5th Grade Science Standards

5-ESS2-1:
Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.

Soil Formation & Edible Horizons: Students will discover what a soil profile looks like, investigate the composition of soil, and explore the five soil-forming factors and soil horizons.

Soil Texture and Water Percolation: Students will determine the water holding and draining capacities of different soils and investigate how organic matter affects the amount of water soil will hold.

Sun, to Moo, to You!: Students will investigate the transfer of energy in the process of making milk. Students will understand that there are different forms of energy, that living things need energy to survive, and that the primary source of energy is the sun.

The Soil Chain: Students will recognize their relationship to soil and model the connections between common objects and the soil.

Types by Texture: Students will learn about soil texture and determine the texture of several soil samples.

Water Supply: Students observe the change of water states as it moves through the water cycle.

What’s in Soil?: Students will identify the components of soil and demonstrate that soil contains air and water.

5-ESS3-1:
Generate and compare multiple solutions about ways individual communities can use science to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Students will explore organic and conventional farming practices by analyzing multimedia texts to investigate the differences between conventionally and organically grown apples.

Corn an A-maizing Plant: Food, Fuel and Plastic: Students will examine the growth, composition, history, and uses of corn through a close reading activity, discussion of renewable and non-renewable resources, and hands-on exploration of bioplastics made from corn.

Desktop Greenhouses: Students will investigate the importance of light to plants by creating a desktop greenhouse investigation and exploring the process of photosynthesis.

Discover Christmas Trees: This lesson is composed of six learning activities to teach about the Christmas tree. Science, history, and geography topics are used to explore the history of the Christmas tree, life cycle of a conifer, types of trees and how they adapt, work on a Christmas tree farm, and the ecology of conifer trees.

Farming for Energy: Students identify renewable and nonrenewable energy sources and investigate how farms can produce renewable energy.

Find Your Future Career: Students discover the variety of agricultural careers available and consider their career paths in terms of economics, interests, and suitability to their personal talents and characteristics.

From Soybeans to Car Parts: Students learn about soybeans and investigate the collaborative work of an agricultural scientist and engineer who found new uses for an agriculture product (soybeans). This lesson can be used as an opportunity to discuss careers in science and engineering, biobased products, and the use of renewable resources.

Milk Makin’ Math: In this lesson, students will learn about the numerous career opportunities involved in the dairy industry. They will also practice real world math problems related to specific careers within the industry.

Natural and Managed Ecosystems: Students will compare the differences between natural and managed ecosystems and describe ways in which farmers can protect agricultural ecosystems.

Overfishing and Aquaculture: Students will discover the sources of various fish and seafood, compare wild-caught and farm-raised aquaculture systems, and use a simulation to learn how overfishing can damage the ocean ecosystem.

Plant Growth Affects the Soil: Students will recognize nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as soil nutrients, learn that plants use soil nutrients as they grow, and discover that fertilizer replaces depleted nutrients. Students will also analyze information on seed packets to learn more about the needs that different plants have for growth.

Soil Formation & Edible Horizons: Students will discover what a soil profile looks like, investigate the composition of soil, and explore the five soil-forming factors and soil horizons.

Test Tube Hydroponics: Students will investigate the importance of nutrients for plant growth and discover how plants grow without soil by growing and observing plants in a test tube hydroponic system.

The Great Debate: The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves: Students discover multiple perspectives concerning the reintroduction of gray wolves into the wild by researching pros and cons and participating in a debate.

The Ultimate Efficient Recycler: In this lesson, students will examine how cows help conserve natural resources by identifying the important role dairy cattle have in reducing, reusing and recycling food processing by-products. Students will identify each of the stages in the ecological cycle and the important role of decomposers.

Types by Texture: Students will learn about soil texture and determine the texture of several soil samples.

Wad-a-Watershed: Students will be able to understand the basic geography of a watershed, how water flows through the system, and how people can impact the quality of our water.

5-LS1-1:
Ask questions about how air and water affect the growth of plants.

