5th Grade Modules

In this introduction unit, students will explore the traits of scientists and discover that the fundamental qualities of science is curiosity and observation.  They will apply these skills in several STEM activities and implement the steps of the Engineering Design Process.

In this module, students will explore how plants and animals get the matter and energy they need to live and grow, how they interact in food webs, how change in one part of an ecosystem can have various effects, and how newly introduced species can sometimes become invasive. In the first focus question, students investigate what contributes most of the matter to plant growth. Starting with a broad list of what plants need to live and grow, students narrow down this list of water and air through a series of investigations that provide evidence for or against each potential contributor. In the second focus question, students explore animals’ needs for matter and energy. By analyzing weight and food intake data, and observing energy transfer from food items, students build the case that animals get both matter and energy by consuming food. In the third focus question, students trace matter and energy through complex food web interactions. In the fourth focus question, students consider what happens when one component of an ecosystem changes. They use models to make predictions about how the introduction of a top predator can affect even the bottom of a food web. In the final focus question, students are challenged to analyze data, develop and use models, and engage in argumentation to make a prediction about which of two coastal locations is likely more susceptible to an invasion by a nonnative sea squirt.

In Using the Sky to Navigate, students observe phenomena of ships disappearing below the horizon, shadows pointing in different directions, and balls falling to Earth. Students use these observations as well as models as evidence that gravity is directed to the center of a spherical Earth. Students use models as well as observations of shadows and stars to make a claim that Earth rotates once on an axis every 24 hours. Students carry out an investigation to determine the times of the year that different constellations are not visible and use the data to develop a model of Earth revolving around the Sun once a year. After learning the daily and annual patterns of motion of the Sun and stars, students consider the problem of using those patterns to navigate. Students discover that the altitude of Polaris is the latitude of the observer's location. Students carry out an investigation to compare two solutions for finding the altitude of Polaris in the night sky. Finally, students are presented with the sweet potato mystery. Did ancient Polynesians sail from the Marquesas Islands to Peru and bring back the sweet potato? Students use the sky to navigate an imaginary boat and use the experience to support an argument about the mystery.

In this module, students learn how they can use properties of materials to identify them. In the first focus question, they use their senses to compare properties of six solids, including sugar and cornstarch. They read about how sugar and cornstarch are made by plants and used as food by animals. In the second focus question, students learn that dissolving and evaporation can be explained by particles. They compare how six solids behave when mixed with water. In the third focus question, students learn that melting points can be used to identify solids. They look at the effect of heat on six solids. In the fourth focus question, students record what happens when six solids are mixed with either iodine or vinegar. They read about how carbon dioxide and water combine to produce sugar and oxygen in a plant. They weigh cornstarch and iodine before and after mixing and conclude that weight is conserved in any change. In the science challenge, students apply what they have learned about properties to identify four unknown solids.