Courses of Study : Science (Grade 5)

Matter and Its Interactions
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 9
Lesson Plans: 1
Classroom Resources: 8
1 ) Plan and carry out investigations (e.g., adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, evaporating salt water) to provide evidence that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Provide evidence based on investigation results that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Investigation
  • Variable
  • Data
  • Hypothesis
  • Conclusion
  • Matter
  • Describe
  • Observe
  • Evidence
  • Immensely
  • Bulk matter
  • Particle
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Matter is made of particles too small to be seen Matter too small to be seen still exists and may be detected by other means.
  • Gasses are made of matter particles that are too small to see, and are moving freely around in space (this can explain many observations, including the inflation and the shape of the balloon, and the effects of air on larger particles or objects).
  • The behavior of a collection of many tiny particles of matter and observable phenomena involving bulk matter (e.g., an expanding balloon, evaporating liquids, substances that dissolve in a solvent, effects of wind).
  • There is a relationship between bulk matter and tiny particles that cannot be seen.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Identify the phenomenon under investigation.
  • Identify evidence that addresses the purpose of the investigation.
  • Collaboratively plan the investigation.
  • Collect and analyze the data.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Natural objects exist from the very small to the immensely large.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

NAEP Statement::
P4.4: Some objects are composed of a single substance; others are composed of more than one substance.

NAEP Statement::
P8.1: Properties of solids, liquids, and gases are explained by a model of matter that is composed of tiny particles in motion.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.1- Recognize that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 10
Lesson Plans: 1
Classroom Resources: 9
2 ) Investigate matter to provide mathematical evidence, including graphs, to show that regardless of the type of reaction (e.g., new substance forming due to dissolving or mixing) or change (e.g., phase change) that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of the matter is conserved.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • 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.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Quantitative measurements (mass, weight, standard unit)
  • Physical quantities (weight, time, temperature, volume)
  • Property changes
  • Matter
  • Reaction
  • Heating
  • Cooling
  • Mixing
  • Physical properties
  • Conservation of matter
  • Graphing
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish.
  • No matter what reaction or change in properties occurs, the total weight of the substances does not change. (Boundary: Mass and weight are not distinguished at this grade level.)
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Measure and graph the given quantities using standard units, including: the weight of substances before they are heated, cooled, or mixed and the weight of substances, including any new substances produced by a reaction, after they are heated, cooled, or mixed.
  • Measure and/or calculate the difference between the total weight of the substances (using standard units) before and after they are heated, cooled, and/or mixed.
  • Describe the changes in properties they observe during and/or after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.
  • Use their measurements and calculations to describe that the total weights of the substances did not change, regardless of the reaction or changes in properties that were observed.
  • Use measurements and descriptions of weight, as well as the assumption of consistent patterns in natural systems, to describe evidence to address scientific questions about the conservation of the amount of matter, including the idea that the total weight of matter is conserved after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and can be used to demonstrate the conservation of the total weight of matter.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.1: Objects and substances have properties. Weight (mass) and volume are properties that can be measured using appropriate tools.*

NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

NAEP Statement::
P4.6: One way to change matter from one state to another and back again is by heating and cooling.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.2- Recognize that regardless of the type of reaction (e.g., new substance forming due to dissolving or mixing) or change (e.g., phase change) that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of the matter is conserved.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 13
Learning Activities: 1
Classroom Resources: 12
3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • color
  • hardness
  • reflectivity
  • electrical conductivity
  • thermal conductivity
  • response to magnetic forces
  • solubility
  • density
  • measurement (quantitative and qualitative)
  • data
  • observable properties
  • standard units
  • conductors
  • nonconductors
  • magnetic
  • nonmagnetic
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Materials have different properties-color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity thermal conductivity, solubility, and density.
  • Measurements of a variety of properties can be used to identify materials.
  • Measurements should be made in standard units (e.g., grams & liters).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Identify the phenomenon through observations about materials, including color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility.
  • Identify the evidence and collect data about the observed objects in standard units (e.g., grams, liters).
  • Collaboratively plan the investigation.
  • Identify materials based on their properties.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities of materials such as weight, time, temperature, and volume. These measurements will assist in the identification of the materials ( e.g. powders, metals, minerals, and liquids).
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.1: Objects and substances have properties. Weight (mass) and volume are properties that can be measured using appropriate tools.*

NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.3- Classify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 10
Lesson Plans: 1
Classroom Resources: 9
4 ) Investigate whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances (e.g., mixing of baking soda and vinegar resulting in the formation of a new substance, gas; mixing of sand and water resulting in no new substance being formed).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Planning and Carrying out Investigations
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • variables
  • states of matter
  • properties of matter
  • chemical change
  • physical change
  • evidence
  • temperature
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • From a given investigation plan, describe the phenomenon under investigation, including the mixing of two or more substances.
  • Identify the purpose of the investigation.
  • Describe the evidence from data that will be collected, including quantitative and qualitative properties of the substances to be mixed and the resulting substances.
  • Collaboratively plan an investigation and describe the data to be collected, including: how quantitative and qualitative properties of the two or more substances to be mixed will be determined and measured, number of trials for the investigation, how variables will be controlled to ensure a fair test.
  • Collect necessary data.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Cause and effect relationships are identified and used to explain changes like those that occur when two or more substances are mixed together.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

NAEP Statement::
P4.4: Some objects are composed of a single substance; others are composed of more than one substance.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.4- Predict whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances (e.g., mixing of baking soda and vinegar resulting in the formation of a new substance, gas; mixing of sand and water resulting in no new substance being formed).
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 8
Learning Activities: 1
Lesson Plans: 3
Classroom Resources: 4
5 ) Construct explanations from observations to determine how the density of an object affects whether the object sinks or floats when placed in a liquid.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Use data from observations to explain how the density of an object affects whether an object sinks or floats when placed in a liquid, like water.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • density
  • volume
  • buoyancy
  • data
  • observe
  • explain
  • sink
  • float
  • mass
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Objects are made of many tiny particles to small to be seen.
  • Some objects have many tiny particles compacted close together that causes the object to sink while other objects the same size may float because their tiny particles are less compact.
  • Some objects of the same size sink when others float.
  • Buoyancy is the ability of an object to float.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Predict the results of different types of objects being placed in water. Test the objects and communicate the results.
  • Use appropriate tools (Scale, balance, ruler, or graduated cylinder) to measure the weight, mass, and/volume of an object.
  • Construct an explanation to describe the observed relationship between density and the ability of an object to sink or float.
  • Identify the evidence that supports the explanation that density affects the ability of an object to sink or float.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain phenomenon like sinking and floating.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.5- Observe how the density of an object affects whether the object sinks or floats when placed in a liquid; predict whether an object will float or sink in water.
Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 3
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 1
6 ) Construct an explanation from evidence to illustrate that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed downward towards the center of Earth.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Support an explanation with evidence that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • construct
  • explanation
  • gravitational force
  • evidence
  • illustrate
  • spherical
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The Earth's shape is spherical.
  • That objects dropped appear to fall straight down.
  • That people live all around the spherical Earth, and they all observe that objects appear to fall straight down.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Construct an explanation of observed relationships.
  • Use evidence to illustrate the relationship between gravity and objects on Earth.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • If Earth is spherical, and all observers see objects near them falling directly "down" to the Earth's surface, then all observers would agree that objects fall toward the Earth's center.
  • Since an object that is initially stationary when held moves downward when it is released, there must be a force (gravity) acting on the object that pulls the object toward the center of the Earth.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Earth: Gravity and Space
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.6- Identify examples of objects being affected by Earth's downward gravitational force.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 5
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 3
7 ) Design and conduct a test to modify the speed of a falling object due to gravity (e.g., constructing a parachute to keep an attached object from breaking).*

