Nova Scotia · Grade 5
Science, Grade 5
Nova Scotia’s Grade 5 science course, from Earth and Space Science: Weather to Physical Science: Chemical and Physical Properties.
- Units
- 4
- Lessons
- 5
- Skills
- 19
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 6 skills
Earth and Space Science: Weather
Investigating Weather
The water cycle
I can explain the water cycle: how water evaporates, condenses into clouds, and falls back as precipitation.
Skill 1.1
Measuring weather conditions
I can measure weather conditions using instruments and probeware, like temperature, wind, and rainfall.
Skill 1.2
Weather oral traditions
I can describe weather-related oral traditions, including Mi'kmaw ones, and how people have long observed and predicted the weather.
Skill 1.3
Weather and Daily Life
How weather affects living and non-living things
I can explain how weather affects both living things (plants, animals, people) and non-living things (soil, water, roads).
Skill 1.4
How living things prepare for and respond to weather
I can describe how living things prepare for and respond to weather, such as migrating, hibernating, or growing thicker fur.
Skill 1.5
Seasonal cycles and natural events
I can explain the significance of seasonal cycles and natural events like migration, flowering, and harvest.
Skill 1.6
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- 1.1
- Investigate the water cycle
- 1.2
- Measure weather conditions using instruments and probeware
- 1.3
- Investigate weather-related oral traditions, including Mi’kmaw oral traditions
- 1.4
- Investigate how weather affects living and non- living things in a local environment
- 1.5
- Investigate how living things prepare for and respond to weather
- 1.6
- Investigate the significance of seasonal cycles and natural seasonal events
Key ideas
Evaporation: the sun warms water and it rises into the air as invisible water vapour.
Weather affects living things: plants need rain and sun; animals shelter from storms.
Condensation: water vapour cools high up and forms tiny droplets that make clouds.
Weather affects non-living things: rain fills rivers; frost cracks rocks and roads.
Precipitation: droplets join and fall as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
Watch out for
- Thinking clouds are made of water vapour - clouds are tiny liquid droplets (condensed vapour), not the invisible gas.
- Thinking weather only affects living things - it also changes non-living things like water, soil, and roads.
- Thinking rainwater is brand new - it is the same water cycling around again and again.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 5 skills
Physical Science: Forces and Simple Machines
Simple and Compound Machines
Common simple and compound machines
I can identify common simple machines and tell that compound machines are made of two or more simple machines.
Skill 2.1
Machines in daily life
I can compare machines used in daily life and explain how each makes a job easier.
Skill 2.2
Forces in simple machines
I can explain the forces in simple machines - how a machine changes the size or direction of a push or pull.
Skill 2.3
Building simple and compound machines
I can use what I know about simple machines to build a simple or compound machine that does a job.
Skill 2.4
Testing machines for effectiveness
I can test how well my machine works and find ways to make it more effective.
Skill 2.5
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 2.1
- Investigate common simple and compound machines
- 2.2
- Compare machines used in daily life
- 2.3
- Investigate forces in simple machines
- 2.4
- Apply concepts of simple machines in the construction of simple and compound machines
- 2.5
- Test constructed machines for effectiveness
Key ideas
Simple machines: lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane (ramp), wedge, screw.
A simple machine makes work easier by changing the force needed.
A compound machine combines two or more simple machines.
Machines are all around us in tools and everyday objects.
Everyday machines make daily jobs easier and faster.
Watch out for
- Thinking machines must have motors or electricity - a ramp or lever is a machine with no motor.
- Thinking a compound machine is just one bigger simple machine - it combines several simple machines.
- Thinking machines do work with no effort at all - they reduce the force needed, they do not remove it.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 4 skills
Life Science: Healthy Body
Body Systems and Staying Healthy
Structure and connection of body systems
I can describe major body systems, what they do, and how they work together.
Skill 3.1
Keeping body systems healthy
I can analyse ways to keep my body systems healthy, like good food, exercise, sleep, and hygiene.
Skill 3.2
How the body protects itself
I can describe ways the body protects itself, like skin, sneezing, and fighting germs.
Skill 3.3
Measuring vital signs
I can measure vital signs like heart rate (pulse) and breathing rate, and see how they change with activity.
Skill 3.4
The official wording · 4 outcomes
- 3.1
- Investigate the function and structure of body systems and how they are interconnected
- 3.2
- Analyse ways to maintain health body systems
- 3.3
- Investigate the ways the body protects itself
- 3.4
- Measure vital signs
Key ideas
The body has systems, each with a job: the digestive system breaks down food; the respiratory system brings in air; the circulatory system moves blood.
Each system has parts (organs) that work together (heart and blood vessels; lungs and airways).
Systems are interconnected: the lungs get oxygen, the blood carries it everywhere.
All systems work together to keep you alive and healthy.
Healthy food gives the body the nutrients its systems need.
Watch out for
- Thinking each body system works alone - the systems are connected and depend on each other.
- Thinking the heart makes air or the lungs pump blood - each system has its own job.
- Thinking only exercise matters for health - food, sleep, and hygiene all matter too.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 4 skills
Physical Science: Chemical and Physical Properties
Physical and Chemical Changes
Physical and chemical properties of matter
I can tell physical properties of matter (like colour, hardness, and state) from chemical properties (like whether it burns or rusts).
Skill 4.1
Comparing physical and chemical changes
I can compare a physical change (same substance, new form) with a chemical change (a new substance forms).
Skill 4.2
Testing changes in substances
I can test substances to see whether a change is physical or chemical, using the signs of change.
Skill 4.3
Conservation of mass
I can show that the total mass stays the same in a change, even when the matter looks very different (conservation of mass).
Skill 4.4
The official wording · 4 outcomes
- 4.1
- Investigate physical and chemical properties of matter
- 4.2
- Compare physical and chemical changes
- 4.3
- Test physical and chemical changes of various substances
- 4.4
- Investigate the conservation of mass in physical and chemical changes
Key ideas
A physical property can be observed without changing what the matter is (colour, texture, state, mass).
A chemical property describes how matter reacts or changes into something new (flammable - it burns; rusts).
Physical properties help us describe and sort matter.
Chemical properties tell us how matter can react.
A physical change changes the form but not the substance (melting, cutting, dissolving).
Watch out for
- Thinking all properties are physical - some (like flammability) are chemical.
- Thinking rusting is a physical property - rusting is a chemical change, so 'can rust' is a chemical property.
- Thinking every change makes a new substance - physical changes keep the same substance.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows Nova Scotia’s own curriculum for Science, Grade 5.
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches Science, Grade 5 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep Science, Grade 5 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 27
- Fillable fields
- 1,238
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about Science, Grade 5
What is Science, Grade 5?
Nova Scotia’s Grade 5 science course: 4 units and 19 skills, from Earth and Space Science: Weather to Physical Science: Chemical and Physical Properties.
What units are in Science, Grade 5?
1. Earth and Space Science: Weather, 2. Physical Science: Forces and Simple Machines, 3. Life Science: Healthy Body and 4. Physical Science: Chemical and Physical Properties.
Is there a provincial exam for Science, Grade 5?
No. Nova Scotia gives no provincial exam for Science, Grade 5.
What comes after Science, Grade 5?
Science, Grade 6.
Can MapleMind help with Science, Grade 5?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Science, Grade 5, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for Science, Grade 5
Practise every skill of Science, Grade 5 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
