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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.