Science and Technology

In this unit you will discover how your body is organized, from tiny cells to tissues, organs and organ systems. You will explore six major systems: the respiratory system that brings in oxygen, the circulatory system that carries blood, the digestive system that turns food into nutrients, the excretory system that removes wastes, the nervous system that controls your body, and the musculoskeletal system that supports and moves you. You will see how the systems depend on each other, and learn about diseases and disorders that affect them. Then you will look outward: how social and environmental factors, technologies and food choices affect your health, and what you can do about it.

Remember from earlier grades: in Grade 1 you learned the jobs of your heart, lungs, brain, bones and muscles, and in Grade 4 Health you learned about nutrients and Canada's Food Guide. Grade 5 goes deeper, inside the body and its systems.

Along the way you will work like a scientist, engineer and coder: running fair tests on breathing, heart rate and reaction time, designing a kidney-model filter and a model finger, coding a model of the body during exercise, and researching health topics with reliable sources.

Curriculum expectations covered: B1.1, B1.2, B1.3, B2.1, B2.2, B2.3, B2.4, A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 5, 2022).

In this unit you will become a matter scientist! You will learn that matter is everything that has mass and takes up space (volume), measure both, and describe the properties of solids, liquids and gases using a simple particle model. You will find out how matter absorbs or releases thermal energy when it melts, freezes, evaporates, condenses, sublimates or goes through deposition, and spot these changes at home, in your community and in nature, including how maple syrup is made, a practice First Nations peoples developed and continue today.

Then you will tell physical changes (same substance, new look) from chemical changes (a new substance, with signs like bubbles, colour changes and new smells). You will explain why the properties of materials make them right for a job, including in First Nations and Inuit technologies like birchbark canoes and snow houses. Finally, you will assess how manufacturing and the materials in common products affect people and the environment, find actions to reduce harm, and design a solar still that uses the Sun to separate fresh water from salty water.

Remember from Grade 2: you explored solids and liquids, melting and freezing, and the water cycle (evaporation and condensation). Grade 5 explains why these changes happen and adds gases, chemical changes and the impacts of materials.

Along the way you will run fair tests, write simple code, research, and use the engineering design process. Every lesson has a hands-on activity with things from home, lots of practice and a short quiz. Safety first: a grown-up does all heating and cutting, we never taste experiments, and we never mix cleaning products.

Curriculum expectations covered: C1.1, C1.2, C2.1, C2.2, C2.3, C2.4, C2.5, C2.6, C2.7 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 5, 2022), with STEM skills and connections from Strand A (A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3).

In this unit you will think like a structural engineer facing nature's biggest forces! You will learn the four internal forces that act inside every structure (compression, tension, torsion and shear) and what each one can do, and sort the external forces on structures into static loads and dynamic loads.

Then you will look at forces from natural phenomena (earthquakes, strong winds, heavy snow, ice storms, floods and freezing and thawing) and find out how engineers use features like cross-bracing, base isolation, steep roofs and raised foundations, and materials like steel and reinforced concrete, to help structures withstand them. You will discover how the shells, skulls, roots and stems of plants and animals protect them from harmful forces, and how protective equipment like helmets and seatbelts protects your own body.

Finally, you will analyse how nature's forces affect natural and built environments, assess how urban, rural and remote communities (including Inuit and First Nations communities in the North) reduce the damage, and design a tower that survives a home-made earthquake and windstorm.

Remember from earlier grades: In Grade 3 you learned about strong and stable structures, loads, compression and tension, struts and ties, and safety devices. Grade 5 adds torsion and shear, static and dynamic loads, and a much closer look at nature's forces.

Every lesson has a hands-on activity using things from home, lots of practice and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: D1.1, D1.2, D2.1 to D2.5 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 5, 2022, Strand D: Structures and Mechanisms, topic: Forces Acting on Structures), with STEM skills and connections from Strand A (A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3).

In this unit you will become an energy expert. You will name the forms of energy (motion, stored, chemical, thermal, electrical, light, sound and nuclear) and see how each is used in everyday life. You will find out how energy is stored as potential energy in a toboggan on a hill, a wound-up spring or a hydroelectric dam, and trace energy transformations with energy chains. You will learn one of the biggest rules in science, the law of conservation of energy: energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another. And you will see why some energy always dissipates as heat, light and sound.

Then you will look at where our energy comes from: renewable sources like sunlight, wind and moving water, and non-renewable sources like fossil fuels and uranium. You will learn how burning fossil fuels adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and contributes to climate change, analyse the long-term impacts of using energy and resources from different points of view, explore technology that saves energy (and code a smart light), and learn how First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledges guide people to conserve energy and resources, including clean energy projects led by First Nations in Ontario today.

Remember from Grade 1: energy is the ability to make something move or change, and some energy resources are limited. Remember from Grade 4: light and sound are forms of energy, and LED bulbs waste less energy as heat. Every lesson has a hands-on activity using things from home, safety notes, practice questions and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: E1.1, E1.2, E1.3, E2.1, E2.2, E2.3, E2.4, E2.5, E2.6 (Ontario Science and Technology, Grade 5, 2022, Strand E: Conservation of Energy and Resources), with STEM skills and connections from Strand A (A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A2.1, A2.2, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3).