Backpack Garden: Through project-based learning, students use school resources to construct and grow a school garden to supplement the school Backpack Program with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Desktop Greenhouses: Students will investigate the importance of light to plants by creating a desktop greenhouse investigation and exploring the process of photosynthesis.

Exploring Aquaponics: The students will identify the basic needs of plants and fish and engineer, assemble, maintain, and observe a small-scale aquaponics system that meets plant and fish needs.

Farmers Market Finds: Students explore the value of farmers markets to local communities and discover the benefits of locally-grown food.

Farming in a Glove: Students observe how a seed sprouts and investigate the conditions necessary for germination to occur.

FoodMASTER: Fats and Oils: Students will identify the farm source of common dietary fats, compare Nutrition Facts labels and perform a taste test of various salad dressings, learn the chemistry of emulsification, and compare regular ice cream, reduced-fat ice cream and fat-free ice cream.

Got Guts?: Students will investigate the different digestive systems of livestock and learn how animals have unique nutritional needs based on these structures. Students will also discover the responsibilities of an animal nutritionist.

Growing Plants in Science and Literature, More Than an Empty Pot: Students will use the story of The Empty Pot to explore literature and science, practicing story mapping and learning about the needs of plants and the importance of soil and water. Like the characters in the story, students will plant and observe the growth of seeds.

Magic Beans and Giant Plants: Students will plant seeds and make considerations on which conditions affect plant growth. They will design and conduct experiments using a problem-solving process and compare and contrast to understand the parameters which influence the health and growth of living things.

Plant-Soil Interactions: Students will discover how plants and soils interact by observing root growth, considering the function of a plant’s roots, modeling the movement of water into the roots, and investigating the movement of water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Plants Around You: Students will categorize plants into groups, describe what plants need for healthy growth, and start their own garden by planting seeds inside a cup.

Pumpkins…Not Just For Halloween: Students will learn a variety of subjects including history, science, nutrition, and math through the study of pumpkins. Activities include estimating the size and weight of pumpkins, sprouting pumpkin seeds, and making pumpkin pie in a bag.

Science and Poetry with Almonds: Students will learn about the almond tree life cycle including tree dormancy, pollination, bloom and kernel development of an almond.

Seeds, Miraculous Seeds: Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the natural development of seeds, learn the anatomy and function of each seed part through a seed dissection and classify seeds as monocots or dicots.

Sorghum at School: The Sorghum Story: Students will investigate sorghum, including the stages of plant growth, production in the United States, health benefits, geography, and positive environmental impacts.

Three Sisters Garden: Students will investigate the "three sisters" crops (corn, beans and squash) and explore the benefit to planting these crops together. Students will also learn about Native American Legends and plant growth.

Topsy-Turvy Soybeans: Students will observe how plants respond to gravity by germinating soybeans in a CD case and rotating the case as they grow.

Walnuts: The Importance of Grafting: The purpose of this unit is for students to understand the science and economic importance of grafting walnut trees.

5-LS2-1:
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Build it Better: Students will investigate animal handling preferences and design a cattle corral system that is durable, efficient, and effective. Students will also discover the skills needed to be an agricultural engineer.

Color in the Garden: Students will use the art of soil painting to explore science and the natural world while learning about the color wheel, the importance of soil to agriculture, and why soils have different colors.

Exploring Aquaponics: The students will identify the basic needs of plants and fish and engineer, assemble, maintain, and observe a small-scale aquaponics system that meets plant and fish needs.

Exploring Texture in the Garden: Students will explore living and nonliving things, determine how nonliving resources help sustain plant life, and experiment with visual arts techniques through an examination of texture in the natural world. Activities in this lesson include collecting and categorizing items from the natural environment, creating seed and soil mosaics, making clay imprints, and coloring cloth with plant materials.

Homes on the Range: Students will design a board game that reinforces how rangelands provide habitat for livestock and wildlife while benefiting humans, animals, and plants. Students will also learn about the responsibilities of a range manager.

