Skill: course-build → atomise (architecture, step 6b gate) → write-like-james @ 7d612db
Grade 5 Science — course architecture v1 (provisional, drafted from the atom map)
Status: PROVISIONAL — drafted 28 Sep 2026 from the atom map; awaiting James's sign-off.
Read this in five minutes. Grade 5 Science is ONE course with a fixed order, built the same way as Grades 3 and 4, and it is the year the state tests arrive: STAAR, Florida SSA and AZSCI all test science at grade 5, over everything taught in grades 3-5. It arranges the 147 Grade 5 atoms into four strands and thirty-four small topics, each with its own mixed practice, summary video and PP100. Nothing below writes a lesson sentence. The atoms stay where they are: the Science Knowledge Graph's 3-5 registers. Every atom is placed exactly once (checked, see "Checks run"); no atom's prerequisite comes after it.
Decisions I need from you
1. Does Grade 5 keep the Grade 3 strand order, or do the heavily tested Earth & Space topics come before Matter?
The state tests fall in spring; a self-paced student who is behind reaches the last strand last. In this plan the last strand is Life, whose closing five topics (the human organs, 18 lessons) are tested by Florida only.
Counting the state codes on the atoms, no strand is light: Physics 42, Matter 34, Earth & Space 47, Life 43 (of which the five organ topics carry 18, all Florida).
Recommendation: keep the order Physics → Matter → Earth & Space → Life, the same in all three grades, and keep the Florida-only organ topics last so a student short of time has met every TEKS and Arizona topic first.
Choices: keep the Grade 3 order (as drawn) / Earth & Space second, Matter third / Life before Earth & Space.
2. Do the human organs stay as five short topics closing Life, or become one long topic?
Florida's one benchmark (5.L.14.1) names eleven organs; the register gives each its own atom plus one "how they work together" atom per group, 18 lessons in all.
Five topics of three to five lessons each keep every PP100 small and match your bite-size flag on multi-organ lessons; one topic would be 18 lessons.
Recommendation: five topics (30-34), grouped by job: food, breathing and blood, brain and senses, movement, waste and reproduction.
Choices: five topics (as drawn) / three topics / one topic.
3. Where do the line-graph lessons live: reading in the weather topic, constructing on the shadow record?
"Read a line graph" and "which way is the data going" sit in Topic 12, where a week of pressure readings falls before rain. "Construct a line graph" sits in Topic 19, where a day of shadow lengths is TEKS's own example (G5-1F).
The alternative is to teach all four data lessons on the forces investigation in Topic 3, where the data is a table of distances.
Recommendation: as drawn; each graph lesson lands on data the topic itself produces.
Choices: as drawn / all four in Topic 3.
4. Does the particle idea close Matter (Topic 11), or open it?
Grade 3 now teaches "everything is made of tiny pieces too small to see" (your ruling on Olivia's comment, 28 Sep). Grade 5's four particle atoms draw the pieces and use them to explain a spreading smell and dissolving.
The register argues for closing: every particle claim then lands on a phenomenon the earlier topics have already shown (dissolving, mass holding). Olivia wants the idea retrieved every year.
Recommendation: close Matter with it, and put one retrieval item on the Grade 3 atom in Topic 7's mixed practice so the idea is met at both ends of the strand.
Choices: close (as drawn) / open Matter with it.
5. Does the forces investigation (Topic 3) hold both design routines you flagged for length?
"Design a force experiment" (FOR5-025) and "design a solution using forces" (FOR5-026) are each a multi-step lesson; you flagged both as length risks. Topic 3 holds them with the three fair-test lessons and the investigation, six lessons.
Recommendation: keep them in Topic 3, and let the blueprint split each into two short parts (plan / carry out) as the bite-size rule asks; a separate two-lesson design topic would be too small for a PP100.
Choices: keep in Topic 3 (as drawn) / move FOR5-026 to close Topic 4 (static electricity) / a separate design topic.
Applied without asking (your rulings already given): four strands in the order Physics → Matter → Earth & Space → Life; no Motion in Grade 5 (no framework places new motion content there); Scientific Reasoning taught inside the topics that use it, no SR strand test; topics of about three to six atoms, nine too many; the water cycle taught once in Grade 4, Grade 5 keeps only "ocean air shapes the weather"; force arrows and strength taught in Grade 3, not here; static electricity and variation-helps-survival taught at grade 5 (D3); seasons patterns-only; one atom one lesson, video or article; intro per strand and per topic that teaches nothing; mixed practice, summary video and a PP100 per topic; the Grade 5 exit test anchored to released STAAR G5, Florida SSA G5 and AZSCI G5 forms; the language rules (Earth's pull, carriers not forms, "density" named when teaching heavy-for-its-size, no "leak" or "lift").
