Cycling of Matter Activities for 5th Grade Science

The Kesler Science Cycling of Matter in an Ecosystem 5E Lesson is a comprehensive, low-prep unit designed for engaging, student-led learning. It includes editable presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and assessments, with differentiation to support diverse learners. The lesson follows the 5E Model, integrating multimodal exploration and interactive activities to enhance understanding.

Students engage with essential questions about how living things obtain energy and nutrients and the role of plants in a food web. The Exploration phase features a student-led station lab with nine stations, offering hands-on experiments, reading passages in English and Spanish, research tasks, videos, card sorts, writing prompts, and drawing activities. A bonus extension station challenges advanced learners. Explanation includes editable PowerPoints, interactive notebooks, and structured note-taking templates. Elaboration allows students to extend learning through choice projects, while Evaluation includes STAAR 2.0-aligned assessments, review questions, and worksheets.

The lesson is fully adaptable for digital and in-person instruction, with materials available in multiple formats, including Spanish translations. Designed for maximum flexibility, it ensures an engaging and comprehensive approach to teaching the cycling of matter in ecosystems.

Engage your 5th-grade students with this student-led station lab on energy in ecosystems. Designed for in-class or virtual learning, this modular lesson allows students to explore producers, consumers, and energy sources in ecosystems through nine interactive stations.

Students encounter new concepts through hands-on demonstrations, research, reading passages, and videos. They demonstrate their understanding by organizing information, illustrating models, writing responses, and completing assessments. A bonus challenge station provides extension activities for early finishers. 

This differentiated, low-prep resource fosters active learning and critical thinking while giving students control over their learning experience.

The Cycling of Matter in an Ecosystem Student Choice Projects lesson allows 5th-grade students to select a project that aligns with their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options plus a “design your own” project, with an editable rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

These flexible, multimodal projects provide creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding. Two versions of the project page support differentiation, with modified options for students needing remediation and challenge opportunities for advanced learners. Teachers can adjust the rubric to fit their grading needs. 

The projects require standard classroom supplies such as paper, markers, and scissors, though many can be completed digitally. Some crafting materials may be helpful for model-building.

The 5th Grade Life Science Interactive Notebook is a comprehensive resource designed to engage students in key life science concepts through hands-on activities. Available in both print and digital formats, this interactive tool is perfect for traditional classrooms, 1:1 learning environments, and distance learning. The digital version includes a unique PowerPoint that can be uploaded to Google Slides and integrated with platforms like MS Teams, Schoology, and Canvas. It features reflection pages, space for student notes, a teacher answer key, and a modified version for students with accommodations.  

The paper version includes blank and pre-filled interactive notebook templates, along with color photos demonstrating their use. Covering essential life science topics such as plant growth, cycling of matter in an ecosystem, living vs. nonliving, energy and impacts on ecosystems, fossil evidence, structures and behaviors, and inherited traits and learned behaviors, this resource helps students develop a deeper understanding of key scientific principles.  

These interactive notebook templates are also included in the Kesler Science 5E Lessons, which offer a complete instructional package with presentations, notes, homework, student projects, station labs, assessments, and engagement activities.