This is an end of the year culminating project . Students will work on their own or in pairs to create a house that will help their family to survive the climate of a randomly chosen location. Students will use their knowledge or ecosystems, heating and cooling, and weather prediction and tracking to determine the proper supplies that will be needed to build a house for survival. The project will include weather research, house build planning, creating a mock-up, and presentation to the class. The project will conclude with a video detailing what they would change after collaboration with the class.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 5th Grade Science course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

In this lesson, students develop a definition for biodiversity. They analyze pictures of three ecosystems (forest, prairie, wetland) to determine their unique qualities and interconnections and then represent this on a Venn diagram. Finally, they use a jigsaw puzzle as a metaphor to illustrate why biodiversity is important.

In this short video, join Emily and Emma from the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh to take a look at some birds and learn about how we can observe all kinds of wildlife in our everyday lives.

This informational text introduce students to the life cycle and migration of the sanderling, a bird that winters on beaches in the Southern United States and South America but breeds in the Arctic during the summer months. The text is written at a grade four through grade five reading level. This is a PDF containing the informational text and a glossary.

In this lesson, students will organize details about two estuaries on opposite coasts in a way that highlights how the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound are similar and how they are different. Given prompts, students will research, collect and organize details in a chart type format.

In this series of activity, students explore an ecosystem and the interconnectedness of organisms within an ecosystem.

In this lesson, students compare and contrast a coral reef and a kelp forest ecosystem and identify the abiotic and biotic factors within each.

In this series of lessons, students will learn about ecosystems. In the first lesson, students will explore the different types of ecosystems and the structures and functions that are inherent in each one. In the second lesson, students will examine challenges to ecosystems, both man-made and natural issues. In the third lesson, students will learn about food webs and trophic levels. In the final lesson, students will apply their knowledge to construct a board game to teach others about ecosystems.

This 5th-grade Science Unit on Ecosystems helps students compare the characteristics of several common ecosystems, including estuaries and salt marshes, oceans, lakes and ponds, forests, and grasslands) and it helps students classify the organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers (biotic factors). 

This activity provides a broad look at biomes and ecosystems across the globe.

Students conduct research and design a news program about the lives and habitat of selected estuary animals.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science created this resource as part of an online workshop series, but you are welcome to use or modify it for your classroom. It includes a video and written directions for creating nature journals and tips for incorporating them into your classroom. For information on taking any the Nature Neighborhood online workshops for CEUs or EE credit, visit: https://naturalsciences.org/learn/educators/online-workshops.

This scientific article highlights a multitude of aspects about the tropical rainforest: global location, ethymology, fauna and flora, famous jungle researchers like Jane Goodall, consequences and reasons for jungle destruction, and suggestions that everybody can do to prevent jungle destruction. A link provides more information about the life and work of Jane Goodall. The text is written in child-friendly language and appropriate for readers age 8 and up.

In this short video, join Brandon and Emily on a nature hike with Falyn from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission as they discover all kinds of plants and animals and learn a thing or two about the amazing nature of North Carolina!

Water covers 71% of the earth?s surface?does it get the instructional time it deserves in your busy curriculum? Students wade right in to the study of bodies of water as they read and discuss science trade books and work together to develop Readers Theater scripts based on selected titles.

Students are introduced to ecosystems, food webs, and keystone species. They draw a simple food web and predict the impact keystone species have on an ecosystem.

It's a Small World After All! is actually two activities in one inquiry. In "How Much Biodiversity Exists in a Pond Microcosm?" students use microscopes to investigate the diversity of life that exists in pond water. In "What Is the Effect of Rice on Microcosm Biodiversity?" students conduct a controlled investigation to study the effect of a pollutant (rice) on a microcosm ecosystem. Note: The best time to start this inquiry is either September or May, when pond ecosystems are at their most active levels during the school year.

Students use photos and information about Australia's Shark Bay to draw and label a simple food web. Then they identify which animal in the ecosystem is a keystone species.