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Cause and Effect
Disciplinary Core Idea: Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Design a test to modify the speed of a falling object.
  • Conduct a test to modify the speed of a falling object.
  • Collect and record data including data before and after the modification is added.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • gravity
  • design
  • conduct
  • gravitational force
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed downward towards the center of Earth.
  • How an engineering design process is used to design and conduct a test.
  • The properties (surface area, substance, weight) of different materials used to modify the speed of a falling object will affect the fall.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Apply scientific ideas to solve design problems.
  • Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design solution.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • A device added to a falling object can cause the speed to be modified.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Earth: Gravity and Space
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.7- Identify solutions designed to reduce the effects of a falling object due to gravity (e.g., a parachute to keep an attached object from breaking).
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 4
Lesson Plans: 3
Classroom Resources: 1
8 ) Defend the position that plants obtain materials needed for growth primarily from air and water.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Crosscutting Concepts: Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • claim
  • evidence
  • hydroponic
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • How plants obtain nutrients.
  • How to measure growth of a plant.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Collect and analyze evidence about plant growth.
  • Determine whether evidence supports the claim that plants do not acquire most of the material for growth from soil.
  • Use reasoning to connect the evidence to support the claim. A chain of reasoning should include the following:
    • During plant growth in soil, the weight of the soil changes very little over time, but the weight of the plant changes a lot. Additionally, some plants grow without soil at all.
    • Because some plants don't need soil to grow, and others show increases in plant matter but not accompanying decreases in soil matter, the material from the soil must not enter the plant in sufficient quantities to be the chief contributor to plant growth.
    • Therefore, plants do not acquire most of the material fro growth from soil.
    • A plant cannot grow without water or air. Because both air and water are matter and are transported into the plant system, they can provide the materials plants need for growth.
    • Since soil cannot account for the change in weight as a plant grows and since plants take in water and air, both of which could contribute to the increase in weight during plant growth, plant growth must come chiefly from water and air.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Matter, including air and water, is transported into, out of, and within plant systems.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.8- Recognize that plants obtain materials needed for growth primarily from air and water.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 5
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 3
9 ) Construct an illustration to explain how plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into a storable fuel, carbohydrates, and a waste product, oxygen, during the process of photosynthesis.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Construct and label an illustration that demonstrates the process of photosynthesis and the conversion of carbon dioxide and water into storable fuel, carbohydrates and oxygen.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • convert
  • carbohydrates
  • waste product
  • photosynthesis
  • carbon dioxide
  • produces
  • oxygen
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • What plants need to survive.
  • Parts of plants and their functions in the process of photosynthesis.
  • The sun is the source of energy.
  • Plants are producers.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Construct an illustration to explain the scientific phenomenon of photosynthesis.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Plants are producers of energy through the process of photosynthesis.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.9- Using a given model, recognize that plants use light energy to make their own food during the process of photosynthesis.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 3
Learning Activities: 1
Lesson Plans: 1
Classroom Resources: 1
10 ) Construct and interpret models (e.g., diagrams, flow charts) to explain that energy in animals' food is used for body repair, growth, motion, and maintenance of body warmth and was once energy from the sun.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Energy and Matter
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Through constructing and using models, explain that energy in animals' food used for body repair, growth, motion, and maintenance of body warmth was once energy from the sun.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Model
  • Energy
  • Repair
  • Growth
  • Motion
  • Maintenance
  • Animal
  • Plant
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • 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).
  • 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.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Use models to describe a phenomenon that includes the idea that energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun. Students identify and describe the components of the model that are relevant for describing the phenomenon, including the following:
    • Energy.
    • The sun.
    • Animals, including their bodily functions (e.g., body repair, growth, motion, body warmth maintenance).
    • Plants.
  • Identify and describe the relevant relationships between components, including the following:
    • The relationship between plants and the energy they get from sunlight to produce food.
    • The relationship between food and the energy and materials that animals require for bodily functions (e.g., body repair, growth, motion, body warmth maintenance).
    • The relationship between animals and the food they eat, which is either other animals or plants (or both), to obtain energy for bodily functions and materials for growth and repair.
  • Use the models to describe causal accounts of the relationships between energy from the sun and animals' needs for energy, including that:
    • Since all food can eventually be traced back to plants, all of the energy that animals use for body repair, growth, motion, and body warmth maintenance is energy that once came from the sun.
    • Energy from the sun is transferred to animals through a chain of events that begins with plants producing food then being eaten by animals.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.10- Identify that animals get their energy to grow and move from food (plants and animals); recognize that this energy was once from the sun.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 11
Learning Activities: 2
Lesson Plans: 3
Classroom Resources: 5
Unit Plans: 1
11 ) Create a model to illustrate the transfer of matter among producers; consumers, including scavengers and decomposers; and the environment.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Construct and use models to illustrate the transfer of matter among producers; consumers, including scavengers and decomposers; and the environment.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Model
  • Transfer
  • Matter
  • Producer
  • Consumer
  • Decomposer
  • Environment