Natural and Managed Ecosystems: Students will compare the differences between natural and managed ecosystems and describe ways in which farmers can protect agricultural ecosystems.

Properties of Soils: Students will discover that different soils have different characteristics, examine different types of soil, investigate soil components, and observe how air space allows soils to hold and transmit water.

Secrets to Healthy Soils: Students will understand that the diversity of life in soil contributes to soil fertility.

The Rotten Truth: Students will observe and explain the decomposition process and learn the methods and ingredients for making compost.

The Soil Chain: Students will recognize their relationship to soil and model the connections between common objects and the soil.

Vermicomposting: The class will create a worm bin which will serve as a basis for investigations about ecosystems, life and nutrient cycles, and decomposition.

Water Supply: Students observe the change of water states as it moves through the water cycle.

What’s in Soil?: Students will identify the components of soil and demonstrate that soil contains air and water.

Working Worms: Students observe how earthworms speed the decomposition of organic matter and learn how this adds nutrients to the soil that are important for plant growth. Activities include constructing worm habitats from milk jugs and completing Ride the Wild Leaf Cycle activity sheets.

5-PS1-1:
Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Get Popping!: Students will discover how popcorn is grown and explore the phenomenon of how popcorn pops.

The Chemistry of Fruits and Vegetables: Students examine fruit and vegetable preparation and storage.

5-PS1-2:
Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that, regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.

Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Car: Students will identify the variety of soybeans uses for human consumption, livestock feed and industrial products; explain how key historical events affected soybean production in the United States; and create a bioplastic made from soybeans.

5-PS1-3:
Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

A “Sour” Subject: In this lesson students will learn about the growth and production of citrus fruits and participate in an activity where they use skills of observation and mathematical computation to compare and contrast grapefruits and lemons.

Cheesemaking: From Liquid to Solid: Students make fresh mozzarella cheese and discover the science (changing a liquid to a solid), art, and craft involved in the development of specialty cheese.

FoodMASTER: Measurement: Students will learn where the ingredients in a cookie are made and make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to practice their measurement skills and fractional mathematics.

Get Popping!: Students will discover how popcorn is grown and explore the phenomenon of how popcorn pops.

Pancakes!: Students will describe the physical properties of materials and observe physical and chemical changes as they learn about the ingredients in pancakes and how maple syrup is harvested from trees.

Soil Formation & Edible Horizons: Students will discover what a soil profile looks like, investigate the composition of soil, and explore the five soil-forming factors and soil horizons.

Whipping Butter into Shape: Students will investigate the physical change that occurs as milk is turned into butter.

5-PS1-4:
Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

Cheesemaking: From Liquid to Solid: Students make fresh mozzarella cheese and discover the science (changing a liquid to a solid), art, and craft involved in the development of specialty cheese.

FoodMASTER: Fruits: Students will identify fruits that grow on a tree, bush or vine, classify fruits as pome, drupe, berry, melon, or citrus, perform an experiment about the browning of fruit, and learn drying plums to make prunes.

FoodMASTER: Measurement: Students will learn where the ingredients in a cookie are made and make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to practice their measurement skills and fractional mathematics.

Whipping Butter into Shape: Students will investigate the physical change that occurs as milk is turned into butter.

5-PS3-1:
Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

Beef Basics: Students will explain the importance of the beef cattle industry, including the products cattle produce, the production process from farm to plate, and how cattle can utilize and obtain energy from grass and other forage.

Energy’s Journey from Farm to You: Students discover how plants use energy from the sun to change air and water into matter needed for growth. Using dairy cows as an example, students investigate how animals obtain energy from the plants they eat to produce milk for human consumption. Further exploration is facilitated by a live virtual visit to a dairy farm or the option of viewing a pre-recorded virtual dairy farm tour.

FoodMASTER: Milk and Cheese: Students will taste test four different milks while comparing color, texture, taste and cost. In addition, students will read the four milk food labels and complete a table comparing calories, fat and calcium found in the milks. The class will make cottage cheese by heating milk to the proper temperature and adding an acid (vinegar) to speed up the separation of curds and whey.