Science

GRADE 5 SCIENCE
2021-2022
Grade 5 Science Curriculum
Teacher: Mr. Moakley (michael.moakley@stmarysparish.org)

Dear Parents,
The Science Program here at St. Mary School is designed around scientific understanding of the physical world and an appreciation of the process that is used to gain this understanding. The goal is to provide each student with the opportunity to understand and explore the physical world that we have before us.
I look upon science as a tool for discovery, and not an end result. Science is more about asking the right questions, than getting the expected answers. Science cannot answer all questions, but it is willing to ask them. This is the approach that I take into the classroom. I encourage students to take risks and apply critical thinking to the outcomes, but not to fear an outcome that is unintended.  I remind them that we can often learn more from our mistakes than we can from our successes, provided that we take time to analyze the errors, reflect, and draw conclusions that move us forward.  These are not just steps in the “scientific method”, they are also fundamental life skills that we all must practice. 

The science for grade five is to consist of the Savvas (formally Pearson) Elevate Science grade 5 text.  These texts are very different in their design since they are consumable books and the students are supposed to write in them.  There is also an online version of the text that is designed to be accessed from anywhere there is the internet. 
The students will begin the year studying physical sciences with Properties of and  Changes in Matter.
Moving on to earth science with Earth’s Systems, Earth’s Water and Human Impacts on Earth’s Systems.  From here they will cover astronomy with a study of Solar System followed by Patterns in Space.  They will finish the year with a block on Food and Energy and how Matter and Energy in Ecosystems work together.
Homework
The students will have handouts that support the texts. Homework assignments are given weekly.  Homework can be in the form of worksheets, questions from the sections being studied, or some combination of both.  Lab’s will often support content in the text, but often will focus on fundamental science skills.   The work in the lab may involve the process that involves data collection, with the analysis and conclusions portion completed at home.
The students are encouraged to read the current section in the text each night for ten to fifteen minutes (even on nights that no written work is assigned) and take some form of notes (the bulk of the notes are taken in class). No assignment should take more than 30 minutes on a given night, some of the labs may have involved questions, but they are given multiple nights to complete these assignments. If a student requires greater than 30 minutes, they should stop, get a note, and see me in the morning or at the beginning of class.

Quizzes and Tests
They will be quizzed weekly, to assess the progress and retention of material and their comprehension of the terminology. Tests will come at the end of each unit.
There will be a few Labs per month and are intended to support the material that is being covered in the text as well as the scientific method and general laboratory skills.
Generally, each quarter the students should expect about 10 homework or class work assignments, 5 to 10 quizzes, 3-5 lab activities, and 1 to 3 tests.