Quebec Grades 5–6 science curriculum

Outcome Predicts the combined effect of several forces on an object, such as reinforcement or opposition (an adjacent-cycle match: lift, drag, thrust and gravity on a paper plane).

Lessons: Build It, Launch It (Can you drop an egg without breaking it?, What makes a paper plane fly farthest?, How does a rocket push itself into space?)

Practice: Build It, Launch It workbook · Pushes, Pulls and Magnets workbook · Forces at Work: Gravity, Resistance, Levers and Pulleys workbook

Outcome Describes the behaviour of light rays (reflection, refraction). The rainbow lesson.

Lessons: Earth and Sky at Home (Where do rainbows come from?, How do crystals grow?, How does a cloud form?)

Practice: Grade 4 Light and Colour

Outcome Identifies the components of a simple electric circuit (wire, source, light bulb, switch) and describes their functions (an adjacent-cycle match).

Lessons: Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up

Practice: Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up workbook · Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable workbook · Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm workbook · Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook

Outcome Distinguishes between substances that are electrical conductors and those that are electrical insulators (an adjacent-cycle match).

Lessons: Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up

Practice: Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up workbook · Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable workbook · Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm workbook · Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook

Outcome Distinguishes between substances that are thermal conductors and those that are thermal insulators (an adjacent-cycle match: mitten materials).

Lessons: Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm

Practice: Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm workbook · Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable workbook · Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up workbook · Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook

Outcome Explains the insulating properties of various substances (an adjacent-cycle match: wool, foil, snow).

Lessons: Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm

Practice: Winter Science: Ice, Snow and Staying Warm workbook · Keep It Cool: Ice, Insulation and Staying Comfortable workbook · Simple Circuits: Make It Light Up workbook · Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook

Outcome Describes situations in which human beings consume energy (e.g. heating, transportation) (the classroom electricity audit).

Lessons: Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better

Practice: Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better workbook · Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact workbook · Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From workbook

Outcome Explains the insulating properties of various substances, and distinguishes thermal conductors from thermal insulators (the ice cube keeper).

Lessons: Hot and Cold: Particles on the Move

Practice: Hot and Cold: Particles on the Move workbook · Hot Stuff: Heat, Temperature and Cooling workbook · Steppe Science: Staying Warm on the Kazakh Steppe workbook

Outcome Demonstrates that chemical changes (e.g. cooking, combustion, oxidation, acid-base reactions) change the properties of matter (an adjacent-cycle match: the volcano fizz and colour-changing secret messages).

Lessons: Kitchen Chemistry for Families

Practice: Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook

Outcome Explains the buoyancy of a substance in another substance, using their respective densities (ice floating in water).

Lessons: Solids, Liquids and Gases (Where does a puddle go?, Why does ice float?)

Practice: Solids, Liquids and Gases workbook · Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook · Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating workbook · Grade 4 Rocks and Minerals

Outcome Distinguishes among the three types of motion in plants (geotropism, hydrotropism, phototropism), and explains how they help plants meet basic needs (a later-cycle match: plants bending toward the window).

Lessons: Plants and Seeds: What Does a Seed Need? (What's inside a seed?, What does a seed need to grow?, Why do plants grow toward the window?)

Practice: Plants and Seeds: What Does a Seed Need? workbook

Outcome Classifies rocks and minerals according to their properties (colour, texture, lustre, hardness); distinguishes between a rock and a mineral (an adjacent-cycle match: scratch, streak and vinegar tests).

Lessons: Rocks and Erosion: How Land Changes Shape

Practice: Kitchen Chemistry for Families workbook · Clean Water Challenge: Mixtures, Dissolving and Separating workbook · Solids, Liquids and Gases workbook · Grade 4 Rocks and Minerals · Stone, Bamboo and Storms: Building in Vietnam workbook

Outcome Describes certain natural phenomena such as erosion, and their impact on the environment (an adjacent-cycle match: stream table and hillside runoff).

Lessons: Rocks and Erosion: How Land Changes Shape

Practice: Rocks and Erosion: How Land Changes Shape workbook · Living with Water: Salt, Rice and the Mekong workbook

Outcome Describes how photosynthesis works, and explains how water, light, mineral salts and carbon dioxide are essential to plants.

Lessons: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom?

Practice: Food Webs: Who Eats Whom? workbook

Outcome Associates the average temperature with the climate of a region (polar, cold, temperate, mild, hot) (partial: frost dates and growing season).

Lessons: Weather Detectives (Why does a chinook feel like spring in January?, Is it hotter by the slide?, Why do farmers care about the last frost?)

Practice: Weather Detectives workbook · Monsoon Science: Rain, Sun and the Nón Lá workbook

Outcome Associates the average amount of precipitation and the average temperature with the climate of a region.

Lessons: Climate Clues (Is this winter colder than when your grandparents were kids?, What can a tree ring tell us?, What's the difference between weather and climate?)

Practice: Weather Detectives workbook · Monsoon Science: Rain, Sun and the Nón Lá workbook

Outcome Associates the changing of the seasons with the revolution and tilt of the Earth (partial: angle of sunlight and day length).

Lessons: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From (Where does our classroom's electricity come from?, Can the wind power our school?, Why don't we use solar power everywhere?)

Practice: Sun, Earth and Moon workbook · The Reason for the Seasons: Tilt, Daylight and the Solstice workbook

Outcome Identifies fossil fuel-based energy and explains that fossil fuels are nonrenewable sources of energy (the provincial electricity mix).

Lessons: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From (Where does our classroom's electricity come from?, Can the wind power our school?, Why don't we use solar power everywhere?)

Practice: Power Up: Where Electricity Comes From workbook · Earth Day Investigations: Make Your School Better workbook · Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact workbook