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • 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.
  • 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.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Develop a model to describe a phenomenon that includes the movement of matter within an ecosystem, identifying the relevant components such as matter, plants, animals, decomposers, and environment.
  • Describe the relationships among components that are relevant for describing the phenomenon, including the relationships in the system between organisms that consume other organisms, including the following:
    • Animals that consume other animals.
    • Animals that consume plants.
    • Organisms that consume dead plants and animals.
    • The movement of matter between organisms during consumption.
  • Use the model to describe the following:
    • The cycling of matter in the system between plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
    • How interactions in the system of plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment allow multiple species to meet their needs.
    • That newly introduced species can affect the balance of interactions in a system (e.g., a new animal that has no predators consumes much of another organism's food within the ecosystem).
    • That changing an aspect (e.g., organisms or environment) of the ecosystem will affect other aspects of the ecosystem.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • A system can be described in terms of its components, like producers, consumers, and the environment, and their interactions, like the cycling of matter.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L4.3: Organisms interact and are interdependent in various ways, including providing food and shelter to one another. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs are met. Some interactions are beneficial; others are detrimental to the organism and other organisms.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.11- Using a given model, identify a missing part of a simple food chain.
Earth's Place in the Universe
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 2
Lesson Plans: 1
Classroom Resources: 1
12 ) Defend the claim that one factor determining the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is the relative distance from Earth.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth's Place in the Universe
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Support a claim that the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to the relative distance from the Earth.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Defend
  • Claim
  • Factor
  • Evidence
  • Apparent Brightness
  • Relative Distance
  • Sun
  • Stars
  • Earth
  • Reasoning
  • Argumentation
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • The sun and other stars are natural bodies in the sky that give off their own light.
  • 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.
  • A luminous object close to a person appears much brighter and larger than a similar object that is very far away from a person (e.g., nearby streetlights appear bigger and brighter than distant streetlights).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Identify a given claim to be supported about a given phenomenon. The claim includes the idea that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.
  • Describe the evidence, data, and/or models that support the claim, including the following:
    • The sun and other stars are natural bodies in the sky that give off their own light.
    • The apparent brightness of a variety of stars, including the sun.
    • A luminous object close to a person appears much brighter and larger than a similar object that is very far away from a person (e.g., nearby streetlights appear bigger and brighter than distant streetlights).
    • The relative distance of the sun and stars from Earth (e.g., although the sun and other stars are all far from the Earth, the stars are very much farther away; the sun is much closer to Earth than other stars).
  • Evaluate the evidence to determine whether it is relevant to supporting the claim, and sufficient to describe the relationship between apparent size and apparent brightness of the sun and other stars and their relative distances from Earth.
  • Use reasoning to connect the relevant and appropriate evidence to the claim with argumentation. Describe a chain of reasoning that includes the following:
    • Because stars are defined as natural bodies that give off their own light, the sun is a star.
    • The sun is many times larger than Earth but appears small because it is very far away.
    • Even though the sun is very far from Earth, it is much closer than other stars.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Natural objects, like the sun and stars, exist from the very small to the immensely large.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Earth: Gravity and Space
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.12- Using a model, identify that distance affects the brightness of stars.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 2
Lesson Plans: 2
13 ) Analyze data and represent with graphs 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 (e.g., shadows and the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun, visibility of select stars only in particular months).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth's Place in the Universe
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze data and represent with graphs to reveal the following patterns:
  • daily changes in length and direction of shadows
  • day and night
  • the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Data
  • Graph
  • Bar Graph
  • Pictograph
  • Pie Chart
  • Line Graph
  • Analyze
  • Shadow
  • Seasonal
  • Sun
  • Star
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • 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.
  • The apparent motion of the sun from east to west results in patterns of change in length and direction of shadows throughout a day as Earth rotates on its axis.
  • The length of the day gradually changes throughout the year as Earth orbits the sun, with longer days in the summer and shorter days in the winter.
  • Some stars and/or groups of stars (constellations) can be seen in the sky all year, while others appear only at certain times of the year.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Using graphical displays (e.g., bar graphs, pictographs), organize data pertaining to daily and seasonal changes caused by the Earth's rotation and orbit around the sun. Organize data that include the following:
    • The length and direction of shadows observed several times during one day.
    • The duration of daylight throughout the year, as determined by sunrise and sunset times.
    • Presence or absence of selected stars and/or groups of stars that are visible in the night sky at different times of the year.
  • Use the organized data to find and describe relationships within the datasets.
  • Use the organized data to find and describe relationships among the datasets, including the following:
    • Similarities and differences in the timing of observable changes in shadows, daylight, and the appearance of stars show that events occur at different rates (e.g., Earth rotates on its axis once a day, while its orbit around the sun takes a full year).
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Similarities and differences in patterns can be used to sort, classify, communicate and analyze daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Earth: Gravity and Space
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.1: Objects in the sky have patterns of movement. The Sun, for example, appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons. The Moon appears to move across the sky on a daily basis much like the Sun.

