5th Grade
For students who will be in 5th grade for the 2026-2027 school year
Embedded Files
Theme: Environment
Incoming 5th grade students will explore concepts related to the environment, climate change, and natural resources.
Essential question: What role does the environment play in the development of our lives, including our relationships, style of living, personalities, etc.?
Fiction Books
Melt by Ele Fountain
A boy and a girl in an Arctic village: one has lived there forever, and the other has just arrived. Slowly they start to notice suspicious things, from melting ice to secretive oil company employees. When the two of them are thrown together to fight for survival on the tundra, they’ll be forced to reckon with how the adults around them have impacted the fragile landscape.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
There is also a movie for this book! Read, watch, and then compare the two!
Two Degrees by Alan Gratz
Fire. Ice. Flood. Three climate disasters. Four kids fighting for their lives. Akira is riding her horse in the California woods when a wildfire sparks--and grows scarily fast. How can she make it to safety when there are flames everywhere? Owen and his best friend, George, are used to seeing polar bears on the snowy Canadian tundra. But when one bear gets way too close for comfort, do the boys have any chance of surviving? Natalie hunkers down at home as a massive hurricane barrels toward Miami. When the floodwaters crash into her house, Natalie is dragged out into the storm--with nowhere to hide. Akira, Owen, George, and Natalie are all swept up in the devastating effects of climate change. They are also connected in ways that will shock them--and could alter their destinies forever.
WARNING: There are some parts of this book with descriptions of intense, traumatic events, including characters experiencing injuries and encountering deaths that occur from the climate disasters. Students and parents should reflect on how to best process this information when deciding to read this book.
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
From Louis Sachar, the multi-award-winning author of Holes. They got lost. The world got scared. And the mud got fuzzy. Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. What they uncover might affect the future of the world. FUZZY MUD is an imaginative and suspenseful story of the great lengths we’ll go to for friendship and family, the mishaps and breakthroughs that are made in the name of science, and the wonders of mud . . . fuzzy mud.
Graphic Novels
Wildheart : the daring adventures of John Muir by Julie Bertagna
This is the story of John Muir's adventurous life, from his wild and playful boyhood in Scotland to his legendary exploits in America, where he became an inventor, a global explorer, and the first modern environmentalist--and even made friends with a president! His heart was always in the outdoors and he aimed to experience all he could. He swung through a windstorm at the top of a tall tree, climbed too many mountains to count, and rode an avalanche to its end. Most importantly, John Muir told the world about the wonders of nature. His words made a difference and inspired people in many countries to start protecting planet Earth--and they still do.
Link to PDF (Note that the cover on the PDF and title are slightly different than the printed graphic novel. That's ok!)
Global by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Told in alternating voices, twelve-year-old Sami, from a village along the Bay of Bengal, and fourteen-year-old Yuki, from Northern Canada, strive to protect their homes from the encroaching damage brought on by climate change. They both experience loss and scary situations with nature, but learn a lot about themselves and their place in the world through the process.
Luz Sees the Light by Claudia Dávila
This book is not available from the library, but it is available for purchase from Amazon. There are some videos linked below with a read aloud of the graphic novel
Energy can be fickle. One minute, Luz is partying at home, dancing to music videos and microwaving brownies. Then, a wave of blackouts hit Petroville and everyone’s sweltering in the summer heat. On top of that, gas becomes too expensive for trips to the mall and fancy, imported goods. This twelve-year old girl (whose name means “light” in Spanish) takes action. Over the course of this graphic novel, Luz learns how to become more eco-friendly in her daily activities and she even creates a special community project. Young teens will be inspired by her story and her commitment to help the environment and neighborhood.
Video read aloud Luz Sees the Light Read Aloud: A Graphic Novel
Nonfiction Books
Trash Revolution: Breaking the Waste Cycle by Erica Fyvie.
This accessible, informative, and fun book examines what people throw away, how common materials are produced, and the impact of trash on the world. Most chapters begin by considering an item likely to be in a student’s backpack—a water bottle, gym clothes, paper, a cell phone—and use it to explore aspects of the waste cycle.
When the World Runs Dry: Earth's Water in Crisis by Nancy F. Castaldo.
What would you do if you turned on the faucet one day and nothing happened? What if you learned the water in your home was harmful to drink? Water is essential for life on this planet, but not every community has the safe, clean water it needs. In When the World Runs Dry, award-winning science writer Nancy Castaldo takes readers from Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey, to Iran and Cape Town, South Africa, to explore the various ways in which water around the world is in danger, why we must act now, and why you’re never too young to make a difference.
*Reading level grades 4-7
Is It Ok To Pee In the Ocean? The Fascinating Science of Waste and Our World by Ella Schwartz
Why do we pee? Is pee just yellow water? Is the ocean a giant toilet bowl (eww!)? If you've ever wondered about your body's waste . . . urine luck! This book is all about pee: from why and how we do it, to its effects on our world. Explore the human systems that make pee happen, tackle environmental questions about the impacts of human waste, discover surprising uses of urine throughout history-like in mouthwash and skin creams-and even try out at-home, hands-on experiments (with no bodily fluids required, of course!). With engaging black-and-white-illustrations and just enough ick-factor, this engrossing (and sometimes a little bit gross) book gets to the bottom of an oft-ignored part of the science of life.
Nonfiction Podcasts
Wow in the World “Operation Earth: How To Be Cool To a Planet That’s Hot” (29 minutes)
We've all heard of Climate Change, but what is it, and why is it bad news for planet Earth? Join Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas as they go back in time in an effort to protect our future! It's the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, and Wow in the World of Climate Change Heroes!
Rebel Girls “Greta Thunberg read by Jameela Jamil” (18 minutes)
Based on the wildly popular Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls books comes “a fairytale podcast about the rebel girls that inspire us.” This episode reveals how Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg became a revolutionary and sparked a massive global movement to address the climate crisis. It follows Greta from when she first learned about the climate crisis in school to her public address at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City, which propelled her to international recognition.
Videos
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