STEMscopes Georgia Science Student Notebook Grade 5

5 STEMscopes Georgia Student Notebook

I belong to:

a part of STEMscopes NGSS

Georgia_5th_Book.indd 1

5th grade

My teacher is:

developed by Accelerate Learning, Inc. & Rice University

Notebook

(800) 531-0864

6/23/17 11:04 AM

GEORGIA Student Notebook – Fifth Grade ISBN: 978-1-946725-75-2

Published by Accelerate Learning Inc., 5177 Richmond Ave, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77056. Copyright © 2017, by Accelerate Learning Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written consent of Accelerate Learning Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

To learn more, visit us at www.acceleratelearning.com

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 1

12/18/25 2:47 PM

GEORGIA

This Student Notebook is designed to be used as a companion piece to our online curriculum.

The pages of this book are organized and follow the 5E model.

Student Handout

ENGAGE

A short activity to grab students’ interest

Student Journal

EXPLORE

A hands-on activity in which students get experience with the concept being taught

STEMscopedia

EXPLAIN

A reference material that includes parent connections, technology, and science news

Reading Science A reading passage about the concept that includes comprehension questions

ELABORATE Math Connection

A set of grade-level appropriate math problems that address the concept

Writing Science

EVALUATE

A writing prompt based on the concept studied in which the students can demonstrate what they have learned

Only student pages are included in this book and directions on how to use these pages are found in our online curriculum. Use the URL address and password provided to you by your district to access our full curriculum.

ii

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 2

12/18/25 2:47 PM

Fifth Grade Student Notebook Table of Contents Earth and Space Science Lesson

Page

5E1AB

1

5E1C

25

Surface Features Human Technology and Ecosystems

Life Science 5L1AB

Classification of Organisms 5L2AB

Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits 5L3ABC

Cells 5L4AB

Microorganisms

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 3

45 69 93 111

iii

12/18/25 2:47 PM

Fifth Grade Student Notebook Table of Contents

Lesson

Page Physical Science

5P1A

137

5P1B

157

5P1C

175

5P2A

199

5P2BC

219

5P3AB

239

Physical Changes States of Water Chemical Changes Natural vs. Human-harnessed Electricity Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators Types of Magnets

Appendix Glossary

iv

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 4

259

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Earth and Space Science

5E1AB

Surface Features

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 1

1

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 2

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Student Handout

Name:

Date:

Forming Landforms 1.

Put the two halves of the containers together to form a tub.

2.

The two sides of plastic need to overlap slightly. Place the tub on the paper plate.

3.

Pour soil into the tub so that it is three-quarters full. Pat down so the layer of soil is flat and even.

4.

Draw the container of soil in the Before section below.

5.

Gently slide the two halves together as much as possible.

6.

Observe how the land changed. Draw how the container of soil looks now in the After section.

Before

After

7.

What happened to the soil?

8.

What landform did this model show? ___________________________________

9.

Did this model show something being built up or torn down? Explain.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 3

3

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 4

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

What Can Change Earth’s Surface?

Part I: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition Draw your setup in the first row labeled Before. Draw the block and record your observations every three minutes for a total of 12 minutes.

Drawing

Observations

Before (0 Minutes)

3 Minutes

6 Minutes

9 Minutes

12 Minutes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 5

5

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Explore Student Journal Part I: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition, continued Create a detailed drawing of your model in action. Label where weathering, erosion, and deposition are happening. Explain why you placed the labels where you did.

1.

What landform was created in the block, and how did it form?

2.

Was this process constructive or destructive? How do you know?

3.

What was happening at the bottom of the pan?

6

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 6

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Explore Student Journal Part II: Volcanoes 1st Lava Flow

2nd Lava Flow

3rd Lava Flow

4th Lava Flow

1.

How did the landform change after each eruption?

2.

Were these changes caused by constructive or destructive forces? How do you know?

Draw the cross section of your landform and label which layer came first and which came last.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 7

7

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Explore Student Journal Part III: Vegetation Use the tables below to draw each container before and after testing. Be sure to record all your observations in the last column.

Wind Before

After

Observations

After

Observations

Grass and Soil

Soil Only

Water Before Grass and Soil

Soil Only

1.

How did the container with grass and soil compare to the container that had only soil? Explain what this means for Earth’s surface.

8

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 8

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES 5E1AB

Reflect Look at the picture of the Grand Canyon. This enormous surface feature is the largest canyon on Earth. The Colorado River is seen flowing at the bottom of the canyon.

What constructive forces built up the many layers of colored sediment you see on the canyon walls? What destructive forces caused the deep canyon to form in the first place? This module can help you answer those questions.

Surface Changes Nature’s change agents have been both constructive and destructive by building up and carving Earth’s surface for billions of years, creating slow and rapid changes to landforms that resulted in an amazing diversity of landscapes. Water from the Colorado River gouged out the majestic, mile-deep Grand Canyon. Water also deposited the silt from ancient seas on the broad plains. Glacial ice, which is now melted, scraped away sides of mountains in the North. This left behind long lakes, which became the Great Lakes, depositing the rubble hundreds of miles downslope and creating the rocky northeastern states. For millennia, relentless winds have chipped away at sandstone formations, leaving behind usual rock formations typical of the Southwest. All regions on Earth have been slowly altered in a similar fashion, each with its own unique story of change.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 9

9

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES Constructive processes build surface features.

Several forces have been in action to alter the landscape of Earth for billions of years.

Some are slow processes like the deposition of soil and the gradual uplifting of blocks of land along fault zones. Other forces are rapid processes that quickly change the surface, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Soil Deposition River deltas are examples of a constructive process where weathering sediment from higher ground is carried downriver and finally deposited in large deltas at the mouths of rivers such as the Mississippi in the southern United States and the Nile in Egypt.

Beaches build up along coastlines from the deposition of weathered and eroded sediments from higher ground and from the wave action that weathers shell fragments.

Dunes form in some deserts and along some coastlines where windblown sediments pile up in huge, sandy mounds that slowly shift day to day.

Sandbars occur where wave and tidal action build up deposits of sand in long ridges parallel to the shore that often come above the waterline.

Floodplains are deposits of rich sediments built up from a river flooding into the large, flat area surrounding the river.

Glacial moraines are huge ridges of rock and dirt debris left behind after a glacier melts. These enormous deposits were created by the constructive power of a glacier bulldozing through a region, pushing the rock and rubble to its front and sides.

Alluvial fans are large, fan-shaped deposits of debris and rock rubble that form at the base of some mountains where rain has weathered and eroded materials downslope.

10

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 10

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES Look Out! Confused about which forces build up or tear down? Sometimes, a process that alters Earth’s surface can be both destructive and constructive, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Think about what the process is doing, such as building new land features or whether it is breaking down a surface feature.

When earthquakes and volcanoes create new landforms, that force is considered constructive. If those processes destroy an environment, then destructive forces are at work.

Other Constructive Processes Earthquakes Earthquakes are usually associated with destructive forces due to the extensive damage caused by the violent seismic shaking. However, when earthquakes along divergent plate boundaries create new coastline or enlarge bays, the buildup of new landforms is considered a constructive force.

Volcanoes Volcanic eruptions often destroy landscapes. However, when lava emerges and flows onto the sides of the volcano and the surrounding area, it builds up land, which is considered a constructive force. Entire islands have formed from volcanic hot spots that erupt and build up new land. When crustal plates move slowly over these hot spots, a series of volcanic islands are formed in an archipelago. The Hawaiian Islands are an example of this constructive process.

Faults Faults are cracks in Earth’s crust that result from the buildup of stress along plate boundaries. When that stress is released, new surface features are formed where land is uplifted as cliffs and scarps, or pushed upward into mountains.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 11

11

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES Destructive Processes Erosion Erosion breaks down land as it carries away weathered material. The powerful forces of erosion by wind, water, and ice change the surface features in both slow and rapid processes. Over long periods of time, older mountains erode their craggy peaks into low rolling crests such as the Appalachian Mountains. Erosion creates vast canyons from rivers carving their way down through floodplains. Water erosion can also wash away large areas of farmland and beachfront property. The Grand Canyon in Arizona resulted from eons of river water erosion. Wind erosion has sculpted desert sandstone, leaving behind arches and other windblown formations. Wind erosion blows away topsoil where farms have bare land.

Earthquakes The strength of an earthquake can vary depending on the stress that has built up along cracks in the Earth’s crust. The magnitude of the destructive force of an earthquake is measured on the Richter scale that ranks the relative disaster by the amount of damage done to the surrounding area. Earthquakes topple structures and destroy cities.

Volcanoes The hot magma that erupts from an exploding volcano can result in lava destroying life in the surrounding area, ruining the landscape and wiping out all man-made structures, too. Often, the pyroclastic mud and ashes that can also erupt with large explosions can cause as much devastation as the hot lava.

Organism Impact Living things interact with their environment to the point of destruction. Sometimes animals will eat all the vegetation in a habitat. For example, locusts destroy plants, leaving the ground bare so that erosion moves in and washes away the top surface or creates gullies in the land. Some organisms can erode rocks through chemical reactions such as lichen breaking down rocks.

Other organisms make large burrows through the surface, which also breaks down the surface.

12

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 12

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES What Do You Think?

The hot spot volcanoes to the right are the Hawaiian Islands formed through constructive processes of repeated lava outflows building up layer upon layer until an entire island resulted. Describe three other events that build up land through the constructive process: A.

B.

C.

Earthquakes can devastate populated areas when the surface shakes and shifts, destroying the surrounding area. Describe three other events that break down land through the destructive process: A.

B.

C.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 13

13

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: SURFACE FEATURES Connecting With Your Child Surface Features Scavenger Hunt To help your child distinguish between constructive and destructive forces that shape the surface features of Earth, create an Internet scavenger hunt in which he or she tries to find picture examples of each type of constructive and destructive process. Afterward, try to find the location of those features on a world map.

Below are suggested areas of research for the various constructive processes: 1. Soil deposition River deltas Beaches Dunes Sandbars Floodplains Glacial moraines Alluvial fans 2. Earthquakes 3. Volcanoes 4. Faults

Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • What evidence did you use to justify you categorizing the event as constructive or destructive?

• After finding these features on a world map, what relationship between the location of destructive processes and the coastlines bordering the Pacific Ocean did you find?

• Which surface features have you personally seen?

Extension Activities Try contacting your local, state, or federal park service staff for more background on those surface features that are located on government property.

Make a scrapbook of the surface features that you have visited or would like to visit.

Write a brief description for each image.

Below are suggested areas of research for several destructive processes: 1. Erosion 2. Earthquakes 3. Volcanoes 4. Organism impact 14

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 14

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Reading Science Name:

Date:

A Changing Earth 1.

Our Earth is constantly changing. Many factors contribute to the changes that the Earth undergoes. Some of these factors are constructive. A constructive process improves the Earth. Think of building a house. A construction worker builds the house. When the Earth is being a construction worker, it is building itself up.

Constructive processes create new landforms on the Earth. The forming of new islands is a constructive process.

2.

The opposite of a constructive process is destructive. Destructive processes are just that. They destroy the landforms of the Earth. Some islands wear away and disappear. This is a destructive process. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface.

Deposition 3. Deposition is the dropping of sediment by water, wind, or ice. Deposition builds up new land on the Earth’s surface. A delta, which is at the end of a river, is built up by the sediment that is carried down the river. It builds up before the river water flows into a larger body of water. A sand dune can also be built up in the desert by the collection of sand due to the wind.

4.

If you take a walk along the beach, you may see a collection of seashells in the sand. The seashells are deposited from the waves that bring water to the beach.

The shells are what are left behind.

Volcanoes 5. Volcanoes are mountains with an opening in the Earth’s crust. This opening allows magma, gases, and ash to rise to the Earth’s surface. Magma is liquid rock under the Earth’s surface. When a volcano erupts, the magma oozes or explodes out and builds up on the Earth.

6.

However, a volcano is also a destructive process. A volcano exploding can take the top off the mountain. If the lava and ash reach farther down the mountain, they can destroy forests, bury fields, and ruin plants. Volcanoes also erupt under

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 15

15

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Reading Science oceans. These volcanoes that build up are call seamounts. If the seamount rises above the ocean, it is called a volcanic island. Hawaii is an example of this.

Earthquakes 7. Earthquakes are vibrations on the Earth’s surface that are felt from the Earth’s plates moving. The Earth is like a large jigsaw underneath. The jigsaw pieces are called tectonic plates. They are floating on magma below them. As the magma moves, so do the tectonic plates. Sometimes the plates crash into each other, sometimes they move apart. Sometimes they slide next to each other.

There are cracks, or faults, that move between the plates causing the Earth to shake. They are both constructive and deconstructive processes. They are constructive because when the tectonic plates move, they can create mountains or continents.

8.

On the other hand, Earthquakes can be very destructive. They can cause damage to landforms and to communities. Earthquakes can also cause landslides, which are mass movements of land. If an Earthquake happens under the ocean, it causes a tsunami, which is a huge wave of water. Tsunamis cause great damage if they reach the shore.

Weathering 9. Weathering is the breaking down of the Earth’s surface. It is the wearing away of Earth’s landforms. Weathering can be chemical. This causes the surfaces of the Earth to dissolve or decompose. Rocks, soil, and sediment can be broken away.

Wind and rain cause weathering.

10. Plant roots can also cause rocks to break. Changes in temperature can break rocks as well. Ice forming in cracked surfaces can cause rocks to break apart even more.

Erosion 11. Erosion is a destructive process that changes the Earth’s surface. Sediments and soil move by wind, water, ice, and gravity. Erosion happens quickly when it floods. The force of this water quickly erodes away the Earth’s surface. Soil and sediments are quickly moved away. When the flood recedes, new sediment is left and can build up rich soil deposits.

16

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 16

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The author wrote this selection mostly likely to explain – A.

how earthquakes and volcanoes can be both destructive and constructive processes.

B.

how the Earth changes from destructive and constructive processes.

C.

the differences between constructive and destructive processes.

D.

the constructive process leads to a destructive process.

Which best replaces the word recedes in the Erosion section?

A.

Become more distant

B.

Slope backward

C.

Draw back a conclusion

D.

Go away

What structure is mostly used in the Volcano section of the text?

A.

Comparing and contrasting

B.

Chronological order

C.

Description

D.

Cause and effect

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 17

17

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

What can the reader conclude about destructive processes from the reading?

A.

Destructive processes can build up certain parts of the Earth.

B.

Constructive processes are not harmful to the Earth.

C.

Erosion can cause the breaking away of plant roots.

D.

Bodies of water are formed from deposition.

What detail has the author chosen to help the reader understand that an earthquake can be both a destructive and constructive process that shapes the Earth?

A.

Earthquakes are vibrations on the Earth’s surface that are felt from the Earth’s plates moving.

B.

Earthquakes can also cause landslides, which are mass movements of land.

C.

The Earth is like a large jigsaw underneath.

D.

If an Earthquake happens under the ocean, it causes a tsunami, which is a huge wave of water.

What words help the reader understand the meaning of decomposing in the Weathering section?

A.

Can be physical

B.

Of surfaces

C.

Rocks, soil, and sediment

D.

Can be broken away

18

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 18

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Reading Science 7.

In which section can the reader find information about sediment being washed away by wind, water, and ice?

A.

Weathering

B.

Erosion

C.

Deposition

D.

Volcanoes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 19

19

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 20

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Math Connections Name:

1.

Date:

Mount Bona is a volcano located in Alaska. It is 16,390 feet tall. Devils Desk is another volcano in Alaska, and it is 6,409 feet tall. How many feet taller is Mount Bona than Devils Desk? feet

2.

In August 2014, California had an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0. In March 2014, California had an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4. How much greater was the magnitude of the earthquake in August than the one in March?

3.

Sand dunes in Albany, Georgia, were created by wind and have peaks that are between 30 and 40 feet tall. How many inches tall are the peaks of these dunes? inches Are sand dunes a constructive, or destructive, process?

4.

The Mississippi Delta is the world’s seventh largest delta. It drains 41% of the water in the United States into the Gulf of Mexico. If 41% is equal to 41∕100, how is it written as a decimal?

5.

Volcano A is 5,488 feet high. If volcano B is ¼ the height of volcano A, how tall is volcano B? feet

6.

One of the largest earthquakes occurred in Indonesia in 2004. It had a magnitude of 9.1. This earthquake lasted 500 seconds. How many minutes did it last? minutes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 21

21

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 22

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Different kinds of natural forces can destroy or build surface features here on Earth. Forces that destroy surface features, called destructive forces, include erosion, weathering, impact of organisms, earthquakes, and volcanoes.

Forces that build surface features or create new landforms, called constructive forces, include deposition, earthquakes, volcanoes, and faults.

THINK about why earthquakes and volcanoes are examples of both constructive and destructive forces.

WRITE about how earthquakes and volcanoes can destroy surface features while creating new ones at the same time. Make sure to provide examples. Can you think of any other examples of destructive or constructive forces?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 23

23

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1AB Surface Features

Writing Science Topic:

24

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 24

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Earth and Space Science

5E1C

Human Technology and Ecosystems

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 25

25

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 26

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Project: Rising Water 1.

Look at the GIS Map and the elevation of the city. Predict what will happen if the water around the area rises. Which part of the city will be the most affected?

2.

How did you plan where to build the structure(s)?

3.

How was the GIS Map helpful for developing your plan?

4.

Draw your prototype in the space below. Label the materials you used.

5.

How many miles long will your structure need to be? ______________________

6.

If one mile costs $5,000, how much will the entire project cost? _____________________

7.

How will your design limit the impact of rising water around the city?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 27

27

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 28

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS

5E1C

Reflect What surface features are caused by constructive processes? What do you think of when you hear the word constructive? Deposition (deltas, sand dunes, etc.) is a process in which layers of a substance form gradually over a period of time. Earthquakes are sudden movements of the Earth’s crust. This happens where there is a fault line. Faults are weaknesses in the rock strata that can shift and create an earthquake. They are usually followed by aftershocks. Example of deposition: sand Volcanoes occur because of the heat and liquid build dune. up. It will finally rupture and release molten lava, hot ash, and gases into the air. Did you know that there are many different types of volcanoes? Do you know what makes them different?

What kinds of surface features are caused by destructive processes? What do you think of when you hear the word destructive? Weathering is the gradual breakdown of rock with changes of certain surface conditions. It can be a physical change, like a change in color, or it can break down completely. Weathering creates residue that can be washed away. Erosion is a gradual breakdown of something naturally. For example, a sand dune. On a very windy day, the sand dunes change shape because the sand is carried away to another location. Erosion means weathering plus transportation at the same time. Impact of organisms— believe it or not, people and animals are constantly eroding the earth around them. It can be as simple as dirt being washed out of a flower bed or it can be as massive as a volcano erupting and changing the shape of the surface around it.

Volcano

ow can earthquakes and volcanoes be both constructive H and destructive processes? Destructive forces break down the earth. Many things can happen, like the eruption of volcanoes, the massive shaking of earthquakes, or simply the constant flow of a river.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 29

29

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS What is the role of technology in controlling constructive and destructive processes?

How do humans intervene in the control of constructive and destructive processes?

Some ways include seismological studies, flood control, and beach reconstruction.

Why is human intervention important? How does it help control constructive and destructive processes?

Seismology is the study of earthquakes. Scientists use a seismograph to measure the movement of the ground during an earthquake. They then use that information to determine the severity of an earthquake. The Richter scale measures the earthquakes on a scale from 1 to 10 depending on the amount the earth moves causing the earthquake. However, scientists have begun to use a newer scale to measure earthquakes. It is called the Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS).

Destruction from earthquakes.

Why are dams, levees, and storm drains important? All of these things must be taken into consideration when building new communities. These are all ways to control flooding.

Example of a dam.

30

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 30

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS What are things that can be done to save erosion of beaches? What is beach reclamation? How is it done?

Beach reclamation is the process of reclaiming a beach from erosion. Beach reclamation is done by dredging beaches. Dredging is when sand is scooped out of deeper water and drawn out to “reclaim” the area where erosion occurred. This helps rebuild the shoreline that once was there. Reclamation does not just occur on ocean beaches but any beach or shoreline that is subject to severe erosion. This process is also used in lakes and rivers to get sand. The sand is then brought to the areas that need to be reclaimed.

Once the sand is obtained, it is deposited at the site. The sand restores the shoreline to its original borders or extends the beach farther into the body of water.

Try Now Weathering and Erosion Weathering causes rocks to split into smaller pieces. There are three main types of weathering: physical, chemical, and biological. Physical weathering changes the size, color, and shape of a rock. It will not change its chemical makeup. Physical changes can be caused by rocks tumbling or by the freeze and thaw cycle of water. Chemical weathering is caused by a chemical reaction between rocks and water. It can also be caused by gases in the air. Water, especially acid rain, can dissolve certain minerals like calcite, limestone, or marble. Oxygen in the air will react with iron or manganese by forming of iron oxides. This process is commonly known as “rusting.” Biological weathering can be caused by plant roots growing into rock, also lichen and certain animals will excrete chemicals that cause this process. As rock is weathered, it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces. Those pieces become sand.

Where does sand come from? How can studying sand samples tell you where it came from? Why is most sand white or beige?

Can beaches be made up of something other than sand? Does a particle have to be a certain size to be considered sand? © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 31

31

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS Gather these materials to make conclusions on where the mystery sand is found: A variety of sand samples A variety of soil samples Magnifying glasses or microscopes Black and white paper Look at the different samples of sand, by looking closely at them, can you determine the type of rocks it is made of? What does the sand tell you about where it may have come from? How do the soil samples vary from the sand samples? Are they composed of different materials?

After investigating the sand, do some research to answer the questions above.

Look Out! Facts About Volcanoes • Pressure builds in a volcano until it cannot contain the pressure anymore. The liquid and heat build up and force the lighter, melted rock buried deep below the surface toward the surface of the Earth causing an eruption.

• The high and low pressures cause enough of a disturbance so that the magma rises to the surface and spills over the top.

• The eruption of magma on the surface of the Earth can take up to several hundred years to cool depending on what it’s made of and where on Earth it has occurred.

• The molten lava that flows down the side of a volcano is composed of a mixture of gases, liquid rock, silica, and crystals.

Effects Animals Have on Erosion Animals are one of the biggest causes of erosion. There are billions of animals that dig up the soil in search of food and homes. Think about moles, prairie dogs, and beavers and the amount of damage they cause building their homes. Insects, worms, reptiles, and mammals also cause damage.

32

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 32

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS They disturb the upper layers of soil and that causes the wind and rain to wash it away. However, humans are the biggest source of biological erosion. We cause erosion when we clear fields of abundant trees to begin new construction. The amount of damage we cause when we clear land and other areas to build new developments would take our animal counterparts more than 100 years! Do you think the Earth has always looked the way it does now?

What Do You Think?

Do you think glaciers always stay the same size and shape?

Where are volcanoes found?

Where do earthquakes happen?

Is the ocean floor completely flat?

Actually, plate tectonics are constantly making the the land move. The shifting of the plates are what cause earthquakes. Earthquakes can occur anywhere the plates shift.

Some areas are just more prone to them.

Glaciers are constantly moving and melting.

Volcanoes are found in many places around the world.

The ocean floor has features such as mountains and valleys just like we see on land.

Top view of melting glacier

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 33

33

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: HUMAN

TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS Connecting With Your Child

Your child has been learning about destructive and constructive forces.

How can a force be both destructive and constructive at the same time?

