Students explore how plant and animal structures are used to help them survive, how they are similar and different. They learn how these structures are used to communicate between parents and offspring to help with survival. Students learn how young plants and animals can look similar to their parents, but also can vary in many ways.
Students will extend their knowledge of adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators from fourth grade to fractions with unlike denominators. Students will extend their knowledge of multiplying fractions by whole numbers to multiply fractions by other fractions and mixed numbers. Students will consider the contexts for dividing unit fractions by whole numbers and dividing whole numbers by unit fractions and the relationship of the quotient to the dividend and divisor. Students will also use their knowledge of fractions to create and interpret line plots with fractional measures on the scale.
In Part I students explore the similarities and differences between plant and animal life cycles, how traits are inherited from parents, and how the environment can influence the inheritance of those traits. In Part II students study how the organisms in an ecosystem impact and depend on each other for survival.
Students examine how animals and plants depend on each other for survival. They explore areas where plants and animals live on land and in water, and how each area is made up of many different kinds of living things.
Students will deepen their understanding of parts and wholes. They will begin to learn about unit fractions and non-unit fractions and how to represent them and compare them. They will also start thinking about equivalent fractions.
Students will identify and analyze arguments from multiple texts by locating supporting evidence. Students will synthesize multiple viewpoints of the same topic to communicate their argument. Students will create an argumentative piece with a clear claim and relevant supporting evidence.
In this unit students will study how geography and natural resources shape where and how urban, suburban, and rural communities develop and how they sustain themselves. Students will examine how the location of physical features and natural resources often affects where people settle and may affect how those people sustain themselves. In addition, students will investigate how humans modify the environment of their communities through housing, transportation systems, schools, marketplaces, and recreation areas and how physical features and man-made structures can be described using symbols and specific geography vocabulary.
Maps and globes are representations of Earth’s surface that are used to locate and better understand places and regions. In this unit, students will gain an understanding of this and learn to locate places and regions on a map. Students will also learn to locate physical features and man-made structures on a map (e.g., school, grocery store, train station, hospital), using geographic vocabulary. In addition, students will learn about climate and seasonal weather changes and how people and communities are affected by these changes.
Various European powers explored and eventually colonized the Western Hemisphere. This had a profound effect on Native Americans and led to the transatlantic slave trade. In this unit students will study how Europeans traveled to the Americas in search of new trade routes, including a northwest passage. Students will also investigate the interaction between European explorers and Native Americans and how cultural diffusion eventually led to the Colombian Exchange reshaping the lives and beliefs of many people. In addition, students will study the slavery of Africans brought to the Americas during the Middle Passage.
UPDATED FOR 2021-22: Growing as a Reader and Writer empowers students with emergent and beginning literacy skills. This unit should be paired with the Reading Foundations which focus on the acquisition of phonological awareness and phonics which are essential foundations for reading and writing. It is essential that these skills are not taught in isolation, but applied within students reading and writing.
