Dear  Parents,                   January,  2015  !Gree3ngs  from  the  Grade  5  desk.    We  wish  you  all  a  very  happy  and  prosperous  2015.  !We  will  begin  with  the  next  unit  on  Energy  and  Sustainability  very  soon.  The  big  understanding  (central  idea)  in  this  unit  will  be  “People  can  make  choices  to  support  the  sustainability  of  the  earth’s  energy  resources”.  Students  will  be  learning  about  the  FORM  of  the  different  sources  of  energy  (What  is  energy  like?  How  is  it  formed?  What  are  the  types?  How  can  we  sort  them?)  They  will  also  learn  how  energy  CHANGEs  from  one  form  to  another  and  how  energy  is  used  in  different  ways.  They  will  try  to  be  more  RESPONSIBLE  by  thinking  of  ways  to  sustain  energy  and  its  sources.  !Our  first  line  of  inquiry  is  “The  different  forms  of  energy  sources”.  We  will  be  researching  about  different  types  of  energy  (solar  energy,  wind  energy,  hydro  energy,  heat,  light,  sound,  chemical  energy,  poten3al  energy,  kine3c  energy,  electrical  energy,  etc.)  using  books,  Internet  and  guest  speakers.  The  students  will  learn  to  sort  the  forms  of  energy  into  renewable  and  non-­‐renewable  energy.  We  will  also  conduct  experiments  to  understand  how  some  of  these  work,  like  electrical  and  solar  energy.  We  will  focus  on  energy  from  fossil  fuels  as  well.  !Our  second  line  of  inquiry  is  “How  energy  is  transformed  and  consumed”.  Students  will  develop  an  understanding  of  the  law  that  energy  cannot  be  produced  nor  destroyed;  it  can  only  be  transformed  from  one  form  to  another.  We  will  delve  into  the  ways  in  which  electricity  can  be  produced  from  different  energy  sources.  Students  will  learn  to  iden3fy  the  sources  of  energy  around  them.  They  will  conduct  experiments  to  evaluate  some  of  the  scien3fic  principles.  Their  knowledge  and  understanding  will  be  used  in  crea3ng  simple  models.  !Our  third  line  of  inquiry  is  “Sustainable  energy  prac3ces”.  Students  will  be  given  opportuni3es  to  reflect  on  the  excessive  use  of  non-­‐renewable  sources  of  energy  and  will  come  up  with  strategies  to  reduce,  reuse  and  recycle.  We  will  go  for  a  field  trip  to  witness  a  few  successful  projects  that  save  energy.  As  a  part  of  their  ac3on,  students  will  share  this  informa3on  with  the  en3re  school  and  will  demonstrate  some  sustainable  energy  prac3ces  through  drama3cs  and  visual  posters.  You  are  cordially  invited  for  our  unit  celebra3on.  We  will  let  you  know  the  dates  in  due  course.    !!!

Expository  wri3ng  and  poetry  will  be  the  focus  of  language  integra3on.  We  will  also  conduc3ng  an  author  study  and  novel  study.  !Maths  will  be  integrated  by  analysing  and  crea3ng  different  kinds  of  graphical  representa3ons  and  finding  parts  and  wholes.  Students  will  also  learn  about  the  standard  units  of  measurements  used  for  some  measurable  physical  quan33es.  There  will  be  a  key  focus  on  science  throughout  the  unit.  !Parents  are  welcome  to  share  their  thoughts  and  ideas  in  order  to  further  enrich  the  content  on  this  unit.  

!Warm  regards,  Team  Grade  5