“mountain.” It may help to build it up around something like a plastic cup.

Measure the height and circumference of the volcano. Record the measurements.

Read about and look at pictures of volcanoes. Pick one volcano to focus on.

What caused this volcano to form?

Inside the cup, mix a half box of baking soda, a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, and about 10–12 drops of red food dye.

What impact do volcanic eruptions have on the earth? What happens to the people who live close to these eruptions?

Volcanoes are destructive forces. How can they be constructive as well? One way is the formation of the Hawaiian Islands.

Pour enough vinegar into the cup to watch the “lava” run down the mountain!

Research the newest island of the Hawaiian Islands. Has this been a constructive formation?

Make your own volcano! Use sand, soil (like potting soil), and water to form a 34

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 34

Let the lava dry overnight. The next day, measure and record the height and circumference of the volcano. Record and compare the differences between the measurements. Do the same process over the next several days. You should be able to see how constant eruptions of a volcano change the way the mountain looks as well as the land surrounding it.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Human Technology and Ecosystems 1.

Dear Lake Delhi Dam Association:

2.

I am a resident of Hopkinton, a town that is downstream from your dam. During the recent flood that was caused by the breach of your dam, my house became flooded and I lost everything.

3.

You see, your dam was built to control flooding along the Maquoketa River, but it was built for another reason too. Your dam was built to create a recreational playground for the residents who live around your lake. People enjoyed boating, jet skiing, tubing, water skiing, and fishing at your man-made lake. I’m sure the people who made this dam many years ago did not think that the dam washing away would ever happen. But it did, and thanks to it, my house and many others were affected. Farmers lost crops. Animals were washed downstream. People lost many possessions. Insects and small animals died and lost their homes.

Lake Delhi Dam

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 35

Image from Google Earth.

Lake Delhi

35

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Reading Science 4.

The Lake Delhi Dam has always been used to control flooding on the Maquoketa River. The dam operators have monitored and watched the waters closely to know when and how much to open the dam’s floodgates. This old dam, which once generated electricity for the Lake Delhi Area, could not handle itself due to the water pressure of recent rains. The road that went over the dam washed away. You are left with an empty lake and a broken dam. More of the Earth quickly eroded away and left steep, jagged cliffs of dirt and limestone. I know the purpose of the dam was to control erosion, but with its recent breach, you have magnified the erosion problem that water can cause.

5.

I write to you as a concerned citizen. I hear that you want to rebuild the dam, so you can have your playground back. I would like my house back too, but I can’t. It was severely damaged and had to be demolished. The Maquoketa River should be a natural flowing river. It should be flowing in a natural riverbed. It should not be stopped up by a dam. The problem is that your dam holds back all of the water in the basin that is the lake. When we receive heavy rains and waters flow downstream, your lake collects a lot of the water. However, your lake can only hold so much. It is necessary for you to monitor and begin to let the water through the dam before it is too late. Water is such a powerful force. How do you know if you build the dam again that this type of flood will not happen again?

6.

I ask that you please consider those of us who live downstream from your dam.

Consider that even though you want to build your dam to construct a lake for playing, your dam can also be very destructive to those of us downstream trying to live our daily human lives. Having your home flooded and losing everything really affects your life. I know because I have lived through it. I lost time off work and had to file papers to get money, so I could continue with life and rebuild my home. This has been a huge headache for my family and me.

7.

All I ask is that you ask yourselves the following question before making this decision: Am I helping or hurting the Earth and others?

8.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We hope that you find guidance and make the right decision in the coming days.

9.

A victim of your dam’s flood,

10. Kyle Langaard

36

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 36

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The main purpose of Kyle’s letter is to – A.

explain to the association what happened to his home.

B.

inform the association the damage flooding can cause.

C.

persuade the association to take action and not build a new dam.

D.

describe the effects of flooding on people.

What word(s) help the reader understand the meaning of recreational?

A.

Residents who live around

B.

Playground

C.

Boating, jet skiing, tubing

D.

Man-made lake

The reader can infer the dam’s original intent was to – A.

build a lake.

B.

control flooding.

C.

generate electricity.

D.

all of the above.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 37

37

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

Which sentence expresses the main idea of paragraph 3?

A.

The Lake Delhi Dam has always been used to control flooding on the Maquoketa River.

B.

I know the purpose of the dam was to control erosion, but with its recent breach, you have magnified the erosion problem that water can cause.

C.

More of the Earth quickly eroded away and left steep, jagged cliffs of dirt and limestone.

D.

This old dam, which once generated electricity for the Lake Delhi Area, could not handle itself due to the water pressure of recent rains.

The reader can infer that Kyle’s attitude toward the dam is – A.

outrage.

B.

sympathy.

C.

curiosity.

D.

content.

Sarcasm is defined as a sneering or cutting remark. How did Kyle use sarcasm in his letter?

A.

But it did, and thanks to it, my house and many others were affected.

B.

This has been a huge headache for my family and me.

C.

I’m sure the people who made this dam many years ago did not think that the dam washing away would ever happen.

D.

You are left with an empty lake and a broken dam.

38

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 38

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Reading Science 7.

8.

The map helps the reader understand – A.

how large Lake Delhi is.

B.

the location of the lake and dam.

C.

the magnitude of the size of flood.

D.

the location of Lake Delhi in the world.

Read the sentence below.

During the recent flood that your dam has caused from its breach, my house became flooded and I lost everything.

What is the meaning of the word breach in the previous sentence?

A.

The lower part of the body

B.

To lower or hinder part of something

C.

To clothe with trousers

D.

To break through

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 39

39

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 40

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Predicting a Volcanic Eruption Volcanoes exhibit warning signs before an eruption. Signs include an increase in the pressure of the magma, changes in surrounding hydrothermal activity, movement of the flanks of the volcano, and changes in the types or amounts of gases expelled from the volcano. This information cannot be used to pinpoint an exact time a volcano will erupt, but it serves as an indication that the population needs to prepare for a possible eruption. The plots below are used to display data used to predict an eruption.

• The thrust plot shows the movement in faults created from magma pushing on the crater floor.

• The earthquake plot shows the number of earthquakes occurring around the area of the volcano as a result of the magma pushing on the surface and causing rock to move.

• The tiltmeter plot shows the change in angle of the ground tilt resulting from magma pushing upwards on the dome of the volcano.

The chart below shows the readings from a monitored volcano. Use the data to construct a thrust plot, an earthquake plot, and a tiltmeter plot. The plots will be used to create a prediction and action plan regarding the volcano.

Day

Thrust Reading (cm)

November 5 November 12 November 19 November 26 December 3 December 10 December 17 December 23 December 25 December 30 January 2 January 6 January 13

48.5 48.4 48.3 48.1 47.9 47.6 47.4 47.1 46.4 46.2 46.1 45.0 41.0

Cumulative Number of Earthquakes 0 0 100 100 100 100 200 300 400 500 650 1000 2500

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 41

Tiltmeter Reading (Angle in Micro Radians) 2 2 2 2 2 2.5 3 4 5 6 7 9 15 41

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Math Connections Plot the data from page 1 using the graphs below. Use the line graphs to answer the questions below and make predictions about the earthquakes potential to erupt.

1.

Would a scientist have cause to suspect a volcanic eruption before December 3?

2.

Based on the data between December 3 and December 17, which form of action should take place?

A.

No cause for concern; maintain periodic monitoring.

B.

There is a rise in activity; increase monitoring of its activity.

C.

Issue a statement to the public that a volcanic eruption is certain.

3.

When does the thrust plot show significant movement in the faults?

4.

When does the amount of earthquakes begin to drastically increase?

5.

When does the tiltmeter show a significant increase in the angle of the dome?

6.

At what point would you issue a prediction and warning to the public that an eruption will occur shortly?

42

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 42

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Constructive and destructive forces can both help and harm surface features on Earth. Although we cannot prevent these natural forces from occurring, we can control their effects. For example, humans have built dams, levees, dikes, and storm drains to lessen the destruction to cities during a flood.

THINK about how humans can use technology and intervention to control constructive and destructive processes.

WRITE about what happens to a beach through the process of erosion and weathering. How can humans help slow down these processes? How can humans protect the wildlife found in a beach ecosystem when destructive forces occur?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 43

43

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5E1C Human Technology and Ecosystems

Writing Science Topic:

44

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 44

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Life Science

5L1AB

Classification of Organisms

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 45

45

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 46

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Classification of Animals Part 1:Animal Sorting

Characteristics:

Characteristics:

Characteristics:

Characteristics:

Characteristics:

Sources used 1.

________________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________________

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 47

47

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Explore Student Journal Part 2: Online Field Trip List the name of each group and the examples you found in the boxes below.

48

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 48

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Explore Student Journal Part III: Plant Sorting Use the space below to record how you sorted the plants.

Plants

Sources used 1.

________________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________________

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 49

49

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 50

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS 5L1AB

Reflect What do you think about when you hear the word “classification”? Do you think about how items are organized or how they are sorted? Scientists describe classification as a way to organize living things into like groups. For example, if a scientist had many animals, they might use the animals’ characteristics, or features, to organize them into animals that look the same. Let’s say they have a monkey, a horse, a tortoise, and a snake. Which animals would you classify together? Would you put the monkey and horse together Classification helps because they both have hair, and then the snake and tortoise to organize the together because they both have scales? This is how scientists world. start to classify organisms. Do scientists also classify other organisms like plants, insects, and fungi? The answer is yes. Scientists would classify all living organisms based on their characteristics, physiology (organ systems), DNA, and other factors. All of these factors would then allow a scientist to know who is related to who.

Organism: a living thing What is classification?

We call the process of classification taxonomy, or the study of how things are classified. Taxonomic classification is a process of science that organizes living organisms by their structure, function, and relationships. Classification of organisms allows the identification of shared characteristics, which reveals how organisms interact with the components of their ecosystem.

Ecosystem: the living Why is classification important? and nonliving things in If we did not organize and classify the organisms we came an area across as scientists, or as individuals, we could not make sense of the world around us. If I called a duck a “dragon,” but you called it a “duck,” then how would we be able to discuss where it lives, what it eats, what its characteristics are? We couldn’t because we wouldn’t know it is a duck we are both talking about. Scientists also must use a common language when discussing classification. One classification system uses Latin. Latin is a dead language, or a language that is not used in the world today. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 51

51

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

This allows scientists to have a common language to use worldwide to describe the same species. For example, if I wanted to discuss a rainbow trout with someone in China, I wouldn’t use “rainbow trout,” I would use the scientific name of Oncorhynchus mykiss. vertebrate: having a backbone What is one method of classification used to group animals?

One way animals are grouped is by whether they are vertebrates or invertebrates, or if they have a backbone or not. The vertebrates typically have a backbone, muscles, and a skeleton and are more advanced than the invertebrates. Vertebrates include animals such as mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and amphibians.

• Mammals: Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates with fur or hair as a body covering. Mammals breathe in oxygen with their lungs. Mammals give birth to live babies and take care of their young. The mother’s body provides milk for the young.

• Fish: Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates with scales for a body covering. Fish breathe in oxygen underwater through gills. Fish lay eggs.

• Reptiles: Reptiles are coldblooded vertebrates with dry scales or plates as a body covering. Reptiles breathe in oxygen with their lungs.

Reptiles lay eggs and the young are able to take care of themselves when they hatch.

• Birds: Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates with feathers as a body covering. Birds breathe in oxygen with lungs.

Birds lay eggs and take care of the young. Birds have beaks instead of teeth.

52

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 52

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

• Amphibians: Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrates with moist, smooth skin. Amphibians breathe in oxygen with lungs and gills. Most amphibians lay eggs. Amphibians live on land and in the water.

On the other hand, invertebrates have no backbone and may or may not have muscles or a type of skeleton. Examples invertebrate: having no of invertebrates are sponges, jellyfish, and worms. backbone Invertebrates are the most numerous animals and have dominated most aquatic (water) ecosystems.

Red worms

Sea anenome

Spider © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 53

Sponges

Snail

Orange bell jellyfish 53

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

Look Out! Plants can be classified as well. One of the basic methods of classifying plants is by whether they are seed producing or non-seed producing plants.

Seed plants: Seed plants are grouped into those that have flowers and seeds enclosed in fruit or those that have bare seeds in cones and have no fruit.

Non-seed plants: Non-seed plants have no seeds like ferns, horsetails, and club mosses. Non-seed plants reproduce through the release of spores.

Seeds in strawberries

Seeds on a pinecone

Spores on a fern

What Do You Think?

Look at the two pictures to the right. Can you use the animal’s and plant’s characteristics to classify them? Can you use your prior knowledge, experiences, and information you’ve learned so far to make a quick decision about what these organisms are, what they are related to, and what characteristics they might share with their groups?

Career Corner: Zoologist A zoologist is someone who studies animals. Zoologists can specialize in the study of one or more species of animals. For example, a zoologist might become a large feline specialist; that is someone who only studies and deals with large cat species such as the tiger, lion, or mountain lion.

54

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 54

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

Many zoologists work in zoos, aquariums, or in locations around the world where their species may be located. They also do research work, collect species-specific data, and may even help with conservation and preservation efforts. Zoologists also play a large role in educating the public about why the species they research are important to the local and world ecosystems.

Try Now Take some time to explore the living organisms in your backyard or in a park near you.

1. You will need to identify two vertebrates, two invertebrates, and two plants.

2. Take pictures or draw detailed, colored pictures of your organisms.

3. Identify the two vertebrates and which vertebrate group they belong to.

4. Identify the two invertebrates.

5. Identify in which group the plants belong.

Use the Internet to help you make your identifications.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 55

55

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

What do you know?

The ways in which scientists classify organisms can vary. I might look at an organism’s characteristics and you may choose to look at the DNA evidence; however, good scientists will take all of the information into account before classifying.

Read the descriptions of the details taken from an organism in the chart below. Write the method of classification in the right hand column. Then use the second chart below to give an example of an organism these descriptions might have come from.

Description

Method of Classification

Organ systems are all present.

Fur, large paws, long tail, and stripes that are black and orange.

Has pine needles and pine cones; grows in alpine forests.

DNA

Example Organism • • • •

56

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 56

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CLASSIFICATION OF

ORGANISMS

Connecting With Your Child A Small Classification To help students learn more about classification, take them to a nearby ecosystem. This could be a park, a forest, a pond, a playground, or perhaps even your own backyard. As students learned in the lesson, classification takes multiple items into account. For your activity you are going to do a, “three square foot hike.” Rather than focusing on everything students can see around them, you will guide students to take a closer look at a small area. Explain to students that a single drop of pond water can contain thousands of microscopic, tiny organisms.

If you have one, take a magnifying glass with you on your exploration. If you go to an aquatic area, you can use a tall clear container to carefully peer down below the surface of the water. If you explore a land environment, you can gently turn over rocks to find tiny organisms like worms and insects. The key of the exploration is to encourage students to observe and try to classify the types of organisms in this tiny ecosystem (three square foot hike). Make sure you do not permanently disturb the environment and be certain to leave the environment the way it was before you arrived.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 57

Here are some questions to discuss with students: • Are there many types of species in this environment? Such as fungus, plants, animals, etc.

• Why would this environment house many types of organisms?

• What types of items would you use to classify the organisms we found in this environment?

• What do you think each organism is? Plant, fungus, animal? Specific species (if you can)?

• Make a chart of at least 3–5 organisms you find, classify each into what type of organism it is (plant, fungus, animal, etc.), when you’re home. Can you classify them using the Internet? Were you right?

57

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 58

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Mauricio’s Zoo 1.

“Mauricio! Why is there a fishbowl and an insect farm on my kitchen table?” yelled Mom as she began preparing dinner.

2.

Bam! Bam! Bam! The sound of loud footsteps came running down the stairs as Mauricio slid into the kitchen.

3.

“Sorry, Mom. I added some new friends today to my zoo. Meet Rodrigo, my fish, and all of his new friends. There’s Max, Jack, Ernie . . .” started Mauricio.

4.

“Mauricio, I know you love your animals, but they have to stay up in your room. Maybe you should consider giving some of them away. Your room has transformed into its own zoo,” Mom suggested.

5.

With his mouth hanging open from shock, Mauricio replied, “I could never get rid of them, Mom. I love adding new animals to study to my collection. Maybe I can have the attic to use as my zoo?”

6.

“If you can clean it out, the attic is all yours for your animals. Remember, they have to be kept in their cages, and I don’t want to see them in my kitchen again,” agreed Mom.

7.

“Deal!” expressed Mauricio as he bolted back upstairs to his room. His room was filled with cages of all kinds. He had many insect farms filled with lots of invertebrate organisms. As he gathered them all in one corner of his room, he thought about how he would set up the attic after he had it all cleaned out.

8.

Mauricio gathered up all of his invertebrate animals including a wide variety of insects, some arachnids including a tarantula, and a farm of snails. Mauricio thought he would put all of these together in his zoo because they had no skeletons. A small section of his room began looking more organized. He had a long way to go.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 59

59

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science 9.

Mauricio then collected all of his fishbowls and placed them around the large tank in the center of the room, which housed goldfish and bettas. He would put his fish together because they all breathe using gills and have skeletons made from either bone or cartilage. Mauricio wrote each type of fishs’ features on a piece of paper and put it near the fish. He planned to hang up signs in the attic with information about each kind of animal in his zoo.

10. He looked up from his writing and saw his iguana, Iggy, in her enormous cage.

He knew the cage would be too large for him to move, so he knew he would need help. Iggy was a reptile that had scales and a skeleton made of bone, and she was cold-blooded. Mauricio had a heat lamp in Iggy’s cage to help her regulate her body temperature. He looked to the left of Iggy and saw Thomas his turtle.

He put Thomas and Iggy together in his zoo as he began writing his sign to go along with them.

11. His mom’s least favorite animals in Mauricio’s zoo were his collection of rodents.

He had several mice and even a guinea pig. Mauricio knew that rodent meant “gnawing animal.” If he let these animals go, his mom would be more than upset with him because they would be found gnawing away at something. Their incisor teeth continue to grow because they wear away as they gnaw away at hard foods. They would gnaw at the wood in the house. He went over to check on their cage to be sure it was securely fastened shut, and he tied an extra piece of string around it just to be sure it stayed closed.

12. “What about me?” cawed Sammy, Mauricio’s African grey parrot.

13. “I couldn’t forget about you, Sammy. You are my only bird. You are unlike any of my other pets. You have wings and can fly, your beak helps you eat, and your feathers keep you dry and warm. Your skeleton is very thin, so you can be light enough to fly. You will be your own special attraction at my zoo.”

14. Sammy chirped, “Like it. Like it.”

15. Mauricio couldn’t forget about Charlotte his cat and Dodger his dog. However, he didn’t think they would be fitting to put in the zoo as they liked to roam the house.

So, instead, he took pictures of them that he would add to his zoo.

60

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 60

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science 16. “Wow, I have a lot of animals,” thought Mauricio. He ran downstairs to share his plans for his zoo with his mom.

17. “My zoo is going to be so cool. I have a lot of different animals. I’m going to make it easy for people to find the different animals by sorting them into their special classifications. I want this to be a learning zoo, so I’m making informational signs for people to read up on my animals and learn about them. I can’t wait to get them up into the attic. Mom, will you help me?” asked Mauricio.

18. “I would be glad to,” replied Mom. “I will help you after dinner.”

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 61

61

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science 1.

Read the following.

With his mouth hanging open from shock, Mauricio replied, “I could never get rid of them, Mom. I love adding new animals to study to my collection. Maybe I can have the attic to use as my zoo?”

From this, the reader can tell that Mauricio –

2.

3.

A.

is determined to learn more about animals.

B.

often gets what he wants.

C.

knows how to get his way with his mom.

D.

is a caring individual who enjoys taking care of animals.

What is the meaning of transformed in paragraph 4?

A.

To change into a new substance

B.

To change in form or use

C.

To use electricity

D.

To change character

According to the story, the reason Mauricio is classifying his animals for his zoo is so – A.

people can learn about his animals.

B.

people can easily find the animals.

C.

the animals will be happy.

D.

it will be easier to feed the animals.

62

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 62

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science 4.

5.

Based on Mom’s action from the story, she most likely thinks Mauricio – A.

should get rid of all of his animals.

B.

needs to organize his animals and keep them in his room.

C.

is not responsible to take care of his animals.

D.

should set his animals free back into the wild.

Read the following.

“I couldn’t forget about you, Sammy. You are my only bird. You are unlike any of my other pets. You have wings and can fly, your beak helps you eat, and your feathers keep you dry and warm. Your skeleton is very thin, so you can be light to fly. You will be your own special attraction at my zoo.”

The author uses the description of the African grey parrot to show –

6.

A.

what the bird looks like.

B.

how much Mauricio loves Sammy.

C.

that the bird has features that are different from other animals.

D.

that Sammy is Mauricio’s favorite pet.

Mom contributes to solving Mauricio’s problem by – A.

allowing him to use the attic for his zoo.

B.

making him clean the insect farms off the table.

C.

helping him move the animals into the attic.

D.

suggesting he classify his animals into groups.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 63

63

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Reading Science 7.

The reader can predict that Mauricio will – A.

open his zoo to make money.

B.

be a zoologist when he gets older.

C.

keep all of his animals in the attic from now on.

D.

keep his dog and cat in his attic zoo.

64

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 64

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Taxonomic classification is a scientific process that organizes living organisms by their structures, functions, and relationships. Classification of organisms allows the identification of shared characteristics, which reveal how organisms interact with components of their ecosystem. Use the taxonomy classification to figure out the type of vertebrate for each animal listed below.

Number

Common Name

1

American robin

2

Leopard frog

3

Guppy

4

Little brown bat

5

Red-side garter snake

Type of Vertebrate

Look at the animal. Decide whether or not it has a backbone, and solve the equation next to that characteristic. Next, find the answer to the equation in the first column.

Choose from the two characteristics in the category. You will either end at the classification or continue to solve equations and choose characteristics until you arrive at the classification.

Back Bone **Begin Here** Type of Blood 88 Body Covering 12 Egg Laying 46 Body Covering 32

a. vertebrate (backbaone)

7 + (325 ÷ 25) =

b. invertebrate (no backbone)

962 + (42 ÷ 21) =

a. warm-blooded

24 - (432 ÷ 36) =

b. cold-blooded

16 x 22 – 306 =

a. feathers

Bird

b. fur or hair

Mammal

a. lays eggs on land

Reptile

b. lays eggs on water

916 – (26 x 34) =

a. has scales b. has slimy skin

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 65

Fish Amphibian 65

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Math Connections Use the same method to find the classification of the animals in the chart below.

Number

Common Name

6

Kangaroo

7

Largemouth bass

8

Salamander

9

Blue iguana

10

Mallard duck

Type of Vertebrate

Look at the animal. Decide whether or not it has a backbone, and solve the equation next to that characteristic. Next, find the answer to the equation in the first column.

Choose from the two characteristics in the category. You will either end at the classification or continue to solve equations and choose characteristics until you arrive at the classification.

Back Bone **Begin Here** Type of Blood 88 Body Covering 12 Egg Laying 46 Body Covering 32

66

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 66

a. vertebrate (backbone)

82 – (256 – 192) =

b. invertebrate (no backbone)

22 + (65 ÷ 13) =

a. warm-blooded

Reptile

b. cold-blooded

2 x (832 ÷ 52) =

a. feathers

Fish

b. fur or hair

Amphibian

a. lays eggs on land

12 + (236 ÷ 59) =

b. lays eggs on water

465 – (18 x 24) =

a. has scales

Bird

b. has slimy skin

Mammal

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Scientists use groups to identify and classify organisms. Animals can be classified into two groups: vertebrates and invertebrates. Plants can be classified into two groups: seed and non-seed.

