Grade 5 Updates
In the Ecosystems & The Food Web Unit
- New Lesson 5: How could a fish feed a forest?
Replaces Lesson 5: Why do you have to clean a fish tank, but not a pond?
In the Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter Unit
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New Lesson 1: Can you identify a mysterious ingredient?
Replaces Lesson 1: Are magic potions real?
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New Lesson 2: Why can you smell things you can’t see?
Replaces Lesson 2: Could you transform something worthless into gold?
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New Lesson 3: How can you tell if acids are hiding in your fridge?
Replaces Lesson 3: What would happen if you drank a glass of acid?
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New Lesson 4: Why do some things explode?
Replaces Lesson 5: Why do some things explode? (yes, same name!)
Order update: What do fireworks, rubber, and Silly Putty have in common? used to be Lesson 4 and is unchanged, but is now Lesson 5
Grade 5 Supply Updates
Ecosystems & The Food Web Unit
Lesson 5: How could a fish feed a forest?
- Supplies needed (included in Mystery Packs):
- Beans (or beads) (15 per pair)
- 3-oz paper cup (1 per pair)
- File folder label stickers (2 per pair)
Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter Unit
Lesson 1: Can you identify a mysterious ingredient?
- Supplies needed (included in Mystery Packs):
- Sheet protectors (2 per pair)
- Plastic straws, not bendable (1 per pair)
- Popsicle sticks (4 per pair)
- Toothpicks (2 per pair)
- 3-oz paper cups (4 per pair)
- 3-oz plastic cups (2 per pair) → can use paper instead, but would need to double up
- White vinegar (1 cup per class of 30)
- Salt (5 tbsp per class of 30)
- Sugar (5 tbsp per class of 30)
- Baking soda (5 tbsp per class of 30)
- Cornstarch (5 tbsp per class of 30)
Lesson 2: Why can you smell things you can't see?
- Supplies needed (included in Mystery Packs):
- Paper clips (2 per pair)
- Paper fasteners (2 per pair)
- Label stickers (1 per pair)
Lesson 3: How can you tell if acids are hiding in your fridge?
- Supplies needed (included in Mystery Packs):
- 3-oz paper cups (4 per pair)
- 3-oz plastic cups (2 per pair) → can use paper instead, but would need to double up
- Popsicle sticks (1 per pair)
- Coffee stirrers (5 per pair)
- White vinegar (1 cup per class of 30)
- Baking soda (5 tbsp per class of 30)
- 3 substances to test, like mustard, mayo, ketchup, lemon juice (5 tbsp each per class)
Lesson 4: Why do some things explode?
- Supplies needed (included in Mystery Packs):
- 10” plastic plates (2 per pair)
- Ziplock bags, snack size (2 per pair)
- 3-oz paper cups (2 per pair)
- Plastic spoons (3 per pair)
- 9-oz plastic cups (3 per pair)
- Popsicle sticks (1 per pair)
- White vinegar (6 cups per class of 30)
- Baking soda (15 tbsp per class of 30)
- Cornstarch (15 tbsp per class of 30)
Why did Mystery Science make these Grade 5 updates?
- Our Chemistry unit previously included quite a number of difficult-to-source supplies like pre-1982 pennies and difficult to prep supplies, like cabbage juice. These lessons also presented many opportunities to increase and strengthen our NGSS coverage and alignment. We set out to revise these lessons to eliminate the need to source pennies and reduce the teacher prep where possible. But we wanted to keep this unit still very much hands-on with lots of materials to explore--it’s chemistry after all! So, there are still lots of hands-on activities, but we hope the prep is lighter, the materials are easier to find, and the alignment to standards is stronger.
Ecosystems & The Food Web unit updates
New Lesson 5: How could a fish feed a forest?
- 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
- This lesson had the most opportunity for improvement in 5th grade, with many teachers expressing a need for a simpler and less complicated hands-on activity. The previous version emphasized ecosystem balance, but since the standard focuses on matter cycling, we revised the lesson to better reflect that emphasis. The lesson now focuses on the phenomenon of how matter that was once in salmon end up in spruce trees. In the hands-on activity, students now construct a forest ecosystem model and trace matter as it cycles. Students discover through their models that matter moves from plants to animals to decomposers to the environment and then cycles back to plants. And this explains how matter from fish can eventually travel to trees!
Chemical Reactions & Properties of Matter unit updates
New Lesson 1: Can you identify a mysterious ingredient?
- 5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
- This was our infamous activity that required pre-1982 pennies and it is now updated to eliminate this tricky supply! So we completely replaced this lesson. We refocused the first lesson in this unit on material properties. In the new lesson, students are introduced to the concept that ingredients using in baking and cooking all have unique properties. In the hands-on activity, students are provided with 4 mystery ingredients. Through a series of tests, they observe the properties of these ingredients and then use those unique properties to identify them.
New Lesson 2: Why can you smell things you can’t see?
- 5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
- This lesson also required the pre-1982 pennies with the addition of a steel nail – all pretty tricky supplies. So we completely replaced this lesson. The new lesson introduces the phenomenon of New York City residents suddenly smelling maple syrup even though maple syrup was nowhere to be seen. In the activity, students create a model of cookie particles in a room to demonstrate how the only people who smell the cookie are the people who are in the path of the particles. Students then connect this model to the maple syrup phenomenon and discover that maple syrup particles were being blown from a factory to NYC. The explanation for the phenomenon and the activity is realizing that particles of matter are too small to be seen.
New Lesson 3: How can you tell if acids are hiding in your fridge?
- 5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
- This lesson also required some difficult supplies and prep for teachers - buying red cabbage, chopping, and soaking in order to get an acid indicator. Teacher reviews lamented the degree of prep and also felt the focus on figuring out an acid indicator wasn’t as much fun for students as testing which materials were acidic. So, we revised this lesson to eliminate the cabbage juice indicator and focus on identifying acidic materials instead. Which is also more aligned with the science standard anyway: win-win! The lesson now introduces the concept of acids and the property of some things being acidic. In the hands-on activity, students now use baking soda as their acid indicator and look for the bubbling reaction as a way to detect acids. Then, they make observations of several household ingredients to determine if they’re acidic or not.
New Lesson 4: Why do some things explode?
- 5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
- We saw an opportunity to strengthen our coverage of this standard, which is focused on chemical reactions. We decided to repurpose our “Bag of Bubbles” activity, but with a new focus on fair tests, variables, and chemical reactions. Students are now introduced to the phenomenon that sometimes when substances are combined, an explosion happens! But other times when two substances combine, nothing really happens. In the hands-on activity, students conduct an investigation where they combine substances to see which combinations result in a chemical reaction: an explosion! Then, they evaluate the evidence that a chemical reaction has occurred. In this case, the new substance created was a gas, which caused the bag to expand and eventually explode!
Moved Lesson 5: What do fireworks, rubber, and Silly Putty have in common?
- 5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
- This lesson was previously Lesson 4 and is now Lesson 5 in the unit. This lesson continues student exploration of chemical reactions, but benefits from additional context on how to evaluate those chemical reactions. So we felt this was best sequenced after the newly refocused “explosions” lesson.
We’re always listening to reviews, to what’s happening in classrooms, and to what teachers & students need most. With a growth mindset at our core, we continually fine-tune our lessons to reflect strong, research-based practices.
If you have any questions about an update, please reach out to our Customer Support Team.