California Science Content Standards, Grade Five

Physical Sciences

Elements and their combinations account for all the varied types of matter in the world. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know that during chemical reactions the atoms in the reactants rearrange to form products with different properties.

EOW-92. Taking a Marshmallow Apart - energy in food

Students know all matter is made of atoms, which may combine to form molecules.

Students know metals have properties in common, such as high electrical and thermal conductivity. Some metals, such as aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and gold (Au), are pure elements; others, such as steel and brass, are composed of a combination of elemental metals.

Students know that each element is made of one kind of atom and that the elements are organized in the periodic table by their chemical properties.

Students know scientists have developed instruments that can create discrete images of atoms and molecules that show that the atoms and molecules often occur in well-ordered arrays.

Students know differences in chemical and physical properties of substances are used to separate mixtures and identify compounds.

EOW-16. Making Turmeric Paper - acid/base indicators
EOW-23. How They Get the Sparks in a Sparkler - combustion, surface area for chemical reactions
EOW-45. Flame Color - combustion, light
EOW-60. Extra Oxygen - combustion, oxygen, chemistry of air
EOW-78. Testing for Tannic Acid - indicators, plants
EOW-80. Chromatography - chemical testing
EOW-58. Density Column - density, floating and sinking
EXP-Sorting Salt and Pepper - static charges, induction

Students know properties of solid, liquid, and gaseous substances, such as sugar (C6H12O6), water (H2O), helium (He), oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

EOW-14. Tricky Bottle - density, pressure and volume, properties of liquids and gases
EOW-32. Half a Water Balloon - properties of liquids and gases
EOW-55. Light as Air - gases, density, math, volume
EOW-72. Air Space - properties of matter
EOW-58. Density Column - density, floating and sinking
EOW-92. Taking a Marshmallow Apart - energy in food, sugar
EOW-60. Extra Oxygen - combustion, oxygen, chemistry of air
EOW-68. Oxygen? No! - combustion, composition of air, properties of gases
EOW-88. Scaring Pepper - water, surface tension
EOW-96. Iron Cereal - chemistry, compounds, mixtures, magnetism, nutrition
EOW-99. Wax and Wood, part 1 - chemistry, polar and nonpolar substances

Students know living organisms and most materials are composed of just a few elements.

Students know the common properties of salts, such as sodium chloride (NaCl).

Life Sciences

Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials.

EOW-64. Heartless Plants - plant anatomy
EXP-Tummy Rumbles - digestion
EXP-Science of Spit - digestion

As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know many multicellular organisms have specialized structures to support the transport of materials.

EOW-64. Heartless Plants - plant anatomy
EXP-Have a Heart - Circulatory system
EXP-Heart Watching - Circulatory system
EXP-Osmosis - cell, osmosis

Students know how blood circulates through the heart chambers, lungs, and body and how carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) are exchanged in the lungs and tissues.

EXP-Have a Heart - Circulatory system

Students know the sequential steps of digestion and the roles of teeth and the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon in the function of the digestive system.

EXP-Science of Spit - digestion

Students know the role of the kidney in removing cellular waste from blood and converting it into urine, which is stored in the bladder.

Students know how sugar, water, and minerals are transported in a vascular plant.

EOW-64. Heartless Plants - plant anatomy

Students know plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy from sunlight to build molecules of sugar and release oxygen.

EOW-92. Taking a Marshmallow Apart - photosynthesis

Students know plant and animal cells break down sugar to obtain energy, a process resulting in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (respiration).

EOW-92. Taking a Marshmallow Apart - photosynthesis

Earth Sciences

Water on Earth moves between the oceans and land through the processes of evaporation and condensation. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know most of Earth's water is present as salt water in the oceans, which cover most of Earth's surface.

BCIS-75% Water - plate tectonics, habitat

Students know when liquid water evaporates, it turns into water vapor in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water.

BCIS-Water Cycle - states of matter, evaporation, condensation, weather
EOW-97. Wonderful Water - chemistry of Water
EOW-5. Crushed Can - Atmospheric pressure, states of matter
EOW-70. Ice Cream Science - states of matter, heat
EOW-56. Ice and String - states of matter, energy, change of state
EOW-29. Why We Sweat - energy, states of matter, evaporation

Students know water vapor in the air moves from one place to another and can form fog or clouds, which are tiny droplets of water or ice, and can fall to Earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.

BCIS-Water Cycle - states of matter, evaporation, condensation, weather

Students know that the amount of fresh water located in rivers, lakes, under-ground sources, and glaciers is limited and that its availability can be extended by recycling and decreasing the use of water.

Students know the origin of the water used by their local communities.

Energy from the Sun heats Earth unevenly, causing air movements that result in changing weather patterns. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know uneven heating of Earth causes air movements (convection currents).

Students know the influence that the ocean has on the weather and the role that the water cycle plays in weather patterns.

BCIS-Water Cycle - states of matter, evaporation, condensation, weather

Students know the causes and effects of different types of severe weather.

Students know how to use weather maps and data to predict local weather and know that weather forecasts depend on many variables.

Students know that the Earth's atmosphere exerts a pressure that decreases with distance above Earth's surface and that at any point it exerts this pressure equally in all directions.

EOW-55. Light as Air - gases, density, math, volume

The solar system consists of planets and other bodies that orbit the Sun in predictable paths. As a basis for understanding this concept:

Students know the Sun, an average star, is the central and largest body in the solar system and is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.

Students know the solar system includes the planet Earth, the Moon, the Sun, eight other planets and their satellites, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets.

EOW-50. Planets and Pennies - comparing planets, gravity
EXP-Scale Model of the Solar System
EXP-How Far is That Planet?

Students know the path of a planet around the Sun is due to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and the planet.

Investigation and Science-Experimentation

Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations.

EOW-33. The Right Answer - getting the right answer
EOW-43. Candles in a Jar and 44. Candles in a Jar, Part 2 - combustion, density, scientific thought
EOW-47. Bottle Tones and 48. Bottle Tones, Part 2 - pitch, vibration, scientific thought
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 1 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 2 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 3 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 4 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-68. Oxygen? No! - combustion, composition of air, properties of gases
EOW-86. The Hottest Part of a Flame - scientific observation, combustion, energy

Students will:

Classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves) in accordance with appropriate criteria.

Develop a testable question.

EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 1 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 2 - scientific method, science fair projects

Plan and conduct a simple investigation based on a student-developed question and write instructions others can follow to carry out the procedure.
Identify the dependent and controlled variables in an investigation.

EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 2 - scientific method, science fair projects
EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 3 - scientific method, science fair projects

Identify a single independent variable in a scientific investigation and explain how this variable can be used to collect information to answer a question about the results of the science-experiment.

EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 3 - scientific method, science fair projects

Select appropriate tools (e.g., thermometers, meter sticks, balances, and graduated cylinders) and make quantitative observations.

Record data by using appropriate graphic representations (including charts, graphs, and labeled diagrams) and make inferences based on those data.

EOW-82. Science Fair Panic, part 4 - scientific method, science fair projects

Draw conclusions from scientific evidence and indicate whether further information is needed to support a specific conclusion.

Write a report of an investigation that includes conducting tests, collecting data or examining evidence, and drawing conclusions.