THINK about how animals and plants are classified into groups.

WRITE about the groups into which animals and plants are classified. How does grouping help scientists? What are the characteristics of each of these four groups? Provide examples of animals or plants for each group.

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 67

67

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L1AB Classification of Organisms

Writing Science Topic:

68

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 68

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Life Science

5L2AB

Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 69

69

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 70

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Student Handout

Name:

Date:

Have a Great Day! Read the story, Have a Great Day!, and classify Brutus’ traits in the columns below.

Born With It Trait

Evidence

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 71

Developed During His Lifetime Trait

Evidence

71

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 72

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Part I: Match It! For each match, list the inherited and acquired trait or behavior in the appropriate column. In the final column, explain the reasoning behind your decision.

Organism

Inherited or Instinct

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 73

Acquired or Learned

Reasoning

73

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Explore Student Journal Part II: Classroom Data Trait

Number

Trait

Curly hair

Wears glasses

Freckles

Ears pierced

Sleeping

Can speak Spanish

Broken limb

Can ride a bicycle

Wears red

Can juggle

Can roll tongue

Attached or detached ear lobes

Widow's peak

Eating

Scar

Tie your shoe

Being startled

Jumping rope

1.

Number

Develop at least two questions you could use to help classify the traits listed above. Use these questions to classify the traits on the next two pages.

74

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 74

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Explore Student Journal Part II: Classroom Data, continued Develop a bar graph to compare the traits from each category.

Inherited Physical Number of students

25 20 15 10 5 0

Traits Acquired Physical Number of students

25 20 15 10 5 0

Traits © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 75

75

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Explore Student Journal Part II: Classroom Data, continued Develop a bar graph to compare the traits from each category.

Instinct Number of students

25 20 15 10 5 0

Traits Learned Behavior Number of students

25 20 15 10 5 0

Traits 76

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 76

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS

5L2AB

Reflect A chimpanzee moves through the forest, looking for food. It spots an anthill about a meter away and moves toward it. Using its long arms, the chimpanzee grabs a thin branch from a tree overhead. First, the chimpanzee takes all the leaves off the branch. Then it sticks the branch down the anthill. A few seconds later, the chimpanzee pulls the branch out. It is covered with ants. The chimpanzee puts the branch in his mouth and quickly eats all the ants. The chimpanzee is able to eat the ants without getting bitten.

The chimpanzee was born with long arms, good eyesight, and fingers. But it was not born knowing how to use a branch to get a snack. What are some characteristics that animals and other organisms are born with? How do they get those characteristics? What are some characteristics that appear or develop after birth?

organisms: living things

What is the difference between an instinct and a learned behavior?

We are all born with instincts, or behaviors, or responses to stimuli, that are usually related to survival. The chimpanzee’s instincts tell him he needs to eat, but he had to learn how to catch the ants. Your instincts tell you to eat, but you had to learn how to use a knife and fork.

Humans rely on their instincts every day. If there is a sudden loud noise, your instincts tell you to flinch and duck. It is very difficult to ignore an instinct because the response to the stimuli is built into the species for generations. A cat has an instinct to stalk and chase moving objects. If you dangle a string in front of a cat, you will see the cat’s response to the stimulus as it jumps to catch the string. This natural behavior is automatic, an instinct built into the cat’s brain.

Take a look at the mother and daughter in the picture at the right. How do they look similar? The mother passed on some of her characteristics, or traits, to her daughter.

The daughter has her mother’s hair color, nose shape, and eye color. These traits were inherited. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 77

77

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS offspring: new living things that come from parents who have reproduced When traits are inherited, it means they are passed on from parents to their offspring during reproduction. Some traits are not inherited. The mother has pierced ears and wrinkles. She did not inherit these traits from her parents. They developed some time after she was born. Characteristics that appear during a person’s lifetime are called acquired traits. Certain acquired traits, like pierced ears, can be directly observed.

These are physical traits.

Another type of acquired trait is learned behavior. Reading is an example of learned behavior. You inherit eyes that can see and hands that can turn the pages of a book.

However, you do not know how to read when you are born. You have to learn how to read. Learning is something that happens during your lifetime.

Many physical traits like eye color and skin color are inherited. But not all physical traits are inherited. For example, have you ever broken a bone? Do you have any scars? These are characteristics that appeared some time after birth. You were not born with a broken bone or a scar. These types of traits are not passed from parents to children.

What are some examples of plant and animal inherited traits?

Have you ever seen a beautiful garden of flowers? The color of the flowers is an inherited trait. The general height of the plants, the length of the roots, and the shapes of the leaves are all inherited characteristics. A cactus inherits spines. An evergreen tree inherits needles. These are traits that are passed on from a plant to its offspring.

Most of the traits you see in an animal are inherited. A lion cub inherits claws, sharp teeth, and tan fur from its parents. Some traits you cannot see are also inherited.

A lion cub inherits the need to eat meat. It also inherits the predator: an animal that bones, muscles, and other structures that help it function hunts and eats other animals as a predator.

78

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 78

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS What are some examples of plant and animal acquired traits?

Plants do not have brains and do not learn behaviors like animals do. But plants can respond to changes in their environment. Some plants have special chemicals in their cells that help them turn toward sunlight. Getting enough sunlight helps plants to make their own food. When a fly lands on a unique plant called a Venus flytrap, the plant responds by closing its modified leaves that look like “jaws” to eat the fly. The ability to respond to these environmental changes, however, is inherited by the plant.

Look Out! Lion cubs inherit the physical traits they need to be hunters. They have claws and sharp teeth to help them catch and bite their prey. Their tan fur helps them blend into their grassy environment. They have good vision and an excellent sense of smell. But when lion cubs are born, they do not know how to hunt. Hunting is an example of a learned behavior. Cubs have to learn how to hunt by watching their parents. They may even “hunt” each other as practice when they are cubs. It takes months for lion cubs to learn how to use their inherited traits to help them catch and kill food.

These young lions are learning how to hunt.

A songbird inherits a beak and lungs that help it sing, but it often has to learn the songs from another bird. Evidence of songbird learning includes slight differences across the country for a particular sparrow. Since the adult birds are learning from birds only in their area, the songs can vary across a large distance. A dog learns tricks from its owner. Even you had to learn certain behaviors. As a newborn, did you know how to talk or ride a bicycle? You had to learn these behaviors. You were not born knowing how to do them.

What Do You Think?

A family adopted a new puppy. Whenever the family members want to take the puppy for a walk, they call him to come to the door. At the same time, one family member grabs a set of keys. After a while, they notice that whenever someone grabs the keys, the puppy comes to the front door without anyone calling him. Is this an inherited characteristic or a learned behavior? Explain your answer. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 79

79

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS Getting Technical: Wildlife Cameras Suppose you are a scientist who is trying to learn about the behavior of bald eagles when they are in their nests. If you climb up a tree to watch the nest, you might scare the eagles away. Even if you could find a way to stay hidden, you cannot stay in a tree all day and night! Luckily, technology can help you out. Scientists have started using cameras that can send video images over the Internet. These cameras are called webcams. A person studying bald eagles might put several webcams around the nest before the eagles arrive for the season. The webcams can stay on day and night and record all the activity in the nest. Scientists can use this technology to study how animals like bald eagles learn behaviors from their parents.

Try Now Instincts, learned behaviors, inherited traits, and acquired traits can be observed every day. Below is a list of activities or features. Write each in the appropriate section of the graphic organizer.

• • • • • • •

a baby blinks at a loud noise eating with chopsticks freckles a tattoo of a butterfly riding a unicycle ivy climbing a brick wall mother bird builds a nest

80

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 80

• • • • • • •

speaking French attached earlobes a chipped tooth the dog barks at a strange sound hair with pink and purple streaks tying shoelaces face puckers when eating a lemon

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS INSTINCTS

LEARNED BEHAVIORS

INHERITED TRAITS

ACQUIRED TRAITS

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 81

81

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: LEARNED

BEHAVIORS AND INHERITED TRAITS Connecting With Your Child Learning and Unlearning Skills To help your child learn more about the difference between inherited traits and learned behaviors, try this activity: 1. Time your child writing the following sentence, “Inherited traits are different from acquired traits.”

Make a record of how long it took to write the sentence.

2. Now time your child writing the same sentence with their non-dominant hand. Did it take a longer or shorter time to write the sentence?

3. Now ask your child to write the same sentence as quickly as possible. This time, your child is not allowed to dot the letter “i” or cross the letter “t.”

Writing is a learned behavior, and children are not born knowing how to write. They have the musculoskeletal structures that enable them to grasp a pencil, but they do not know how to draw or write words. However, at a certain age, writing comes so naturally that children often forget that they had to learn how to do it. The difficulty a child has when writing with his or her non-dominant hand is meant to demonstrate that writing is not an inherited trait. Children have to acquire and learn the skill.

The difficulty they have leaving a letter “i” un-dotted and a letter “t” un-crossed demonstrates how hard it is to unlearn a skill. Once a behavior is learned, it tends to “stick.”

Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • Is writing an inherited trait or a learned behavior?

• Why was it harder to write with your non-dominant hand? If you practiced, do you think you would improve?

• Why was it hard to leave the letter “i” un-dotted and the letter “t” un-crossed?

• What are some of your other learned behaviors? How do they help you?

82

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 82

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Inherited Traits 1.

You may have heard the phrase “you look like your mom” or “you look like your dad.” Or maybe you’ve looked at yourself in the mirror and haven’t completely seen yourself. Instead, you see a reflection of one of your parents staring back at you.

This is thanks to inherited traits. Inherited traits are characteristics a living thing possesses. Inherited traits are passed down to you from your parents.

2.

The way you look comes from the information in your genes passed on to you from your parents. Genes encode information about living things. The color of your eyes and your hair depends on the colors of your parents’ eyes and hair.

Another trait that may be passed down is the shape of your nose. Your body shape, such as your height or the length of your legs, is also associated in part to your parents’ bloodlines.

3.

Sometimes environmental factors can influence our traits. For example, a human’s body may change shape from their inherited body due to diet. It may change shape based on how they choose to live. While inherited traits are passed down, they can be adapted and changed based on the environment that one is living in.

4.

Traits are not just passed down in humans, but in all living things. In plants, the shape of the leaves or color of the flowers are passed down from the parent plant. In animals, the number of legs or shape of the beak is passed down. The color of fur or feathers are all examples of inherited traits.

5.

Some of our most defining traits are not those that are inherited. Some that define us most are those traits that are learned. For example, if you are really great at playing video games, it is probably not because your parent was really great at playing video games. You became good at video games because you practiced. You learned the skills to become a good video gamer.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 83

83

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Reading Science 6.

Reading and writing are also learned traits. They are controlled with how much you practice them to become efficient at doing them. Talking, playing sports, and even the way you choose to wear your hair are also learned behaviors. When people say they are good at sports because their dad played sports, that may not be entirely true. They are probably good at sports because their dad played sports with them when they were little. He passed his love of sports on to them. If he did not play with them, they probably would not be as good at sports.

7.

Animals learning to do tricks such as a seal balancing a ball on his nose or a dog learning to shake a hand with its leg are examples of learned behaviors. For humans or animals to learn something, much time and devotion needs to be put into learning the skill. Monkeys do not just use sticks as tools without learning how to do this from other monkeys.

8.

If you choose to pierce your ears or dye your hair, these traits will not be passed down to your offspring. However, if children grow up in an environment where this is done, then it may be that they end up doing the same thing. A person’s environment can affect the way they look or behave. It does not affect inherited traits that are passed down genetically to the next generation.

84

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 84

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The author wrote this selection most likely to explain – A.

how traits are passed down.

B.

how traits can be learned.

C.

the scientific studies of learned and inherited traits.

D.

the differences between learned and inherited traits.

The word defining means – A.

the meaning of a word.

B.

what makes us who we are.

C.

learned.

D.

valued.

What can the reader conclude about inherited traits from the passage?

A.

Inherited traits allow a person to choose what they want to look like.

B.

Inherited traits cannot be changed.

C.

Inherited traits are passed down through the parents’ bloodlines.

D.

Inherited traits are easy to change.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 85

85

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

Video game skills can be learned and are not inherited. Which evidence in the text supports this conclusion?

A.

People who are good at video games get this skill from their parents.

B.

People who are good at video games have to practice and memorize moves.

C.

People who are good at video games only live in certain countries.

D.

People who are good at video games also do well in school.

The word devotion means – A.

a speech.

B.

an attachment.

C.

being attached.

D.

not learning.

Which evidence helps the reader understand the meaning of generation in the last paragraph?

A.

Does not affect

B.

Passed down

C.

Next

D.

Can affect the way they look

86

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 86

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Reading Science 7.

A plant has a waxy leaf. This is an example of – A.

inherited trait.

B.

learned behavior.

C.

environmental adaptation.

D.

both A and B.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 87

87

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 88

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Inherited traits are passed down generation by generation and help plants and animals survive. Below is a table of certain types of cacti and the size of their spines.

Spines are very important for the survival of cacti. They help deter predators and provide shade from the Sun. Use the table to answer questions 1–5.

1.

Does the organ pipe cactus or the bear cholla cactus have the larger spine?

Type of Cactus

Length of Spine

Claret cup

4 ½ inches

Prickly pear

1 inch

Organ pipe

1 3/5 inches

Saguaro

2 ¼ inches

Bear cholla

1 3/10 inches

2.

What is the total length of the spines of the claret cup cactus, the prickly pear cactus, and the saguaro cactus?

3.

The average stem of an organ pipe cactus has 10 spines on it. What is the total length of the spines on one stem?

4.

The average stem of a bear cholla cactus has 15 spines on it. What is the total length of the spines on two stems?

5.

The average stem of a saguaro cactus has 40 spines on it. What is the total length of the spines on one stem?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 89

89

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Math Connections Learned behaviors are actions that animals learn over time. Scientists have conducted a study of certain learned behaviors and the time they take to learn. The scientists’ results are shown in the table below. Use the table to answer questions 6–9.

Learned Behavior

Time it Takes to Learn (Days)

Dog rolling over

10 3/10

Ride a bike

2¾

Avoiding cactus spines

¼

Clapping hands

2

/5

6.

Does it take longer to train an animal to stay away from a prickly cactus or to teach a baby to clap her hands?

7.

What is the total time it would take to teach all of the above behaviors?

8.

Jane is opening a bike shop and has decided to teach kids to ride bikes.

However, she can only teach one kid at a time. How long would it take to teach five kids?

Carmen has opened a dog training center. She teaches two dogs at a time. Her program teaches the dogs to roll over and then to avoid cacti spines.

9.

Which expression could be used to solve for how many days it would take to train four dogs?

A.

4 x (10 ¾ + ¼)

B. [2 x (10 ¾ + ¼)] x 2

C. 2 x (10 ¾ + ¼)

10. Solve the above expression to figure out the length of time it will take.

90

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 90

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

German shepherds and other dog breeds are trained to locate drugs, bombs, and other hazardous materials. Dogs can also be trained as search and rescue animals in disaster situations, as guide dogs for the blind, and as service animals for the disabled.

THINK about the numerous traits dogs inherit from their parents. Also think about what dogs have to learn to become working animals.

WRITE about some of the behavioral and physical traits dogs inherit. What behaviors do dogs need to learn when training for the jobs mentioned above?

What instincts and physical traits do German shepherds have that make them good working dogs?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 91

91

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L2AB Learned Behaviors and Inherited Traits

Writing Science Topic:

92

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 92

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Life Science

5L3ABC

Cells

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 93

93

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 94

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Identifying Cells Part 1: Microscope Activity Sketch an image from each slide.

Prepared Slide 1

Prepared Slide 2

Magnification

Magnification

Describe the similarities and differences between what you see on each slide.

Similarities

Differences

Between Slides 1 and 2

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 95

95

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Explore Student Journal Part II: Parts Of The Cell 1.

I think slide 1 shows a/an

cell.

2.

I think slide 2 shows a/an

cell.

Part III: Build your Cells Describe the similarities and differences between what you observed on the slides and what you built from the diagrams.

96

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 96

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CELLS Reflect

5L3ABC

The cell is the basic unit of life. All living organisms are composed of one or more cells that come in all different shapes and sizes. Most cells need you to use a magnifier to see them. We use a hand lens or microscope to see cells and the structures inside them that our eyes can’t see. The slippershaped, single-celled paramecium in the image to the right carries on all the functions of life. A microscopic view reveals its structures in great detail. What do you see?

Look Out! A microscope is a delicate instrument that uses lenses to produce magnified images of small objects. To safely handle a microscope, carry the instrument with one hand under the base and one hand around the arm. Store it with a cover. Be careful to look sideways at the body tube as you move it downward or when you switch objective lenses to prevent an objective lens from breaking the slide beneath. The body tube has an eyepiece lens at the top and three objective lenses of different powers (such as 4x, 10x, and 40x) on a rotating nosepiece at the bottom. Beneath is a stage that holds a slide with stage clips and allows light to enter from a mirror or bulb through an aperture (opening) below. A diaphragm dial adjusts the light.

Animal Cells Just as the body has organs that carry out different functions, each cell in the body has structures that carry out specific functions. These structures are called organelles. Each organelle is surrounded by a membrane, which keeps it separate from other cell components. An organelle performs a specific function to help meet the basic needs of the cell. Altogether, the sum of these contributions ensures survival of the cell. Animal cells have three main parts: cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 97

97

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CELLS

The cell membrane is the barrier around the cell that holds everything in and lets only certain things out. The cell membrane controls what substances enter and leave the cell and is an important structure present in all cells. It has many functions including regulating the entry and exit of molecules in and out of the cell, maintaining the boundaries of the cell, supporting its contents, and maintaining proper cell-to-cell contact.

Organelle

Function

Size

Cell membrane

Barrier/ gatekeeper

0.009 µm thick

Diagram

Cytoplasm is a jelly-like fluid that holds the cell organelles. The cytoplasm provides a site for the chemical processes needed to carry out life functions. In eukaryotic cells, some of these processes are carried out inside the organelles, which are located in the cytoplasm. However, because each organelle has a membrane that surrounds and defines it, these organelles are separated from the cytoplasm.

Organelle

Function

Size

Cytoplasm

Supports organelles

N/A

98

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 98

Diagram

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CELLS The nucleus is an important organelle found near the center of the cell.

Chromosomes are located inside the nucleus and contain DNA, the genetic information that directs the main functions of the cell including protein synthesis, reproduction, and heredity. The nucleus is physically separated from the rest of the cell by the nuclear membrane. Tiny openings in the nuclear membrane allow certain molecules to move in and out of the nucleus.

Organelle

Function

Size

Nucleus with nuclear membrane

Control center; hold DNA

approximately 6 micrometers

Diagram

Plant cells are different than animal cells.

Plant cells contain different structures with different functions than animal cells. One of these structures is a chloroplast.

The image at right identifies three ways plant cells differ from animal cells. First, plants have a cell wall that is absent in animal cells. The cell wall is a rigid structure that encloses the cell membrane. Because it is rigid, the cell wall is able to provide structural support for a plant.

Next, plant cells contain organelles known as chloroplasts, which are needed for a plant cell to carry out Three structures in plant photosynthesis. In their natural state, these organelles cells distinguish them are green in color. The color is due to the presence from animal cells. of the green pigment called chlorophyll. This pigment absorbs light that provides the energy for conducting photosynthesis: the photosynthesis. Chloroplasts and chlorophyll are absent process by which plants in animal cells. Because of this, animal cells cannot carry use light energy to make out photosynthesis. sugar from water and carbon dioxide ion: atom or molecule with an electric charge © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 99

99

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CELLS Finally, plant cells often contain a large vacuole, which is an organelle used for chemical storage. Some single-celled animals also have vacuoles, but most animal cells do not have these structures. In plants, water, ions, and sugar molecules move in and out of vacuoles in response to environmental changes.

What Do You Think?

If you forget to water some plants, they wilt. Later, after you water them, they perk up. Which plant organelle do you think helps a plant recover from wilting? How do you think this happens?

Study the image below. Does it show a plant or an animal cell? Write your answer on the line above the cell. Then, label each of the organelles below in the diagram (depending on whether the image shows a plant or an animal cell, some of the organelles may not appear).

• Cell membrane • Cell wall • Chloroplasts • Nucleus • Cytoplasm This is a _____________________ cell.

List any organelles that do not appear in the diagram:

100

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 100

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CELLS Connecting With Your Child Construct Organelle Models You can help your child model a cell membrane using soap and water. Follow this procedure: 1. Make a soap solution by mixing a few drops of dishwashing liquid in a onefourth cup of water. Stir gently.

2. Next, cut a length of thread of about 6 inches. Tie the two ends of the thread together to make a loop.

3. Immerse the thread in the soap solution. Pick up two toothpicks, one in each hand. Insert each toothpick in the center of the circle of thread and slowly lift the circle out of solution. Use both hands to lift.

4. Ask your child these questions: • What do you observe in the middle of the circle?

• What properties does this model have in common with a cell membrane?

Papier-mâché is a technique that could be used to help create the models.

Encourage your child to think creatively about ways to construct these models while remaining scientifically accurate.

Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • Where do you find membranes in the structure of a chloroplast?

• What are the functions of the various organelles?

• What are the cellular advantages of having organelles?

Can you model other organelles? Have your child conduct Internet research to find specific information about the shapes and other physical traits of the nucleus, vacuole, and chloroplasts. Then, think of materials your child can use to construct physical models showing cutaway views of each organelle. Materials that may be helpful include cardboard, construction paper, egg cartons, pipe cleaners, modeling clay, and fabric or felt.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 101

101

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 102

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Reading Science Name:

Date:

The Football Accident 1.

As Jason sprinted to catch the football, he didn’t see the hole in the ground he was running toward. His hands were midair and his eyes were on the ball as he ran backward and then—BAM! His foot hit the hole, and he twisted around and landed on his stomach. Slowly getting up and taking in what had happened, he saw blood coming down from his leg. “Mom,” he yelled. “I’m hurt.”

2.

Jason’s mom quickly ran to him with her first-aid kit. “Here, let’s take a look”, said Mom. “It looks like you just scraped your knee.”

3.

Mom gingerly washed the scrape with hydrogen peroxide and pasted a BandAid on it. As she did so, Jason wondered aloud, “Our bodies are made of arms and legs, and arms and legs are made of blood, bone, and other stuff, but, what are all those things made of?”

4.

“Everything in our body is made up of trillions of tiny cells. A cell is the smallest living thing known to man. Cells are so tiny that they can only be seen with a very strong microscope. Cells are like the bricks to a house. All the bricks come together to build a house, and the cells are like that too. Cells come together to form blood, bones, organs, and everything else in our bodies.”

5.

“So, every part of my body consists of cells?” asked Jason.

6.

“That’s right. Every single part. Every living thing is made of cells. Think of your dog, Ruff. He’s made of cells too, and so am I! Plants are also made of cells.

Every living organism on Earth is made of cells.”

7.

“Wow, there must be cells everywhere!”

8.

“There are. Some creatures are single celled. Creatures like an amoeba are single-celled organisms. You will only find one cell if you look at an amoeba under the microscope. Other creatures like humans, elephants, turtles, plants, etc., are made up of many cells. We are multicellular organisms, and multicellular organisms can range in size from brown algae to large elephants.”

