Grade 5 Science
Core Unit: Resources

Unit overview:

This unit introduces the student to the impact that humans have had on the natural resources and on the state of the environment in Saskatchewan. The unit has strong links with the grade 5 Social Studies unit Distribution. The two could be taught as a single integrated unit.

Related units:

The grade 2 Core Unit Habitats and the grade 3 Core Unit Animals deal with concepts which give the student a background for discussion of the human impact on the environment.

The grade 4 Core Unit, Forms of Energy, and the Optional Units, Electricity and Magnetism and Light, help the students understand the use of several forms of energy.

The unit could be integrated with the grade 5 Optional Unit Communities and Ecosystems to permit a more detailed look at the environment.

In grade 6, the Unit Ecosystems, and the Unit Energy in Our Lives expand upon several of the ideas developed in this unit.

Suggested themes:
conservation, pollution, resources, soil, technology, the environment, water supplies

Factors of scientific literacy which should be emphasized:

Common Essential Learnings foundational objectives which should be emphasized:

To enable students to understand and use the vocabulary, structures and forms of expression which relate to resources. (COM)
To develop an understanding that technology both shapes society and is shaped by society. (TL)
To develop students' appreciation of the value and limitations of technology within society. (TL)

Science foundational and learning objectives:

Describe Saskatchewan's natural resources.
1. List examples of natural resources found in Saskatchewan.
2. Classify the natural resources of Saskatchewan as renewable or nonrenewable.
3. Distinguish between resources used to produce energy and those used to produce goods.
4. Recognize the global concern for air, soil, and water.
Describe human impact on the environment.
1. Describe the water cycle.
2. Identify water pollutants and their sources.
3. Recognize the importance of proper waste disposal.
4. Examine the technology of waste water treatment.
5. Describe air as a mixture of gases, vapours, and solid particles.
6. Identify common air pollutants and their sources.
7. Explain how soil can become polluted.
8. Describe some of the causes of soil erosion and soil degradation.
9. Identify methods of preventing soil loss.
10. Discuss the relationship between agriculture and soil, air, and water quality.

Suggested Activities:

Select one of the natural resources of Saskatchewan for study. Resources such as fish, forests, gold, petroleum, potash, soil, uranium, could be considered. Create a poster illustrating that resource. The basic information could be provided by the teacher, with the student responsible for producing the poster and learning enough about the information to do a short presentation to the other students.
As an extension, have the student, or group, produce a booklet or manual which extends the information on the poster. The booklet could describe the nature of the resource, and its use. It could deal with the environmental impacts of the search for, and gaining access to, the resource. The removal of the resource, the processing and distribution of the resource, and the treatment of abandoned resource extraction sites may also be examined.
Use this activity to have students become acquainted with the school library's pamphlet file and how to request information from industries and government departments.
Use this activity to help students learn to avoid plagiarism. There are several techniques to assist students. One such method uses small index cards as the primary data collection organizers. Each student has a supply of these cards when researching information. Record on each card a key word or question which indicates the general topic (potash -- what is it?, for example). Several words or short phrases to answer the question could be listed on each card. For example: salt; crystallized from sea water during Devonian geologic period; 350 million years old; potash is sylvite (potassium chloride). The card would also contain the citation of the source. Work with your teacher-librarian, if available.
Two examples are given below, the first containing the information used in the example above.
Sample Cards:

Potash: what is it?
salt crystallized from sea water
From Devonian era 350 million years ago
ore is called sylvite and contains potassium chloride
from Saskatchewan Resource Series - Potash

Potash: what use is it?
fertilizer, contains potassium
potassium symbol is K for kalium
necessary for forming sugars and starches in plants
from Smith Ecology and Field Biology NY:
Harper and Row. 1974. p. 85

Factors: B2, C6, C12, D1, E2, F4, G3
Objectives: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9

Common Essential Learnings: Communication. Students are given an opportunity to record information found in source documents in their own words. The poster requires a visual image and a written message to be created. The extension activity requires organization of research and reorganization of the information derived from that research to produce a unique product.

