Phenomena, standards, and progressions

Grade 5

The Amplify Science grade 5 program progressively builds students’ abilities to meet all the grade-level performance expectations through a three-dimensional instructional sequence. The following is an overview of the sequence of units, a description of the progression of student learning across the year, and a summary of how the sequence meets the performance expectations for grade 5.

Sequence of units

    • Patterns of Earth and Sky
    • Modeling Matter
    • The Earth’s System
    • Ecosystem Restoration

 

Patterns of Earth and Sky

An ancient artifact depicts what we see in the sky at different times — the sun during the daytime and different stars during the nighttime — but it is missing a piece.
Playing the role of astronomers, students help a team of archaeologists figure out what the missing piece of a recently discovered artifact might have depicted. As they learn about the sun and other stars and the movement of Earth, students can explain what is shown on the artifact and what might be on the missing piece.
  • 5-PS2-1: Gravity
  • 5-ESS1-1: Apparent Brightness of Stars
  • 5-ESS1-2: Patterns of Daily and Seasonal Changes

Modeling Matter

Chromatography is a process for separating mixtures. Some solids dissolve in a salad dressing while others do not. Oil and vinegar appear to separate when mixed in a salad dressing.
In the role of food scientists working for Good Food Production, Inc., students are introduced to the idea that all matter is made of particles too small to see, and that each different substance is made of particles (molecules) that are unique. They are then challenged to solve two problems: One problem requires them to separate a mixture, and the other requires them to make unmixable substances mix. Students are challenged to use the particulate model of matter to explain their work to the CEO of the company.
  • 5-PS1-1: Matter is made of Particles
  • 5-PS1-2: Matter and its Interactions
  • 5-PS1-3: Properties of Materials
  • 5-PS1-4: Mixing Substances
  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions

The Earth System

East Ferris, a city on one side of the fictional Ferris Island, is experiencing a water shortage, while West Ferris is not.
The cities of East Ferris and West Ferris are located on different sides of a mountain on the fictional Ferris Island. East Ferris is having a water shortage while West Ferris is not. As water resource engineers, students learn about the Earth system to help figure out what is causing the water shortage problem and design possible solutions, including freshwater collection systems and proposals for using chemical reactions to treat wastewater.
  • 5-ESS2-1: Interaction of Spheres
  • 5-ESS2-2: Distribution of Water on Earth
  • 5-ESS3-1: Protecting Earth
  • 5-PS1-1: Matter is Made of Particles
  • 5-PS1-2: Conservation of Matter
  • 5-PS1-4: Mixing Substances
  • 3-5-ETS1-1: Defining Problems
  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions
  • 3-5-ETS1-3: Improving Solutions
  • 5-LS2-1: Ecosystems: Interactions
  • 5-PS1-3: Properties of Materials

Ecosystem Restoration

The jaguars, sloths, and cecropia trees in a reforested section of a Costa Rican rain forest are not growing and thriving.
Students engage as ecologists as they figure out why the plants and animals in a failing area of the Costa Rican rain forest ecosystem aren’t growing and thriving. They use what they know about matter and energy flows in ecosystems to make arguments about the cause of the problems in the ecosystem and to make recommendations for ecosystem restoration.
  • 5-LS1-1: Plant Materials from Air and Water
  • 5-LS2-1: Matter Flows
  • 5-ESS3-1: Protecting Earth
  • 5-PS1-1: Matter is Made of Particles
  • 5-PS3-1: Use and Origin of Energy in Food
  • 5-PS1-4: Matter and Its Interactions
  • 3-5-ETS1-1: Defining the Problem
  • 3-5-ETS1-2: Developing Possible Solutions

Progression and organization

The units in grade 5 were designed and sequenced to build students’ expertise with the grade-level disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). Each unit has focal SEPs and CCCs, carefully selected to support students in figuring out the unit’s focal DCIs.

Students begin the year with a focus on patterns in the daytime and nighttime sky in the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit. Physical models and an initial focus on scale help students make sense of the vast distances to the stars, and the focal CCC of Patterns supports students’ identification of and sense-making about patterns in the sky. Students use a digital simulation as they engage in the focal SEP of Planning and Carrying Out Investigations to gather evidence to support their ideas about sky patterns. Next, students turn their attention from the tremendous scale of outer space to the nanoscale of the particles that make up matter in the Modeling Matter unit. By delving more deeply into the practice of Developing and Using Models and focusing on the CCC of Scale, Proportion, and Quantity, students develop a nuanced understanding of how properties of matter at the nanoscale affect observable scale phenomena. Students also extend their experience with investigations as  they conduct hands-on investigations of substances and mixtures.

In The Earth System unit, students build on their understanding of matter and the relationship between nanoscale and observable scale phenomena. The context of a water shortage pushes students to delve deeper into ideas about the properties of matter and chemical reactions, as well as concepts related to Earth system interactions, water distribution, and human impact on the environment. Students apply their understanding of these interdisciplinary ideas as they engage in the focal SEP of Designing Solutions, iteratively designing solutions to a water shortage problem. A focus on the CCC of Systems and System Models supports students to construct an understanding of how the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere interact, and students apply a systems lens to engineering design. Finally, in the Ecosystem Restoration unit, students gain further experience with the nature of matter, human impact on the environment, and engineering and design, but with a focus on the movement of matter and energy in ecosystems. The focal CCC of Energy and Matter supports students in understanding the necessary and limiting role that energy and matter flows play in an ecosystem. Students also build on their learning about systems and system models as they use systems thinking to analyze ecosystems. By engaging in the focal SEP of Engaging in Argument from Evidence, which has been introduced in the year’s earlier units, students make sense of what is causing a rain forest ecosystem to fail and what should be done about it.

The DCIs emphasized in each unit work together to support deep explanations of the unit’s anchor phenomenon (or phenomena). For example, in the Patterns of Earth and Sky unit, investigating why an ancient artifact seems to show patterns in the daytime and nighttime sky leads students to construct ideas about The Universe and its Stars (DCI ESS1.A), Earth and the Solar System (DCI ESS1.B), and Types of Interactions (DCI PS2.B).

Disciplinary core ideas

Crosscutting concepts

Science and engineering practices