All living organisms satisfy basic needs through interactions with nonliving things and living organisms, and they have structures and functions that help them survive within their environments. 

Students investigate the life cycle of plants and identify likenesses between parents and young.

All living organisms interact with living and nonliving things within their environments and use structures to meet their basic needs. 

Students know that organisms are interdependent and part of a food chain. 

The students investigate the life cycle of animals and identify likenesses between parents and young.

All living organisms interact with living and nonliving things within their environments and use structures to meet their basic needs. 

Students understand that organisms are interdependent and part of a food chain. 

The students investigate the life cycle of animals and identify likenesses between parents and young.

Students explore patterns, systems, and cycles within environments by investigating characteristics of organisms, life cycles, and interactions among all components of the natural environment. 

Students examine how environment and the structures and functions of animals play a key role in survival. 

Students know that when changes in the environment occur, organisms may thrive, become ill, or perish. 

Students also examine fossils as evidence of past living organisms.

In this strand, students begin to understand how organisms within an ecosystem interact. 

Students investigate producers to learn how they make food. 

Students build on their understanding of food chains, from Grade 3, as they explore food webs where they describe the flow of energy and the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers. 

They also use fossil evidence to describe environments of the past. 

Additionally, students explore plant structures and their functions. 

Students also differentiate between inherited and acquired traits of organisms.

This strand focuses on identifying relationships, systems, and cycles within organisms and environments. 

Students describe the interactions of biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. 

Students build on their understanding of food webs from Grade 4 by predicting how ecosystem changes affect the flow of energy. 

Additionally, they describe how humans impact the ecosystem. 

Students also learn how organisms' structures help them to survive, and they distinguish between instinctual and learned behaviors in animals. 

This will set the foundation for Grade 6 where students compare and contrast variations within organisms and how they impact survival.

All living organisms are made up of smaller units called cells. 

Ecosystems are organized into communities, populations, and organisms. 

Students compare and contrast variations within organisms and how they impact survival. 

Students examine relationships and interactions between organisms, biotic factors, and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

Students further their understanding of organisms as systems made up of cells organized into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into organ systems by identifying the main functions of the organs within the human body. 

During both sexual and asexual reproduction, traits are passed on to the next generation. 

Students understand how traits in populations can change through the processes of natural and artificial selection. 

Students analyze how energy flows through trophic levels and how biodiversity impacts an ecosystem's sustainability. 

Students gain an understanding of the taxonomic classifications of organisms and how characteristics determine their classification.

Students identify the function of organelles. 

Traits are contained in genetic material that is found on genes within a chromosome from the parent. 

These traits influence the success of a species over time. 

Students explore how organisms and their populations respond to environmental changes, including those caused by human activities.