5th Science and Social Studies
5th Grade Amplify Curriculum
Unit One - Patterns of Earth and Sky
Taking on the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists at the fictional Museum of Archaeology figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.
Unit Two - Modeling Matter
In the role of food scientists working for Good Food Production, Inc., students are introduced to the ideas that all matter is made of particles too small to see and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. Students are then challenged to solve two problems: One problem requires them to separate a mixture, and the other problem requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the president of the company. In so doing, students figure out that the properties of materials are related to the properties of the nanoparticles that make up those materials.
Unit Three - The Earth System
The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system so they can help figure out what is causing the water shortage on one part of the island. They also design ways to alleviate the effects of water shortages, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.
Unit Four - Ecosystem Restoration
Working as ecologists, students figure out why the organisms in a part of a Costa Rican rain forest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. As they solve this problem, students learn more generally how organisms in an ecosystem get the matter and energy they need to survive. Along the way, students write a series of restoration plans that include arguments about why the rain forest ecosystem is not thriving and recommend actions to restore its health.