Card 1 — The strands and their order
The call: Physics → Matter → Earth & Space → Life, the Grade 3 order, each with its own intro video and its own end-of-strand test.
| Strand | Topics | Atoms | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | 1-6 | 24 (+3 Scientific Reasoning) | Earth's pull, unequal forces and the first full fair test open the year; energy chains and circuits that do a job close it. |
| Matter | 7-11 | 22 (+1 Scientific Reasoning) | Naming materials, separating mixtures, new substances, the mass always holds, then the particle idea as the keystone hand-off to middle school. |
| Earth & Space | 12-22 | 43 (+10 Scientific Reasoning) | Weather, climate zones and the spheres first (the Florida-heavy content), then slow makings and protecting places; Space closes with the spin, the Earth-Moon model and sorting the solar system. |
| Life | 23-34 | 42 (+2 Scientific Reasoning) | Ecosystems, matter and energy in a food web, heredity and survival (TEKS and Arizona heavy), then the human organs (Florida only). |
Scientific Reasoning's 16 atoms are spread through Topics 3, 10, 12, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 24 (Card 3). Total 147 lessons.
Card 2 — The topics
The call: thirty-four topics, all of three to six lessons; a mixed mastery practice set, a summary video and a PP100 at the end of every one.
| # | Topic (student-facing title) | Atoms (in teaching order) | Lessons | The big idea it serves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | ||||
| 1 | Earth pulls everything toward its centre | FOR5-001, 002, 003 | 3 | Earth pulls on everything; "down" means toward Earth's centre; the evidence that the pull points down |
| 2 | Equal or unequal forces? | FOR5-022, 023, 041 | 3 | Equal forces leave motion as it is; unequal forces change it; predict the change; more mass, less change |
| 3 | Investigate forces like a scientist | FOR5-024, SR5-001, 002, 003, FOR5-025, 026 | 6 | Investigate unequal forces; say what you expect first; plan the whole fair test; run it more than once; design a force experiment; design a solution using forces (two multi-step lessons, see Decision 5) |
| 4 | Rubbing makes a pull without touching | FOR5-060, 061, 062, 063 | 4 | Rubbing charges an object; a charged object attracts; charged pairs attract or repel; the evidence for forces without touching |
| 5 | Energy chains: where it came from, where it went | ENE5-001, 002, 003, 004, 020, 021 | 6 | Chemical energy is stored energy; it is released in use; trace the chain; where a flat battery's energy went; where a rolling ball's energy went; heavier at the same speed, more energy |
| 6 | Circuits that do a job | ENE5-010, 011, 012, 013, 014 | 5 | Diagnose the dead circuit; draw the loop; what electrical energy becomes; predict the swap; build a circuit for a job |
| Matter | ||||
| 7 | Name that material | MAT5-003, 001, 002, 004 | 4 | Gases have mass; dissolves or not is a property of the material; heavy for its size compared with water (density); name a material from its properties |
| 8 | Mixed, but still themselves: taking mixtures apart | MAT5-020, 021, 022, 023, 024, 025 | 6 | Mixed parts keep their properties; melted or dissolved; separate by a visible difference; separate with a magnet; choose the method; what speeds up dissolving |
| 9 | Has a new substance formed? | MAT5-040, 041, 042 | 3 | The signs a new substance formed; new substance or just a mixture; warmth changes the pace |
| 10 | The total mass always holds | MAT5-060, 061, 062, 063, SR5-007, MAT5-064 | 6 | The total mass holds through every change: dissolving, a change of state; weigh before and after; someone else gets the same answer; where the "missing" mass went |
| 11 | Tiny pieces too small to see | MAT5-081, 082, 083, 084 | 4 | Tiny pieces explain a spreading smell; draw them; they explain dissolving; scientists call the smallest pieces atoms (retrieves Grade 3's MAT3-065) |
| Earth & Space | ||||
| 12 | Measuring the whole weather picture | EAR5-010, 011, 012, SR5-020, 021 | 5 | Humidity is water hiding in the air; air pressure is the air's push; measure all of it; read a line graph of the readings; which way is the data going |
| 13 | Where our weather comes from | EAR5-013, 014, 004 | 3 | Rain, snow, sleet or hail; different environments, different weather; ocean air shapes the weather |
| 14 | Climate zones and what makes them | EAR5-017, 018, 015, 019, 020, 016 | 6 | Describe a climate zone; what latitude is; nearer the equator hotter; higher up colder; near a large body of water milder; spot the climate-maker |
| 15 | Earth's four spheres | EAR5-021, 022, 023, 024, 025, 026 | 6 | Rock and soil, water, air, living things; name the four; name the spheres at work in an event |
