Topic: Fossil Fuels
Topic: Changes to Land
*The student is expected to
explore the processes that led to
the formation of sedimentary
rocks and fossil fuels. (5.7A)
*The student is expected to
recognize how landforms, such as
deltas, canyons, moraines, and sand
dunes are the result of changes to
Earth's surface by wind, water, and
ice. (5.7B)
1. Fossil Fuels - can be burned
to release large amounts of
energy
2. Coal - formed from plants in
forests and swamps some 400
million years ago.
*Identify and observe actions that
require time for changes to be
measurable, including growth,
erosion, dissolving, weathering, and
flow AND interpret how land forms
are the result of a combination of
constructive and destructive forces
such as deposition of sediment and
weathering. (5.11A, 5.12A)
1. Process - series of events that lead
to change
3. Oil and Natural Gas - formed
by very tiny one-celled plants
and animals in the ocean.
4. Formation of Fossil Fuels when plants and animals die
they get covered by sediments,
over millions of years, heat and
pressure changed their bodies
into oil, natural gas, or coal
2. Destructive Forces - processes that
wear down the Earth’s landforms
(weathering, erosion, glaciers,
earthquakes)
3. Constructive Forces - processes
that build up the Earth’s landforms
(folding to build mountains,
volcanoes and lava flows,
sedimentation)
4. Earth’s Materials- rock, soil,
water, gases
Topic: Alternative Energy
Topic: What Happened
Before
*The student is expected to
identify alternative energy
resources, such as wind, solar,
hydroelectric, geothermal, and
biofuels. (5.7C)
*The student is expected to
identify fossils as evidence of
past living organisms and the
nature of the environments at
the time using models. (5.7D)
1. wind energy - energy
produced by the wind
*Draw conclusions about "what
happened before" using data
such as from tree-growth rings
and sedimentary rock sequences
(5.11B)
2. Solar Power - energy
produced by the sun
3. Geothermal Energy - energy
produced by the Earth
4. Hydroelectric Energy - Water
is allowed to flow through
tunnels in the dam, to turn
turbines and thus drive
generators.
5. Biofuels - produced from
living organisms or from
metabolic by-products (organic
or food waste products).
1. Tree Growth Rings - tell the
age of a tree, tell about an area’s
past such as weather conditions
2. Sedimentary Rocks - formed
by the sand, mud, and other
particles falling to the ground or
to the floor of a lake or ocean.
Bottom layer is the oldest and
top layer is the most recent.
Topic: Weather and
Climate
Topic: The Sun and Water
Cycle
*The student is expected to
differentiate between weather
and climate. (5.8A)
*The student is expected to
explain how the Sun and
ocean interact in the water
cycle. (5.8B)
1. Climate - average weather
conditions in an area; typical
weather in a place over a long
period of time
1. Evaporation - water
evaporates from the oceans and
freshwater sources into the
atmosphere
2. Weather - describes whatever
is happening outdoors in a given 2. Condensation - water vapor
place at a given time. Weather is condenses into clouds
what happens from minute to
minute. The weather can change
a lot within a very short time.
3. Precipitation - water returns
to the oceans and land as rain,
hail, sleet, or snow
4. Run-off – water on the land
and in the ground runs off into
the oceans.
Topic: Systems,
Structures, and Processes:
Earth Systems
*Describe some cycles,
structures, and processes that are
found in a simple system AND
describe some interactions that
occur in a simple system.
(5.5AB)
1. Ocean currents - carry some
of the sediment to coastlines,
where it forms sandy beaches
2. Rivers – carry sediments from
the land into the oceans
3. Tides - two a day, can erode
shorelines wearing away at rock
and dissolving minerals.
4. Weather Patterns - results
from the interaction of several
systems—land features, energy
from the sun heating the Earth’s
atmosphere, the spinning of the
Earth creating winds, tornadoes,
tropical hurricanes.
Topic: The Earth, Sun,
and the Moon
*The student is expected to identify and
compare the physical characteristics of the
Sun, Earth, and Moon. (5.8D)
*Identify the physical characteristics of the
Earth and compare them to the physical
characteristics of the moon (5.12C)
1. sun – star, major source of energy for
the Earth
2. Solar System - sun and nine planets
3. rotation - Earth spins on its axis once
approximately every 24 hours, day and
night (5.8C)
4. revolution-Earth revolves around the
sun, year
5. tilt-Earth is tilted on its axis as it
revolves around the sun, explains seasons
6. axis - imaginary line running through the
center of the Earth from North Pole to
South Pole
7. Order of planets (My Very Excellent
Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas)
(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
8. Lunar Cycle - every 30 days
9. Moon Phases - 8 phases (5.6A)
10. Moon - has no water, air, soil, or living
things; made of molten lava (hard rock)
with craters
Topic: Water Carbon, and Topic: Natural Resources
Nitrogen Cycle
*Identify the significance of the
water, carbon, and nitrogen
cycles. (5.6B)
*Identify past events that led to
the formation of the Earth's
renewable, nonrenewable, or
inexhaustible resources. (5.11C)
1. Water Cycle - process by
which Earth’s water moves into
and out of the atmosphere.
1. Renewable Resource –
something that can be replaced
such as wood from trees.
2. Carbon Cycle - carbon is
continuously recycled among
the atmosphere, plants and
animals as carbon dioxide.
2. Nonrenewable Resource – is
formed over a very, long period
of time and cannot be replaced
or renewed. (coal, oil, copper,
and other minerals)
3. Nitrogen Cycle - the waste
products and remains of dead
animals and plants are broken
down by bacteria, leaving
nitrates in the soil.
3. Inexhaustible Resources –
cannot be used up by human
activity (energy from the sun,
wind energy