GRADE
5
ACTIVITIES
TEACHING
SCIENCE
THROUGH
LITERACY
Grade-level activities aligned to Common Core State Standards
and Next Generation State Standards.
EARTH SCIENCE
LESSON ONE. BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN
Use the following books in
the Early Bird Astronomy
series for this lesson.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Students will gather evidence to support the argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun
compared with other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth. Students will also write texts in which they
explain and support their arguments.
STANDARDS
This lesson aligns with the Next Generation Science Standard:
NGSS.5-ESS1-1 Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their
relative distances from Earth.
This lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
MATERIALS
• a large, dark room
• five or more flashlights (of equivalent strength and size)
• a small ball or globe
• a stool or chair
INTRODUCTION
Ask students to work in pairs to write down as many star and constellation names as they know. Students are unlikely
to know much more than the sun.
After students have made their lists, ask them to rank the stars from brightest to dimmest. Choose students to share
their answers. Students will likely list the sun as the brightest star. Ask:
• What is the brightest star on your list?
• Why do you think that star is brighter than all the others?
READ ALOUD
Read the first chapter of The Sun to your students. Compare students’ answers from the introduction with the
information presented in the book. Were students theories correct? Where did they differ?
Explain to students that the class will further investigate some of the book’s information about why certain stars (like
the sun) are brighter than other stars.
ACTIVITY
1. Turn out the lights in your classroom or move to a large, dark room (a gym or recreational room is ideal).
2. Choose five volunteers—one for every flashlight. Give each volunteer a flashlight and ask the volunteers to stand
in a straight line facing the other students. Ask the volunteers to turn on their flashlights. They should point the
flashlights at the students but not in their eyes.
3. Ask the class to identify any similarities or differences between the strength and size of the flashlights.
4. Then tell the student volunteers to choose a spot in the room and face the rest of the class. At least one student
should remain close to the students, no more than a few feet away.
5. After students have chosen their spots, ask them to again turn on their flashlights and face the class. Monitor the
flashlight beams to protect students’ eyes.
6. Ask students to identify the brightest flashlight. Then ask them to explain why that flashlight is brightest.
7. Next, place a ball or globe on a stool or chair in front of the students. Explain that the ball represents Earth and the
flashlights represent stars in our universe. Tell students that they will be testing each flashlight to see which one
provides the most light.
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Lesson 1 continued
8. Ask the volunteers to turn off their flashlights. Then, one at a time, ask each volunteer to turn his or her flashlight
on and then off again. Ask students:
• Which flashlight shines the most light on the ball or globe?
• Imagine you are a person on the ball/globe version of Earth. Which flashlight/star would give you the most light?
9. After this demonstration, call the volunteers back to the front of the room and have them stand in a line. Ask them
to turn on their flashlights again to remind the class that the flashlights are all roughly the same brightness.
10.Gather your materials and return to your classroom (if necessary).
11. Explain to your class that just like the ball/globe and the closest flashlight, the sun is the closest star to Earth. Just
as the closest flashlight was the brightest, the sun is the closest star and thus the brightest one on Earth.
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW-UP
Ask students to use the knowledge they gained during the demonstration to write a paragraph explaining why the
sun appears brighter than other stars.
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EARTH SCIENCE
LESSON TWO. GRAPHING SHADOWS
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Students will conduct observations of shadow movement and change. Students will also represent gathered data on
a line graph.
STANDARDS
This lesson aligns with the Next Generation Science Standard:
NGSS.5-ESS1-2 Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day
and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
This lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standard:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.G.A.2 Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the
coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.
MATERIALS
• any classroom object tall enough to cast a shadow (e.g. a water bottle, a lamp, a stuffed animal, a pencil cup)
• butcher paper
• meter or yard sticks
• pencil
• graph paper
• a source of sunlight or access to an outdoor space
INTRODUCTION
Ask students to think about how their shadows change throughout the day. Ask the following questions:
• When are your shadows the smallest?
• When are your shadows the longest?
• What can you do to change your shadow?
• What can cause your shadow to move? How can your shadow move if you are standing still?
Explain to students that they will conduct an investigation to see how a shadow moves during the day.
ACTIVITY
1. Select an object that will cast a substantial shadow. If possible, take this object, butcher paper, a meter stick, a
pencil, and the class outside. Otherwise, find a sunny area in your classroom.
2. Place the object on a piece of butcher paper. The object’s shadow should easily fit on the paper, with lots of blank
space on the paper around the object for shadow movement. Trace the base of the object to ensure that it stays in
the same place throughout the day.
3. Next, ask a student to measure the length of the object’s shadow from base to tip. Draw a small line at the tip of
the shadow. Record the length and time of day the observation was made. Return to the classroom, leaving the
object and butcher paper
in place.
4. Explain to students that your class will be checking on the object’s shadow every 20 minutes throughout the
day. This length of time can be adjusted to accommodate your class schedule, but it should remain a consistent
interval.
5. Lead the class in setting up a line graph on the graph paper. The x-axis should include times of day in 20 minute
increments (or your chosen interval). The y-axis should include the length of the shadow.
6. Lead the class in plotting your first data point: the length of the shadow at your start time.
7. At 20-minute intervals throughout the day, ask a student to check the length of the shadow and make a pencil
mark at the tip of the shadow. Lead the class in recording each new plot point.
8. Near the end of the day, record a final plot point.
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Lesson 2 continued
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW-UP
Ask students the following questions:
• Look at your graphs. What can we learn from the data?
• When was the shadow the longest?
• When was the shadow the shortest?
• During what interval did the shadow change the most?
