Category: Grade 5 Science

Matter & Energy in Organisms & Ecosystems

Unit description: Students explore how energy from the sun is captured and used by plants to survive and to provide food for other living things.  They learn how energy from food is used to help animals grow and survive. Students investigate food chains and food webs to learn of the interdependent relationships in ecosystems, how matter cycles, and how energy transfer occurs in an ecosystem.

Download the complete Grade 5 Science Unit 3 framework to customize for your own planning.

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

• How do plants use the sun’s energy to grow and survive?
  • The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water). (5-PS3-1)
• How do plants and animals use food once it is inside their body?
  • Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion. (secondary to 5-PS3-1)
  • Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
• How does an ecosystem stay healthy?
  • The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem. (5-LS2-1)
  • Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)
    

Structure & Properties of Matter

Suggested Timeframe: Winter (Jan-March)

Unit description: Students explore the structure and properties of solids, liquids, and gases. They learn the basics of chemical reactions, and are introduced to the concept that regardless of the change that occurs, matter is conserved.

Download the complete Grade 5 Science Unit 2 framework to customize for your own planning.

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

What is matter and how do scientists distinguish between different types of matter?

• • Matter of any type can be subdivided into particles that are too small to see, but even then the matter still exists and can be detected by other means. A model showing that gases are made from matter particles that are too small to see and are moving freely around in space can explain many observations, including the inflation and shape of a balloon and the effects of air on larger particles or objects. (5-PS1-1)
  • Measurements of a variety of properties can be used to identify materials. (Boundary: At this grade level, mass and weight are not distinguished, and no attempt is made to define the unseen particles or explain the atomic-scale mechanism of evaporation and condensation.) (5-PS1-3)

What happens when you combine two or more different types of matter?

• • When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed. (5-PS1-4)
  • No matter what reaction or change in properties occur, the total weight of the substances does not change (Mass and weight are not distinguished at this grade level.) (5-PS1-2)
  • The total amount of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish. (5-PS1-2)

Prerequisite Skills/Science & Engineering Practices:

Develop and use models to describe, measure and graph quantities to provide evidence, make observations and measurements to identify, conduct an investigation

Download the complete Grade 5 Science Unit 2 framework to customize for your own planning.

Earth’s Systems: Processes That Shape the Earth

In Part I Students explore the solar system, gravitational force of Earth, the sun as a star in comparison to other stars, and the orbits of Earth around the sun, and of the moon around Earth. Students learn how these concepts help us to understand and recognize observable patterns that explain day vs night, daily changes in length and direction of shadows, and positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. In Part II students explore the interaction between Earth’s geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes. Students learn how humans impact these systems, and ways we can protect Earth’s resources and environment.

Standards

• 5-PS2-1. Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
• 5-ESS1-1. Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the Sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.
• 5-ESS1-2. Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
• 5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
• 5-ESS2-2. Describe and graph the amounts of saltwater and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
• 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth’s resources and environment.

Essential questions and big ideas of the unit

Part I: Space Systems

• How does gravity keep things on Earth?
  • The gravitational force of Earth acting on an object near Earth’s surface pulls that object toward the planet’s center. (5-PS2-1)
• How does the size and location of objects in space determine how they appear?
  • The sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer. Stars range greatly in their distance from Earth. (5-ESS1-1)
• Why do objects in the day and night sky appear to change over time?
  • 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, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. (5-ESS1-2)

Part II: Earth’s Systems

• What determines weather and climate on Earth?
  • Earth’s major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere (air), and the biosphere (living things, including humans). These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth’s surface materials and processes (5-ESS2-1)
• Why is the ocean so important on Earth, and what role does it play in shaping the Earth, its weather, and its climate?
  • The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes landforms, and influences climate. Winds and clouds in the atmosphere interact with the landforms to determine patterns of weather. (5-ESS2-1)
• Where can we find water on Earth?
  • Nearly all of Earth’s available water is in the ocean. Most Freshwater is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere. (5-ESS2-2)
• How can Humans help to protect our resources and environment?
  • Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments. (5-ESS3-1)

Download the complete Grade 5 Science Unit 1 framework to customize for your own planning.