Science

The Elementary Science Curriculum is designed to build students foundational knowledge about the natural world. In doing so, students continually develop their ability to ask questions and engage in activities to collect evidence that is used to formulate explanations. The Westfield Science Curriculum is aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science, which are directly based on the Next Generation Science Standards.

The foundational set of curricular materials for science instruction is derived from the Full Option Science System (FOSS) as developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. As students engage in their science learning they are presented with hands-on activities in the areas of Life Science, Earth & Space Science, and Physical Science.

The Elementary Science Curriculum is organized by content domains in the areas of Physical Science, Earth Science, and Life Science. Each content domain is broken into investigations, which are multi-part learning progressions on specific areas of focus.

Grade 5

A. Physical Science – Investigating Mixtures and Solutions

1. Engineering techniques to separate materials in mixtures and solutions
2. Creating models to explain unseen events and phenomenon
3. Comparing concentrations of different solutions through indirect measurement
4. Quantifying the conservation of mass with solutions
5. Identifying materials based on their properties
6. Exploring physical vs. chemical changes as a result of mixing substances

B. Earth Science – Investigating Earth and Sun

1. Creating models to demonstrate motions of objects in the sky
2. Constructing graphs of patterns in observations due to the Sun’s apparent motion
3. Evaluating the relative size and distance of astronomical objects
4. Investigating the properties and composition of Earth’s atmosphere
5. Evaluating energy transfer through conduction, convection, and radiation
6. Quantifying relative amounts of water type and distribution across the planet

C. LifeScience–InvestigatingLivingSystems

1. Evaluating the Earth as a system consisting of subsystems
2. Differentiating the subsystems of geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere
3. Investigating food webs in the hydrosphere subsystem
4. Modeling matter and energy flow in a system of producers, consumers, decomposers
5. Investigating energy transfer systems in living organisms
6. Comparing and contrasting respiratory and circulatory systems in humans.