Create a mural which illustrates the components of the water cycle in your area. Where does the spring run-off go? Are there sloughs, streams, lakes, or rivers? What fraction of the annual precipitation is snow? What local activities contribute pollutants to the water cycle? What method is used to dispose of waste water?
Factors: A3, B2, B4, B14, B16, C6, C12, D1, F4
Objectives: 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Assessment Techniques: 1, 4, 5

Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. In analyzing the water cycle in their own region, students see that human land use and the use of technology has contributed to a disturbance in the natural water cycle. They will also see that human action and use of technology is involved in counteracting these disturbances. It is a societal decision how much disturbance is tolerated and the extent to which resources are devoted to counteraction.
Produce a web dealing with a particular pollutant. The students could develop the whole thing themselves, or be given the major concepts. For example, this could be a start to developing a web.

Students may add other major concepts to the ones provided for them. Each of the major concepts should then be articulated with its own associated concepts. This exercise can be used as an introduction or organizer to the study of a topic, or as a review.
For further suggestions regarding webbing, refer to Science: Program Overview and Connections (K) 1-12.
Factors: A3, B1, B2, B4, B12, C8, C9, C10, C12, D1, E2, F4
Objectives: 2.2, 2.3
Assessment Techniques: 3, 5, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Communication. This activity requires students to assess what information they have, and what they need to discover to start to understand the problem of oil spills. It encourages them to organize their approach to studying an issue.
Trace the environmental impact of a common item, a bag of potato chips, for example, back to its origins.
Start by drawing a chain of people, or companies, from the consumer back to the origin of the plastic and inks for the bag, and to the potatoes, salt, and vegetable oil for the chips. The chain will be branched, as inputs for one process arrive from several different sources.
Ask students to work individually for three to five minutes. Then form groups of three to four persons and compare chains. Use the ideas of the group to produce one chain which incorporates the ideas of all group members.
During a teacher-led class discussion, use the ideas from each group to produce a class chain of production and distribution. Probing questions help clarify the students' ideas. Draw a class chain on brown roll paper and display it on a bulletin board.
Have each group select, or assign to each group, one of the links in the chain. Ask the groups to draw a web indicating the natural resources and associated industries used at that stage.The web below was created to show what resources a wholesale distributor might use.

To produce the web, use large sheets of paper. Write with pencils. Have erasers handy to modify and reorganize the webs. Add to the paper by taping extra pieces wherever they are needed. Each group should be prepared to present and explain their ideas to the class. Join each link to the others to produce a class web. Remember that webs are never finished.
To extend this activity, students might identify areas for research. Indicate where more information is needed to either enhance the web or to understand the components of it. Decide on a process for conducting and reporting the results of this research. Assign components of the research to each group. Consider integrating this activity with the Distribution unit in grade 5 Social Studies, or with English Language Arts or Arts Education.
Throughout this or other activities, encourage the groups to rotate tasks such as recording, investigating, and reporting.
Factors: B2, B12, C6, C9, D1, F4
Objectives: 1.3, 1.4
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. This activity shows the relationship between our society's demand for the benefits of technology and the use of scarce natural resources. The webbing of the relationships shows students the complexity of our society.
Arrange a tour of the local water treatment plant, or invite the manager to the class to speak about the processes used in the plant. The manager could be asked to describe how tests of water quality are done.
Create a series of charts or posters which describe the source of the water, how it is treated, and how it is distributed.
This topic could also be addressed in the Core Unit, Matter and its Changes, while dealing with the concept of mixtures and solutions.
Factors: A3, B1, B14, B12, B16, C9, C12, D1, F4, G3
Objectives: 2.1, 2.2
Assessment Techniques: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. Our demand for clean, safe water supplies and our activities which produce the need for water treatment emphasize how we have become dependent on support technology. A societal need for this technology has been created as a result of how water has become polluted.
Build a model of the sewage treatment plant used in your community. Compare the type of treatment in your community with that in surrounding communities. Create a report which explains the purpose of each component, and describes how that component functions. A videotaped tour of the actual plant could be used to supplement the booklet or the model.

Ask students to find information about various types of sewage treatment used in Saskatchewan. Septic tanks, pit toilets, primary treatment, secondary treatment, tertiary treatment, and compost toilets could all be considered.

