should be
able to tell which number is larger or smaller between 34,567 and
43,210.
Have a good grasp of the four basic arithmetic operations: addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division. They should be able to
solve simple arithmetic problems such as 25 + 37, 48 - 29, 7 × 8,
and 56 ÷ 7. Also, they need to understand the order of operations,
like when to perform multiplication and division before addition and
subtraction in a complex equation.
Be familiar with fractions. This includes understanding what a
fraction represents, such as 1/2, 3/4, etc. They should know how to
compare fractions, add and subtract fractions with like
denominators, and simplify fractions. For instance, being able to
add 3/8 + 2/8 and simplify the result.
Have an understanding of decimals. They should know how to read
and write decimals, compare decimals, and perform simple
operations with decimals, like adding 0.5 + 0.3.
Measurement
Be familiar with different units of measurement for length, such as
centimeters, meters, and kilometers. They should be able to convert
between these units and measure the length of objects accurately.
For example, knowing that 1 meter = 100 centimeters and being
able to measure the length of a table in centimeters and convert it
to meters if needed.
Understand units of measurement for weight, like grams and
kilograms. They should be able to estimate and measure the weight
of objects. For instance, knowing that a small apple might weigh
about 100 grams and a bag of rice might weigh 5 kilograms.
Be aware of units of measurement for capacity, such as milliliters
and liters. They should know how to measure the capacity of
containers and convert between units. For example, understanding
that a bottle of water might be 500 milliliters and 2 bottles would be
1 liter.
Have an understanding of time. They should be able to read and
write time in both digital and analog formats, calculate elapsed
time, and solve problems related to time, like if a movie starts at
3:00 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m., being able to figure out how long
the movie lasted.
Geometry
Know different types of shapes, including triangles, rectangles,
squares, circles, and polygons. They should be able to identify and
describe these shapes based on their properties, such as the
number of sides and angles. For example, knowing that a triangle
has 3 sides and 3 angles, and a rectangle has 4 sides and 4 right
angles.
Understand concepts related to symmetry. They should be able to
identify symmetric shapes and draw lines of symmetry. For
instance, knowing that a square has 4 lines of symmetry.
Have an understanding of position and direction. They should be
able to use words like left, right, up, down, forward, and backward
to describe the position and movement of objects. Also, they should
know about the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and
west.
Data and Statistics
Be able to collect, organize, and represent data in different ways,
such as in tables, bar graphs, and pictographs. For example, if they
are collecting data on the favorite colors of their classmates, they
should be able to organize the data in a table and then represent it
in a bar graph.
Understand basic concepts of data analysis, like finding the mode
(the most frequently occurring value) and range (the difference
between the largest and smallest values) of a set of data. For
instance, in the data set {3, 5, 7, 5, 9}, the mode is 5 and the range
is 9 - 3 = 6.