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 103

103

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Reading Science 9.

“What does a cell look like?” an inquisitive Jason asked.

10. “A cell is very tiny, but inside of a cell are different parts that make the cell function. The cell has a membrane. It’s the wall of the cell. It controls what comes from and what goes into the cell. It will let some things through like food or water, but it can keep other things out like most diseases or poisonous chemicals.”

11. “So, the membrane is like a sieve that lets some things in and blocks other things?”

12. “That’s right. There are other parts of the cell as well. The nucleus is the brain of the cell, and it controls everything that the cell does. There are a number of other components of the cell, too. And then there is the cytoplasm. It is a fluid that fills the empty space in the cell, kind of like blood plasma fills the space in our blood vessels where there aren’t any red or white blood cells.”

13. “Or like air fills our atmosphere!”

14. “Exactly!” replied Mom. “You’re catching on!”

15. “Cells are like tiny machines that we can’t see, but they are really working away!” responded Jason.

16. “That’s right. Animal cells are different from plant cells. Plant cells have one more aspect about them. Plant cells have chloroplasts. The chloroplasts in the plant cell helps it make its own food through the process of photosynthesis.”

17. “Wow, so a cell’s job is really to produce energy for living things then,” Jason realized.

18. “Yes! Cells give us the energy we need to move our arms and legs. They give us the energy we need to live, but each cell only produces a tiny amount of energy.

So we have trillions of cells that all work together to produce the energy we need to live. The cells make up our organs that all work together to help our body function the way it’s supposed to.”

19. “I’m just amazed,” expressed Jason. “I had no idea living things were made up of so many tiny living things called cells.”

20. Smiling at her son’s wonder and awe while tousling his hair, Jason’s mom asked, “Is your knee feeling better?”

21. “Yes, I can feel the cells repairing already. Time to head back to my football game and work out my cells!”

104

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 104

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

4.

Another word for gingerly is – A.

harshly.

B.

carelessly.

C.

safely.

D.

delicately.

The reader can conclude that cells – A.

can be easily seen.

B.

are found everywhere.

C.

are found in every living organism.

D.

need another cell to work together.

What from the text supports that Jason is inquisitive?

A.

“Wow, there must be cells everywhere!”

B.

“Or like air fills our atmosphere!”

C.

“I’m just amazed,” expressed Jason.

D.

“So every part of my body consists of cells?”

The organization of the story helps show that – A.

Jason’s mom is a loving mother.

B.

Jason enjoys learning.

C.

Jason’s accident stopped his football playing.

D.

Jason and his mom are not close.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 105

105

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Reading Science 5.

Read the following sentences from the passage.

“There are. Some creatures are single celled. Creatures like an amoeba are single-celled organisms. You will only find one cell if you look at an amoeba under the microscope. Other creatures like humans, elephants, turtles, plants, etc., are made up of many cells. We are multicellular organisms, and multicellular organisms can range in size from brown algae to large elephants.”

What can be concluded about cells based on this information?

6.

7.

A.

Single-celled organisms were once a part of a collection of cells.

B.

Cells in multicellular organisms are stronger than single cells.

C.

Cells can only support life if they are part of a multicellular organism.

D.

Some cells can support life independently. Others support life together.

Mom tousled Jason’s hair. What does this tell you about her relationship with her son?

A.

Mom is very caring and loving.

B.

Mom is inquisitive.

C.

Mom supports Jason’s learning.

D.

Mom is interested in football.

What would another fitting title be for this story?

A.

Multi- and Single-Celled Organisms

B.

Cells Have Many Parts

C.

Jason’s Curious Accident

D.

Mom Saves the Day

106

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 106

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Animal cells have three main parts: a cell membrane, a cytoplasm, and a nucleus.

The cell membrane is the barrier around the cell that holds everything in and lets only certain things out. Cytoplasm is a jelly-like fluid that holds the cell organelles. The nucleus holds the genetic materials that make up the cell.

Solve the equations in the table below and match them to the correct answers on the diagram. Write the correct name of the cell part in the blank provided.

Problem 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Cell Part Vacuole Cell membrane Ribosome Nucleus Mitochondrion Endoplasmic reticulum Golgi body Ribosome Cytoplasm

Equation 2340 ÷ 65 2225 ÷ 25 1710 ÷ 45 784 ÷ 14 7410 ÷ 78 2790 ÷ 62 3658 ÷ 62 3096 ÷ 86 1176 ÷ 12

Answer

86.__________ 45._____________ 38._____________

56.__________ 36.___________ 59._____________ 98.__________ 89.____________ 95.______________ © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 107

107

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 108

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Plants and animals are made up of tiny cells. A cell is the smallest structure of an organism. Cells can be seen only through microscopes or powerful hand lenses.

THINK about what plant cells and animal cells look like.

WRITE a description about plant cells and animal cells. What are the parts of a plant cell, and what is the function of each part? What are the parts of an animal cell, and what is each part’s function?

What parts do plant cells and animal cells have in common?

Be sure to: • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 109

109

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L3ABC Cells

Writing Science Topic:

110

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 110

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Life Science

5L4AB

Microorganisms

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 111

111

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 112

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Microorganisms: Helpful or Harmful?

Use the space below to organize the information you found during your research.

General Facts: What is it? What does it look like?

How is it helpful?

How is it harmful?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 113

113

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Explore Student Journal Develop Your Presentation Use the space below to plan your poster and write the script for your presentation.

114

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 114

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Explore Student Journal Make a Claim For each microorganism, make a claim about whether it is helpful, harmful, or both.

Use facts from the presentation as evidence to support your claim.

Lactobacillus Claim:

Mold Claim:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Evidence:

Evidence:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Amoeba Algae Claim:

Claim:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Evidence:

Evidence:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ E. coli Salmonella Claim:

Claim:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Evidence:

Evidence:

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 115

115

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 116

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Reflect

5L4AB

ealthy human beings have a wide array of bacteria H that live within and on them. In fact, a healthy person has ten times more bacterial cells than human cells!

Bacteria are as much a part of our lives as our own cells. This raises some very interesting questions about the relationship between humans and bacteria. How are bacteria helpful to humans? Are they helpful to other organisms? In what ways are microorganisms harmful to us and other organisms?

Microorganisms are a diverse group The term microorganism is a broad term that All organisms are grouped into encompasses all small organisms; the root “micro” one of three domains: Bacteria, means “small.” This makes for a diverse group Archaea, or Eukarya (also called that includes archaea, bacteria, fungi, and some Eukaryota). protists. Microorganisms technically do not include viruses because viruses are not considered living things. Microorganisms span all three domains of life; domains are the largest taxonomic group of organisms.

• Archaea are cells with very unusual chemistry and life strategies. Some archaea are referred to as extremophiles because they grow in very hot, very acidic, or other extreme environments. Archaea belong in their own domain (called Domain Archaea).

• Bacteria are also classified into their own domain (called Domain Bacteria). This domain includes prokaryotic cells such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), which is a bacterium commonly found in the digestive tracts of animals. Although most E. coli are not harmful, a few specialized ones do cause food poisoning.

• Fungi are in Domain Eukarya because they, like animals and plants, are eukaryotic. Fungi include mushrooms, yeasts, and some molds.

• Protists are also in Domain Eukarya. Some protists, like kelp, are too large to be considered microorganisms. However, many protists such as phytoplankton are microorganisms.

Prokaryotic: lacks a Eukaryotic: contains a nucleus and membranenucleus and membranebound organelles bound organelles

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 117

117

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Reflect Beneficial Microorganisms Microorganisms are used to produce a variety of food and other products. For example, yeasts are used to produce bread, wine, and beer. Yeasts are able to live with and without oxygen because they can ferment if oxygen is not present during respiration.

When using yeast for food production, it is important to regulate the amount of oxygen present, because the yeast cells will produce different end products when respiring or fermenting. Different bacterial species make different end products when fermenting. For example, Lactobacillus is used to produce cheese, yogurt, and soy sauce. Other bacteria, like Acetobacter, are used to produce vinegar. Some bacteria are even used to produce nail polish remover (acetone) and rubbing alcohol.

Fermentation: the anaerobic process involving the breakdown of glucose, resulting in the production of alcohol or lactic acid and carbon dioxide Symbiotic relationship: a relationship in which two species are interdependent; the relationship may be beneficial to one or both species, or it may be neutral or harmful to one of the species and beneficial to the other species

In addition to being used to produce consumer goods, microorganisms have important symbiotic relationships with humans and other animals.

An animal’s body is a diverse place in which microorganisms can live. In fact, microorganisms are found in almost every place in and on the human body including the oral cavity, respiratory tract, intestinal tract, urogenital tract, and skin. Many of these relationships are essential to the survival of the animal. For example, microorganisms help with the following processes: • Digestion: Microorganisms in the digestive tract of animals help animals break down foods and absorb nutrients.

Cows, goats, sheep, and other grazers are able to digest the cellulose found in grass and leaves because of the microorganisms found in their digestive systems. Microorganisms found in other animals, including humans, help break down a wide variety of food products.

• Vitamin production: Microorganisms that live in the human body help us produce vitamins like B12 and a variety of other essential nutrients.

118

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 118

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Reflect • Immunity: Beneficial microorganisms in the human body help protect us from pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms by producing chemicals that kill these pathogens and by leaving no room for the pathogens to take hold. This is one of the dangers of using antibacterial soaps and gels: If the soaps or gels remove the native, beneficial microorganisms, an individual is more open to colonization by pathogenic microorganisms. Antibiotics taken to cure an infection also kill native microorganisms and result in yeast infections. Replenishing native microorganisms through probiotics can help reestablish proper balance. Probiotics are microorganisms found in food products such as yogurt.

Microorganisms also have symbiotic relationships with plants. Some plants have fungi that work with older, more developed roots to help increase the absorption of water and nutrients. These fungi are called mycorrhizae; the root “myco-” means fungus and the root “-rrhizae” refers to the plant roots.

Some legumes (bean and pea plants) have a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobia, a type of soil bacteria. In response to the presence of these bacteria, a legume plant produces root nodules that house and protect the bacteria. The bacteria, in turn, convert inorganic nitrogen from the atmosphere into usable nitrogen for the plant.

This process is called nitrogen fixation.

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are also found free-living in the soil. These bacteria are essential for converting nitrogen into a usable form for all soil-dwelling plants and for other organisms. Animals obtain nitrogen compounds from the foods they eat. Planteaters get these compounds by consuming plants, and meat-eaters get nitrogen compounds from the plant-eaters they consume. In this way, the nitrogen-fixing bacteria are essential for life on Earth because they are the primary source of usable nitrogen for most living things.

Bacteria and other microorganisms are essential for recycling nitrogen and other essential elements of life. These microorganisms decompose dead organisms and recycle nutrients, making the nutrients available for use by other organisms in an ecosystem. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 119

119

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Microorganisms are also the primary food source at the bottom of certain food chains.

Phytoplankton, like algae, for example, is a source of food for shrimp, snails, and some small fish.

What Do You Think?

Suppose an animal is born and raised in a sterile laboratory environment free of microorganisms.

Another animal is raised in a standard environment containing a vast array of microorganisms. Which animal do you think would be healthier if it was released into the wild? Why? Microorganisms sometimes Looking to the Future: Bioremediation help clean up oil spills, Microorganisms have an astonishing array of metabolic including the 2010 Deep options. Almost every chemical on Earth is able to be Horizon oil spill in the Gulf used and recycled by at least one microorganism. In of Mexico. addition to decomposing and recycling living matter, microorganisms can digest a variety of pollutants and toxins from their environment.

Scientists are studying how best to use these microorganisms to help clean up environmental pollution. The methodical, artificial process of using live organisms to clean up the environment is called bioremediation.

One example of a microorganism that is currently being studied is Geobacter. This tiny microbe is able to digest and remove petroleum and radioactive metals from ground water. Geobacter has the added advantage of potentially converting these wastes to biofuels. Scientists are hopeful about future environmental applications of this exciting microorganism.

Harmful Microorganisms Some microorganisms feed themselves in a way that causes harm to other organisms. These microorganisms are called pathogens. Pathogens cause a number of different diseases in humans including meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and whooping cough. For example, whooping cough (or pertussis) is caused by a bacterium called Bordetella pertussis. This bacterium produces a toxin, attacks the lungs, and causes an increased secretion of mucus by its human host.

120

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 120

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS These activities of the bacterium cause coughing. The most easily recognized symptom of whooping cough is a cough followed by a rapid inhale of air (whoop).

Animals have evolved a variety of ways to avoid pathogens and stay healthy. Our immune system has three main strategies for fighting pathogens.

• Barriers: Our skin includes a thick layer of cells that protects us from foreign matter and cells. Openings in our bodies, like our nostrils, are protected by mucus that traps and removes debris.

• Nonspecific immune response: Specialized cells in the body recognize and remove any foreign matter or cell.

• Specific immune response: White blood cells in the blood stream fight specific pathogens and produce memory cells that search and defend against a particular pathogen.

What Do You Think?

The memory cells produced in the specific immune response protect the body from future encounters with that same pathogen. The first encounter with a pathogen (before memory cells are produced) generally results in illness because the immune system takes time to respond. The pathogen is able to cause disease during this time. The memory cells that are produced during the initial encounter are able to respond much faster to the pathogen in future encounters, often destroying the pathogen before we are even aware that we have been infected.

Immunization: the process of inducing immunity through the introduction of an infectious agent in small doses

The production of memory cells is how immunizations protect us from disease. An immunization often contains dead or weakened pathogens. This triggers the production of memory cells. If we encounter the actual pathogen, our memory cells will be able to destroy it before it causes disease.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 121

121

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Look Out! Pathogens are not only harmful to the individual; they can also be harmful to a population, a community, and an entire ecosystem. An outbreak of a disease, or an epidemic, can kill a number of individuals in a short amount of time. This decreases the population size and can affect other populations within the same area. For example, if an outbreak kills a number of mice, the predators that eat mice will have less available food. In this way, pathogens can affect the entire community. Some pathogens infect plants and can destroy entire crops. This can be devastating to farmers and other people who depend on the crops as a food source.

If a large enough number of populations is affected, the entire ecosystem can be changed. Pandemics are the most devastating form of epidemic; a pandemic is a worldwide epidemic. What Do You Know?

122

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 122

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS What Do You Think?

In the chart below, list two examples of each of the following: • • • •

How microorganisms can be helpful to the individual How microorganisms can be harmful to the individual How microorganisms can be helpful to the ecosystem How microorganisms can be harmful to the ecosystem Helpful

Harmful

Individual

Ecosystem

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 123

123

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: MICROORANISMS Connecting With Your Child Using Microbes to Make Yogurt Making yogurt can help your child better appreciate the importance of beneficial microbes. Encourage your child to research and compare a variety of yogurt recipes, choosing one that best suits your resources of time and materials. These recipes have three essential steps. First, the milk is heated to a temperature that will kill pathogens and microorganisms that can produce unpleasant flavors. The temperature for this step is near or at boiling. Recipes that use slightly cooler temperatures at this step generally heat the milk for longer periods of time. The second step is to bring the milk to the optimum temperature for the Lactobacillus or other strain of bacteria.

These bacteria produce yogurt by fermenting lactose and producing acidic end products. Most bacteria used in this process grow best at temperatures around 50°C. When the milk has reached this temperature, the third step is to add a starter culture; starter cultures are found in completed yogurt. Once the culture is added, the milk is maintained at the optimum temperature for some length of time, often overnight.

After making the yogurt, have your child draw an illustration or a series of illustrations/ steps to summarize the role of microorganisms in the production of yogurt. Your child should include an explanation as to why yogurt needs to be refrigerated.

Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • What would happen if the milk had not been heated enough during the first step?

• Does completed yogurt contain live bacteria? How do you know?

• What would happen if the milk had not been maintained at optimum temperature for the third step? Explain.

124

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 124

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Reading Science Name:

Date:

The Scoop on the Microbs 1.

Germs are all around us. They live in soil, food, air, and water. Germs are even found on us and in us! They are in your hair, your skin, your teeth, and even in your stomach, but germs are so small that you can’t see them. That’s why they are called microorganisms or microbes for short.

2.

Germs can be either your friends or your enemies. Some of them can cause diseases, but most of them are harmless. Some germs actually help us. Some germs in our throat help by making a substance that fights against harmful germs. Some germs in our stomach help us digest our food.

3.

Some germs are harmful and cause diseases. Let’s take a look at some microbes and their purpose.

Viruses 4. Viruses are the smallest microbe. You need a very special microscope to see them. Viruses are parasites, which means they can only survive inside of cells of living things. Viruses invade the cells in your body. They replicate themselves inside your cells. Then some viruses leave the cells in which they were made and invade other cells in your body. Eventually, when enough cells get invaded by viruses, you start to feel ill.

5.

Viruses can cause mild illnesses such as the common cold or more serious illnesses that can be deadly such as AIDS.

Bacteria 6. Bacteria are larger than viruses. They are single-celled and come in many shapes including spherical, tube shaped, rectangular, star-shaped, and spiral.

They do not need to replicate inside other cells. They duplicate on their own.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 125

125

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Reading Science 7.

Bacteria have been around for billions of years. They were among the first organisms on the Earth. Some can live in freezing cold or scalding temperatures.

Most like it where it is warm and moist. That’s why we find bacteria in our bodies.

Every surface of your body has bacteria on it.

8.

Some bacteria are harmless to humans, while some cause illness. Bacteria can cause strep throat. Eating food that has harmful bacteria, such as undercooked chicken, can cause illness in your body. It can cause food poisoning.

Fungi 9. When people think of fungi, they often think of mushrooms. Mushrooms are one kind of fungi. Some mushrooms are poisonous and some are safe to eat. Yeast is a type of fungi that is used in bread, some candies, and some soft drinks.

Fungi are very useful in making medicines that cure illnesses caused by harmful bacteria.

10. Some types of fungi are also harmful. Ringworm and athlete’s foot are caused by a fungus. Molds are fungi and people can be allergic to mold.

Protozoa 11. Protozoa live in soil, including the sand in the hot desert. They also live in water, but most protozoa in water do not cause disease. Protozoa are usually used in sewage treatment plants because they can eat harmful bacteria.

12. Sometimes water can be contaminated with protozoa that do cause disease.

The water can become polluted with too many protozoa. These come from either sick humans or animal droppings. Too many protozoa make it harder to clean the water. The protozoa get into their drinking water. Drinking that water can make people sick.

Algae 13. Algae are unusual microbes because they are the only ones that can make their own food through photosynthesis. Algae are close relatives to plants. They have chlorophyll in their cells, just like plants have. Algae can be found many places including in seaweed and also on the outside of tree trunks. They can be single celled or multi-celled.

126

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 126

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Reading Science 14. Some people eat seaweed because the seaweed is so closely related to plants.

Sometimes there can be an overgrowth of algae in water, and this can kill fish and other animals.

15. Microbes are found everywhere. They were the first known organisms on planet Earth. With all of the microbes around that can be harmful, it is important to take care of our bodies. We need to wash our hands, keep hands away from our faces, and protect ourselves around people who may be ill. However, some of the microbes are needed and help us stay healthy.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 127

127

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

4.

In the word microorganisms, what does the prefix “micro-” mean?

A.

Unusual

B.

Not

C.

Again

D.

Minute

The main idea of the text is – A.

all microorganisms can be deadly.

B.

scientists are working to keep people safe from germs.

C.

it is important to protect yourself from germs.

D.

some germs are harmful, but most germs are helpful.

The word contaminated means – A.

cleaned.

B.

polluted.

C.

organized.

D.

suited.

The author organized the different sections on microorganisms by – A.

Describing how microorganisms can be hurtful and harmful.

B.

Explaining how microorganisms can cause diseases.

C.

Telling what happens when too many microorganisms are in one place.

D.

Sequencing the most harmful to the least harmful microbes.

128

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 128

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Reading Science 5.

6.

7.

What is the relationship between bacteria and fungi?

A.

Fungi cause disease that bacteria cure.

B.

Bacteria are needed for fungi to form.

C.

Fungi cure illnesses caused by bacteria.

D.

Bacteria kill illnesses caused by fungi.

Which evidence helps the reader know the meaning of replicate?

A.

Start to feel ill

B.

Invade more parts of your body

C.

Get invaded by viruses

D.

New cells

How are bacteria different from viruses?

A.

Viruses cause illnesses and bacteria do not.

B.

Bacteria cause illnesses and viruses do not.

C.

Bacteria replicate on their own and viruses do not.

D.

Viruses replicate on their own and bacteria do not.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 129

129

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 130

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Mrs. Hanover is a biomedical engineer. She works for a pharmaceutical company that has been working on a new antibiotic medication. Mrs. Hanover has discovered a new bacteria that may help doctors to be more effective when treating fatal infections in patients. Mrs. Hanover is responsible for measuring the bacteria’s growth over time. The results are below.

Time, h

Number of Bacteria, b

0 hours

500,000

1 hours

1,000,000

2 hours

2,000,000 4,000,000

5 hours

16,000,000

6 hours 7 hours

1.

How many bacteria will be present in the sample after 7 hours?

2.

How much time would it take for the bacteria population to grow to 8,000,000?

3.

Which pattern describes the relationship between the number of hours and the number of bacteria?

A.

The number of bacteria is increasing by 2,000,000 each hour.

B.

The number of bacteria is the sum of the hours plus 2,000,000.

C.

The number of bacteria is the product of the hours times 2,000,000.

D.

The number of bacteria is doubling every hour.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 131

131

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Math Connections 4.

Create a graph from the table on the previous page. Remember to label your xand y-axes, and title your graph.

5.

How many bacteria will be present after 10 hours? List the point below as an ordered pair. (The graph is not large enough to plot it.)

132

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 132

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Math Connections Successful species in a given area have the ability to grow its population, also known as population density. While studying vibrio natriegens, or V. Natriegens, scientists plotted the growth in population density over time. V. Natriegens is a marine bacterium that is commonly found in mud surrounding the mouths of rivers. Because this bacterium has a short incubation period, data was recorded in minutes.

6.

Create a data table in the space below based on the graph above.

Time, Min (x)

0

1

2

3

4

5

Population Density, Millions (y)

7.

Why do you think the curved line did not start at the origin?

8.

When did the population exceed 1 million bacteria?

9.

When do you think the population will exceed 3 million bacteria?

10. Do you see any patterns in the data?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 133

133

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 134

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Microorganisms are very tiny and cannot be seen by the naked eye. Some examples of microorganisms are bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These microscopic organisms can be beneficial, but some can be harmful.

THINK about examples of microorganisms.

WRITE about how microorganisms can be beneficial to humans. How can they be harmful to humans?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 135

135

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5L4AB Microorganisms

Writing Science Topic:

136

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 136

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P1A

Physical Changes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 137

137

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 138

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Mixtures Part I: Ice Pop Record all data and observations in the table below.

Mass

Color

State of Matter

Before After 1.

What changed about the ice pop?

2.

In what ways did the ice pop stay the same?

3.

Was a new substance created? How do you know?

Part II: Did It Disappear?

Record all data and observations in the table below.

Before Mixing

After Mixing

After Boiling

Sugar

Water

1.

What happened to the sugar and water when you mixed them?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 139

139

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Explore Student Journal Part II: Did It Disappear?, continued 2.

Was a new substance created in this process? How do you know?

Part III: Mystery Substance Record all data and observations in the table below.