Factors: A3, B2, B14, B12, B16, C5, C6, C9, D1, F4
Objectives: 2.3, 2.4
Assessment Techniques: 2, 3, 4, 5, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. This is one clear illustration of the impact of technology on the immediate environment of the students.
To examine solid particle air pollution, use two 3 cm pieces of transparent tape to attach a microscope slide to a 10 cm by 20 cm piece of cardboard. Use a toothpick or a popsicle (tm) stick to apply a thin, smooth layer of petroleum jelly to the centre part of the slide. The jelly is intended to trap solid particles which are in the air.
Decide where the collectors can be stored undisturbed for two or three days. If they can't be left at the collection site overnight, bring them back to a dust-free storage place in the classroom and extend the collection period.
Place some collectors so that the slide is held vertically, and some so the slide is horizontal. Cardboard holders can be held vertically by using two blobs of modelling clay as bases. After the collection period, examine the slides with a hand lens or a microscope.
Prepare a report summarizing the findings. Developing report outlines, considering key questions, and examining the process of organization are important skills for students to develop at this level. This could be extended to become an activity which is repeated periodically, perhaps every six weeks, from September to May.
Factors: B1, C5, C6, C8, C9, C12, E2, G3
Objectives: 1.4, 2.5, 2.6
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 5, 7c
Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking. This is an opportunity for students to collect data, and ask pertinent questions. What are the substances on the slide? How many different substances are there? How did they get on the slide? Are there differences which depend on the collection site? What do the differences correlate with -- a change in weather, a change in activity? a change in season? Once the students have formulated the questions, ways of investigating them can be planned.
Create a list of sources of air pollutants in Saskatchewan. For each source, indicate what pollutants are produced, and the effects each has. Indicate whether the pollutants are created by human activity or by natural processes. For each pollutant, try to discover what can be done, and what has been done, to reduce the amount of the emissions, and the effects which the pollutant has.
Representatives from various industries could be invited to class to talk about the air pollution reduction schemes in effect in their industries.
Factors: A3, B1, B2, B4, B16, C6, C8, C9, C12, D1, E2, F4
Objectives: 1.4, 2.5, 2.6
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 5, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. Students should learn to value the environment which surrounds them and to appreciate how actions and activities of one person, or of a group, influence the quality of life for all.
Put two ice cubes on a paper towel. Sprinkle salt on top of one. Leave the other unsalted. Observe the rate of melting of the ice cubes. Why is salt put on roads in the winter?
Salt in the soil causes problems for many plants. Divide into two parts a soil sample large enough to fill a one litre milk carton to a depth of 8 cm, into two parts. To one part, add one tablespoon of road salt and mix thoroughly. (If you can't get road salt from the local Saskatchewan Highways maintenance compound, use pickling salt.)
Soak six bean seeds in water overnight. Using cutoff one litre milk cartons or other containers as planters, plant 3 bean seeds in the salty soil sample, and three in the normal soil sample. Keep the soil moist until the plants emerge, and then water only when the soil dries out.
Is salt effective in melting ice? Does salt in the soil have an effect on plant growth? Is salt a pollutant? Check your school library and outside sources for information about saline soils in Saskatchewan. Do soils become saline from road salt? How could this be investigated?
Background information: Excess soil salinity is becoming more widespread in Saskatchewan. Students can recognize "saline seep" around the edges of sloughs or in low-lying areas. The white, salty residue commonly found on Saskatchewan soils is calcium sulphate, which is a salt, but not an alkali salt. Alkali salts are rarely found in Saskatchewan. The term "alkali" or "alkali soil" is a most often a misnomer when applied to Saskatchewan soils.
The white residue is left behind after the evaporation of underground water which comes to the soil surface. Salts occur naturally in Saskatchewan subsoils and bedrock as a result of the inland sea which once covered this area, and dissolve in ground water. Undissolved, these salts lie beneath the soil surface and do not affect plant growth. When they rise to the surface, they prevent crops from taking up water and nutrients. Major causes of salinity are the geology and climate of the prairies, and the practice of summerfallowing.
Factors: A3, B2, B4, C6, C8, C9, C10, C12, E2, F4, G3
Objectives: 1.4, 2.7, 2.8
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 5
Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking. The issue of salt on roads is a good example to use to introduce the concept of risk/benefit analysis.
Soil water filters can be used to illustrate two principles. One is that the soil can remove some substances from the water, thus helping to purify the water. Conversely, some substances in the soil may be picked up by water moving through it, thus making the water less pure.
To build a soil filter, put a layer of pebbles or broken pottery in a one litre plastic container which has had ten to fifteen holes punctured in the bottom with a large nail or a 6 mm (1/4") drill bit. Add a layer of sand to cover the pebbles or pottery by at least 2 cm, and a 6 cm to 10 cm layer of soil on top of that.
To show the removal of substances, add several tablespoons of soil with a high clay or silt content to a litre of water. Shake vigorously and then let it settle for two to three minutes. Some of the clay or silt will remain suspended. Alternatively, use a spoonful of liquid laundry starch in the water to produce the suspension.
Pour off about 50 mL of the suspension for a comparison sample. Set up a funnel and filter paper system and filter about 50 mL of the suspension through it. Slowly pour the rest of the suspension into the soil filter system. Compare the water which came through the soil filter, and through the filter paper, to the sample removed before filtering.
To illustrate the addition of substances to water from the soil, prepare a soil filter with instant coffee mixed in with the sand. As the water moves through the sand layer, the instant coffee will dissolve, colouring the water. Link this to the concern about the construction of solid waste disposal sites over aquifers, the disposal of empty pesticide cans, and other issues.
Factors: A3, B1, B2, B16, C9, C10, C12, E2, F4, G3
Objectives: 1.4, 2.7
Assessment Techniques: 1, 3, 4, 5
Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking. The use of analogies and models to simulate natural systems and events is a useful way to analyze situations, to anticipate consequences, and to design systems which work with the least possible negative effect on the environment.
If any of the students' homes has a water filter installed, or uses a stand-alone filter system, a report could be prepared on how they remove impurities, what types of impurities are removed, and how effective they are. Samples of filtered water and unfiltered water could be brought to school to do a "blind taste test" on samples of each type.
Factors: B2, B12, B14, C6, C8, C10, C12, D1, E2
Objectives: 1.4, 2.1, 2.2
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8

Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. This is a technology which is widely applied throughout Saskatchewan. Students have an opportunity to study and understand some aspects of something which touches their lives.
Observe the filter in the forced air furnace at home or at the home of a friend. How long has that filter been in place? What evidence is there that it is effective? Find information on how electrostatic air filters on home furnaces work. How well do electrostatic filters work compared to ordinary air filters in the return air duct? List other examples of air filters which are used in the home.
Design a device which can be used to test the efficiency of air filters. Write a users' manual so that a person who has purchased one of the filter efficiency testers would be able to use it.
Factors: B2, B14, B16, C5, C9, C10, C12, D1
Objectives: 1.4, 2.5, 2.6
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Technological Literacy. If the extension is used, in which the air filter tester is designed, the composition of a users' manual is an excellent opportunity for students to hone their skills of description and explanation.
Pack a 1 cm to 2 cm layer of soil in each of two large cake pans. Set the pans on the table with one end of each elevated to produce an sloped soil surface. Using a pencil or a popsicle stick, contour the soil in one pan with vertical ridges, and the soil in the other with horizontal ridges. Place wash basins on stools beneath the pans. Fill two sprinkling cans with water. Pour water steadily and at the same rate into each of the pans.
Ask students to compare the rate of flow into the basins and note any difference in the appearance of the surface of the soil after the water has been poured on each sample.
Variations of this activity would be suitable for individual or group research projects. For example, students could investigate the influence on the type of soil, the type of soil covering, or the effect of sod or mulch on soil erosion.
Factors: B2, B13, C6, C8, C9
Objectives: 2.8, 2.9, 2.10
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking. This activity can give students an opportunity to appreciate the importance of soil as a natural resource.
Refer to activity #8 in the grade 3 Core Unit Earth.
Modify the activity for use in grade 5. Working in groups, have students mix various household cleansers, bleaches, or laundry detergents into different soil samples, in different concentrations. Proceed as in the activity described in grade 3, to check the level of microorganisms in the soil, after the contaminants have been added. Each group could test a variety of different substances.
Students should be made aware of the fact that plant and animals residue is essential for soil fertility. Microorganisms in the soil decompose organic material in the soil.
Further extension can take place if students do research on actual case studies involving soil contamination. Have students report their findings to the entire class.
Factors: A3, B2, B13, D1, E2, F4
Objectives: 2.8, 2.9, 2.10
Assessment Techniques: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Common Essential Learnings: Critical and Creative Thinking, Independent Learning. In this activity, students make inferences about the effect of pollutants on soil quality.

Grade 5 Science Core Unit: Resources