Grade 5 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 5 science in the BC Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Multicellular organisms have organ systems that enable them to survive and interact within their environment.
- Solutions are homogeneous.
- Machines are devices that transfer force and energy.
- Earth materials change as they move through the rock cycle and can be used as natural resources.
Easy ways to practise science at home
- Turn everyday questions into investigations: “Which paper towel holds the most water?”
- Read a science news story together and ask what evidence it gives.
- Look up how a household machine works, such as a bike gear, a lamp or a fridge.
- Have your child draw and label a diagram of something they just learned.
What each unit covers
Digestion & Breathing
How food travels through the digestive system and air through the respiratory system, plus reading a breathing-rate table.
Heart, Bones & Muscles
The heart and blood vessels, bones, joints, muscles and tendons, how body systems work together, and heart-rate data.
Solutions & Mixtures
Solutions versus mechanical mixtures, solutes and solvents, what affects dissolving, and ways to separate mixtures (filtering, evaporation, magnets, chromatography).
Simple Machines
The six simple machines, how machines trade force for distance, compound machines, and reading data from a ramp experiment.
The Rock Cycle
How igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form and change into one another, weathering and erosion, and a short reading passage.
Natural Resources
Renewable and non-renewable resources, Earth materials we use, responsible use (including First Peoples' sustainable practices), and a school waste-audit graph.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Emerging
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Developing
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Proficient
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Extending
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the BC report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 5 child with science?
Turn everyday questions into investigations: “Which paper towel holds the most water?” Read a science news story together and ask what evidence it gives. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 5 science in BC?
The BC Curriculum Grade 5 science units include digestion & breathing, heart, bones & muscles, solutions & mixtures, simple machines, the rock cycle, natural resources.
Free printable Grade 5 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.