Before Mixing

After Mixing

After Separating

Sand

Iron Filings 1.

How did you separate the iron filings and the sand?

2.

Was a new substance created in this process? How do you know?

Reflection 1.

In your own words, what is a physical change? Give an example.

140

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 140

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES 5P1A

Reflect

Take a look around you. Everything you see is made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space. You are made of matter. Your chair is made of matter. So is your desk, your bicycle, and something to eat like an apple.

How would you describe an apple? You might say that an apple is red, or that it is round. “Red” and “round” are physical properties of the apple. Physical properties are characteristics that you can observe. Color and shape are two physical properties of matter.

Matter can be in three different states, or forms. The three states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. Water is a liquid. Ice is a solid. Water vapor is a gas. Water, ice, and water vapor are all the same kind of matter.

Physical Changes • Water changing to ice • Water evaporating to vapor • Chocolate melting • Paper tearing

Physical Changes A physical change is a change in a physical property of matter. You break food into smaller pieces when you chew. Breaking something into smaller pieces is a physical change. Chewing changes the size and shape of the food. Chewing does not change the food into a different kind of matter.

• A piece of wood being cut

Physical changes are merely changing the way something looks or feels. The list below shows some common examples of physical changes: Cutting, folding and tearing are physical changes. They change the size and shape of objects. When you cut paper, you change the size and shape of the paper. It is still paper when you are done. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 141

141

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES Things can change in many ways. Here are some ways we change things.

Folding changes a flat piece of paper into an airplane.

Melting changes ice cubes into liquid water.

Cutting changes a tree into boards and sawdust.

What is a mixture?

Mixtures are very common. When you combine, or add together, two or more different types of matter, you make a mixture. The parts that are combined are often called ingredients. Mixtures always have at least two ingredients. They can have many more. The two ingredients in mud are dirt and water. There are many ingredients in a cake. Most cakes include flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, water, and oil or butter.

Sometimes it is easy to see the parts of a mixture. A fruit salad is a mixture of different fruits. You can see the ingredients because they are big. What ingredients can you find in this fruit salad mixture?

Mixtures are combinations of solids, liquids, or gases.

Sand and clay is an example of a mixture of solids.

Salt water is a mixture of solids and a liquid. The air around us is a mixture of gases. Although it contains some dust particles, air is mostly made of the gases nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. In some mixtures, the ingredients keep all their physical properties, such What properties could you as shape, size, and color. When this happens, the ingredients are easy to separate. Think about a bowl use to separate this mixture? of snack mix made with pretzels and raisins.

142

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 142

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES Look Out! You can use properties like size and shape to separate the pretzels from the mixture.

However, even mixtures such as salt water or lemonade may be separated by physical means.

Making a mixture does not create a new material. This is true even when the mixture looks very different from the particles combined to make it. Mixtures can be unmixed or separated pretty easily.

Take a few minutes to identify mixtures and their ingredients.

1. Collect 3–5 different types of breakfast cereal.

2. Pour a small pile of each cereal onto separate plates.

3. Identify which cereals are mixtures and which are not. How can you tell which are mixtures?

4. Choose one of the cereals that is a mixture. What are the different ingredients in the mixture?

5. Separate one piece of each type of ingredient. Spend some time observing the ingredients.

6. What are the properties of each ingredient in this mixture? Does the ingredient keep its properties when it is in the mixture? How did you use its properties to separate it? Did you look at its color to separate it? Did you look at its shape?

What Do You Think?

How can the materials in a mixture be separated?

Sometimes mixtures need to be separated into their parts. You can use the properties of the ingredients to do this. To separate the parts of trail mix, you can look at the different shapes and colors of the ingredients. Different ingredients also feel different. You can use your fingers to separate the nuts from the raisins and chocolate pieces.

Because the pieces are large and have such different A worker separates properties, it is fairly easy to separate them. small pieces of wheat from big pieces using a sieve. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 143

143

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES For other mixtures, separating the ingredients is more difficult.

Gravel is a mixture of sand and small rocks. How would you separate the parts of gravel? It would be very difficult to pick out every bit of sand with your fingers. One solution is to use a sieve (pronounced “siv”). Sieves are tools used to separate small pieces of a mixture from large pieces. A sieve has a section with small holes in it. Gravel is placed in the sieve Mixtures can and shaken. The sand passes through the small holes while be separated in the larger rocks that can’t fit through the holes remain in different ways. the sieve. The mixture is separated into its ingredients after passing through the sieve.

Mixtures containing certain metals can be separated with a magnet. Suppose you have a mixture of metal paperclips and plastic paperclips. You can use a magnet to separate the parts. The metal paperclips will be attracted to the magnet. The plastic ones won’t be. Holding the magnet above the mixture will pull out all the metal paperclips. The mixture is separated into its ingredients.

Try Now Take a little time to investigate some mixtures.

1. For this activity, you will need the following supplies: • 2 clear plastic cups • 6 marbles • Water • Steel paper clips • Small dry noodles such as elbow macaroni • A magnet 2. In one of the cups, make a mixture of water and marbles. Then separate the mixture.

3. In the other cup, make a mixture of marbles, dry noodles, and steel paper clips.

Then separate this mixture.

4. What physical properties did you use to help you separate each mixture? Could you have used other properties?

144

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 144

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES Everyday Life: Blood is a mixture too!

Blood is a mixture of different cells and a liquid substance called plasma. There are three types of cells in blood: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Each cell has a specific job to do to help keep the body healthy.

Sometimes people do not have Cells: the smallest enough of one type of blood cell living parts of an and they become sick. Luckily, organism healthy people around the world donate their blood to help other people who may need Blood is a mixture of red it. The donated blood can be separated using a special and white blood cells, spinning process. Then the separate parts of the blood platelets, and plasma. can be given to people who need each part.

What makes a solution a unique type of mixture?

Dissolve: to spread out In some mixtures, the physical properties of the evenly in a liquid. ingredients change when they are mixed together.

Think again about lemonade. When you add lemon juice to water, the water changes color. Then, when you add sugar to the mixture and stir, the sugar dissolves and is no longer solid white. Lemonade is an example of a solution: a mixture of one or more substances dissolved evenly into another substance. A solution has physical properties that are a combination of properties from its ingredients. For example, lemonade has a yellow color from the lemon juice and a sweet taste from the sugar.

The ingredients in a solution cannot be separated by hand because of changes in the ingredients’ physical properties. But evaporation can be used to separate some solutions. For example, if you heat a solution of salt water for a while, the water will evaporate. The salt will be left behind.

What Do You Know?

Why is the ocean salty but not rivers? Think about how water moves on Earth. The land contains many compounds, including salts. Rivers run over land to the sea.

Water evaporates into the air where it forms clouds. Rain falls from the clouds and runs into the rivers. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 145

145

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES A mixture contains these parts: sand, sawdust, iron pieces, salt, and glass marbles.

Below are six steps in a process that can separate all the parts of this mixture. Put the steps in the correct order. Write a 1 in front of the first step, a 2 in front of the second step, and so forth. Also, write the part that will be separated as a result of each step.

A few of the steps can happen at different times.

Order

Step

What part will it separate?

Pour the mixture into a bucket of water.

Pass a magnet through the mixture.

Pass the mixture through a screen.

Evaporate the water.

Pour the mixture through a filter.

Remove material floating on the surface.

Everyday Life: Origami Look at this picture. Can you see how the paper has been folded to make a swan? Folding paper to make shapes like animals is called origami. When you are folding paper you are changing a physical property. You are changing the shape and the size of the paper.

Origami began in Japan, but people all over the world do it. You can find books at the library that show you how.

146

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 146

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES Connecting With Your Child Separating Mixtures by Evaporation A solution is also called a homogeneous mixture. This means that the parts are thoroughly mixed and we don’t usually see the separate parts easily. For example, when sugar dissolves in water, individual sugar particles separate from the larger sugar grains and become surrounded by water particles. Salt water is also a homogeneous mixture. The other type of mixture is a heterogeneous mixture. In this case, the individual bits of the components are larger than the small particles, as in a mixture of salt and sand.

As a result, the ingredients are more clumped, or less random.

Heat and surface area both increase the rate of evaporation. In the case of a solution, evaporation eventually leads to the loss of all the water, leaving behind the original dissolved material as a solid.

This solid will be little changed from its original form before it was dissolved.

You can perform this activity with your child to observe the dissolution and recovery by evaporation of salt and sugar from a solution. Follow these steps:

1. Measure a sample of sugar and a sample of salt of equal size. If a scale or balance is available, make the samples of equal mass.

2. Add identical volumes of water to Solutions (homogeneous mixtures) are identical glasses. most easily separated by evaporation.

3. Add the sugar sample to one glass This process allows the solvent (for and the salt sample to the other glass, example, water) to leave the solution and and stir until dissolved. Observe any enter the atmosphere as gas molecules difference in the rate of dissolution. (for example, water vapor). This is how 4. Pour each solution into identical pie evaporation happens: In both pure water and in a water solution, particles pans or other wide-mouth containers. of water are always passing back and Do not keep track of which is which. forth between the liquid and the air at the 5. Put the samples in a place where they are safe from contamination. surface. Evaporation happens when more molecules leave the solution than enter.

6. When all the water has evaporated, find the mass of the solids.

7. Ask your child to identify the samples.

Which is the sugar, and which is the salt?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 147

147

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: PHYSICAL CHANGES Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • • • •

Did the salt and sugar change in any way during the experiment?

Did a chemical change take place? Why or why not?

What physical changes occurred?

Can evaporation be used to separate a mixture of salt and sugar?

148

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 148

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Reading Science Name:

Date:

My Day Off from School January 24, 2015 1. I woke up this morning and looked out the window. A freshly fallen blanket of white snow covered the brown winter grass.

My school cancelled today, so we can stay safe at home because the roads are too slick. Any morning I could sleep in is a blessing, and I loved spending time watching my favorite TV shows this morning. After awhile though, I got bored, so I walked around and thought about what I could do.

2.

My science teacher, Mrs. Golden, had been teaching us about physical changes. She told us that physical changes were changes that changed the shape or form of something, but their molecular structure remained unchanged. I decided I wanted to do some experiments of my own on physical change today. With the freshly fallen snow outside, I couldn’t wait to get my hands in it and play! I geared up in my snow boots, snow pants, coat, hat, mittens, and scarf, and I darted out the door.

3.

Luckily for me, it was a very wet snow and perfect snow for constructing things. I took a handful of snow, packed it into a ball, and rolled it in the snow. It grew and grew until it was a large ball. I took another handful of snow, made it into a ball and rolled it, too. This time I made a medium-sized ball. I put a wide board on the big snowball and rolled the medium-sized one up on the bigger one. Then I took away the board. I packed snow around the area where the two balls met. Finally, I rolled a third ball that was smaller than the others and placed it on top of the other two. Once again, I packed snow around where the two balls met, so they would stay in place. I added a carrot nose and found a hat in the garage. There were no twigs for arms, as the whole ground was covered with snow, so he’d have to have no arms.

4.

I continued to play in the snow. I changed some of the snow into a snow fort as well. I thought back to Mrs. Golden’s lesson on physical changes. My snow adventures were all physical changes. I changed the smooth snow into other shapes, but it stayed the same substance.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 149

149

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Reading Science 5.

I was starting to get a little cold outside, so I decided it was time to head inside for a snack and to warm up. I got out some Cheerios, chocolate chips, raisins, pretzels, and marshmallows. I dumped some of each into a bowl and mixed it together. It looked heavenly and smelled sweet and salty. Just the perfect snack!

What better to go with it than hot chocolate?

6.

I took the milk out of the fridge. I tipped the milk jug up and filled my mug half full.

I placed the milk into the microwave to warm it up, and after about two minutes, I took it out and scooped the hot chocolate mix into the milk. I stirred it around with a spoon and watched my milk turn brown. I now had hot chocolate milk.

7.

I ended my day folding different-sized paper airplanes. I found a pack of large pieces of paper. I folded a sheet to divide it out into different squares. I cut it down to the sizes I needed and began folding different-sized airplanes. After all of my folding and cutting, I needed to test out my different-sized planes to see how they flew, and if their sizes mattered to their flight distance. I found the tape measure and got ready to launch.

8.

I launched each plane from the same spot, and after I launched them all, I measured their distances. Some flew leaps and bounds, and some only flew a few feet.

9.

When I looked at the clock, I couldn’t believe it was almost time for dinner. My snow day was gone in the blink of an eye. My day of “making” made me realize physical changes are everywhere. I hoped the snow would stay around awhile longer. I couldn’t wait to change it some more and make some snowballs for my fort. School’s on for tomorrow, so the snowballs will have to wait for another day.

150

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 150

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The narrator’s actions throughout the day showed the reader that the narrator is – A.

creative at solving problems.

B.

bored at home and trying to find things to keep occupied.

C.

determined to teach class about physical changes.

D.

relying on others to keep occupied.

Why did the author write the story in first person?

A.

It makes the writing easier to read.

B.

It makes the writing personal from the narrator’s perspective.

C.

It makes the writing easier to write from the author’s point of view.

D.

It helps talk about what happens on children’s snow days.

The reader can tell this is written like a diary entry because it – A.

talks about events from a day in someone’s life.

B.

includes the date of the events.

C.

is written by the person who experienced it.

D.

all of the above.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 151

151

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Reading Science 4.

5.

From the reading, the reader can tell which of the following would NOT be a physical change?

A.

Cutting wood

B.

Crushing a can

C.

Popping balloons

D.

Baking a cake

Read the sentence below.

Some flew leaps and bounds, and some only flew a few small feet.

Leaps and bounds means –

6.

A.

flew a couple of inches.

B.

flew a long way.

C.

flew over hills.

D.

bounded and leaped across.

Another word for darted is – A.

walked.

B.

sprang.

C.

trudged.

D.

ceased.

152

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 152

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Math Connections Name:

1.

Date:

A group of students are trying to see how fast they can separate 1,045 marbles into 5 equal groups based on color. If it took the students 420 seconds to separate the marbles, how many minutes did it take them? minutes How many marbles are in each of the 5 groups?

2.

marbles

Mr. Harrison is cutting wood. Find the volume of the piece of wood before he cut it and the volume of the wood after he cut it.

Before:

After:

15 in

7 in

4 in 2 in

4 in

2 in

3.

James folded a piece of paper into 8 equal parts. He colored ²∕8 of the parts red, ²∕8 of them green, and ²∕8 of them blue. What fraction of the paper is not colored?

4.

Kelly is decorating a present with a piece of ribbon that is 2 feet 6 inches long.

She decides that the ribbon is a little too long, so she cuts off 10 inches. How many inches long is her ribbon now? ft. in.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 153

153

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Math Connections 5.

A teacher is mixing sand with iron filings in a beaker. She uses a magnet to show her students how to separate the mixture. She filled ¹∕3 of the beaker with sand and ²∕4 of it with iron filings. Does it contain more sand, or more iron filings?

Compare the fractions using the correct symbol of <, >, or =: 1⁄

3

2⁄ 4

6.

Sam used ³∕5 of a can of blue paint on the walls in his bedroom. Write ³∕5 as a decimal.

7.

Ricky puts a sheet of paper with an area of 88 square inches into a shredding machine. If the machine shreds the paper into 11 equal pieces, what is the area square inches of one of the shredded pieces?

8.

Sarah is decorating a poster for a project. She has 23 different stamps. If she uses each stamp 6 times somewhere on her poster, how many total stamps will stamps be on her project?

154

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 154

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Writing Science Name:

Date:

Look at this picture.

THINK about your favorite pizza toppings. The pizza in the picture is ready to bake.

Why are the toppings considered a mixture?

WRITE about what happens to some toppings while the pizza is being baked. Are the toppings still considered a mixture? Do they change at all? Can they still be separated? Would any of them become a solution when heated in an oven?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 155

155

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1A Physical Changes

Writing Science Topic:

156

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 156

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P1B

States of Water

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 157

157

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 158

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Part I Record your observations on the table below.

Temperature

Drawing

Observations

Cold Water

Room Temperature Water

Hot Water

1.

How did the food coloring move differently in each beaker of water?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 159

159

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Explore Student Journal Part I, continued In the table below, draw and label how the baby powder moved on its own and above the boiling water.

Baby Powder Alone

Baby Powder Over Boiling Water

2. What is the relationship between the temperature of the water and the motion of the particles in the water?

Part II Use the table below to describe how particles move differently in each state of matter.

Solid

160

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 160

Liquid

Gas

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER Reflect

5P1B

Water is one of the most important parts of our planet. All living things need water to survive. You use many forms of water every day. You may use ice (solid water) to keep your iced tea cold. You drink liquid water and use it to take baths and showers. But did you know that there is also water in the air that you cannot see? How does water get into the air? How does water in the air get back to the ground?

Remember that everything around you, including water, is a form of matter. Matter can go through physical changes and still keep its original properties. Matter exists in three forms; solid, liquid, and gas. All matter is made of small, moving particles, and the speed of those particles determines whether something is in the solid, liquid, or gaseous state. Temperature affects how quickly these particles move; heating or cooling an object can Matter: anything that change its state of matter. Temperature is a physical takes up space and has property that shows how much energy an object has. mass Heating an object increases its energy. Cooling an object decreases its energy. Temperature of an object is measured with a thermometer. The hotter the temperature, the faster the particles move. When particles are very close together and moving very slowly something is a solid. Where they are close together but sliding all around each other, an object is a liquid. When the particles are completely separated and bouncing around, you have something in a gas state.

When we think of water, we usually think of it as a liquid. However, water can also be a solid or a gas. When water is a solid, it is called ice. When water is a gas, it is called water vapor. The table on the next page shows water in each state of matter.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 161

161

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER Three States of Water Solid (Ice)

Liquid

Gas (Water Vapor)

Has its own shape that does not change

Takes the shape of the part of the container it fills

Expands to fill the entire container it is in

Does not move

Flows towards the bottom

Moves easily in all directions

Look Out! Water undergoes physical changes when it changes from state to state. It freezes at 0 degrees Celsius (0°C) and boils at 100 degrees Celsius (100°C). At any temperature between those, water will be found in its liquid state.

Once water boils, and the particles start moving faster and faster, water turns into its gas form known as water vapor. When water vapor cools, you can see it in liquid form again as condensation. Cooling causes condensation droplets to form on solid surfaces like mirrors and drinking glasses.

162

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 162

Condensation forms on the outside of glasses as water vapor cools in the air.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER What Do You Think?

Take a look at these pictures. The picture on the left shows ice cubes sitting in a puddle of water. The picture on the right shows a glass of iced tea with drops of water on the side. Where did the puddle of water under the ice cubes come from? Where did the drops of water on the glass come from?

Support your answers with evidence: How do you know?

What happens to ice when it is heated?

Imagine that you take five ice cubes and put them on the road on a warm summer day. You let them sit for a few minutes, and then you come back. What do you think you will see? You will probably see a puddle of liquid water! But where did the ice go?

The particles in a solid (left) are packed tightly together. The particles in a liquid (right) move easily around each other, which is why we can pour liquids.

Ice is solid water. Ice has the same particles as liquid water, but they are packed together and don’t move around each other the same as they do in liquid water. The particles of liquid water can flow and move around each other. That is why it is hard to hold liquid water in your hand. The particles move around each other and around your hand. Ice is easier to hold in your hand because the particles don’t move around the same way.

When ice is heated, the particles in the ice start to move more quickly. The water changes from a solid state (ice) to a liquid state (water). Remember that cooling causes water vapor to change to liquid water. Similarly, heating causes ice to change to liquid water.

Similarly, heating causes ice to change to liquid water. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 163

163

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER Look Out! Let’s take a closer look at melting ice.

1. Get two ice cubes and two plastic bags.

2. Seal one ice cube in each bag.

3. Put one bag on a table. Put the other bag in a cooler, lunch bag, or thermos.

4. Make a prediction about which ice cube will last longer.

5. Check each bag after 10 minutes and record what you see.

6. After another 10 minutes, check each bag again. Record what you see. Keep watching the ice in the bags until both cubes have melted.

7. Which ice cube melted first, the one on the table or the one in the insulated bag?

8. Why didn’t the ice cubes melt at the same rate?

Scientists in the Spotlight: Adrienne Block You know that ice is cold. Can you imagine being surrounded by ice and snow all day long? Polar scientist Adrienne Block doesn’t work in a lab; she works in one of the coldest places on the planet: Antarctica. Block lives and works in the cold so that she can learn about mountains that are buried deep beneath thick ice sheets. Did the mountains form beneath water that later froze? Did the ice sheets slide over mountains that had already formed? Block and her team are working hard to answer these questions. What Do You Know?

We see many forms of water every day. The table on this page shows two examples. Describe the water in each picture and explain how heating or cooling caused the changes in state.

164

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 164

The mountains that Block is exploring are located in the center of Antarctica, about 4 km beneath the ice.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER Ice melting

How is the water changing?

What is causing this change?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 165

Condensation on spider web

How is the water changing?

What is causing this change?

165

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: STATES OF WATER Connecting With Your Child Water Scavenger Hunt To help your child learn more about water and how it moves and changes, lead your child on a water scavenger hunt. Help identify all of the places in your home and the surrounding area where forms of water are present. Make sure to help your child identify not only liquid water and ice (solid water), but also evidence of water vapor (water as a gas in the air). Also guide your child to notice how heating and cooling can change the form of water.

Examples include: • Liquid water from the sink, bathtub, or toilet • Ice (solid water) in the freezer, a drink, or outside on a winter day • Water that came from the air: e.g., condensation on the side of a glass of ice water, on the windshield, on the grass in the morning, etc.

166

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 166

Help your child to understand that all forms of water—solid, liquid, and gas— are still water.

The water particles are the same in each form; they simply move around differently.

Here are some questions to discuss with your child: • How are all forms of water similar?

• What are the characteristics of different forms of water?

• How does heating and cooling affect water and ice?

• What are some examples of condensation? (Examples: dew on the grass; a fogged-up windshield or bathroom mirror; drops on the outside of a glass of ice water)

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Journey with a Drop 1.

What could you learn if you traveled with a single, tiny drop of water? You’d probably discover that water is always in existence. It never goes away; it cycles through different phases of matter as it travels.

Humans measure their journey through life from birth to death. We never repeat an age we go through. If you measured a water drop’s journey, you would see it cycle through different phases. At times it may be liquid in a swimming pool and another time it may be frozen as snow on the ground or locked up in a glacier.

Sometimes it is vapor in the air. Let’s take a look at a drop of water’s lengthy journey.

2.

When we first see the drop, it is one of billions in an ocean. Being part of the ocean means it is liquid, of course. The water droplet moves around the ocean.

All of sudden, it is on the top of the ocean, and it makes contact with the air. It’s resting right on top, but it is connected to the many other ocean droplets.

3.

Soon, the sun comes out. It transfers its thermal energy to the water. As the liquid water is heated, the individual drops gain more and more energy. Eventually, it is released from the attraction of the surrounding water in the ocean and enters the air as vapor. It now calls the air home. The drop looks different now too. It has gone through a change in phase from liquid to gas. In fact, it doesn’t even look like a drop now. We can’t even see it! It has evaporated!

4.

It’s gained enough heat energy to transform from a liquid to a gas. In its new state, it is moving with other gas above the ocean in the air. All of the salt particles have been left behind in the ocean because the salt is too heavy for the droplet to carry. The water droplet continues to rise all the way up until it reaches air that is cold. As the droplet gets cooler, it loses more and more energy and slows down drastically. It stops bouncing all around and slows down. It collides with other drops, and they stick together. They stick together with dust and other particles that have floated up or have fallen from space as well.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 167

167

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Reading Science 5.

