Information about the Fifth Grade science program at RCPS

Fifth Grade Science has the only elementary science SOL test. The material on the test is from fourth and fifth grade so a review of the fourth grade curriculum occurs throughout the year.

Fifth grade science continues to focus on the inquiry process, developing investigative skills and understanding the nature of science. Fifth grade students develop an understanding of:

-sound, sound creation and transmittance -visible light and how it behaves -properties of matter, and phases of matter -atoms and elements and how they combine -cellular structure, function and organization -characteristics of organisms -classification of living things -characteristics of oceanic environments and systems -the changing nature of the Earth’s surface -geologic processes that occur on the Earth