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.

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.

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.

From NGSS:

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.