How to use these unit resources:
Review to understand how the standards were bundled (grouped) around a common theme or topic and the dimensions represented in each standard.
Review the Understandings and Essential Questions for each unit.
Make a copy (File -> Make a copy) for your own use.
Use the Unit Storyline found at the end of the document for your instructional planning.
Reference any Resources and Materials shared. Sample Assessments are also provided.
Note: These are sample units and not required units of study for any grade level. All resources can be edited/adapted to meet your needs. You may notice that the Big Ideas and EQs listed are sometimes written in language above grade-level understandings. The Big Ideas and EQs are initially copied directly from the PDE curriculum frameworks. As we work through the units, we will simplify language/reword for understanding as we see fit, and you can feel free to make similar edits at any time with your copies to best meet your needs.
View all NGSS bundles here. Read Thematic and Topic Models for NGSS to learn distinctions among the two types of models.
Narrative and Rationale: The four bundles in this Grade 5 model all have a particular topical focus. Bundle 1 focuses on physical and chemical changes in matter.
Bundle 2 builds on Bundle 1 to focus on energy and matter flows in ecosystems. Bundle 3 extends this study to focus on larger Earth systems and how they affect one another. Bundle 4 shifts the scale to the immensely large, as students build understanding of space systems. By building familiarity with ideas related to the conservation and particulate nature of matter early on in the year, students are prepared to put this knowledge to work in investigating various life and Earth systems in later bundles. 5-PS1-1 is included in Bundles 2 and 3 to help students make this connection.
Mystery Science unit connections:
Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter Unit (Chemical Magic)
Mystery Science unit connections:
Mystery Science unit connection: Ecosystems & The Food Web Unit (Web of Life)
OpenSciEd unit connections:
Mystery Science unit connections:
Mystery Science unit connection: Water Cycle & Earth’s Systems Unit (Watery Planet)
Mystery Science unit connections:
Earth & Space Patterns Unit (Spaceship Earth)
Stars & Planets Unit (Stars & Planets)
Narrative and Rationale: The three bundles in this Grade 5 model are organized by a central focus on crosscutting concepts. Bundle 1 offers students multiple opportunities to engage in meaningful learning about scale, proportion, and quantity. Matter particles are really small and space is vast. Objects look different at different scales. Data collection for 5-ESS1-2 begins in Bundle 1 and continues through bundles 2 and 3 in order for students to have enough data to observe the patterns needed to serve as evidence to support the idea that the Earth orbits around its axis and revolves around the sun. In Bundle 2, the PEs are tied together by the crosscutting concept of energy and matter flows. Bundle 3 centers on the idea of stability and change in Earth’s larger systems. The physical sciences DCIs in this last bundle help to explain the mechanisms of Earth systems.
Mystery Science unit connections:
Earth & Space Patterns Unit (Spaceship Earth)
Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter Unit (Chemical Magic)
Stars & Planets Unit (Stars & Planets)
Mystery Science unit connections:
Mystery Science unit connection: Ecosystems & The Food Web Unit (Web of Life)
Stars & Planets Unit (Stars & Planets)
OpenSciEd unit connections:
Mystery Science unit connections:
Water Cycle & Earth’s Systems Unit (Watery Planet)
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What is the Thematic Model? In the thematic model, bundles are created to support a given theme. This theme increases in depth and complexity throughout the school year.
What is the Topic Model? In the topic model, each bundle has a separate but related topic.
The example bundles are not intended to represent the only ways to organize courses, but rather to provide some well thought out, concrete examples of what bundles might look like.
For each grade, two different examples are provided to motivate users to compare the different examples and think about what works in their local context:
For each grade K-5, an example is provided that organizes the bundles based on the Topics arrangement of the NGSS and one that focuses on a particular theme that builds across each year.
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.A
5-PS1-2: Conservation of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.D
5-PS1-3: Material Properties - STEELS 3.2.5.B
5-PS1-4: Mixing Substances - STEELS 3.2.5.E
5-ESS1-1: Stellar Brightness and Distance - STEELS 3.3.5.A
5-ESS1-2: Daily and Seasonal Sky Changes - STEELS 3.3.5.B
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.A
5-PS3-1: Food Energy from the Sun - STEELS 3.2.5.G
5-LS1-1: Plant Requirements - Air and Water - STEELS 3.1.5.A
5-LS2-1: Environmental Matter Cycling - STEELS 3.1.5.B
5-ESS1-2: Daily and Seasonal Sky Changes - STEELS 3.3.5.B
5-ESS3-1: Protecting Earth's Resources and Environment - STEELS 3.3.5.E
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.B
5-PS2-1: Earth's Gravitational Force - STEELS 3.2.5.F
5-ESS1-2: Daily and Seasonal Sky Changes - STEELS 3.3.5.B
5-ESS2-1: Earth Sphere Interactions - STEELS 3.3.5.C
5-ESS2-2: Water Availability and Distribution - STEELS 3.3.5.D
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.A
5-PS1-2: Conservation of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.D
5-PS1-3: Material Properties - STEELS 3.2.5.B
5-PS1-4: Mixing Substances - STEELS 3.2.5.E
Mystery Science unit connection: Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter Unit (Chemical Magic)
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.A
5-PS3-1: Food Energy from the Sun - STEELS 3.2.5.G
5-LS1-1: Plant Requirements - Air and Water - STEELS 3.1.5.A
5-LS2-1: Environmental Matter Cycling - STEELS 3.1.5.B
Mystery Science unit connection: Ecosystems & The Food Web Unit (Web of Life)
5-PS1-1: Particle Model of Matter - STEELS 3.2.5.B
5-PS2-1: Earth's Gravitational Force - STEELS 3.2.5.F
5-ESS2-1: Earth Sphere Interactions - STEELS 3.3.5.C
5-ESS2-2: Water Availability and Distribution - STEELS 3.3.5.D
5-ESS3-1: Protecting Earth's Resources and Environment - STEELS 3.2.5.G
Mystery Science unit connection: Water Cycle & Earth’s Systems Unit (Watery Planet)
5-ESS1-1: Stellar Brightness and Distance - STEELS 3.3.5.C
5-ESS1-2: Daily and Seasonal Sky Changes - STEELS 3.3.5.B
Mystery Science unit connection:
Earth & Space Patterns Unit (Spaceship Earth)
Stars & Planets Unit (Stars & Planets)