5th Grade Homeschool Science Curriculum
5th Grade Courses from Science Shepherd
The years keep churning on and you're already looking for a 5th grade homeschool science curriculum. Or, maybe this will be your first year of homeschool and you're a little uncertain of where to start with science. In both scenarios, this is the post for you! For families who are new to Science Shepherd or returning and looking for what comes next, it will provide a quick overview of the Science Shepherd courses available for 5th grade. We hope it will make choosing your next science curriculum a bit easier!
What about 4th grade? If you're not ready to start 5th grade, you can review our 4th grade homeschool science options here.
5th Grade Introductory Science
If your 5th grade student is new to formal science, our Introductory Science should be a great place to start. It provides a survey of many areas of science, including the six days of biblical creation, scientific skills and tools, plants, animals, weather, and more. Introductory Science is a video-based course with accompanying workbook to help students identify key concepts from each lesson video. The class also includes activities/experiments for hands-on learning, with many of them presented on video.
The student Workbooks for Introductory Science are available as Level A or Level B. Both review the same video material, with the difference being that Level B is written to be slightly more advanced / challenging. Level A is written for 1st-3rd grade, or ages 6-9, while Level B is best suited for 3rd-5th grade, or ages 8-11. So, the Level B Workbook will generally be the best option for 5th grade. Because the Level A and Level B Workbooks cover the same lesson videos, families with children in multiple grades can easily work together!
Ready to get started? Save 10% with the Level B Introductory Science bundle for 5th grade!
If your 5th grade student already completed Introductory Science, or a similar course, other options to consider are Earth Science, Physical Science, Unearthing the Bible and Astronomy: God's Universe.
5th Grade Earth Science
Earth Science is another 5th grade course with video-based lessons. It covers rocks and minerals, fossil formation, oceanography, and more. Earth Science also uses Level A/B formatting, but a big difference from Introductory Science is that, while Level A and Level B share the same core video lessons, Level B includes about 40 additional videos and corresponding workbook material to provide more advanced study in select areas. But don’t worry, students in both Levels can still complete those core lessons together! A student in Level B will just have an extra video or two each week (on average) to complete. The workbooks for both Levels include activity/experiment pages. The Level A videos and workbook are most suited for 2nd to 4th grade (ages 7-10) and Level B material for 4th to 6th grade (ages 10-12). In general, Earth Science Level B will be best for 5th grade.
Ready to get started? Save 10% with the Level B Earth Science bundle for 5th grade!
5th Grade Physical Science
As students approach the middle school grades 6-8, concepts in chemistry and physics will gain importance, making our Physical Science a great 5th grade curriculum option. Like Introductory Science and Earth Science, it uses video lessons with a Level A or Level B student workbook. In addition to sections dedicated to chemistry and physics, Physical Science also includes a section of astronomy. Levels A and B use the same video lessons, with only the respective Workbook content scaled for different ages/grades. Level A is written for grades 3-5 (ages 8 to 11), and Level B for grades 4-6 (ages 9 to 12). Physical Science does incorporate some math, with Level B in particular requiring some basic two-digit-number addition and subtraction, so you’ll want to consider that when choosing the right Level for your student, as well as your student's reading and comprehension. Workbook samples are available on all product pages to help evaluate the difference between Levels. Since Level A and B utilize the same lesson material, students in both Levels can complete the class together.
Ready to get started? Save 10% with the Level A or Level B Physical Science bundle for 5th grade!
5th Grade Unearthing the Bible
Unearthing the Bible is another course appropriate for 5th grade. It introduces students to various archaeological discoveries, such as King Hezekiah's tunnel, Gilgal, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and more, to show the historical accuracy of the Bible. Unearthing the Bible is a video-based course, with a PDF workbook included with the video enrollment. While the videos or workbook do not use a Level A/B format, the workbook does include “For Advanced Study” sections for older students. Note that, as presented, Unearthing the Bible is only a 15 week, or half semester, class.
Ready to get started? Enroll in Unearthing the Bible for 5th grade today!
5th Grade Astronomy
A final course to consider for 5th grade is Astronomy: God's Universe. It features a video + workbook format, with topics ranging from the planets and sun of our own solar system, to stars, galaxy clusters, nebula, and more. Plus, students will learn how observations from astronomy support the Genesis account of creation. Like Earth Science, the Level A videos for Astronomy: God's Universe serve as the "core" lessons, with additional videos in Level B for deeper study in select areas. The Level A videos and workbook are best suited for grades 5-7 (ages 10-13), and the Level B videos and workbook for grades 7-9 (ages 12-15). For 5th grade, Level A is generally the best video/workbook option. Like all of our Level A/B courses, the schedules for both Levels are aligned on a weekly basis, so students in each Level can work together.
Ready to get started? Save 10% on a Level A Christian astronomy curriculum bundle for 5th grade!
Is there a “right” order to everything?
A common question about our courses is if there is a “right” order to progress from one grade to another through them. The short answer is that, no, there really isn’t a right or wrong way. While Introductory Science does serve as a logical course to start with, a student who has already completed some formal science or is just more interested in a specific/different topic would be fine to skip Introductory Science. You could always revisit Introductory Science, if desired, after completing a different course, for example Earth Science, and the earth science section of Introductory Science would serve as review. Likewise, a student can take Physical Science before Earth Science, etc.
Additional Options
If these 5th grade homeschool science curriculum options don’t seem quite right for your student, our our Recommended Course Progression blog post is another resource you can review to get additional insight into which grade level(s) each Science Shepherd course is best suited for.
We hope this overview has been helpful to you in choosing a Science Shepherd homeschool curriculum for 5th grade. If you have any questions about the right material for your family, please contact us and we’d be happy to assist.
Until next time,
Science Shepherd