NAEP Statement::
E8.12: Seasons result from annual variations in the intensity of sunlight and length of day, due to the tilt of Earth's rotation axis relative to the plane of its yearly orbit around the Sun.

NAEP Statement::
E8.2: Gravity is the force that keeps most objects in the solar system in regular and predictable motion. These motions explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the Moon, and eclipses.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.13- Identify patterns of change caused by the position and/or motion of the Earth.
Earth's Systems
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 13
Lesson Plans: 3
Classroom Resources: 10
14 ) Use a model to represent how any two systems, specifically the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and/or hydrosphere, interact and support life (e.g., influence of the ocean on ecosystems, landform shape, and climate; influence of the atmosphere on landforms and ecosystems through weather and climate; influence of mountain ranges on winds and clouds in the atmosphere).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth's Systems
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Atmosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Geosphere
  • Biosphere
  • Model
  • Phenomenon
  • System
  • Earth
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Earth's major systems are the geosphere (solid and molten rock, soil, and sediments), the hydrosphere (water and ice), the atmosphere, and the biosphere (living things, including humans).
  • These systems interact in multiple ways to affect Earth's surface materials and processes.
  • 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.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Develop a model, using a specific given example of a phenomenon, to describe ways that the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact. In the model, identify the relevant components of their example, including features of two of the following systems that are relevant for the given example:
    • Geosphere (i.e., solid and molten rock, soil, sediment, continents, mountains).
    • Hydrosphere (i.e., water and ice in the form of rivers, lakes, glaciers).
    • Atmosphere (i.e., wind, oxygen).
    • Biosphere [i.e., plants, animals (including humans)].
  • Identify and describe relationships (interactions) within and between the parts of the Earth systems identified in the model that are relevant to the example (e.g., the atmosphere and the hydrosphere interact by exchanging water through evaporation and precipitation; the hydrosphere and atmosphere interact through air temperature changes, which lead to the formation or melting of ice).
  • Use the model to describe a variety of ways in which the parts of two major Earth systems in the specific given example interact to affect the Earth's surface materials and processes in that context. Use the model to describe how parts of an individual Earth system:
    • Work together to affect the functioning of that Earth system.
    • Contribute to the functioning of the other relevant Earth system.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Systems, like the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere, can be described in terms of their components and their interactions.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.14- Identify how the atmosphere and hydrosphere interact to support life (e.g. air, water).
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 7
Learning Activities: 1
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 4
15 ) Identify the distribution of freshwater and salt water on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, ground water, polar ice caps) and construct a graphical representation depicting the amounts and percentages found in different reservoirs.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth's Systems
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Fresh water
  • Salt water
  • Oceans
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Glaciers
  • Ground water
  • Polar ice caps
  • Reservoir
  • Graph
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Nearly all of Earth's available water is in the ocean.
  • Most fresh water is in glaciers or underground; only a tiny fraction is in streams, lakes, wetlands, and the atmosphere.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Graph the given data (using standard units) about the amount of salt water and the amount of fresh water in each of the following reservoirs, as well as in all the reservoirs combined, to address a scientific question:
    • Oceans.
    • Lakes.
    • Rivers.
    • Glaciers.
    • Ground water.
    • Polar ice caps.
  • Use the graphs of the relative amounts of total salt water and total fresh water in each of the reservoirs to describe that:
    • The majority of water on Earth is found in the oceans.
    • Most of the Earth's fresh water is stored in glaciers or underground.
    • A small fraction of fresh water is found in lakes, rivers, wetlands, and the atmosphere.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.10: The supply of many Earth resources such as fuels, metals, fresh water, and farmland is limited. Humans have devised methods for extending the use of Earth resources through recycling, reuse, and renewal.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.15- Identify the distribution of freshwater and saltwater on Earth (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, ground water, polar ice caps).
Earth and Human Activity
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 12
Learning Activities: 2
Classroom Resources: 10
16 ) Collect and organize scientific ideas that individuals and communities can use to protect Earth's natural resources and its environment (e.g., terracing land to prevent soil erosion, utilizing no-till farming to improve soil fertility, regulating emissions from factories and automobiles to reduce air pollution, recycling to reduce overuse of landfill areas).