The droplets and dust continue to stick together until they’ve created a cloud.

The wind carries the cloud along over the Rocky Mountains, and the cloud gets heavier with the more water droplets it is carrying. The cloud gets lower in the sky, and it is ready to release some of its water droplets back down to land in big drops of rain.

6.

The drop falls right onto the top of the Rocky Mountains where it is cold. There, the drop changes its physical state again. This time, it is 0 degrees Celsius, and the droplet freezes on the glacier that lands on the top of the mountain. For many months, the droplet is quiet and still. It has no energy to move. It has crystallized and joined other fellow droplets that are now one large sheet of ice.

7.

After some months, the ice melts from the warming of the sun. Our frozen water drop and the surrounding ice slide down the mountain until they melt. The drop trickles all the way down the mountain and may stall and find itself flowing from a natural spring where it could be bottled up. Or it may find itself flowing into a larger body of water such as a lake or river. The tiny droplet of water has had quite an adventure and traveled thousands of miles around the world.

168

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 168

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Reading Science 1.

2.

The author wrote this passage mainly to – A.

show how water crystallizes.

B.

describe a water droplet’s journey in different states of matter.

C.

describe the way water evaporates.

D.

describe how water moves down a mountain and gets frozen.

Read the following sentence.

As the droplet gets cooler, it loses more and more energy and slows down drastically.

What does the word drastically tell the reader about the way the water droplet has slowed down?

3.

A.

The water droplet slows down quickly.

B.

The water droplet barely slows down.

C.

The water droplet slows down a lot.

D.

It takes a long time for the water droplet to slow down.

What effect is needed to change the state of matter of a drop of water?

A.

Evaporation

B.

Change in temperature

C.

Melting

D.

Crystallizing

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 169

169

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Reading Science 4.

5.

What evidence helps the reader understand the meaning of the word existence in paragraph 1?

A.

Water is always

B.

Cycles through

C.

Never goes away

D.

Travels through the atmosphere

Water changing phases in an example of a(n) – A.

chemical reaction.

B.

chemical change.

C.

physical change.

D.

experiment.

170

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 170

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Math Connections Name:

1.

Date:

Water boils at 212°F and freezes at 32°F. What is the difference between the boiling point and the freezing point?

Walter is conducting an experiment. He wants to see how much condensation is produced on the outside of a cup. His results are in the chart below. Use this information to answer questions 2–6.

Amount of Water (cups) 1 2 3 4 5

Amount of Condensation (teaspoons) 2 6

2.

Look for a pattern in the chart. How does the amount of water relate to the amount of condensation produced?

3.

Fill in the chart with the missing amounts.

4.

How much condensation is produced for 1 quart of water?

(1 quart = 4 cups)

5.

How much condensation is produced for 1 pint of water?

(1 pint = 2 cups)

6.

How much condensation is produced for 10 cups of water?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 171

171

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Math Connections 7.

When water freezes, it expands. Anthony takes a 4 in. x 5 in. x 2 in. container and fills it halfway with room-temperature water. He places the container in the freezer. When the water is frozen, he takes it out and realizes the volume is now 25 cubic inches. How much did the water expand?

Two liters of water are boiling at 212°F. The water cools at a rate of 6 degrees every 5 minutes. Use this information to answer questions 8–10.

8.

Fill in the table for the first 30 minutes of time.

Time in Min. Temperature °F

9.

0 212

What would the temperature be after 20 minutes?

10. How long would it take for the temperature to reach 6°F?

11. Which variable is the dependent variable? Which is the independent variable?

172

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 172

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Water can change states from a solid to a liquid to a gas through the process of heating and cooling.

THINK about whether water changing states is an example of a physical change or a chemical change.

WRITE about your own experiment for changing the state of water.

Include what materials you would use and detailed steps for your classmates to follow.

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 173

173

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1B States of Water

Writing Science Topic:

174

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 174

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P1C

Chemical Changes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 175

175

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 176

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Student Handout Name:

Date:

Apple Slice Observations Draw and describe your observations about the appearance of each apple slice.

Older Apple Slice

1.

Fresh Apple Slice

What do you think the inside of the older apple slice looks like?

Draw and describe what the inside of the older apple slice looks like in the space below.

2.

What do you think is happening to the apple slices?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 177

177

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 178

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

The Magic of Science!

Part I: Safety First!

• • Safety Rules to Remember • • • Part II: Let the Magic Begin!

Record your observations for each station.

Station

Observations

1

2

3 Starting Temperature _____ Ending Temperature _____ 4

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 179

179

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Explore Student Journal Analyze and Reflect 1.

What types of reactions were observed during the investigations?

2.

Thinking about each investigation, do you think it would be possible to reverse the change?

3.

Sometimes when two or more substances are mixed, a new substance is created. When a new substance is formed, a reaction takes place. Use the graphic organizer below to list all the ways you could know if a chemical change is happening.

Evidence of a Chemical Change

4.

How would you summarize the results of these investigations?

180

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 180

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES 5P1C

Reflect

Have you ever seen fireworks explode in the sky? If so, you may have observed a variety of different colors and shapes in the sky and watched with amazement as the colors changed overhead. These displays are not just a form of entertainment. When each firework is ignited, one or more chemical reactions take place.

The color of the display in the sky is determined by each chemical reaction. Each burst of color depends on the elements and compounds that are present in Fireworks are chemical the firework. reactions. The color of the What types of things do you observe during a fireworks firework depends on the reactants that are used. display? Perhaps you hear loud sounds, see bright lights, and feel the warmth of the explosion. Do any of these indicate that a chemical reaction has taken place?

Chemical reactions produce new molecules.

In a chemical reaction, molecules can change into different molecules through the rearrangement of their atoms. More specifically, atoms of the reactants rearrange to form new molecules. A chemical equation can be written to show what happens to the atoms in a chemical reaction. A chemical equation is written like this: The hydrogen and oxygen molecules (reactants) (products) involved in the reaction have different The arrow in a chemical reaction means “produce” or “are properties from water converted to.” vapor.

If you have ever seen water, you have seen the result of a chemical reaction. In this reaction, oxygen gas (O2) and hydrogen gas (H2) rearrange to form water (H2O). The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is written like this: O2 + 2H2O

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 181

2H2O 181

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES In this reaction, the reactants have different properties than the product. Oxygen gas and hydrogen gas have different properties than water. In the gas form, water vapor may look similar to both hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. They are all colorless gases.

Yet, they have different chemical properties. Oxygen is very reactive compared to both hydrogen gas and water vapor.

Hydrogen gas is much lighter than both oxygen gas and water vapor. The molecular structure of water is different from the structure of both oxygen and hydrogen gas.

These properties can distinguish the reactants from the products. These differences allow scientists to identify when a chemical reaction occurs.

What Do You Think?

Take a look at the following photographs. The picture on the left shows rusty nails.

The picture in the middle shows a lit matchstick. The picture on the right shows a rotting pumpkin. These images are all examples of chemical reactions taking place. In each image, how do you know a chemical reaction is occurring?

We can observe evidence of chemical reactions.

Scientists confirm that a chemical reaction occurs by determining if a new substance, with new properties, is formed. Scientists may perform additional chemical reactions and use instrumentation to confirm these new substances. Yet, there are signs or indicators that can suggest that a chemical reaction has occurred. The only way to know for sure that a chemical reaction has occurred is to identify the new substance.

If you observe one or more of these signs, this provides evidence that a chemical reaction may have taken place. Remember that not all chemical reactions will produce one of these signs.

182

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 182

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES Let’s look at the signs that provide evidence of a chemical reaction.

• Production of a gas: One very common reaction that involves the production of a gas is mixing sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda (NaHCO3), with an acid such as vinegar (CH3COOH). The products of this reaction are water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and a substance called sodium acetate (CH3COONaNaOOCCH3). During this reaction, you can see bubbles in the solution, as shown in the picture on the next page. These bubbles are caused by the carbon dioxide gas escaping into the air as the reaction takes place. The chemical equation for this reaction is: CH3COOH + NaHCO3

(vinegar) + (baking soda)

CH3COONaNaOOCCH3 + H2O + CO2

(sodium acetate) + (water) + (carbon dioxide)

• Production of light: The burning of logs in a fireplace is the reaction of the wood and oxygen along with a heat initiation source. Wood is made of cellulose, a combination of different substances that contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

When this reaction occurs, a large amount of energy is produced. This energy is in the form of both heat and light. This type of reaction is a combustion reaction. It is similar to the reaction that produces the bright light and heat in fireworks.

• Change in temperature: Chemical reactions can either give off heat or use heat.

Perhaps you have had an injury and applied a chemical heat pack to the area.

A chemical heat pack is an example of a reaction that produces heat. A common substance in a heat pack is magnesium sulfate (MgSO4). When the heat pack is activated, the magnesium sulfate reacts with water. The result is the production of heat, which you use to soothe your injury. Chemical cold packs work in an opposite way to use heat when they mix with water. They may feel very cool to the touch.

These temperature changes are evidence of a chemical reaction.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 183

183

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES • Formation of a precipitate: A precipitate is a solid substance that forms and separates from a solution. A precipitate often settles to the bottom of a liquid reaction. One common chemical reaction that forms a precipitate is the reaction of solutions of lead nitrate (Pb(NO3)2) and potassium iodide (KI).

Each of these substances in a solution is clear and colorless.

But, if you mix a solution of each substance, lead iodide (PbI2) and potassium nitrate (2KNO3) form as products. Lead iodide is insoluble, so it separates from the solution as a yellow precipitate (shown in the image on the right). The potassium nitrate remains in the solution. The chemical equation for this reaction is: Pb(NO3)2+PbKl Pbl2+2KNO3 What Do You Think?

• Change in color: You may have seen rust form on a steel object, such as a chain or an automobile. In this chemical reaction, iron (Fe) in the steel reacts with oxygen (O2) in the air, as well as water (H2O), to produce rust (Fe(OH)3). The properties of steel are different than the properties of rust. Steel is a shiny, silver metal made from iron and other elements. Rust is a flaky, reddish-colored substance. The change in color from silver to red provides evidence that a chemical reaction has happened.

Rusting is a complex reaction that happens in stages; the overall reaction may be written as follows: 4Fe(OH)3 4Fe + 6H2O + 3O2 Look Out! Do not confuse some physical changes with chemical reactions.

Suppose you have a glass of water and a spoonful of sugar. If you dissolve the sugar in the water, the resulting product seems different than the reactants, but it is just a mixture of sugar and water. No new substance has formed. However, if you place antacid tablets in water, the tablets dissolve through a chemical reaction. This is readily observed by the bubbling of gas in the glass.

184

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 184

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES The antacid tablets contain the substances sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and citric acid (C6H8O7). When these substances are placed in water, the atoms rearrange and carbon dioxide gas is produced. The picture to the right shows the gas bubbles that you observe in the glass.

Everyday Life: Rising dough is a chemical reaction.

Chemical reactions occur all around us: in rotting fruit, in rusting nails, and in baking bread. Bread dough is a mixture of ingredients, including flour, salt, sugar, warm water, and yeast. When these ingredients are combined, the ball of dough begins to expand, or rise. The rising happens because a chemical reaction is taking place inside the dough.

Look Out! This reaction is caused by yeast, a living organism that becomes active in warm water. Once activated, the yeast converts the sugar (C6H12O6) in the dough into alcohol (CH3CH2OH) and carbon dioxide (CO2) through a chemical reaction. This process is called fermentation.

The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is: The process of C6H12O6 2CH3CH2OH + 2CO2 fermentation — the (glucose) (alcohol) + (carbon dioxide) conversion of sugar to alcohol and carbon The release of carbon dioxide, which is a gas, causes dioxide — is a chemical the bread to rise. The carbon dioxide also gives the bread its light, airy texture. The alcohol produced by the reaction that causes bread to rise. reaction gives the bread its final taste. During baking, this alcohol evaporates and the yeast cells cease to be active.

What Do You know?

Certain evidence indicates that a chemical reaction may have occurred. This evidence includes the production of a gas, the production of light, a change in temperature, a color change, and the formation of a precipitate. Look at the types of reactions given below.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 185

185

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES For each reaction, decide which of the five types of evidence would be observed, and write your answer in the space below that evidence in the column on the next page.

More than one type of evidence may be possible for each example.

Type or Reaction

• • • • • •

The exploding of fireworks Baking a cake Burning paper Mixing an antacid tablet and water Making chalk from two liquids Blue litmus paper turning red in acid

Production of Gas

186

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 186

Production of Light

• A salt solution becoming cold as the salt dissolves • A copper penny tarnishing • Oxygen gas and hydrogen gas producing water and heat • Testing for carbon dioxide by bubbling a gas in limewater to produce a milkywhite solution

Change in Temperature

Color Change

Formation of Precipitate

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

STEMscopedia: CHEMICAL CHANGES Connecting With Your Child Investigating Chemical Reactions To help your child learn more about chemical reactions, work together to determine how to identify the evidence that may be observed when a chemical reaction occurs.

To do so, gather the following materials: • • • • •

3 glasses of water 2 effervescent tablets a tablespoon of sugar a tablespoon of Epsom salt a thermometer

While performing the chemical reactions, encourage your child to record all observations. Let the first glass contain the control sample in which no chemical reaction occurs. Add a tablespoon of sugar to the water in the glass and stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Record all observations until the sugar dissolves.

Remember that this control sample does not involve a chemical reaction because sugar dissolving in water is only a physical change. Then, have your child add both of the effervescent tablets to the second glass of water. Record any observations for at least two minutes while the tablets dissolve. Finally, place the thermometer in the third glass and record the initial water temperature. If a thermometer is not available, feel the outside of the glass and record if it feels hot, warm, or cold. Then, add a tablespoon of Epsom salt and gently stir the liquid using the thermometer. Make sure to watch the temperature closely and determine how the temperature changes when the salt is added.

After performing the reactions, discuss the following questions with your child: • In which of the glasses did a chemical reaction take place? How do you know?

• Why can you assume that a chemical reaction did not take place in all three glasses? How could you confirm that a chemical reaction took place in the glasses?

• Can you write a chemical equation to describe each chemical reaction that occurred?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 187

187

12/18/25 2:47 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 188

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Jocelyn’s Cake Calamity 1.

Running a small business was no easy task, especially for a baker. Waking up at 3 a.m. to open the store for morning donuts, croissants, and pastries could be daunting, but Jocelyn loved it. Baking was in her heart and soul. It was who she was and what she lived for. She was always experimenting with the latest flavorings and pairings in her cupcakes.

2.

Jocelyn had a large order of cupcakes for a catering event on Saturday. She had to make 220 cupcakes of four different flavors. She grabbed her recipe for her new cake flavor. She thought she would try it while making the cupcakes.

Lemony-Blueberry Cupcakes • 1 ¼ cups flour •

2

/3 cup sugar

• 2 pinches of salt • 1 ½ tsp baking powder • ¼ cup milk • ¼ cup oil • 1 teaspoon vanilla • 1 egg • 1 lemon (the zest of one lemon) • 1 cup of blueberries (frozen or fresh) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and stir the ingredients together. Fold the fruit into the batter. Pour the batter into the cupcake tins and bake for 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 189

189

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science 3.

Jocelyn mixed all the ingredients as the recipe stated, poured the dough into paper liners in the cupcake tins, and placed the tins in the oven, checking on them after seven minutes. The doughy cupcakes were starting to take shape.

She moved the pan from the top rack to the bottom and vice versa. Another seven minutes passed and then she heard the beeping of the kitchen timer. As she put on her oven mitts, she couldn’t help but notice the enticing smell coming from the oven. This lemony-blueberry concoction was so divine that she took in a large whiff as she opened the oven door. She took both pans of cupcakes out of the oven and her mouth watered. The little cakes resembled small rolling hills of golden wheat.

4.

Twenty minutes later, Jocelyn began peeling the cupcake liner off of a cake, but to her surprise the cake did not look normal. It was not sticking together like all of her other cakes, and it easily crumbled apart. “What did I do wrong?” she asked herself. She double checked the cupcake and opened another one. It crumbled into her hands. Her cheeks turned red and her ears felt hot. What would she do?

5.

She quickly grabbed her computer and researched what it meant when a cake crumbled apart. After searching a few websites, she found her problem was that she forgot the oil.

6.

“How could I leave out the oil?” she thought, feeling a bit flustered. She quickly whipped up another batch of cake dough. It looked sticky and had a good consistency. Placing the cakes back in the oven, Jocelyn checked on them after seven minutes. They looked different than before. The cakes were not rising very much. With apprehension, she switched the pans around and waited for the kitchen timer to go off again. When she opened the oven door, the cakes were flat. They had not risen at all.

7.

“Oh no, what will I do?” she thought with her hands on her head. She could not believe she had screwed up twice on the same cakes.

190

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 190

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science 8.

Feeling a bit defeated, she thought of the old saying, “the third time is the charm” as she carefully measured, poured, grated, and cracked the ingredients into the bowl. Stirring the ingredients around and double checking her ingredient list, her cupcakes were ready to be baked. The heat from the oven causes a lot of the chemical reactions that take place with the ingredients. Jocelyn followed her same steps of switching the pans after seven minutes to make sure that each tray of cupcakes received an even amount of heat transfer from the oven, considering heat rises.

9.

After 14 minutes of crossing her fingers, Jocelyn pulled the cakes out. She placed them on the large cooling racks and could not keep her eyes off of them.

She poked the top of one with her finger, and it sprang back up. This gave her a sign that the baking powder was in them this time. She had forgotten to add it the second time. It is an important ingredient for helping cakes to rise. She opened up a cake, and it didn’t crumble. “All signs of a good cake,” she thought. While cutting her fork through, that divine scent encompassed the room, and she could not wait to taste her masterpiece. Placing it slowly in her mouth, she felt the warm, oozing blueberries with the zest of lemon melt on her tongue. Perfect!

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 191

191

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

Another title for this selection may be – A.

A Lesson Learned

B.

How to Make Lemony-Blueberry Cupcakes

C.

Jocelyn Learns to Bake

D.

The Cupcake Mishap

Another word for encompassed in the last paragraph is – A.

smelled.

B.

covered.

C.

developed.

D.

melted.

The reader can conclude that Jocelyn – A.

has never baked cupcakes before.

B.

was used to experimenting with new flavors of cupcakes.

C.

knew the required ingredients to make successful cupcakes.

D.

was a baking expert.

192

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 192

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

Which evidence helps the reader understand the meaning of the word enticing?

A.

Smell coming from the oven

B.

This lemony-blueberry concoction was so divine

C.

As she opened the oven door

D.

That she took in a large whiff

The author included the recipe to – A.

explain how to make lemony-blueberry cupcakes.

B.

show the ingredients that Jocelyn was using.

C.

show what is needed for chemical reactions to take place in a cake.

D.

persuade the reader to make lemony-blueberry cupcakes.

Which ingredient is needed to make cupcakes rise?

A.

oil.

B.

baking powder.

C.

eggs.

D.

sugar.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 193

193

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Reading Science 7.

8.

What lesson did Jocelyn learn from her cupcake baking that she could apply to her life?

A.

Always follow a recipe.

B.

Be sure to double check the recipe.

C.

Perseverance leads to success.

D.

The third time is the charm.

Another word for daunting in paragraph 1 is – A.

exhausting.

B.

overwhelming.

C.

shattering.

D.

easy.

194

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 194

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Reactions

Math Connections Name:

Date:

David is conducting an experiment to determine if a chemical change occurs when he combines two substances. The graph below shows the temperature of the mixture as he adds substance 2 to substance 1. Use the graph to answer questions 1–3.

1.

How many degrees does the temperature rise each second?

2.

Fill in the table below with the ordered pairs from the graph.

Time in Seconds 1 2 3 4

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 195

Temperature °C

195

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Reactions

Math Connections 3.

Predict what the temperature would be at 5 seconds.

4.

At some point, the substance created will begin to cool off and return to room temperature. Why does this occur?

Blake is testing a solution for a chemical change. After he mixes two substances, he measures the amount of liquid left in the Erlenmeyer flask. He runs the test 10 times, waiting 5 minutes in between each trial. His data is recorded below.

Trial Soultion Left (mL)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1.4

2.8

4.6

3.8

1.4

3.8

2

2.4

3.8

2.8

5.

Create a line plot of the recorded data.

6.

Which amount of solution is recorded the most?

7.

What is the range of the data? (Subtract the smallest amount from the largest amount.)

8.

In between which two whole numbers is most of the data?

196

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 196

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:47 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Matter is composed of atoms, which have physical and chemical properties that can be used to identify a substance. When a chemical reaction occurs, new substances are formed that have different properties from the original substances. Common evidence of a chemical reaction is the formation of a gas, production of light, change in temperature, formation of a precipitate, or change of color.

THINK about how chemical reactions are different than physical changes to a substance.

WRITE about how chemical reactions are different from physical changes.

Write about how you could cause a chemical reaction to paper. List three other examples of chemical reactions.

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 197

197

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P1C Chemical Changes

Writing Science Topic:

198

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 198

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P2A

Natural vs. HumanHarnassed Electricity

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 199

199

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 200

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-Harnessed Electricity

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Types of Electricity Part I: Static Electricity Record your data and observations in the table below.

Trial

Electricity Produced (mV)

Observations

1

2 1.

Was the electricity produced for a longer period of time or was it a sudden burst?

How do you know?

2.

Did you need to touch the balloon to measure the electric discharge? What does this remind you of?

3.

In your own words, describe static electricity and why we say it happens naturally.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 201

201

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-Harnessed Electricity

Explore Student Journal Static Electricity Part II: Human-Harnessed Electricity Record your data and observations in the table below.

Trial

Electricity Produced (mV)

Observations

1

2

1.

Was the electricity produced for a longer period of time or was it a sudden burst?

How do you know?

2.

Did you need to touch the wires with the multimeter to measure the electricity?

What happened if your wires became disconnected?

3.

Why would humans want to generate electricity?

4.

How could you produce a steady flow of electricity using your generator?

202

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 202

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-Harnessed Electricity

Explore Student Journal Part III: Research Use your observations and the provided resources (books and the Internet) to research the differences in static electricity and generated electricity. Record your findings in the table below. Remember to cite your sources! (You need at least two different sources.)

Static Electricity (Naturally Occurring)

Current Electricity (Human Harnessed)

Sources I used: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 203

203

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 204

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

Reflect

5P2A

What is static electricity? Why do you sometimes get shocked when you touch something metal? Why is static electricity more common in the winter?

What do you think of when you think of static electricity? Maybe the shock it can cause? Have you ever tried to touch the wall when coming inside from the cold? Did you get zapped? You have probably felt this electric shock when touching other objects such as another person or a doorknob. This is caused when electrons rub off onto your body, leaving you with a negative static charge. When you reach for a light switch, you get a shock as electrons jump from you to the switch. If the room is dark, you might have even seen the spark or heard the crackle. Static electricity is more noticeable during the winter months because the air is very dry. The humidity during the summer helps electrons move more quickly, which makes it harder to build up a big static charge.

Everything you can think of is made up of tiny particles. These are called atoms.

Atoms have even smaller pieces called protons, neutrons, and electrons.

