science

Grade 5

Overview

Fifth grade science units help students formulate answers to questions such as: "When matter changes, does its weight change?" "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 much water can be found in different places on Earth?" "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?" Minds-on hands-on performance tasks will develop student proficiency in using the Science and Engineering practices. Explicit attention to the cross cutting concepts of Matter and Energy, Cause and Effect, Patterns, Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, and Systems and System Models will build deeper comprehension of these big ideas as students study concepts across the different disciplines of science.

Unit 1

Structure and Properties of Matter

In this unit students will explore matter and its characteristic properties. The understanding is developed that measurements for a variety of properties can be used to identify materials, mass is conserved in closed systems, and gas, liquid, and solids are each made from particles too small to see. Students will conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. The big ideas or crosscutting concepts of Cause and Effect and Scale, Proportion, and Quantity are organizing concepts for the core science ideas. Students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, and using mathematics and computational thinking. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate understanding of the core science ideas.

Unit 2

Earth's Systems

In this unit students will study Earth's four major systems: the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and the biosphere. Students will explore how these systems interact to affect Earth's surface materials and processes. Emphasis is placed on the understanding that nearly all of Earth's available water is in the ocean and that human activities in agriculture, industry and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and outer space. The big ideas or crosscutting concepts of Systems and System Models and Scale, Proportion, and Quantity are organizing concepts for the core science ideas. Students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in developing and using models, using mathematics and computational thinking, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate understanding of the core science ideas.

Unit 3

Space Systems: Stars and the Solar System

In this unit students will develop the understanding that gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth's surface pulls that object toward the planet's center and that the Sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer. Emphasis is placed building student's capacity to support an argument with evidence, data, or a model. In addition patterns that result from the orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles will be examined. The big ideas or crosscutting concepts of Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, Cause and Effect, and Patterns are organizing concepts for the core science ideas. Students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in analyzing and interpreting data and engaging in argument from evidence. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate understanding of the core science ideas.

Unit 4

Matter and Energy In Organisms and Ecosystems

In this unit students will explore interdependent relationships in ecosystems. Students will trace the flow of energy through an ecosystem and cycling of matter within it. Emphasis is placed on the understanding that the energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter and that the food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Students will develop an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water. The big ideas or crosscutting concepts of Systems and System Models and Energy and Matter are organizing concepts for the core science ideas. Students are expected to demonstrate grade-appropriate proficiency in developing and using models and engaging in argument from evidence. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate understanding of the core science ideas.

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