| 16 | Salt water, fresh water | EAR5-027, 028, SR5-023 | 3 | Salt water dwarfs fresh water; graph Earth's water stores; let the data answer the question |
| 17 | Slow makings: stone, fossil fuels and landforms | EAR5-035, 036, 037, 038 | 4 | Sediment becomes stone; fossil fuels form; match a landform to its maker (wind, water, ice); predict the landform |
| 18 | Protecting a place | EAR5-045, 046, SR5-040, 041 | 4 | How communities protect their patch; design the fix; which design did better; what to improve next |
| 19 | Shadows through the day | SPA5-001, 002, SR5-022, SPA5-003, SR5-006 | 5 | Shadow length and direction change through the day; construct a line graph; graph a day of shadows; recording shadows is watching, not an experiment |
| 20 | Why the Sun crosses the sky | SPA5-004, 005, 007, SR5-030, SPA5-006, SR5-031 | 6 | Day on one side, night on the other; the spin moves the Sun across our sky; explain the changing shadows; why scientists use models; show day and night on a globe; where the globe model gets it wrong |
| 21 | Earth, Moon and Sun, and our place among the stars | SR5-032, SPA5-020, 030, 031, 032, 033 | 6 | The parts a system model needs; model the Earth-Moon system in motion; further away means dimmer; why the Sun outshines the stars; what a galaxy is; the Milky Way |
| 22 | Sorting the solar system | SPA5-040, 041, 042, 043, 044 | 5 | What all planets share; inner or outer planet; asteroids; comets; sort a solar-system object |
| Life | ||||
| 23 | What an ecosystem is | LIF5-001, 002, 003, 005, 004 | 5 | Living and non-living together; biotic or abiotic; survival needs other living things; survival needs non-living things; how two living things affect each other |
| 24 | Where a plant's body comes from | LIF5-010, SR5-004, 005, LIF5-011 | 4 | A plant's body comes from air and water, not soil; the group you leave alone; why the untouched group matters; back the claim with the pot test |
| 25 | Matter loops, energy flows through | LIF5-012, 013, 014 | 3 | Trace food energy back to the Sun; trace matter round the loop; matter loops, energy flows through |
| 26 | Food webs and the ripple | LIF5-015, 016, 017 | 3 | Build a food web; predict the next link's change; predict the ripple through the web |
| 27 | Healthy ecosystems, and what people do to them | LIF5-020, 021, 022 | 3 | Signs of a healthy ecosystem; helpful or harmful; predict what a habitat change does to its populations |
| 28 | Parents pass on instructions | LIF5-030, 031, 032, 033 | 4 | Match offspring to parents; parents pass on instructions; different instructions, different individuals; surroundings change how traits develop |
| 29 | Who pulls through | LIF5-040, 034, 041, 042 | 4 | Same place, different survival structures; behaviours that raise the odds; predict who pulls through; say why |
| 30 | The food organs | LIF5-050, 051, 052, 053, 054 | 5 | Stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas; how they work together |
| 31 | Heart and lungs | LIF5-055, 056, 057 | 3 | The heart, the lungs, how they work together |
| 32 | Brain, senses and skin | LIF5-058, 059, 063 | 3 | The brain; the sensory organs; the skin |
| 33 | Bones and muscles | LIF5-061, 062, 064 | 3 | The skeleton, the muscles, how they work together |
| 34 | Kidneys, bladder and the reproductive organs | LIF5-065, 066, 067, 068 | 4 | The kidneys, the bladder, how they work together; the reproductive organs |
Totals: 147 lessons, 34 practice sets, 34 PP100s (banks of at least 50 items each), 4 strand tests (after Topics 6, 11, 22, 34), 1 end-of-grade test anchored to the released state forms.
Why this grouping
- Every prerequisite edge points backwards in this order, or into Grades 3-4. Checked atom by atom in the assembled files (see "Checks run"); no forward reference.
- Topic 3 holds the three fair-test lessons because "design a force experiment" (FOR5-025) requires "plan the whole fair test" (SR5-002); the control-group pair (SR5-004, 005) waits for the pot test in Topic 24, the first investigation that needs one.
- The Earth strand opens on weather and climate (Florida 5.E.7.3-7.6, six atoms of climate zones) and holds the untested spheres until after them; "near a large body of water, milder" (EAR5-020) needs "ocean air shapes the weather" (EAR5-004), so Topic 13 precedes Topic 14.
- Space comes after Earth as in Grade 3; the model lessons (why scientists use models, where the model gets it wrong, the parts a system model needs) ride on the globe and the Earth-Moon model, TEKS G5-1G's own examples.
- Life runs ecosystem → energy and matter → webs → health → heredity → survival → organs, so every "predict the ripple" lesson has the web it needs, and the organ topics (Florida only) come last (Decision 1).
