Curriculum

In fifth grade, students will be working to answer questions like:

• When matter changes, does its weight change?

• How much water can be found in different places on Earth?

• Can new substances be created by combining other substances? How does matter cycle through ecosystems?

• Where does the energy in food come from and what is it used for?

• How do lengths and directions of shadows or relative lengths of day and night change from day to day, and how does the appearance of some stars change in different seasons?

By the end of fifth grade, they will be able to:

• describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen through the development of a model.

• develop an understanding of the idea that regardless of the type of change that matter undergoes, the total weight of matter is conserved.

• determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

• describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

• describe and graph data to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.

• develop an understanding of the idea that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

• describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment and that energy in animals’ food was once energy from the sun.

• develop an understanding of patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.