By the end of the fourth grade, students are expected to be able to create evenly-spaced time lines, displaying Ohio's most important historical events. They should also be able to describe Ohio's earliest settlements as well as the reasons for and outcomes of the frontier wars in the 1790s. Students should also be able to describe the various cultures in Ohio's past and present, including the Paleo-Indians, Ottawa Indians, European immigrants, Amish and Appalachian groups, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latin Americans.
Fourth-grade students should be able to read maps using a linear scale as well as demonstrate an understanding of the cardinal and intermediate directions. Students are expected to be able to describe Ohio's physical and human features including Lake Erie, rivers, plains and major cities. They must also be able to outline the most important reasons people moved to Ohio, including agricultural and mining opportunities and manufacturing jobs, and describe the impacts of European expansion on Ohio's Native American populations. Finally, students must demonstrate an understanding of Ohio's places and regions as well as the impact that humans have had on the environment.
Ohio's fourth-grade students must be able to demonstrate an understanding of scarcity and resource allocation, production, distribution and consumption and markets. Fourth-grade teachers commonly cover topics that include resources needed to produce a good or a service, trade, entrepreneurs and income. Students should also be able to describe the three branches of Ohio's government, the reasons for and basic content of Ohio's constitution, reasons for elections and importance of rules and laws. Furthermore, students should be able to show an understanding of citizenship rights and responsibilities that include voting, communicating with elected officials, community service and personal responsibilities.
Fourth-graders in Ohio should be able to demonstrate the ability to use research materials such as atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and multimedia and electronic sources. They must also be able to refer to a book's index and glossary to find information. Fourth-grade social studies skills and methods also include thinking and organizing subtopics like main idea and supporting details and fact and opinion, communicating information using pictographs, bar and line graphs and tables, and problem-solving skills.