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5th grade · Science · Unit 12 of 15

Protecting Resources

Design solutions that cut the environmental impact of using natural resources.

What your child practices

Practices designing and explaining solutions such as conservation, recycling and proper disposal that reduce the environmental impact of using natural resources like water, soil, energy and materials.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.11 · conservation, recycling and proper disposal to reduce the impact of using natural resources

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Using natural resources can harm land, water and air, but good designs reduce the harm.
  2. Farmers rotate crops and plant cover crops to keep soil healthy.
  3. Carpooling burns less fuel. Recycling aluminum saves energy.
  4. Proper trash disposal keeps litter from hurting animals and water.

Example: How does carpooling help the environment? Fewer cars make the trip. That burns less fuel and makes less pollution. Answer: less fuel and less air pollution

Protecting Resources in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 12 of 15 in 5th grade Science, after Circuits at Work and before Spinning Earth, Moving Shadows.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is reusing?

    • Breaking the jar
    • Using a glass jar to store beads
    • Buying a new jar each time
    • Throwing the jar away

  2. Question 2

    Composting food scraps helps by…

    • turning waste into rich soil
    • polluting rivers
    • making more trash
    • using more water

  3. Question 3

    Which reduces the paper a class uses?

    • Printing on both sides
    • Printing one page per sheet
    • Throwing away used paper
    • Printing extra copies

  4. Question 4

    Which solution saves the most water in a dry summer?

    • Watering plants early in the morning with drip lines
    • Leaving the hose on
    • Hosing off the driveway
    • Running sprinklers at noon

  5. Question 5

    Which is the best way to get rid of old batteries?

    • Throw them in a creek
    • Bury them in the yard
    • Put them in a campfire
    • Take them to a battery drop-off

  6. Question 6

    Old paint and cleaners should be…

    • poured on the ground
    • taken to a household hazardous waste collection
    • flushed down the toilet
    • put in a creek

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