Greenwich Public Schools Science Curriculum Objectives. Grade 5

Transcription

1 Greenwich Public Schools Science Curriculum Objectives Grade 5

2 THE NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, LITERACY AND NUMERACY Scientific Inquiry: Scientific Literacy: Connecticut State Standards for Grades 3, 4, 5 Scientific inquiry is a thoughtful and coordinated attempt to search out, describe, explain and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy includes speaking, listening, presenting, interpreting, reading and writing about science Scientific Numeracy: Mathematics provides useful tools for the description, analysis and presentation of scientific data and ideas. Enduring Understanding: Scientific inquiry is the process that scientists follow to find answers to questions about the natural world. Scientific inquiry includes asking questions, recording observations, making predictions and communicating ideas and theories that help explain the world around us. Essential Question: How is scientific knowledge created and communicated? Students will 1. Make observations and ask questions about objects, organisms and the environment. 2. Seek relevant information in books, magazines and electronic sources of information. 3. Design and conduct simple investigations. 4. Employ simple equipment and measuring tools to gather data and extend the senses. 5. Use data to construct reasonable explanations. 6. Analyze, critique and communicate investigations using words, graphs and drawings. 7. Read and write a variety of fiction and non-fiction science-related texts. 8. Search the web and locate relevant science information. 9. Use measurement tools and standard units (e.g., centimeters, meters, grams, kilograms) to describe objects and materials. 10. Use mathematics to analyze, interpret and present data.

3 Fifth Grade Science Objectives Oceanography/Ecology Connecticut State Standard 3.2: Organisms can survive and reproduce only in environments that meet their basic needs. Connecticut State Standard 4.2: All organisms depend on the living and nonliving features of the environment for survival. Connecticut State Standard 4.3: Water has a major role in shaping the Earth s surface. Enduring Understanding: All organisms depend on the living and nonliving features of the environment for survival. Essential Question: How do living things interact with one another and their environment to ensure survival? Student will 1. Recognize that 75% of the Earth s surface is covered by water and that it affects travel and interaction between people. 2. Recognize that the oceans are an important source of natural and economic resources that are important to sustain human populations on Earth. 3. Identify different food webs in the ocean ecosystem (Connecticut Expected Performance B4, B10). 4. Compare and contrast the food needs of representative ocean vertebrates and invertebrates (Connecticut Expected Performance B4, B10). 5. Explain how the sun interacts with lakes, seas, and oceans to produce the water cycle (Connecticut Expected Performance B12). 6. Understand the purpose of the scientific classification system used by scientists.

4 7. Compare and contrast characteristics of representative ocean vertebrates and invertebrates according to the classification system (e.g. oysters (mollusks - invertebrates) are cold blooded, breathe through gills, have soft bodies, often have shells vs. dolphins (mammals - vertebrates) are warm blooded, breathe air, give birth to live young, nurse their young, etc.) (Connecticut Expected Performance B4). 8. Describe the work zoologists do in studying various aspects of animal life (e.g. classification of animals, bodily functions and structures) and tools used to study animals (microscopes, cameras and video equipment, etc.) (Connecticut Expected Performance B26). 9. Describe the work oceanographers do in studying oceans and ocean life, and tools used (underwater cameras, SCUBA gear, etc.) (Connecticut Expected Performance B26). Worth Being Familiar With: 1. Describe the work of a recognized oceanographer (e.g. Jacques Cousteau). 2. Recognize that the major oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic) are all part of one great sea.

5 Fifth Grade Science Objectives Astronomy Connecticut State Standard 5.3: Most objects in the solar system are in a regular and predictable motion. Connecticut State Standard 5.4: Humans have the capacity to build and use tools to advance the quality of their lives. Enduring Understanding: The position of the Earth in the Solar System affects the conditions of life on our planet. Essential Question: How does the position of the Earth in the Solar System affect the conditions of life on our planet? Students will 1. Recognize that the Earth rotates once on its axis about every 24 hours and revolves once around the sun about every 365 days. 2. Recognize the difference between the rotation and the revolution of the bodies in the solar system. 3. Explain that the rotation of the Earth on its axis causes day and night (Connecticut Expected Performance B22). 4. Recognize that the tilt of the Earth and its yearly orbit causes the seasons of the year (Connecticut Expected Performance B24). 5. Describe an orbit as the path an object follows as it revolves around another object. 6. Describe the monthly changes in the appearance of the moon (phases) based on the moon s orbit around the Earth (Connecticut Expected Performance B23). 7. Recognize that the position of the Earth in relationship to the sun in the solar system affects the conditions of life on the planet (temperature, etc.).

6 8. Recognize that the moon orbits the Earth and that the Earth and other planets orbit the sun. 9. Describe the work that astronomers do, and the tools they use, in order to better help us understand the solar system and our place in it (Connecticut Expected Performance B26). Worth Being Familiar With: 1. Compare and contrast the physical characteristics of the Earth and the moon. 2. Explain how the changing length of a shadow is caused by the movement of the Earth in relation to the sun. 3. List the planets in order from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. 4. Describes the work of a recognized astronomer (e.g. Maria Mitchell).

7 Fifth Grade Science Objectives Physics Connecticut State Standard 4.1: The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. Enduring Understanding: The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. Essential Question: What makes objects move the way they do? Students will 1. Describe Newton s Laws of Motion (Connecticut Expected Performance B8, B9). 2. Describe the effects of pushes and pulls on the motion of objects (Connecticut Expected Performance B8). 3. Describe the effect of the mass of an object on its motion (Connecticut Expected Performance B9). 4. Determine through experiments the effect of pushes, pulls, mass and distance on the motion of an object. 5. Describe the effect of physics on daily life, including the work of physicists and others whose work includes the use of physics (Connecticut Expected Performance B26). Worth Being Familiar With: 1. Describe the work of an important physicist (e.g. Sir Isaac Newton).

8 Fifth Grade Objectives Science and Technology Connecticut State Standard 5.4: Humans have the capacity to build and use tools to advance the quality of their lives. Enduring Understanding: Technology is used to develop scientific tools and instruments to help people to study the world around them. Essential Question: How do science and technology affect the quality of our lives? Students will 1. Distinguish between science and technology and describe how they are related. 2. Describe the use of different instruments, such as magnifiers, microscopes, and telescopes to enhance our vision (Connecticut Expected Performance B26). 3. Identify and describe the purpose of each part of a simple microscope, and explain its proper use. 4. Prepare microscope slides properly and examine them under the microscope. Worth Being Familiar With: 1. Describe the contributions of scientists important to the development of scientific tools (e.g. the development of the first microscope by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, etc.) G:\SCIENCE\Science summer 05\Fifth Grade Science Objectives.all.doc Created on 7/20/ :14 AM