Homeschool → Australia → Year 5 → Science

Year 5 science

In Year 5, students investigate how the features and behaviours of living things help them survive, compare the properties of solids, liquids and gases, and explore our solar system. They investigate how light travels, forms shadows and reflects, and learn how scientists' ideas develop over time.

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Biological sciences

Adaptations for survivalTopic outlineStudents explore structural and behavioural adaptations of Australian animals and plants, such as the bilby's burrowing, the thorny devil's water-channelling skin and eucalypts' tough leaves.

Chemical sciences

Solids, liquids and gasesFull lesson · 50 minStudents compare the observable properties of solids, liquids and gases and show that gases, like air, take up space and have mass.

Earth and space sciences

Our solar systemTopic outlineStudents learn that Earth is one of eight planets orbiting the Sun, compare the planets' sizes and distances, and build a scale model.

Physical sciences

Light and shadowsFull lesson · 50 minStudents investigate how light travels in straight lines from a source, how shadows form, and how light reflects off and passes through different materials.

Science as a human endeavour

How science ideas changeTopic outlineStudents learn how ideas about the solar system changed from an Earth-centred model to a Sun-centred model as new evidence was gathered, and that First Nations Australians have long used the night sky to track seasons.