Science (Grade 5)

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

1. Matter and Its Interactions
   1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.  
   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.  
   3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties. Examples of materials to be identified could include baking soda and other powders, metals, minerals, and liquids.  
   4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
2. Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
   1. Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down. “Down” is a local description of the direction that points toward the center of the spherical Earth.
3. Energy
   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.         
4. From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
   1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.         
5. Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
   1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.         
6. Earth’s Place in the Universe
   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.
   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.         
7. Earth’s Systems
   1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.         
   2. Describe and graph the amounts and percentages of water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.
8. Earth and Human Activity
   1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
9. Engineering Design
   1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
   2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
   3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.