Fifth Grade Life Science

Here are the scientific concepts:

• An inherited trait can be determined by one or more genes.
• The sequential steps of digestion, and the roles of teeth and mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and colon in the function of the digestive system.
• Organ systems function because of the contributions of individual organs, tissues, and cells. The failure of any part can affect the entire system.
• How bones and muscles work together to provide a structural framework for movement.
• How to relate the structures of the eye and ear to their functions.
• How to compare joints in the body (wrist, shoulder, thigh) with structures used in machines and simple devices (hinge, ball-and-socket, and sliding joints).
• How blood circulates through the heart chambers, lungs, and body, and how carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen (O₂) are exchanged in the lungs and tissues.
• How levers confer mechanical advantage and how the application of this principle applies to the musculoskeletal system.
• How kidneys remove cellular waste from blood and convert it into urine, which is stored in the bladder.
• Contractions of the heart generate blood pressure, and heart valves prevent backflow of blood in the circulatory system.
• How the five senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch) work together.
• The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter.
• Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion.
• Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
• The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
• Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment.

By the end of the labs in this unit, students will be able to:

• Design and build a working robotic hand by understanding how tendons work to create movement.
• Know how to demonstrate how the eye works, and demonstrate common eye problems.
• Understand how to determine lung capacity, monitor heart rate, and several other measurable functions of the body.
• Demonstrate how the body can be modeled by simple machines and joint models.
• Differentiate observation from inference (interpretation) and know scientists’ explanations come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
• Measure and estimate the weight, length and volume of objects.
• Formulate and justify predictions based on cause-and-effect relationships.
• Conduct multiple trials to test a prediction and draw conclusions about the relationships between predictions and results.
• Construct and interpret graphs from measurements.
• Follow a set of written instructions for a scientific investigation.