• What can we learn from the pencil marks we drew at the tips of the shadows?
• Did the tips of the shadows move or stay in the same spot?
• If they changed, how did they change? Why do you think they changed?
• If the tips of the shadow moved, during what interval did the shadow move the most?
• Why does the shadow change and move? What causes changes in shadows?
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EARTH SCIENCE
Use the following books in
the Saving Our Living Earth
series for this lesson.
LESSON THREE. PROTECTING RESOURCES
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Students will research scientific ways to protect Earth’s resources and environment. Students will give oral reports on
a scientific topic. Students will write a persuasive letter with opinions supported by reasoning and facts. Students will
also conduct a short research project using informational texts.
STANDARDS
This lesson aligns with the Next Generation Science Standard:
NGSS.5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s
resources and environment.
This lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts
and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of
different aspects of a topic.
MATERIALS
• a clear plastic tub
• water
• paper cups
• trash (such as chip bags, aluminum cans, and food containers) and other materials that could serve as pollutants (such as cooking oil or dirt)
• a spoon
• 4 pieces of poster board
• magazines
• scissors
• glue
• crayons or markers
INTRODUCTION
1. Fill the plastic tub with clean water and display it to your class. Use paper cups to scoop a few small drinks of
water out of the tub. Offer the water to a few students.
2. Then explain that the tub of water represents a nearby body of water, such as a lake or a pond.
3. Next, begin adding various pollutants to the water. Explain imaginary sources of each contaminant. Perhaps a
family discarded their trash in or near the water after a picnic or an oil spill filled the water with dangerous oil.
4. Stir all the pollutants together in the tub.
5. Then take two or three paper cups and scoop out a few drinks of water. Again offer these to students. Note their
reactions.
Explain to students that human activity, such as polluting our water, harms or threatens many of our natural
resources and the environment in which we live. This lesson will allow students to explore the ways one resource is
harmed by pollutants, as well as ways to preserve that resource.
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ACTIVITY
1. Divide students into four groups. Assign each group one of the following topics: air quality, land, rain forests, or
water supply. Distribute the corresponding Lerner books to each group.
2. Instruct students to use their books to help prepare for a 3 to 5 minute group presentation. Their presentations
should address the following questions:
• What is your natural resource?
• How is the resource threatened? How do people harm the resource?
• How do people use science to protect the resource?
• How can we help protect that resource in our community?
• What can we do as a class or as individuals to conserve this resource?
3. Provide each group with a piece of poster board, magazines, scissors, glue, and crayons or markers. Students
should create informational posters to use as visual aids in their presentations.
4. Students should then give their presentations to their classmates. Allow the class to ask the groups questions
about their topics.
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW-UP
After the presentations, ask the class to think about ways they can protect the environment. Of the ways presented,
students should pick the one that they think could do the most good in their community. Then ask students to write
a letter to the mayor, the school principal, or a parent. The recipient may vary depending on the chosen method.
Some methods are possible to implement with little approval while others will need more support. Each letter should
explain how students want to protect the environment and why the recipients should help them make it happen.
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LIFE SCIENCE
Use the following books in
the Searchlight Books series
for this lesson.
LESSON FOUR. SOURCES OF ENERGY
LESSON OBJECTIVE
Students will create a model that demonstrates the transfer of energy from the sun to living things.
STANDARD
This lesson aligns with the Next Generation Science Standard:
NGSS.5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, motion, and to maintain body
warmth) was once energy from the sun.
MATERIALS
• resealable plastic bags
• permanent markers
• plastic straws
• electrical or duct tape
• cups (one for each group)
• water
INTRODUCTION
Ask students to make a list of everything they’ve eaten in the past 24 hours. Ask them to separate their food into
three categories: meat, plant, and don’t know. Then ask students to think about where the plants and animals that
they’ve eaten got their food. Continue this backward cycle as far as possible (the sun).
Explain to students that the energy we get from our food is energy that came from the sun. Tell students they will
create models of food webs that show how the sun’s energy travels between living things.
ACTIVITY
1. Divide students into six groups. Provide each group with one of the books from the What is a Food Web? series.
Allow each group time to read their book and study the food web on page four.
2. Provide each group with resealable plastic bags, markers, straws, and tape.
3. Tell students that each bag represents a living thing (except for one which will represent the sun). Students will
use straws and tape to connect the bags. As an example, demonstrate the following five steps for students.
DEMONSTRATION
1. Use the desert group for your demonstration. You will need to connect a bag representing the sun to a bag
representing the prickly pear, because the prickly pear gets energy from the sun. Label the bags using a marker.
2. Cut a small hole in the corner of the sun bag and pull the straw through the hole. Secure the straw using tape.
3. Connect the straw to the pear bag by taping the end of the straw inside the resealable opening at the top of the bag.
4. Hang the project by taping the sun and pear bags to a wall or door.
5. Use a cup to pour water into the sun bag. The water represents the energy provided by the sun. The water or
energy will travel down the straw into the pear bag, representing the transfer of energy from the sun to the pear.
CONTINUATION OF ACTIVITY
1. Explain to students that they should construct a food web using this design, with a bag for each living thing and
a straw to model the transfer of energy. Students may use the food web on page four of their books to help them
determine which animals to include, or they may substitute other animals from the book.
2. Assign each group a section of wall or door on which they can hang their food webs.
3. When groups finish their webs, provide them with cups of water to test their models.
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Lesson 4 continued
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW-UP
Invite parents, other students, or teachers to visit your classroom. Allow the visitors to examine the food webs and
ask the groups questions.
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All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
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