The Sun's Energy Activities for 5th Grade Science

The Kesler Science Sun’s Energy 5E Lesson is a comprehensive, student-led life science unit designed for engaging, differentiated learning. It includes editable presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and assessments, all requiring low to no prep. The lesson explores how energy enters and moves through ecosystems and how organisms use the energy from their food.

Following the 5E Model, the lesson begins with engaging class discussions and activities, including word wall cards in English and Spanish. Students then participate in a differentiated, multimodal station lab with nine hands-on and digital stations, offering activities like experiments, reading passages, research tasks, and video discussions. Output stations encourage categorization, writing, illustrating, and assessment.

Explanation resources include editable PowerPoints, interactive notebooks in digital and print formats, and note-taking templates. Students extend their learning through choice projects on the Sun’s energy, and evaluation includes STAAR 2.0-aligned assessments, review questions, and worksheets. 

Designed for flexibility, this resource is available in both printable and digital formats, making it ideal for in-person and virtual learning. Spanish translations are provided for vocabulary, reading passages, and interactive notebook pages.

Engage your 5th-grade students with this interactive, student-led station lab exploring the Sun’s energy. Designed for independent or small-group learning, this lesson guides students to understand that the energy in animals' food, used for growth, motion, and body warmth, originates from the Sun.

Students interact with nine modular stations, each offering differentiated activities to personalize learning. Input stations introduce concepts through hands-on demonstrations, research tasks, reading passages (available in English and Spanish), and videos. Output stations allow students to demonstrate understanding through organization, illustration, writing, and assessments. A challenge station provides extension activities for advanced learners.

This low-prep, high-engagement resource supports both in-class and virtual learning, making it a versatile addition to your physical science curriculum.

The Sun’s Energy Student Choice Projects lesson allows 5th-grade students to select a project that matches their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options plus a “design your own” project, all supported by an editable rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

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

The projects use standard classroom supplies like paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion. Some crafting supplies may be useful for building models.

The 5th Grade Physical Science Interactive Notebook is an essential resource for teachers looking to enhance student engagement in elementary physical science. This comprehensive set includes both print and digital versions, making it adaptable for traditional classrooms, 1:1 environments, and distance learning.  

The digital version features a unique interactive notebook PowerPoint that can be uploaded to Google Slides and shared via MS Teams, Schoology, or Canvas. It includes reflection pages for comprehension, space for student notes, a teacher answer key, and a modified version for students with accommodations. The paper version provides blank interactive notebook templates, pre-filled templates for students needing modifications or who were absent, and color photos demonstrating template use.  

Topics covered include particles of matter, conservation of mass, properties of matter, formation of new substances, gravitational force, the Sun’s energy, classifying matter, mixtures, solutions, uses of energy, closed circuits, reflection and refraction, and testing forces.  

These interactive notebook templates are also available in the Kesler Science 5E Lessons, which include presentations, notes, homework, student projects, station labs, assessments, and engagement activities.