Science Secular Homeschool Curriculum Skills List | Fifth Grade

Science concepts create the themes for some of the units within Fifth Grade Complete. The activities and experiments teach the grade-level skills in a fun and engaging way.

• Learn about important scientists.
• Develop an understanding of science and technology.
• Develop an understanding of the relationships among technologies and other fields of study.
• Develop the ability to apply a design process.
• Use a microscope to make observations.
• Apply the scientific method to a problem.
• Demonstrate problem-solving skills.
• Use simple logic to develop a strategy.
• Function within the restrictions and constraints of a project.
• Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and success of a plan.
• Explore the world through observation and experimentation.
• Make predictions and draw conclusions based on patterns or evidence.
• Learn about the professions of a marine engineer and naval architect.
• Identify the parts of an insect.
• Understand the life cycle of an insect.
• Sing an insect song.
• Construct a model of an orb web.
• Learn about the body’s vital organs: brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, liver.
• Label the parts of the cerebral cortex.
• Label the four chambers of the heart and the blood path to and from the lungs.
• Label a diagram of the lungs.
• Learn the importance of blood donation.
• Locate a pulse.
• Calculate a heart rate.
• Use a stethoscope to listen to a heart beat.
• Understand the effect of exercise on the heart rate.
• Understand the function of a dialysis machine.
• Learn about living donation.
• Make a model of the lungs and diaphragm.
• Calculate a respiratory rate.
• Understand the effect of exercise on the respiratory rate.
• Determine how age and gender affect respiratory rate.
• Display information on a model.
• Learn about body systems: nervous, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, renal, integumentary, excretory, muscular, skeletal, immune.
• Label the parts of the renal system.
• Label the parts of the integumentary system.
• Identify the four major components of the digestive system.
• Make a device to measure tidal volume.
• Learn about and identify the parts of a cell.
• Draw a diagram and make a model of a cell.
• Complete a food consumption chart.
• Make a model of a muscle pair.
• Identify muscles of the body.
• Perform muscle stretches.
• Differentiate between living and non-living things.
• Classify living things.
• Learn about invertebrates: worms, sponges, cnidaria, echinoderm, mollusks, arthropods.
• Name the six sub-groups of invertebrates.
• Collect and observe worms.
• Identify the basic parts of a sponge.
• Make a lemon battery.
• Learn about raccoons and mountain lions.
• Understand that animals have instincts which help them survive.
• Understand that plants and animals progress through life cycles of birth, growth and development, reproduction, and death; the details of these life cycles are different for different organisms.
• Know that distinct environments support the life of different types of plants and animals.
• Understand how seeds grow.
• Understand the process of photosynthesis.
• Recall plant parts and functions.
• Classify objects.
• Make observations, and describe the weather.
• Understand how we should take care of the world.
• Understand the importance of healthy living.
• Recall the four food groups, and evaluate diet for good nutrition.
• Apply physics principles: potential and kinetic energy, inertia, force, friction.
• Observe and understand Newton’s Laws of Motion.
• Apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to the game of golf.
• Design a soap box car and racetrack.
• Learn about simple machines: inclined planes.
• Design a roller coaster using inclined planes.
• Recognize the characteristics and habitats of various types of animals.
• Understand the process of a hydrologic cycle.
• Make a terrarium to demonstrate the process of the water cycle.
• Demonstrate evaporation.
• Compare the density of fresh water and salt water.
• Demonstrate the moon’s phases.
• Learn about epilepsy.
• Learn about multiple sclerosis.
• Learn about SONAR and echolocation.
• Develop a model to represent a scientific principle.
• Build a Rube Goldberg machine.
• Use the scientific method to learn about magnets.
• Identify the independent, dependent, and control variables in an experiment.
• Conduct an experiment with magnets.
• Create a magnet by rubbing an item with a strong magnet.
• Demagnetize a magnet using force and heat.
• Apply a magnetic principle: like poles repel.
• Build an electromagnet.
• Use the scientific procedure to determine how control variables affect the strength of an electromagnet.
• Understand that Earth has a magnetic field that protects us.
• Research to discover which animals have an internal compass.
• Design an experiment to determine if the poles of an electromagnet can be reversed.
• Understand the potential danger of tornadoes.
• Demonstrate a tornado.
• Learn about the Hoover Dam and hydroelectric power.
• Label a diagram of a hydroelectric power plant.
• Apply the principle of buoyancy.
• Gain awareness of firesafe behavior and wildfire prevention.
• Understand when wildland fires are beneficial and when they are damaging.
• Learn the history behind the Smokey Bear public awareness campaign.
• Use data to determine the origin of a fire.
• List the colors in a rainbow in the correct order.