5th grade Science
11 units matched to the California Content Standards.
Focus areas
- Matter and its changes
- Food webs and ecosystems
- Earth's systems, the sun and the stars
Units
Unit 1
Solutions & Mixtures
Solutions versus mechanical mixtures, solutes and solvents, what affects dissolving, and ways to separate mixtures (filtering, evaporation, magnets, chromatography).
Learning standard: 5-PS1-3; 5-PS1-4 · identifying materials by their properties and testing whether mixing makes new substances
Unit 2
Solid, Liquid, Gas
Matter as anything with mass and volume, how particles are arranged in solids, liquids and gases, and why materials are chosen for their properties.
Learning standard: 5-PS1-1 · matter made of particles too small to see
Unit 3
Changes of State
Melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation at home and outdoors, and how matter absorbs or releases thermal energy when it changes state.
Learning standard: 5-PS1-1; 5-PS1-2 · heating and cooling change the state of matter, not the amount
Unit 4
Physical or Chemical?
Telling a physical change from a chemical change, spotting the signs of a new substance, and how making and throwing away everyday products affects the environment.
Learning standard: 5-PS1-4 · mixing substances that react and make new substances
Unit 5
Measuring Matter
Measuring mass (grams, kilograms) and volume (milliliters, liters), comparing density, why gases compress and solids do not, and how the particle model explains it.
Learning standard: 5-PS1-2; 5-PS1-3 · measuring mass and volume and identifying materials by their properties
Unit 6
Weather and the Water Cycle
How the Sun, air, water and land interact to cause daily weather, the water cycle, tools for measuring weather, and why long-term forecasting is hard.
Learning standard: 5-ESS2-1 · how the air, water and land interact to make weather
Unit 7
Energy from the Sun
Practices how plants get the materials they need for growth mostly from air and water, and how the energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun.
Learning standard: 5-PS3-1; 5-LS1-1 · food energy comes from the sun, and plants grow mainly from air and water
Unit 8
Matter Moves in Ecosystems
Practices how matter moves among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment, with Pacific Northwest examples like salmon feeding forests after they spawn.
Learning standard: 5-LS2-1 · the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment
Unit 9
Engineering Challenges
Practices the engineering design process: defining a problem with criteria and constraints, comparing possible solutions, and planning fair tests that control variables and find failure points.
Learning standard: 3-5-ETS1-1; 3-5-ETS1-2; 3-5-ETS1-3 · defining a design problem with criteria and constraints, comparing solutions, and running fair tests
Unit 10
Sun, Stars & Shadows
Practices why the sun looks brighter than other stars, and patterns of shadows, day length and the stars we see in different seasons.
Learning standard: 5-ESS1-1; 5-ESS1-2 · the sun's brightness and distance, and patterns of shadows, day and night, and seasonal stars
Unit 11
Earth's Systems & Water
Practices how Earth's geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere interact, how much of Earth's water is salty or frozen, and how communities protect water, from Sierra Nevada snow to San Francisco Bay.
Learning standard: 5-ESS2-1; 5-ESS2-2; 5-ESS3-1 · Earth's systems interact, where Earth's water is, and how communities protect resources
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