A proton has a positive charge and is found in the nucleus. An electron has a negative charge that orbits around the nucleus. Electrons orbit so fast that you can never really be sure where they are located. When an atom has the same number of electrons and protons, then it has a neutral charge. The neutron doesn’t have any charge. The buildup of electric charge is called static electricity.

When things have the same charge, they try to get as far away from each other as possible. Have you ever rubbed a balloon on your hair? What happens? Static electricity makes your hair stand up. Each hair has a negative charge and repels the other hairs.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 205

205

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

Look Out! Lightning is one of the best examples of static or stationary electricity. Static electricity can happen during a storm when wind moves the air around really fast, causing the charge in the clouds and on the ground to separate. The top of the clouds and the ground both get a positive charge. The bottom of the cloud gets a negative charge. When the change in charges happens, the static electricity comes out in the form of lightning. This is what you see with thunderstorms.

Static electricity is unpredictable and random so it isn’t harnessed as a power source for consumer use.

Static electricity can be harmful to many things— especially electronics. You may have noticed that some people will unplug some major electronics like TVs, computers, and microwaves during a heavy Protective bags are used to store thunderstorm. That is because these things have electronics. electronic chips that can be damaged if not protected.

This is why it is important to keep electronics grounded. This is when electrons are transferred between objects to remove the excess charge. When something is grounded, the excess charge is balanced between the electronics and the ground.

There are many different ways of grounding things, and it is important to keep electronics from being damaged. When buying a piece of electronic equipment, take notice of the special bags in which it is packaged to prevent the buildup of static electricity. Also, people that work with electronics often wear special straps that keep them “grounded” so that they will not build up a charge and ruin the electronic components.

206

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 206

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

There are many things around your house that need to be “grounded.” Things like lights, ceiling fans, air conditioners, and antennas. Basically, anything that has electricity running through it. When clothes are in the dryer, they rub against each other, and the friction causes a buildup of electrons on the clothes, giving the clothes a charge. Fabric softener will put a thin layer of chemicals on the clothes to keep them from building up the charge. Anti-static sheets can be added to the dry cycle to prevent the clothes and towels from clinging static electricity.

Static electricity has many uses in everyday life. Printers and photocopiers use charged particles to create the words and images they print on paper. Air filters, paint sprayers, and dusters all work by using static electricity.

Getting Technical: Lightning Rods Being struck by lightning can be a very dangerous problem. When electrical energy builds up in clouds, the electrons can suddenly pass between the air and the ground.

Electrical energy will take the shortest path between two points, so the lightning will strike the highest point on the ground. If the high point is a building, the lightning strike could cause a power outage or even set the building on fire.

Buildings that might be struck by lightning are protected by copper lightning rods. These rods are connected to the ground by thick copper wires. If lightning strikes the building, the energy will be conducted through the wire, away from the building, and into the ground. This protects the rest of the building from that energy.

How is human-harnessed electricity produced and controlled?

Current, or moving electricity, is produced at power plants using mechanical and chemical energy to move copper discs between the poles of magnets. Different forms of chemical energy provide the fuel for the generators to convert mechanical energy into electric energy. © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 207

207

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

Once the electricity is generated, it is transmitted and distributed through conductive wiring to consumers on the grid, or system of wires. The flow of electricity is harnessed or controlled as it moves through the grid of cables, sub-stations, and storage facilities.

The burning of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—and nuclear fusion are most commonly used to power the turbines that drive the electric generators.

However, alternative power sources are being developed. Wind, water, geothermal, and solar energy are all viable power sources for generating electricity.

Humans rely heavily on the predictability of current electricity to be available whenever a device is clicked on or whenever a switch is flipped. How many different electric devices have you used today? How would your day have been different if current electricity wasn’t there when you closed the circuit?

What Do You Think?

Complete the Venn diagram to compare static and human-harnessed electricity.

Human-harnassed Electricity

208

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 208

Static Electricity

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

With a few basic items, you can cause static electricity and observe the results.

Materials • Two inflated balloons • Piece of fabric (wool works well) • Hair • An empty aluminum can Directions 1. Rub the two balloons with fabric to build up an electrical charge. Try moving the balloons together. Observe the reaction. Are they attracted to each other or do they repel each other?

2. While standing in front of a mirror, rub one of the balloons back and forth on your hair, and then slowly pull it away. What do you observe? Exhale on the palm of your hand and rub your hand down your hair. What do you observe?

3. Put the empty aluminum can on its side on a table or the floor. Rub the balloon on the fabric or on your hair again, and then hold the balloon close to the can. What do you observe? Move the balloon away from the can. What do you observe?

What’s happening?

Rubbing the balloons against fabric or your hair creates static electricity when negatively charged particles jump to more positively charged objects. The balloons become negatively charged, taking some of the electrons from your hair or the fabric and leaving them positively charged.

In activity 1, both the balloons become negatively charged after rubbing them against the fabric. Because of this, they repel each other.

In activity 2, opposites are attracting as your positively charged hair is attracted to the negatively charged balloon. When you exhaled on your palm, you left some moisture on your hand. Rubbing it on your hair disrupted the static electricity.

In activity 3, the aluminum can is attracted to the negatively charged balloon as the air near it becomes positively charged. Once again, opposites attract.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 209

209

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: NATURAL VS HUMANHARNESSED ELECTRICITY

Connecting With Your Child Your child has been learning about static electricity.

The atom is the basic building block of all matter. Matter is all of the “stuff” in the universe. Matter is made up of atoms. Atoms have a nucleus, an inner core that is made up of neutrons that have no charge and protons that have a positive charge.

Atoms also have orbitals containing particles that are located around the nucleus.

These are called electrons, and these have a negative charge.

There are opportunities at home to observe static electricity.

• When clothes are removed from the dryer, they will cling to each other. When pulled apart, you can hear the crackle of the static electricity as the charge jumps between the clothes. This works best if there has been no fabric softener or dryer sheets used since they are designed to coat the articles of clothing to reduce static cling.

• Tear a square of toilet tissue into tiny pieces. Rub a comb on a piece of fabric and hold it near the tissue pieces. How do the pieces react? This is the same static electricity reaction hair has when it is combed and becomes flyaway.

Kitchen Science Discuss how you think static electricity can be used to separate the salt and pepper.

Materials • Salt • Pepper • Plastic spoon • A piece of fabric (wool works well) • Bowl Directions 1. Mix together a small amount of salt and pepper in a bowl.

2. Rub the plastic spoon on a piece of cloth to give the plastic spoon a negative charge.

3. Hold the spoon about an inch above the salt and pepper.

What do you observe happening?

Both salt and pepper will be attracted to the spoon; However, pepper is lighter, so the pepper should cling to the spoon.

210

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 210

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-harnessed Electricity

Reading Science Name:

Date:

The Story Behind Lightning 1.

Electricity was very new in 1740. Not a lot was known about it. It was on people’s minds. It had primarily been used in magic. Magicians were creating sparks and shocks with what we know today as static electricity. Scientists conducted experiments with electricity. However, nothing much had changed in hundreds of years with electricity.

Electricity had not been found to be “useful.”

2.

Benjamin Franklin is known for discovering lightning as electricity. Franklin was an inventive and curious thinker. He kept thinking about electricity. He noticed a lot of similarities between lightning and electricity. He noticed both created bright sparks and made loud noise. They both were attracted to metal, and they both had a certain smell about them.

He believed electricity and lightning were the same thing. He came up with an experiment to test his idea.

3.

Franklin lived in Philadelphia at the time. Philadelphia did not lend itself to the requirements for his experiment. Franklin’s plan required a tall building of some kind. Philadelphia did not have one at the time. So he came up with another idea to get something close to the clouds to attract lightning. He took a silk handkerchief and a metal key. He also took a couple of sticks and some string.

With all of these materials, he made a kite. He flew the kite into the storm. His idea worked! The lightning hit the metal key. The silk handkerchief was standing up. Franklin took this as good news for his theory. This supported the idea that lightning and electricity were the same thing.

4.

Franklin took his knew knowledge and decided to help people with it. He invented the lightning rod. The lightning rod is attached to the top of a house or tall building. Lightning is attracted to the metal of the rod, which is the highest point on the building. It strikes the rod instead of the house. The electrical current goes through a wire from the rod to the ground, instead of going through the building, which it could set on fire. It leaves the house undamaged. Franklin considered the lightning rod to be his greatest invention.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 211

211

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-harnessed Electricity

Reading Science 5.

Ben Franklin’s findings on lightning suggested to us that lightning is electricity.

What exactly is causing lightning up in the clouds? Raindrops at the bottom of some clouds start moving upward, while ice and snow at the top of the cloud, where it is cooler, begin to fall. When the ice and water collide, electrons, the tiny particles that create electricity, are removed from the water and move down with the ice and snow. Electrons have negative charge. They are attracted to positive charges. Static electricity in the cloud is the build up of electrons on the bottom of the cloud and positive charges on the top of it.

6.

When there are enough electrons built up in the cloud, they attract positive charges on the ground. The electrons can jump to the ground, where they spread out into the Earth and combine with positive charges there. This discharge from the cloud is called lightning. It is the same thing if you rub your foot back and forth on the carpet or a balloon on the top of your head. You create friction. The ice crystals do the same thing.

7.

Lightning is static electricity. It is the same type of electricity that shocks you after you touch a metal door handle after rubbing your feet on the carpet. Lightning is much more dangerous. It can be very damaging. It can cause house fires and it can kill people. If you are outside during a lightning storm, be sure to stay away from tall things, like trees. Go inside. If you can’t, then lie down so the lightning isn’t attracted to you.

212

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 212

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-harnessed Electricity

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The reader can tell Benjamin Franklin – A.

was shocked by lightning.

B.

made significant contributions to our life today.

C.

knew very little about lightning.

D.

was not an intelligent thinker.

The author wrote this mostly to – A.

persuade the reader to stay inside during a lightning storm.

B.

explain how Benjamin Franklin discovered lightning.

C.

tell how to see if there is lightning in a cloud.

D.

explain that lightning is static electricity.

Which of these could create static electricity?

A.

plugging in the vacuum

B.

running a blender

C.

combing your hair

D.

turning on a car

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 213

213

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-harnessed Electricity

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

What evidence supports the meaning of primarily?

A.

Magicians were creating sparks and shocks

B.

Scientists conducted experiments with electricity

C.

Nothing much had changed in hundreds of years

D.

What we know today as static electricity.

Paragraphs 5 and 6 were organized by – A.

comparing and contrasting lightning and static electricity.

B.

sequencing the events that take place for lightning to strike.

C.

using cause/effect relationships.

D.

describing what takes place in a cloud.

Which information supports that the first part of the selection is written as a biography?

A.

Magicians were creating sparks and shocks with what we know today as static electricity.

B.

He noticed both created bright sparks and made loud noise.

C.

Benjamin Franklin is known for discovering lightning as electricity.

D.

The electrical current goes through the house to the ground.

214

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 214

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs Human-harnessed Electricity

Math Connections Name:

Date:

There are different forms of energy humans can harness, including mechanical, sound, electrical, light, and heat. We use many things every day that use different forms of energy.

Mrs. Crick is installing wind turbines and using wind energy to produce electricity. She wants to place the turbines in a line starting ¼ of a mile from her house, and have each turbine ¼ of a mile away from the next one.

1.

How far would the second turbine be from the house?

2.

How far would the fourth turbine be from the house?

3.

Write a number sentence using a fraction to solve the distance from the house to the fifth turbine.

4.

What is the distance from the first turbine to the fourth?

5.

John and Mandi have both made sound machines. John’s machine converts electricity to sound that can be heard up to 2/5 of a mile away, and Mandi’s machine converts electricity to sound that can be heard up to 3/8 of a mile away.

Use <, >, or = to show whose machine can be heard from farther away.

2

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 215

/5

3

/8

215

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs Human-harnessed Electricity

Math Connections Static electricity is the accumulation of electrical charges on the surface of an object, resulting in an imbalance of positive and negative charges.

• If an atom contains an equal number of protons and electrons, then the atom is electrically neutral.

• Any particle that contains less electrons than protons is said to be positively charged.

• Any particle that contains more electrons than protons is said to be negatively charged.

Charged objects have an imbalance of charge—either more negative electrons than positive protons or vice versa.

Look at the pictures below. Fill in the number of protons and electrons in the spaces provided. Label the pictures as electrically neutral, positively charged, or negatively charged.

6.

7.

Number of Protons: ________________ Number of Protons: ________________ Number of Electrons: _______________ Number of Electrons: _______________ Type of Charge: ___________________ Type of Charge: ___________________ 8.

9.

Number of Protons: ________________ Number of Protons: ________________ Number of Electrons: _______________ Number of Electrons: _______________ Type of Charge: ___________________ Type of Charge: ___________________ 216

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 216

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-Harnessed Electricity

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Electricity is the movement of charged particles. Current electricity is the flow of positive and negative particles along a path or circuit. Static electricity is the separation of positive and negative particles which randomly move from one object to another.

THINK about what current and static electricity have in common. What makes them different? How are they both useful and harmful?

WRITE a comparison between current electricity and static electricity.

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 217

217

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2A Natural vs. Human-Harnessed Electricity

Writing Science Topic:

218

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 218

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P2BC

Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 219

219

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 220

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

How Does Electricity Flow?

Part I: Circuit 1.

Draw what you built that made the bulb light up. Label the parts.

2.

List the parts you used in the device you built. What is the function of each part?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 221

221

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Explore Student Journal Part II: Conductivity 1.

Draw and label how you will test each object.

2.

Explain how your setup will test if an object can conduct electricity.

3.

List the objects you tested in the correct column below.

Allows Electricity to Flow

4.

Does Not Allow Electricity to Flow

Explain why it is helpful for some materials to be conductors and other materials to be insulators.

222

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 222

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS

5P2BC

Reflect Imagine you want to make pasta for dinner. How do we do it? We put water in a pan and put the pan on a stove. Soon the heat from the stove burner makes the water hot enough to boil. The handle of the pan also gets hot, but the handle is not as hot as the rest of the pan. How did the heat move from the burner to the pan but not as much to the handle?

Next, you decide to turn on a flashlight to look in a dark corner in the kitchen cabinet.

But how does the flashlight give off light? Energy moves through a wire from the battery to the light bulb. The energy causes the bulb to give off light. But how does energy move from one part of the flashlight to the other?

To answer these questions, we will look at what is happening inside the pan and inside the wire. We will have to imagine we can see what is happening to the particles in the pan and in the wire. Imagine zooming in to see what’s really happening on a small scale.

Matter: the stuff that everything is made of What is a conductor?

Energy passes through some materials easily. These materials are called conductors.

Conducted energy can be in the form of heat or electricity. To understand how heat and electricity move, we must understand that all matter is made up of tiny bits called particles.

These particles are always moving. Heat is the energy of these particles when they move.

Metals are good conductors of If the particles in an object move faster, the heat. object feels hotter. Picture a pot that is put on a hot stove. The particles closest to the stove burner begin to move faster and faster. Faster particles bump into slower particles nearby and cause them to speed up. This is how heat spreads. We call this spreading conduction.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 223

223

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS Solids usually conduct heat better than liquids and gases. This is because the particles in solids are closer together. Think of having a conversation with your friends—it’s easier to hear them when you’re closer to them, right? Particles can “communicate” with each other, too. If they’re closer together, it happens more easily.

The best conductors are metals. Silver, copper, gold, aluminum, and iron are some of the best conductors of heat. Silver and gold are very expensive. This is why most pots and pans are made out of copper, aluminum, and iron. Metals are also good conductors of electricity. Lamps, toasters, TVs, and other electrical devices are connected to electrical cords.

Inside electrical cords are metal wires usually made of copper. A cord plugs into a wall socket. Inside the wall are more wires connected to electric power lines. Power lines lead to power plants that may be hundreds of miles away. Electricity is conducted from the power plant to a lamp in your home in less than a second.

Look Out! What does heat flow mean? People used to think heat was an invisible material that flowed from hot things to cold things. That is incorrect. Heat does not flow like a river.

Heat is energy, not matter. When something loses heat, it does not lose mass.

What is an insulator?

A material that is a poor conductor of energy is an insulator.

Heat moves slowly through materials like glass, wood, and rubber. So, these materials are called heat insulators.

Heat also moves slowly through air and other gases.

This is fiberglass insulation That is because the particles in these gases are inside the wall of a home far apart. Energy does not move easily from one particle to another. You might think this isn’t useful, but in fact that property is very useful around our homes! Many good insulators are filled with little pockets of air. For example, the walls and ceilings of many homes are filled with fiberglass insulation. This material is made of tiny pieces of glass.

The fibers form a tangled mat with many air spaces. Your house can stay a different temperature than outside because of this insulation. Can you think of other places that use insulation?

224

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 224

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS Winter coats are also insulators. They prevent heat from being conducted away from our body. Many winter coats are made from fluffy materials like wool or feathers. Down clothing is a very good insulator because it has a layer of small goose feathers.

Heat does not move easily through the feathers.

Electrical insulators prevent the movement of electrical energy.

Earlier you read about electrical cords and wires. A layer of insulation always covers the copper wires that conduct electricity.

This insulating layer is usually made of plastic, but it may also be made of rubber or cloth. These coverings keep electrical energy Like all animals from moving where it shouldn’t when it flows to other conductors. living in cold climates, this Insulation also makes electrical cords safe to touch. arctic fox is well Wood, glass, and pottery are all good electrical insulators. Pure insulated by its water is an insulator, but salt water is a conductor. Tap water is thick fur. also a conductor. That is because most of the water on Earth isn’t pure—it contains dissolved minerals. That is why you should always be careful not to operate electrical devices around water.

What Do You Think?

We often describe winter coats as warm. Or we say that a thick sweater “keeps out the cold.” Are these descriptions correct? (Remember that heat is the movement of energy. So heat moves, not cold.)

Try Now! Iron is a heat conductor, and wood is a heat insulator. You can see this is true by letting an iron hammer with a wooden handle lie in the sun on a hot day. After about 30 minutes, pick up the hammer. The iron head will feel much hotter than the wooden handle. Be careful not to burn yourself when you touch the iron parts, though!

The iron head feels hotter, but is it really hotter? The head and handle are actually the same temperature. Iron is a better conductor than wood. So, the heat moves to your hand faster through the iron head.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 225

225

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS What is a circuit?

Take a look at the plug on the end of an electrical cord. Notice that it has at least two metal prongs. One prong is part of a wire that brings energy to the electrical device. The other prong is connected to a wire that carries energy away. For electricity to be useful, it must always travel in a complete, unbroken circle. That circle is called an electrical circuit.

A circuit has several basic parts. It has a source A closed electrical path completes an electrical circuit. of electrical power and something that uses electrical power. It also has wires to connect the source to the device. Most circuits also include a switch. The switch controls whether the circuit is open or closed. Broken wires or bad connections can also cause an open circuit.

Every electrical device in your home is part of such a circuit. The power source is usually an electrical power plant or a battery. A battery stores chemical energy that is released as electrical energy. Electrical energy does not flow in an open circuit.

In case of a lightning strike, a lightning rod conducts electricity away from a building.

Getting Technical: Lightning Rods A lightning strike happens when electrical energy that has built up in a cloud suddenly passes between the air and the ground. Electrical energy takes the shortest path between two points. This means one end of the lightning bolt will be the highest point on the ground. If the high point is a building, the lightening strike could set the building on fire.

Buildings that might be struck by lightning are protected by copper lightning rods. These rods are connected to the ground by thick copper wires.

If lightning strikes the building, the energy will be conducted through the wire, away from the building, and into the ground. This protects the rest of the building from that energy.

226

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 226

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS How can we create an electromagnetic field?

You may know about magnets and magnetic force.

A magnet is surrounded by invisible lines of force that form what is called a magnetic field. Magnets and objects made of iron are pushed or pulled by magnetic force when they enter a magnetic field.

Hold the compass near the wire as you complete the circuit.

Electric current and magnetic fields have an interesting connection. When electricity flows through a wire, the wire becomes surrounded by a magnetic field. When a wire is moved through a magnetic field, electricity begins to flow in the wire.

Try Now! Sometimes you can actually see how an electric current creates a magnetic field. A compass needle always points north because the magnetic needle in the compass lines up with Earth’s magnetic field. However, Earth’s magnetic field is weak. Almost any other magnetic field will make the needle swing away from north. Think about moving a magnet near a compass—the needle will move! That means that the little magnet you have in your hand is affecting the compass more than Earth’s magnetic field.

You will need a compass and something that produces an electric current. This could be as simple as a battery and a wire, as shown in the picture. Separated wires will work better than a double wire. Place the magnet near the wire, and connect one end of the wire to the battery. Observe any movement of the compass needle when the circuit is completed.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 227

227

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS What Do You Know?

The diagram shows one or more complete circuits. It also shows one or more incomplete circuits. The diagram also includes four light bulbs. Draw a circle around the bulbs that will light up when electric current flows from the battery.

228

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 228

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS Connecting With Your Child Conductors and Insulators In this activity, you and your child will study electrical and thermal conductivity of four common materials: wood, plastic, aluminum, and iron.

You will need: • a piece of wood about 6 inches long, such as a chopstick, dowel, or stick • a plastic knife • a long aluminum nail and a long iron nail (both available at a building supply store) • a circuit that includes a light bulb, a battery, three wires, and at least two alligator clips (all available at a typical hardware store) • a cup that can hold hot water Use one wire to connect one pole of the battery to one side of the bulb. (You may need an additional alligator Set up your circuit like clip to connect the wire to the bulb; some bulbs will this. Attempt to complete connect directly to a wire, but others will not.) Connect the circuit using different the other side of the bulb to one of the wires with a clip at objects. the end. Connect the other pole of the battery to another wire with a clip. The diagram at right shows how to put your circuit together. Attempt to complete the circuit by connecting each of the four objects (wood, plastic, aluminum, iron) to the alligator clips. If the bulb lights up, the circuit is complete. When you are finished, take apart the circuit and discuss the results in terms of electrical conductivity.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 229

229

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: CIRCUITS,

CONDUCTORS, AND INSULATORS Next, fill the cup with water that is pretty warm but not so hot as to risk a burn. Put all four of the objects into the water—the wood, the plastic, and both nails—so that each is only about half submerged. Hanging these items from a string might help keep them all halfway out of the water. After a few seconds, touch a finger to the tops of each object and compare their relative temperatures. Repeat the observation several times over the course of a minute or two. Discuss the results in terms of thermal conductivity.

Compare the electrical conductivity to the thermal conductivity for the four materials.

Draw conclusions, and suggest explanations for the experimental results.

230

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 230

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Energy and Electrical Currents 1.

Think of all the places you use electricity. You may be thinking of the lights in your house, the TV, your iPad, or cell phone. Electricity is everywhere. We live in a technological world where we need it. It starts our cars and helps transport us from place to place. It keeps us in contact with others who may live far away.

2.

How does electricity work? Imagine that you are in the living room. Your mom asks you to turn on the lamp because it is getting dark in the room. You reach over to turn on the lamp with the switch, but it doesn’t turn on. You look down and notice that the cord is not plugged into the wall, so you plug it in and try again. The lamp turns on, illuminating the room for you to see.

3.

The cord of the lamp is important because it is what conducts, or moves, electricity. The electricity cannot flow easily through the most materials, like rock or wood. But it can flow through materials called conductors. Some metals, such as copper and aluminum, are particularly good conductors. They are made into wire to guide the electricity. Most electrical wires these days are made of copper.

The lamp cord contains wires that are conductors. The cord carries the electricity from the wall. It takes it to the lamp.

