Students will engage in a discussion of open and closed circuits and the concepts of algorithms using sequencing and conditional statements. Students will be presented with a question to discuss and apply prior knowledge. Students will then be given information about open and closed circuits, using diagrams and explanations of key terms. Once the students have observed a demonstration of a simple circuit, they will have a discussion as to which circuit worked, open or closed, and why. Students will be asked to predict what might happen if more components were added. Students will then work collaboratively to construct a closed and open circuit using a diagram to show the step-by-step algorithms to create each circuit.The lesson can be found at this LINK. 

In this activity, students will collaborate with a partner or group to create posters explaining the different steps of the rock cycle. They will then use an algorithm to record information onto MakeyMakey, connect their poster to the MakeyMakey Board, and assign a control that will allow the correlating recording to play. (For this activity, students should already have background knowledge of the rock cycle, metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks.) This lesson is designed for two days, the first day is the creation of the written poster, and day two is the creation of the interactive components.This lesson can be found at this LINK. 

Students will engage in a discussion about how rocks are formed and the rock cycle. They will then draw the rock cycle and when given various situations, give the steps necessary for a rock to go from one stage to another, following the paths in between. Students will have the opportunity to use a “character” to help them follow the paths without skipping steps. The students will then record the steps followed on a record sheet.The lesson can be accessed on this LINK. 

In this activity, students will be following an algorithm to create an electromagnet. They will follow a sequence of steps and collect data on the strength of the electromagnet along the way. Once all steps of the algorithm have been completed, students will analyze the data to create a conclusion.This lesson can be found at this LINK. 

In this activity, students will be exploring food chains on a Coding Map to determine how energy from the sun can help decomposers survive. Students will work in groups to find the most direct path without any overlaps to show how energy flows through a basic food chain (sun, producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and decomposer.) They will write about the path they took and explain how sunlight helps decomposers survive.This lesson can be accessed by this LINK. 

This is an integration guide that shows a DRAFT alignment of 2017 Computer Science Standards and 2024 Computer Science Standards with possible integration for Fifth Grade Science and activities. This will be updated after further resources are provided from VDOE. Fifth Grade Computer Science and Science Integration Guide

In this activity, students will use algorithms to explore conductive that complete a circuit using the Makey Makey app “Is It Conductive?” Once they find items to complete their circuits, they will use the “Buzzer App” on Makey Makey in pairs while collaborating and communicating to correctly identify examples of mechanical, electrical, radiant, and thermal energy.

Students will become familiar with computer science vocabulary words.  They will create a program in Scratch that uses nested conditional statements.  They will be given multi step word problems to guide the nested conditional nature of their program.  Students will be responsible for creating, testing, and debugging the code in Scratch. They will engage with other students’ finished programs to review the math skill.