I'm wondering what us fifth grade teachers are teaching our students when it comes to science. I have a science edu background, but I'm certified to teach 7-12 grades... not fifth grade lol I'm wondering what you all will be covering when it comes to science in the classroom. I'm actually very thrilled to just be covering this subject: it's the one I love the best and fill most comfortable with. My class has three units planned out (I use FOSS for two of them): -- Plants (Sept thru Dec) -- Mixtures & Solutions (Jan thru March??) -- Solar Energy (April?? thru June) I totally freaked out when I realized that the plants unit would be lasting that long--- I had no idea! lol [Mind you I'm a brand new teacher] So what will you be doing in 5th grade science? What skills are you teaching? What have you noticed student really need help with???
We start with landforms/constructive and destructive forces electricity and magnetism cells organisms/microorganisms
I'm going to do * Weather * Rocks, volcanoes, plate tectonics, etc. * Animal kingdoms * Chemistry (solutions, states of matter, etc)
We have so much to cover! Plants, kindoms, body systems, solar system, populations/ecosystems, effects on drugs on the workings of the body (covered in DARE class). If I have time I'll try to get to different forms of energy, friction, simple machines, and motion.
We cover biomes, landforms, weather/climate, animals, forces and motion. We also cover the following health topics: manners, hygiene, drugs, alcohol and family life.
For those who are doing plants... Are you using the Wisconsin Fast Plants? That's what I'll be using and I've never grown them before--- I heard they're pretty easy and I was given seeds to try out before September. I just have to wait awhile longer so I can move and get settled in. If you are or know someone who has used them, are there any good resources, videos, activities, books, etc that I should know about??
I am a little surprised that you aren't doing more units. It does seem that plants will be long. Does your book only cover those three units? I am doing plants, ecosystems, space, matter, simple machines, and possibly light and sound. I haven't used the Wisconsin Fast Plants but maybe I will look for them now. My plants took forever last year to grow!
We use Foss kits and only get TWO in fifth grade: Motion & Design for the first half of the year and Land & Water for the second. They are great kits, but seem almost TOO thorough. I kinda wish we had more topics with less depth... In Washington State where I live fifth graders take the state science test, too. I think the biggest thing for them is the scientific method, so I always give lots of guided practice in writing up an investigation.
Does New Jersey have a web site that gives standards for fifth grade? It should tell you what is expected.
I know what you mean about too in depth. After two months I never wanted to talk about another plant again! It just gets to be boring after awhile for the students and for me
Well, plants is a pretty broad topic. You can cover parts of the plants, cells (phloem, xylem), stem layers, photosynthesis, transpiration, class (monocots, dicots, coniferous, deciduous, etc.), types of plants in different ecosystems/biomes, plants in the food chain, plant adaptations, carniverous plants (save this until the kids start getting bored.) I am also surprised that you only have a few units to teach. Three months on any topic of study seems incredibly long. Six weeks is more than enough for me.
We use three FOSS kits: Environments, Mixtures & Solutions, and Landforms. It seems like we have to teach a million things for the TAKS test, some of which are: cycles (water, life, carbon/oxygen, nitrogen), systems, states of matter, elements/compounds, forces/motion, physical & chemical changes, simple machines, electricity, magnetism, plant & animal adaptations, learned behavior, inherited traits, solar system, earth/sun/moon relationship, layers of the earth & sun, weathering/erosion/deposition, energy, plants, oceans, and light. Whew! I WISH we had more time to spend on each topic!
I'm teaching at a private school in NJ, so I don't have to go by their normal science curriculum or worry about getting everything done for testing (which makes me rather happy). I haven't had a really good chance to sit down and plan out what I'll be doing for the Plants unit just yet... I got my curriculum stuff a few weeks ago, but since then have been busy finding an apartment and getting ready to move (which happens TODAY). I don't mind taking that long of a time on plants honestly--- I think there is alot you can do with the kids on plants and I'd love to do other activities with them during that time that may or may not have to do with plants (study scientists, study different plant life in biomes, study medicinal uses of plants, etc). On top of that, I would like to take time with the kids to look at science events going on in their community and around the world, which I think is important that we do to help inspire kids to realize that science is really awesome and its not just about memorizing facts. I'm sure once I'm actually done with everything I'd like to do, I'll still have a million other ideas on stuff noreenk--- you said you use the Mixtures and Solutions kit. What is that like? What kind of activities are included and what kind of objectives/goals are there?
Have you ever checked out MiddleSchoolScience.com? She has day to day lesson plans for 5th or 6th grades on the site. There is also a very active Yahoo group on Middle School Science for grades 5-8.
We have five strands in Ontario. For fifth grade we do: Weather (Earth science) Human Body (Life science) Properties and Changes in Matter (Matter & Materials) Forces Acting on Structures (Structures & Mechanisms) Conservation of Energy (Energy & Control) The words in brackets are the strands throughout the 1-8 curriculum; the rest are the specific topics within the strand for each grade.
The FOSS Mixtures & Solutions kit covers atoms, elements, concentration/dilution, saturation, evaporation, crystals and chemical reactions. You can find a little info here: http://www.fossweb.com/modules3-6/MixturesandSolutions/index.html
My school year is divided into trimesters and focus on different themes each trimester #1-life science-biology/botany-Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal and transport of materials. ex: multicellular organisms, CO2 and O2 of blood, sequential steps of digestion, plants and their use of CO2, #2-Physical Science-Elements and their combinations account for all of the varied types of matter in the world ex: Chemical reactions and their reactants, matter is made of atoms, gas, liquid and gaseous substances #3-Earth Science-H20 on earth moves between the oceans and land through the process of evaporation and condensation ex: most of the earth's water is salt water, origin of the water in used by their local communities... This is just a broad overview of the 3 major themes in a school year. As a teacher, we learn to supplment and modify our curriculum areas respectively. I hope this helps..Let me know your thoughts
We focus more on tension, compression, etc.; the engineering side of structures really. Gives the kids new meaning on bridges and roller coasters though.
Science is a tested subject these are the areas we will be working on: I. Structure and function of living systems. II. Genetic continuity of organisms. III. Economic factors that influence the regulation and behavior of organisms. IV. Physical factors of populations as they relate to the formation of ecosystems. V. Atmospheric movements that affect the Earth’s system. VI. Investigate the Earth’s geological past. VII. The appearance and nature of our galaxy and the universe. VIII. Analyze the properties of matter. IX. Simple and complex machines. X. The transfer of energy. This is what I will be teaching but broken down more.
Planets and Space Matter Simple Machines (kinetic and potential energy) light and color Experimental method Ecosystems and food chains plant and animal cells rocks and minerals
