Suggested Activity: Understand the many ways we use energy to generate electricity, power transportation, and produce heat. Explore the different energy sources and their impacts.
Alberta – Grade 5 Science Alignment Guide
Summary
The Switch Classroom Alberta Grade 5 Science curriculum alignment guide connects classroom lessons to Alberta’s science and social studies standards. Each activity is mapped to general learner outcomes such as analyzing and interpreting data, evaluating impacts, designing and refining systems, and applying concepts related to energy and technology. This structure ensures that teachers can meet required outcomes while engaging students with hands-on and inquiry-based learning.
The guide shows how Switch Classroom lessons align with key science content areas including environmental chemistry, electrical principles and technologies, interactions and ecosystems, and energy flow in global systems. It also highlights related social studies themes such as resource development, local and global trade-offs, community impacts, and policy decisions.
Featured lessons include videos and activities on coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, wind, hydropower, and bioenergy, as well as foundational topics like Introduction to Energy and The Energy Mix. Students participate in activities such as analyzing data sets, running simulations, completing labs, and engaging in activity stations that compare multiple energy sources.
With the Alberta Grade 5 Science curriculum alignment guide, teachers gain a clear roadmap for connecting Switch Classroom resources to provincial standards while helping students explore real-world energy issues through data-driven learning.
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Organizing Idea Energy: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy.
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Guiding Question: How are energy resources understood?
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Learning Outcome: Students investigate and analyze various energy resources.
Resources
Science of Nuclear
Suggested Activity: Engage students with the starter pack (bell ringer, short videos, quiz) to introduce non-renewable energy resources.
Science of Coal
Suggested Activity: Engage students with the starter pack (bell ringer, short videos, quiz) to introduce non-renewable energy resources.
Introduction to Oil
Suggested Activity: Engage students with the starter pack (bell ringer, short videos, quiz) to introduce non-renewable energy resources.
Modern Oil Drilling and Unconventional Sources – Video
Suggested Activity: Explore the energy resources used in Alberta with these short video lessons. Each describes how the energy is obtained as well as some pros and cons of each.
Introduction to Natural Gas
Suggested Activity: Explore the energy resources used in Alberta with these short video lessons. Each describes how the energy is obtained as well as some pros and cons of each.
Introduction to Hydropower
Suggested Activity: Explore the energy resources used in Alberta with these short video lessons. Each describes how the energy is obtained as well as some pros and cons of each.
Introduction to Wind
Suggested Activity: Explore the energy resources used in Alberta with these short video lessons. Each describes how the energy is obtained as well as some pros and cons of each.
Introduction to Bioenergy
Suggested Activity: Explore the energy resources used in Alberta with these short video lessons. Each describes how the energy is obtained as well as some pros and cons of each.
Introduction to Energy
Suggested Activity: Begin with the hands-on activity to set the stage, then have students anchor their assumptions in the data, using the data set.
Energy Sources Activity Stations
Have students explore the pros and cons of nine different energy resources with this activity and related videos.
Developing Media Literacy - Mini-Unit
Suggested Activity: Introduce students to the fundamentals of media literacy through the lens of researching energy topics.