- No topic reaches seven lessons; none has fewer than three.
What changes: on sign-off the folder gets grade5/topicNN_build/ per topic; Topic 1's blueprint is drafted first.
Card 3 — Scientific Reasoning is taught where it is used
The call: each of the 16 Scientific Reasoning atoms is a lesson inside the topic that first needs it, with its check there; no separate strand, no separate test.
| SR atom | Host topic | Why there |
|---|---|---|
| SR5-001 Say what you expect first; SR5-002 Plan the whole fair test; SR5-003 Run it more than once | 3 Investigate forces like a scientist | the forces investigation is the year's first full fair test; FOR5-025 requires SR5-002 |
| SR5-007 Someone else gets the same answer | 10 The total mass always holds | weigh-before-weigh-after is repeated by another group and agrees |
| SR5-020 Read a line graph; SR5-021 Which way is the data going? | 12 Measuring the whole weather picture | a week of pressure and temperature readings is the first line graph |
| SR5-023 Let the data answer the question | 16 Salt water, fresh water | the water-stores graph answers "where is most of Earth's water?" |
| SR5-040 Which design did better?; SR5-041 What to improve next | 18 Protecting a place | two designs for protecting a place are compared and improved |
| SR5-022 Construct a line graph; SR5-006 Experiment, or just watching? | 19 Shadows through the day | the shadow record is TEKS G5-1F's own line graph; recording shadows is observation, not an experiment |
| SR5-030 Why scientists use models; SR5-031 Where the model gets it wrong | 20 Why the Sun crosses the sky | the globe-and-lamp model of day and night |
| SR5-032 The parts a system model needs | 21 Earth, Moon and Sun | the Earth-Moon model in motion |
| SR5-004 The group you leave alone; SR5-005 Why the untouched group matters | 24 Where a plant's body comes from | the pot test is the first investigation that needs a control |
Card 4 — Tests and benchmarks
The call: a PP100 per topic; a static end-of-strand test per strand (some free response); one static end-of-grade exit test anchored to the released STAAR G5, Florida SSA G5 and AZSCI G5 forms. Target: 90% on our exit test means the top grade on all three.
- All three state tests are cumulative over grades 3-5, so the exit test samples Grade 3 and Grade 4 atoms too, at the weights the released forms show.
- Topics carrying the heaviest tested content (state codes on their atoms, from the registers): Topic 3 Investigate forces (10 codes: TEKS 5.7A-B, 5.1B, 5.1E, Florida 5.P.13.1, Arizona 5.P3U1.4); Topic 10 The total mass always holds (9: TEKS 5.5E and 5.6C, Arizona 5.P1U1.1); Topic 8 Taking mixtures apart (9: TEKS 5.6B, Florida 5.P.8.2-8.3); Topic 6 Circuits that do a job (9: TEKS 5.8B, Florida 5.P.10.4 and 5.P.11.1); Topic 20 Why the Sun crosses the sky (8: TEKS 5.9A on every atom); Topic 5 Energy chains (8: TEKS 5.8A); Topic 19 Shadows through the day (7: TEKS 5.9A, 5.1F); Topic 11 Tiny pieces (7: TEKS 5.6D, Arizona 5.P1U1.1); Topic 14 Climate zones (6, all Florida 5.E.7.6); Topic 23 What an ecosystem is (5, TEKS 5.12A); Topics 30-34 the organs (18 Florida codes, 5.L.14.1 on every atom; no TEKS or Arizona code).
- One topic carries no state code at all: Topic 15 Earth's four spheres (NGSS 5-ESS2-1 only). Topics 16, 24, 25 and 26 carry two codes each. They stay because the registers keep NGSS coverage and they feed middle school; their PP100s still run.
- The strand tests fall after Topics 6, 11, 22 and 34.
- The exit test carries free-response items, as the state forms do.
Checks run (28 Sep 2026)
- Atoms placed: 147 = atoms in the Grade 5 registers (FOR5 13, ENE5 11, MAT5 22, EAR5 26, SPA5 17, LIF5 42, SR5 16). Every atom appears in exactly one topic; none is left over; none is doubled.
- Prerequisites: every prerequisite of every Grade 5 atom sits in an earlier topic of this plan, earlier in the same topic, or in Grade 3 or 4. Checked mechanically against the assembled atom files (
data/atoms/03-05/, cross-strand XREFs resolved to atom codes). Zero violations. - Topics of 7+: none. Topics of 2 or fewer: none.
What happens next
You rule on the five decisions and the table. Then Topic 1 ("Earth pulls everything toward its centre") gets its blueprint in the Grade 3 shape, reusing Grade 3 Topic 3's lessons where they match (Earth pulls every object, straight down, without touching) and adding only what is new here: "toward Earth's centre" and the evidence routine.