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

5.3.1: Describe the Earth as part of a system called the solar system that includes the sun (a star), planets, comets, asteroids, and many moons.

Solar System

5.3.2: Recognize that the Earth is the third planet from the sun in our solar system.

Solar System

5.3.4: Describe that, like all planets and stars, the Earth is approximately spherical in shape.

Solar System

5.3.5: Explain that the alternation between day and night and the apparent movement of the sun, moon, and stars across the sky depend on the rotation of the Earth on its axis.

Phases of the Moon

5.4: Water on Earth moves from the ocean to the land through the processes of evaporation and condensation. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.4.1: Investigate and describe when liquid water evaporates, it turns into a gas (vapor) mixed into the air and can condense and reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid (ice) if cooled below the freezing point of water.

Phases of Water

5.5: Energy and matter have multiple forms and can be changed from one form to another. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.5.1: Recognize that all matter is made of small particles called atoms, which are too small to see with our eyes; describe how atoms may combine to form molecules or crystalline solids (compounds).

Phases of Water

5.5.4: Investigate and describe that heating and cooling cause changes in the properties of substances. For example, liquid water can turn into steam by boiling, and water can turn into ice by freezing.

Phases of Water

5.5.6: Explain that when a warm object and a cool one are placed in contact, heat flows from the warmer object to the cooler one until they are both at the same temperature. Know heat transfer can also occur at a distance by radiation.

Radiation

5.5.7: Investigate and describe that some materials conduct heat much better than others, and poor conductors (insulators) can be used to reduce heat loss or gain.

Circuit Builder
Conduction and Convection

5.6: Unbalanced forces cause changes in velocity. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.6.1: Explain that objects can move with a very wide range of speeds, with some moving very slowly and some moving too quickly for people to see them.

Measuring Motion

5.6.2: Demonstrate that if the forces acting on an object are balanced so that the net force is zero, the object will remain at rest if it is initially at rest or will maintain constant speed and direction if it is initially moving.

Force and Fan Carts

5.6.3: Investigate and describe that unbalanced forces cause changes in the speed and/or direction of motion of an object (acceleration).

Force and Fan Carts
Free Fall Tower
Gravity Pitch

5.6.4: Describe that, for an object moving in a straight line, acceleration a is the change in velocity, v divided by the time t that change takes (a = v Ö t).

Force and Fan Carts
Free Fall Tower

5.6.5: Investigate and describe that the greater the net force F applied to a body, the greater its acceleration a. Describe that the greater the mass m of an object, the smaller the acceleration produced by a given force.

Force and Fan Carts
Free Fall Tower

5.7: All living things are composed of cells, from just one to many quadrillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.7.1: Observe and describe that some organisms consist of a single cell which needs an environment that can supply food, water, sometimes oxygen, and a way to dispose of waste. (Some single-celled organisms are anaerobes.)

Homeostasis
Plants and Snails
Prairie Ecosystem

5.8: Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents, but others result from the influence of the environment. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.8.1: Explain why there must be a reliable way to transfer information from one generation to the next in order for offspring to resemble their parents.

Inheritance

5.8.2: List some characteristics of plants and animals that are fully inherited (e.g., form of flower, shape of leaves) and others that are affected by the climate or environmental conditions (e.g., browning of leaves from too much sun, language spoken).

Inheritance

5.9: Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism's chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept, students:

5.9.1: Explain that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some do not survive as well, and some cannot survive at all.

Forest Ecosystem
Growing Plants
Prairie Ecosystem

5.9.2: Identify organisms that are not native to the Washington, D.C. area and how they undergo changes to increase their chance of survival in the area.

Prairie Ecosystem

5.9.3: Explain how organisms can cause changes in their environment to ensure survival, and these changes may affect the ecosystem (the living and non-living components of the environment).

Pond Ecosystem

5.9.6: Explain that many plants and animals can survive harsh environments because of seasonal behaviors (e.g., in winter, some trees shed leaves, some animals hibernate).

Prairie Ecosystem

5.9.8: Describe well-defined plant behaviors, such as the way seedlings' stems grow toward light and their roots grow downward in response to gravity.

Germination