Indiana Science 5-ESS2-2

Science5th GradeEarth and Space Science

The Standard

Describe and graph the amounts of salt water and fresh water in various reservoirs to provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth.

Indiana Academic Standards for Science (2023) · Earth's Systems

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students graph how much of Earth's water is salty and how much is fresh. They use a second graph to show where freshwater is stored, then describe what the graphs show.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student labels one graph as all Earth's water and the other as freshwater only. They show that oceans hold about 97% of Earth's water and that most freshwater is frozen or underground.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think freshwater is always safe to drink. They may mistake 69% of freshwater in ice for 69% of all Earth's water. Lakes and rivers can seem like the main freshwater stores because students can see them.
How to Assess It: Give students two blank 100-unit bars and these figures: Earth's water is 97% salt and 3% fresh; freshwater is 69% ice, 30% groundwater, and 1% other. Ask them to shade and label both bars, then name the largest freshwater reservoir.

Lesson moves

Have pairs shade two 100-square grids, one for all Earth's water and one for freshwater, using the percentages on the board.
Ask students to write two sentences explaining why 69% of freshwater in ice does not mean 69% of all Earth's water.
Give teams reservoir cards labeled ocean, glacier, groundwater, and lake; have them sort the cards and rank the freshwater stores by size.
Bring a bottle labeled spring water; have students identify its groundwater source and compare groundwater with ocean water on their graphs.

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