Texas TEKS 5.5.E

Science5th GradeRecurring themes and concepts

The Standard

investigate how energy flows and matter cycles through systems and how matter is conserved

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students track matter and energy through systems such as food webs, terrariums, and water cycles. They use models, observations, or measurements to account for matter and show where energy transfers occur.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a food web or terrarium, students mark where matter and energy enter, move, change form, and leave. They explain that matter is not created or destroyed, while energy transfers and eventually spreads as heat.
Common Misconceptions: Students may say energy cycles because matter does. They may think plants make matter from sunlight or that decomposers make dead matter disappear. They may also treat a change in form as a loss of matter.
How to Assess It: Give students a diagram with the Sun, grass, rabbit, decomposer, air, and soil. Have them draw matter and energy arrows in different colors, then explain why matter is still accounted for.

Lesson moves

Have groups move matter beads in loops among organism, air, and soil cards, while energy tokens travel from Sun to organisms to heat.
Ask, "Does a rotting apple disappear?" Students write a claim and trace its matter into air, soil, and decomposers.
Play Matter or Energy Relay: teams place process cards on a cycle map or a one-way flow map, then justify each choice.
Examine a cafeteria compost bin and trace food scraps into gases, compost, plant growth, and heat, noting where each output goes.

Keep exploring

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