4.

Scientists have found that humans conduct electricity. Because of this, they needed to find a way to keep us safe. They needed to find something that could be put between humans and the conductor that has electricity flowing in it. Other materials were found that electricity does not move through. These are known as insulators. An insulator is material such as plastic or wood. Rubber and glass are also insulators. Insulators are put around wires creating the electrical cords we use today. They keep us safe when we touch them.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 231

231

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Reading Science 5.

Electricity is able to flow because of conductors. But the electricity does not flow by itself. It must be pushed by something such as a battery or electric generator. The electricity we use always flows in loops, called electrical circuits.

A circuit is made up of wires and electrical components, like lights, and/or electronic components, like the things in a cell phone or iPad. Electricity is the flow of particles called electrons. There needs to be a power source that pushes electrons around the circuit. A battery or generator creates the force that pushes the electricity. Switches turn the flow of electricity on and off. Turning on a lamp closes or completes the circuit allowing the electrons to flow. This electricity then lights the light bulb in the figure, below. Not all electrical circuits have switches.

Houses are built with switches. This makes it easy for the electrical current to be turned on and off.

6.

Anything with electricity has circuits and conductors. Insulators are needed to keep humans safe. Sometimes lights don’t turn on. Sometimes electrical devices don’t work right. Be sure to check the circuit. Many times the circuit is not complete.

7.

You also need to be careful when an electrical device is around water. Water and salt are also conductors of electricity. Our bodies carry both water and salt. This is why we are conductors of electricity.

8.

Electricity is something that is needed. You must also be very careful because it can be very dangerous.

232

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 232

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

The author wrote this mainly to tell – A.

the difference between conductors, insulators, and circuits.

B.

how electricity is made of electrons.

C.

how electricity works.

D.

how to be safe around electricity.

The author included the diagrams to – A.

show what an insulator is.

B.

show what a conductor is.

C.

help explain the meaning of conductor, insulator, and circuit.

D.

show where a conductor, insulator, and circuit are located.

Which one of these items would NOT be considered a conductor of electricity?

A.

A metal bowl

B.

A wooden spoon

C.

A swimming pool

D.

An aluminum plate

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 233

233

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

Which statement supports that electricity can be very dangerous to humans?

A.

It keeps us in contact with others who may live far away.

B.

They needed to find something that could be put between humans and the conductor.

C.

Our bodies carry both water and salt.

D.

Conductors can be made of wire.

Looking at the circuit diagram, the reader can conclude – A.

the light is lit because of the battery.

B.

the switch is closing the circuit and is illuminating the light.

C.

the switch is not needed.

D.

the battery can be replaced with a fan.

Read the definitions of conduct below.

Meaning 1: a way of acting Meaning 2: directing as in a band Meaning 3: to serve as a channel for electricity or heat Meaning 4: to lead Which definition fits the meaning of conduct as used in the selection?

A.

Meaning 1

B.

Meaning 2

C.

Meaning 3

D.

Meaning 4

234

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 234

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Math Connections Name:

Date:

Electromagnetic fields can be created by passing electricity through a wire, and they can be turned on and off. Electricity travels in a closed path called a complete circuit.

1.

Conductors allow energy to pass, while insulators prevent energy from passing.

What fraction of the following materials are conductors? _______ Wood

Plastic

Aluminum

Glass

Copper

Use the picture of the circuit below to answer the following questions.

2.

The circuit above is missing a piece of copper wire. Write an equation used to solve the problem. Use x to represent the missing length of wire. How long does the wire need to be to complete the circuit? ______

3.

If the length of the rectangular circuit is 56 centimeters long, how long is the base of the light bulb? ______ How long is the battery? _______

4.

What is the perimeter of the rectangular circuit?

5.

Which of the following expressions cannot be used to find the perimeter of the circuit?

A.

(2 x 56) + (2 x 27)

B.

56 x 27

C.

56 + 56 + 27 + 27

D.

56 + 27 + 56 + 27

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 235

235

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Math Connections 6. Electricity flows in a closed path to form a circuit and stops when the circuit is broken. A battery produces the force (measured in volts) that pushes the current through these wires. The force from the battery is shared equally between the bulbs in the circuit.

In the circuit below, two 9-volt batteries are used to power the circuit.

7.

How many volts run through this light bulb? Write an expression used to represent the number of volts. _________

8.

As more of the same type of light bulbs are added, the voltage in the circuit is shared equally among them. Fill in the chart below to show the amount of voltage each bulb receives as more bulbs are added to the circuit.

Number of Bulbs Voltage Per Bulbs

9.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Plot the relationship between the number of bulbs and the voltage of each bulb on the grid below. Provide a title and label the axes with the correct descriptions.

10. What equation describes the relationship between the voltage per bulb, v, and the number of bulbs, n?

11. Do the bulbs get brighter or dimmer with each additional bulb added? ________________ 236

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 236

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

An electrical circuit is a circular path created for electricity to flow. The materials needed to make a simple circuit might include a battery, a wire, and a miniature light bulb. For the light bulb to light up, a conductor of electricity must be present.

THINK about the simple circuit listed above. How might it be constructed?

WRITE a description about how to create a circuit using a battery, wire, and a miniature light bulb.

Which materials in the circuit are classified as insulators? Which are the conductors?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 237

237

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P2BC Circuits, Conductors, and Insulators

Writing Science Topic:

238

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 238

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5th Grade Physical Science

5P3AB

Types of Magnets

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 239

239

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 240

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Student Handout Name:

Date:

What Can Magnets Do? Record how many paper clips were picked up when each material was held in front of the magnet.

Material

Number of Paper Clips

None Wood Paper Glass Material Rock (Pot) 1.

What did you notice about the force of the magnet when there were materials in between?

2.

What other characteristics of the materials affected how well they pulled on the paper clips?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 241

241

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 242

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Explore Student Journal Name:

Date:

Types of Magnets Use the space below to record your observations of the bar magnet.

1.

How many paper clips did the magnet hold?

2.

Can you make the magnet stronger or weaker? Explain.

Use the space below to record your observations of the device you built.

Strength

Diagram

Number of Paper Clips Held

Medium

Strong

Weak

3.

What would happen if you disconnect the wire from the battery?

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 243

243

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Explore Student Journal 4.

The device you built is called an electromagnet. Think about the parts of that word. Based on your observations, why do you think this device is called an electromagnet?

Think about the electromagnet and the bar magnet. How are they the same? How are they different? Use the Venn diagram below to record the similarities and differences between the electromagnet and the bar magnet.

Electromagnet

Bar Magnet

5.

How do you think the characteristics of an electromagnet would be helpful?

6.

How do you think the characteristics of a bar magnet would be helpful?

244

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 244

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: TYPES OF MAGNETS 5P3AB

Reflect Imagine that you have a superpower. Your power allows you to move things without touching them. You can even move things located on the other side of a wall! Your power to move things without touching them is Force: a push a force. This force allows you to pull and push objects; however, or a pull this force acts only on things made of certain materials, like iron.

Does your power seem familiar? If so, it’s because you have seen it in action many times! Do you know what the force is that can move objects made of iron?

What is magnetism?

Magnetism is a force between certain kinds of objects.

This force can be either pushing or pulling. The force can act between two magnets or between a magnet and something made of iron. Magnets are also made of iron.

The two ends of a magnet are different. One end is called the north pole. The other end is called the south pole.

Any part of a magnet pulls on things made of iron and a few other metals. However, the north pole of one magnet pulls only at the south pole of another magnet. Two north poles push each other away. Two south poles also push each other away.

Magnetic force is caused by certain particles that make up an object. When these particles are all arranged in the same way, the object becomes a magnet. The magnetic force of a magnet forms a pattern called a magnetic field.

A magnetic field is made up of magnetic lines of force.

The lines of force are invisible, but there is a way to see their shape. Put a magnet under a piece of paper and sprinkle small bits of iron on the paper. The iron bits will line up with the lines of force. You can see this in the picture on the right.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 245

Magnets come in many shapes and sizes.

Iron filings arrange themselves along magnetic lines of force.

245

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: TYPES OF MAGNETS Look Out! Earth itself is magnetic! You should know that Earth has a North Pole and a South Pole. If you The core, or can imagine a magnet running from the North center of Earth, Pole to the South Pole, then you are picturing is made of Earth’s magnet. The core of Earth is made of heated liquid molten iron, and scientists believe because iron ore. there is so muchpressure in the center of the Earth that some of that molten iron turns into a solid. The liquid iron, along with this solid form and the rotation of the Earth, create a magnetic force. This force isn’t very strong, but it is strong enough to cause compasses to always point north.

Try Now Magnets can be very powerful. You may have struggled to pull apart two large magnets. Magnets can even attract through non-magnetic materials. Magnetic name tags can work through several layers of fabric. Investigate the strength of a magnet’s force and what materials will block the force of magnets.

Gather a stack of construction paper, a paper clip, and an assortment of magnets.

Does a magnet attract the paper clip through one sheet of paper? How about five sheets? How many sheets of paper does it take to block the force of the magnet?

Gather some objects like paper clips and iron nails. Place an iron object on top of a desk or table. Hold a magnet below the surface and try to move the iron object through the surface material. Repeat with each magnet. Are some magnets blocked by the surface material and others are not? How does the size or shape of the magnet affect its force?

Try other materials like plastic, glass, rock, and metal. Through how many layers is the force of the magnet able to attract? What materials block the force of the magnet?

What materials allow the force to flow?

246

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 246

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: TYPES OF MAGNETS You know that magnets can attract without actually touching an object. You can slowly push a magnet toward a paper clip and see the paper clip jump to the magnet once it is within the magnetic force field. How far will the force attract?

Place one paper clip on a magnet. Attract another paper clip to the first, and another the the second. How many paper clips can you attract?

Earth is a large magnet with a magnetic field. A compass has a needle that is a small magnet. The needle always points toward Earth’s magnetic North Pole. You can use Earth’s magnetic field to make a magnet. You will need a compass, a hammer, and an iron rod. The iron rod should be about a foot long. (The vertical rod in a ring stand works well.) With an adult’s help, use the compass to find the direction north. Point one end of the rod toward north. Hit one end of the rod with A compass needle the hammer several times. This will help rearrange the iron always points north. atoms to create a magnetic field.

Now you can see if you made the rod into a magnet. With an adult’s help, tie a string to the middle of the rod. The rod should spin freely while hanging from the string in a level position. Tie the string to something overhead. Give the rod a gentle spin. If one end is pointing north when it stops spinning, the rod has become a magnet.

Permanent and Temporary Magnets Earth’s magnet is a permanent magnet, meaning it is always there. A permanent magnet is one that retains its magnetic properties for a long time.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 247

Horseshoe magnets contain a north and south pole, even though the poles are shaped differently than what you might think.

247

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: TYPES OF MAGNETS They are made of materials that are naturally magnetic, or attracted to iron. Most permanent magnets are U-shaped; these are called horseshoe magnets. Rectangular magnets are called bar magnets. The poles of a bar magnet are on opposite ends.

If you have two bar magnets and try to touch both north poles together, the magnets will repel, or push away from each other. However, if you put one north pole and one south pole together, they will attract. A magnet on the front of your refrigerator is an example of a permanent magnet.

Temporary magnets are magnets made from items that might not normally have magnetic properties. These are called electromagnets. The magnetic force of an electromagnet can be turned on or off using electricity. A wire coiled around a cylindrical object and powered by electricity creates a magnetic field. Many things we use every day, including doorbells and music speakers, use electromagnets.

What Do You Know?

Imagine dropping three magnets into a glass tube.

The picture below shows how the magnets line up in the tube.

The north pole of the bottom magnet is marked with an N. Mark the remaining poles of all three magnets. Write the letter N on each north pole.

Write the letter S on each south pole. Remember, if poles are the same they push away from each other.

248

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 248

An electromagnet is an example of a temporary magnet.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

STEMscopedia: TYPES OF MAGNETS Connecting With Your Child Creating an electromagnet Try this simple experiment with your child to build an electromagnet.

Materials: • A large iron nail (about 3 inches) • About 3 feet of thin coated copper wire • A fresh size D battery • Masking tape • Some paper clips or other small magnetic objects Procedure: 1. Leave about 8 inches of wire loose at one end and wrap most of the rest of the wire around the nail. Try not to overlap the wires.

2. If you need to, cut the wire so that there is about another 8 inches loose at the other end.

3. Remove about an inch of the plastic coating from each end of the wire and attach one end of the wire to one end of a battery and the other end to the other end of the battery. Tape the wires to the battery—but be careful, the wire could get very hot!

4. Your electromagnet should now work! Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and see what happens. Test other objects to see whether they are magnetic.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 249

249

12/18/25 2:48 PM

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 250

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Reading Science Name:

Date:

Magnets are Everywhere 1.

Magnets are commonly used by humans for many different purposes. They come in many different shapes and sizes. The most common magnet is the bar magnet or a round disk. These magnets stick to certain metals, so they are used for a variety of things. They are used to hang pictures on the refrigerators. Sometimes they are used to keep doors fastened or latched.

2.

All magnets have north and south poles. The north pole of one magnet will be attracted to the south pole of another magnet. Placing two south poles together will result in the magnets repelling from each other. They will push away.

3.

What is more surprising is that there are magnets in many devices that many people do not know about. There are magnets in normal cars, in electric cars, and in many household appliances. These magnets are called electromagnets.

An electromagnet is different from a regular magnet. An electromagnet is controlled by electricity. The magnet works when the electricity is turned on. It stops working when the electricity shuts off.

4.

Electromagnets are made by using wire, a power source, and a piece of iron. The wire is usually wrapped around the iron. It can also be found inside of the iron.

When electricity flows through the wire, it creates a magnetic field around the iron. This magnetic field is powered by turning the electricity on and off.

How to Make an Electromagnet

What you need: battery insulated wire nail Directions: Wrap the wire around the nail. Place one end of the wire on the positive side of the battery. Place the other end on the negative side. The wire will be very hot if you hold it. Place the wrapped nail on something metal and you should see it pick it up.

You’ve made an electromagnet! © Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 251

251

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Reading Science 5.

Electromagnets are used in many places that many people don’t even know about. They are used to run electric motors. An electric motor is a cylinder. It has electromagnets around its edge. In the center of the cylinder is the core. It is wrapped with iron wire many times. When the electricity is turned on, it flows into the iron core. This creates magnetism. The magnetism that is created in the core pushes against the magnetism created in the outside of the cylinder. This causes the motor to spin, which makes it work.

6.

Washing machines use electromagnets. Many kitchen appliances do too.

Think of your blender. It uses an electromagnet. An electric drill does too. The electric motor causes the drill to spin. A very common place you may see an electromagnet is at the junkyard. A big crane often has a large iron ball attached to the end of it. The electricity is turned on and the magnetic field it generates can pick up large pieces of metal. Crane operators leave the electricity on until they want the electromagnet to drop the piece of metal somewhere else. When they find the new home for the metal, they turn the electricity off. This releases the piece of metal to its new home.

7.

Magnets are found everywhere. They have many uses in humans’ daily lives. We use them to stick pictures and notes to the fridge. We use them to drive our cars.

We use them to run our blenders. Magnets are used in many places.

252

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 252

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Reading Science 1.

2.

3.

One difference between electromagnets and bar magnets is – A.

electromagnets are used more.

B.

electromagnets are less powerful.

C.

electromagnets use electricity.

D.

electromagnets create a magnetic field.

The author wrote this mainly to – A.

explain how electromagnets work.

B.

point out the differences in magnets.

C.

tell you how to make an electromagnet.

D.

explain different magnets and their uses.

The author includes the “How to Make an Electromagnet” to – A.

persuade the reader to make an electromagnet.

B.

explain the differences between electromagnets and bar magnets.

C.

explain how to make an electromagnet at home.

D.

describe how an electromagnet works.

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 253

253

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Reading Science 4.

5.

6.

Electromagnets and bar magnets are alike because they both – A.

have magnetic fields.

B.

use electricity.

C.

repel other magnets.

D.

have poles.

Another title for this selection may be – A.

Powerful Electromagnets.

B.

Magnets are Powerful.

C.

Electricity Is Used Everywhere.

D.

Many Kinds of Magnets.

The reader can conclude that – A.

magnets are stronger than electricity.

B.

electricity and magnetism are closely related.

C.

bar magnets are used in many things.

D.

magnetism needs electricity.

254

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 254

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Math Connections Name:

Date:

1.

Cicily has a box of 24 magnets. She wants to give an equal number to each of her four friends. How many magnets will each friend get? _________

2.

James was trying to pick up 32 paper clips with a bar magnet. If the bar magnet can pick up only eight paper clips at a time, which equation can he use to find how many bar magnets are needed to pick up all the paper clips?

3.

A.

8 x n = 32

B.

8 – n = 32

C.

8 ÷ n = 32

D.

8 + n = 32

Joe had to use a magnet to help his dad pick up iron nails that spilled in the garage. On his first try, he picked up 12 nails. On his second try, he picked up 15 nails, and on his third try, he picked up 18 nails. If the pattern continues, how many nails will he pick up on his fifth try? What is the pattern? What is the rule: ____________ Try Nails

1 12

2 15

3 18

4

5

4.

In Mrs. Williams’ class, there are four boys and three girls. Each of her kids brought two magnetic and four non-magnetic items. How many magnetic items did her class bring in all?

5.

Brittany used magnetic tiles to form the pattern below. Draw the fifth shape in this pattern. What is the rule? __________________

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 255

255

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Math Connections 6.

Look at the pattern.

What are the next three shapes in the pattern?

7.

Tye organized the magnets in his class. He put them in three rows with six magnets in each row. How many magnets does his class have? Draw another rectangular arrangement he could make.

8.

The students were counting the number of items in their science lab. How many items did they count? _________

9.

Write the number above in expanded form.

10. Mrs. Rhee asked her students to bring magnets from home to use in class.

Jackie brought six magnets. Shannon brought four times the number of magnets Jackie brought. How many magnets did Shannon bring?

________________ x _____________ = ___________

256

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 256

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Writing Science Name:

Date:

READ the information in the box.

Magnets are materials that attract other materials made of iron, among other things. Magnets create an invisible magnetic field that attracts or repels various materials. Two types of magnets are bar magnets and electromagnets.

THINK about the characteristics of a bar magnet and an electromagnet.

WRITE about at least two similarities and differences between a bar magnet and an electromagnet. What do their respective magnetic fields look like? Is one stronger than the other?

Be sure to • clearly state your central idea; • organize your thoughts logically; • develop your essay in detail; • choose your words carefully; and • use correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Notes

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 257

257

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5P3AB Types of Magnets

Writing Science Topic:

258

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 258

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

amphibian

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

amphibian – any of various cold-blooded, usually smooth-skinned vertebrates, characteristically hatching as an aquatic larva with gills and then transforming into an adult having air-breathing lungs animals – living organisms that move on their own and eat organic matter bar magnet – a magnet that is in the shape of a bar behavior – how something acts beneficial – helpful bird – a warm-blooded animal that has wings, two legs, feathers, a beak, and lays eggs cell – the smallest unit of an organism; it is enclosed by a membrane and performs life functions

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 259

chloroplasts

cell membrane – the thin tissue that forms the outer surface of the cytoplasm of a cell and regulates the passage of materials in and out of the cell cell wall – the tough outermost layer of plant, fungal, and prokaryotic cells; provides protection and support change – become different charge – either positive or negative chemical change – a change that alters the identity of a substance, which results in a new substance or substances with different properties chloroplasts – an organelle in plant cells that is the site of photosynthesis

259

12/18/25 2:48 PM

closed circuit

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

electromagnet

design solution – an answer closed circuit – a pathway that allows an electric current to to a problem that is the result of a thought-out plan flow freely conductor – material that allows electric current to flow through easily constructive processes – natural phenomena such as volcanoes, rivers, and weather patterns that build up landmasses on Earth’s surface

destructive processes – natural phenomena such as erosion and earthquakes that wear down landmasses on Earth’s surface earthquake – a sudden release of energy under Earth’s surface that makes the ground shake or crack

cytoplasm – the jelly-like electric circuit – the pathway substance that fills the inside through which electrical current of a cell and supports and contains all of the cell’s internal flows structures and organelles electric current – electricity flowing through a wire decomposer – an organism that gets energy by using dead organisms, nonliving materials, electromagnet – a magnet that can be turned on and off; or waste as food the magnetic field is produced by electrical current deposition – the build-up of land by depositing sediment and soil in a new location 260

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 260

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

erosion

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

erosion – the movement of weathered material on Earth’s surface by wind, water, or ice evidence – information that supports an idea

magnification

inherited – passed from parent to offspring during reproduction instinct – behavior that you were born with and did not have to learn

fish – a cold-blooded vertebrate insulator – material that stops current from flowing with fins and gills that lives in water invertebrate – an organism that does not have a backbone flood control – things made by man to help control flooding, investigation – the process such as dams, drains, and followed to find the answer to a levees question gas – state of matter that takes learned behavior – a change in the shape of its container a way an animal acts as a result of its experience geographic information systems (GIS) Map – a map liquid – substance that takes that shows a set of data such the shape of its container and as weather or elevation for a specific place on Earth’s surface flows health – the measure of an organism’s physical or mental state during a period of time

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 261

magnification – the process of enlarging the size of something, as an optical image

261

12/18/25 2:48 PM

mammal

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

rapid change

mammal – any of various warm-blooded vertebrate animals, including humans, characterized by a covering of hair on the skin and, in the female, milk-producing mammary glands for nourishing the young

neutral – having no charge or having an equal number of positive and negative charges

manipulation – moving or changing the position of an object

open circuit – A pathway that prevents electric current from flowing freely or stops the flow

matter – anything that has mass and takes up space

permanent – something that lasts, or is intended to last, for a very long time

nucleus – a membrane-bound organelle within a eukaryotic cell that contains most of the cell’s genetic material

microorganism – a living thing that is too small to see without plants – a type of organism that gets its energy directly a microscope from the Sun and is unable to microscope – a scientific tool move from place to place on its used to see small objects more own clearly rapid change – change to mixture – a combination of two Earth’s surface that occurs in a short period of time or more substances in which each keeps its own properties and can be easily separated 262

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 262

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

reaction

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

weathering

reaction – when things combine to make a new substance

substances – particular types of matter with specific properties

repel – move away

temperature change – increase or decrease of heat energy in a substance

reptile – any of various usually cold-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates having dry skin covered with scales or plates and breathing by means of lungs slow change – change that happens to the environment over a long period of time solid – an object with a set volume and shape static electricity – typically produced by friction that causes a shock; it is naturally occurring substance – something made of only one material, such as water or copper

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 263

temporary – something that lasts for only a short period of time vegetation – plants, or all the plants found in a particular area vertebrate – an organism with a backbone volcano – a mixture of hot rocks, ash, and gases that blows through a crack in Earth’s surface water vapor – when water becomes a gas

263

12/18/25 2:48 PM

weathering

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

weathering – the breakdown of rock into smaller particles from the effects of wind, water, and ice

264

SSS GA18 SN Grade 5.indb 264

© Accelerate Learning Inc. - All Rights Reserved

12/18/25 2:48 PM

5 STEMscopes Georgia Student Notebook

I belong to:

a part of STEMscopes NGSS

Georgia_5th_Book.indd 1

5th grade

My teacher is:

developed by Accelerate Learning, Inc. & Rice University

Notebook

(800) 531-0864

6/23/17 11:04 AM