5th Grade Science Curriculum
In 5th grade, students science continues to align with the Next Generation Science Standards. The performance expectations in fifth grade help students formulate answers to questions such as: “When matter changes, does its weight change? How much water can be found in different places on Earth? Can new substances be created by combining other substances? How does matter cycle through ecosystems? Where does the energy in food come from and what is it used for? How do lengths and directions of shadows or relative lengths of day and night change from day to day, and how does the appearance of some stars change in different seasons?”
Based in inquiry and hands-on exploration, fifth grade students at Westerly develop and use models, plan and carry out investigations, analyze and interpret data, use mathematics and computational thinking, engage in argument from evidence, and obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to use these practices to demonstrate an understanding of the core ideas.
Concepts we explore include:
- Properties of Matter
- Changes in Matter
- Energy and Food
- Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
- Earth’s Systems
- Earth’s Water
- Human Impacts on Earth’s Systems
- Solar System
- Patterns in Space
- Engineering