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth and Human Activity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Combine information from two or more sources to provide and describe evidence about: the positive and negative effects on the environment as a result of human activities as well as how individual communities can use scientific ideas and a scientific understanding of interactions between components of environmental systems to protect a natural resource and the environment in which the resource is found.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Natural Resource
  • Scientific idea
  • Individual
  • Community
  • Terracing
  • Erosion
  • Soil
  • No-till farming
  • Fertility
  • Emissions
  • Pollution
  • Recycling
  • Landfill
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life can have major effects, both positive and negative, on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space.
  • Individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth's resources and environments.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain how individuals and communities can protect Earth's natural resources and its environment.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Individual communities interact with components of environmental systems and can have both positive and negative effects.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.10: The supply of many Earth resources such as fuels, metals, fresh water, and farmland is limited. Humans have devised methods for extending the use of Earth resources through recycling, reuse, and renewal.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.16- Identify a human action that can help the environment.
Science (2015)
Grade(s): 5
All Resources: 4
Lesson Plans: 2
Classroom Resources: 2
17 ) Design solutions, test, and revise a process for cleaning a polluted environment (e.g., simulating an oil spill in the ocean or a flood in a city and creating a solution for containment and/or cleanup).*

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models
Disciplinary Core Idea: Earth and Human Activity
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Collaboratively design solutions, test, and revise a process for cleaning a polluted environment.
Teacher Vocabulary:
    Design
  • Solution
  • Test
  • Revise
  • Polluted
  • Environment
  • Engineer
  • Technology
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life can have major effects, both positive and negative, on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space.
  • Individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth's resources and environments.
  • Research on a problem should be carried out before beginning to design a solution.
  • Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions.
  • At whatever stage, communicating with peers about proposed solutions is an important part of the design process, and shared ideas can lead to improved designs.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Use grade-appropriate information from research about a given problem, including the causes and effects of the problem and relevant scientific information.
  • Generate at least two possible solutions to the problem based on scientific information and understanding of the problem.
  • Specify how each design solution solves the problem.
  • Share ideas and findings with others about design solutions to generate a variety of possible solutions.
  • Describe the necessary steps for designing a solution to a problem, including conducting research and communicating with others throughout the design process to improve the design [note: emphasis is on what is necessary for designing solutions, not on a step-wise process].
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to: increase benefits, decrease known risks, and/or meet societal demands.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Dynamics of Ecosystems
NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
E4.10: The supply of many Earth resources such as fuels, metals, fresh water, and farmland is limited. Humans have devised methods for extending the use of Earth resources through recycling, reuse, and renewal.

NAEP Statement::
E4.11: Humans depend on their natural and constructed environment. Humans change environments in ways that can either be beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms.

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.17- Identify a way humans can prevent or reverse pollution of the environment.