If you’re a 5th-grade science teacher in Virginia, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, you’ll find everything you need to know about the 5th-grade science SOLs. From the theme to the main ideas of each unit to fun lessons and experiments… it’s all here!

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What do you need to know about the 5th-grade science SOLs?

Each grade level in Virginia has a science theme. The theme of the 5th-grade science SOLs is “Transforming and Energy and Matter.” Each of the units in 5th grade are related to forms of energy and how energy is transformed and transferred.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) emphasizes that students should be able to relate the science SOLs to real-world scenarios. Therefore, students should have many opportunities to explore and interact with energy in the world around them.

What science units are taught in 5th grade in Virginia?

In Virginia, there are nine 5th-grade science SOLs. Those include:

  1. Science and Engineering Practices
  2. Forms of Energy
  3. Force and Motion
  4. Electricity
  5. Sound
  6. Light
  7. Matter
  8. Geology
  9. Sources of Energy

If looking at the list above, items 2-9 are each taught as a separate unit. Item 1 (science and engineering practices) should be incorporated into all of the units throughout the school year.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each 5th-grade science SOL and discover some fun activities to use with each SOL.

Science and Engineering Practices (Science SOL 5.1)

As previously mentioned, science and engineering practices should be taught throughout the school year and incorporated into all of your science units.

I like to introduce each of the science and engineering practices at the start of the year by using simple anchor charts and worksheets. That way students are familiar with them as they come up in each of the units.

Using STEM challenges before extended breaks and between units can also be a fun way to incorporate science and engineering practices throughout the year.

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My Virginia SOL-aligned science and engineering packets are available for 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade.

Forms of Energy (Science SOL 5.2)

For the forms of energy SOL, students will practice—

  • describing energy
  • identifying different forms of energy
  • identifying and describing how energy can be transferred and transformed
  • explaining conservation of energy

Specifically, the curriculum framework created by the VDOE states that students should be able to identify thermal (heat) energy, radiant (light) energy, mechanical (motion) energy, electrical energy, and sound energy.

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A forms of energy scavenger hunt is a fun way to help students identify forms of energy in the world around them.

For this activity, students assemble their forms of energy notebooks. As a class, we define the form of energy shown on each page. Then, students go on a scavenger hunt to find examples of each type of energy. They record all of their findings in the energy notebook.

This scavenger hunt activity is included in my Forms of Energy Unit.

You can also find more fun activities to teach forms of energy SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Force and Motion (Science SOL 5.3)

For the force and motion SOL, students will practice—

  • defining kinetic energy
  • describing motion and changes in motion
  • explaining what happens when objects collide
  • explaining the relationship between mass and motion
  • describing friction
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There are so many hands-on experiments you can use to teach force and motion. If you do a Google search, you’ll probably find lots of experiments that use cars and ramps. But, I like to get students excited about force and motion by incorporating Star Wars!

One of my students’ favorite activities is to make “blasters” using cups and balloons. Then, I place a ball on a cone in the middle of the room. We name the ball the “Death Star.” Students experiment with launching different objects from their blasters to destroy the Death Star by knocking it off the cone.

You can learn more about this fun science experiment and find worksheets to implement the activity in my Force and Motion Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the force and motion SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Electricity (Science SOL 5.4)

For the electricity SOL, students will practice—

  • identifying conductors and insulators
  • building and experimenting with circuits
  • experimenting with static electricity
  • identifying electrical energy transformations
  • building and describing electromagnets
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I love watching students’ faces light up when they see a light turn on or a buzzer sound through building simple circuits. By building and interacting with simple circuits, students grasp concepts related to open and closed circuits in no time at all.

One of the most affordable ways to create simple circuits uses a string of Christmas lights and batteries.

Before teaching the lesson, cut lights from a strand of Christmas lights, leaving about an inch of wire on each side of the light. It is best to use copper wire strippers to remove the coating from the wire. Students touch the ends of the wire to a battery to form a simple circuit.

There are lots of fun circuit activities and experiments in my Electricity Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the electricity SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Sound (Science SOL 5.5)

Many school districts in Virginia group sound and light together in one unit, whereas other districts teach the 5th-grade science SOLs separately.

For the sound SOL, students will practice—

  • explaining that vibrations produce sound
  • experimenting with how sound energy is transferred
  • experimenting with different forms of media to see how they produce sound and what types of sound they produce
  • describing sound waves
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To help students discover that sounds form through vibrations, set up stations around the classroom with objects that make sounds when you shake or tap them. I like to use objects such as a rubber band, a tuning fork, metal spoons, musical instruments, and a ruler taped to the edge of a desk.

As students rotate through the stations, discuss what they have in common. Lead students to the conclusion that all of the objects made sound when they vibrated.

All of my sound stations and experiments are included in my Sound Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the sound SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Light (Science SOL 5.6)

For the light SOL, students will practice—

  • describing visible light
  • describing the visible spectrum
  • explaining how matter influences the path of light
  • identifying radiant energy transformations
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There are many light experiments you can perform around your classroom with a flashlight. But, one of my favorites involves having students investigate reflection, refraction, transmission, and absorption.

For this activity, I assign students to groups and give each group a flashlight. Around the classroom, I set up stations with items such as a mirror, a clear glass of water, tissue paper, and black socks. The groups rotate through each station and experiment with how the light from their flashlights interacts with each of the items.

All of my light stations and experiments are included in my Light Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the light SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Matter (Science SOL 5.7)

For the matter SOL, students will practice—

  • explaining that matter is composed of atoms
  • experimenting and explaining that substances can be mixed together without changes to their physical properties
  • showing that energy has an effect on the phases of matter
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Cheerios are an easy way to model the atoms for each state of matter. This simple activity is an easy way to help them understand the spacing between atoms for each state.

All of my matter experiments and activities are included in my Matter Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the matter SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Geology (Science SOL 5.8)

For the geology SOL, students will practice—

  • describing plate tectonics
  • modeling and explaining the rock cycle
  • modeling and explaining weathering, erosion, and deposition
  • making inferences with fossils

There are lots of ways to model the rock cycle. But, modeling with candy because candy always catches the attention of students. Here is a short video that shows how to model the rock cycle with Starburst candies (affiliate link).

All of my geology experiments and activities are included in my Geology Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the geology SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

Sources of Energy (Science SOL 5.9)

Sources of energy is related to renewable and nonrenewable energy. For the sources of energy SOL, students will practice—

  • identifying sources of energy that are considered renewable and sources of energy that are nonrenewable
  • comparing the benefits and limitations of energy sources
  • identifying types of energy used in everyday life
  • analyzing energy consumption and creating an energy conservation plan
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Fossil fuels are formed from decayed plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. It can be difficult for students to comprehend using the remains of something that lived so long ago in our lives today.

To help students better understand fossil fuel formation, I have them make models with clear plastic cups and cereal. As they layer different types of cereal on top of each other, we discuss how objects such as rocks, minerals, and other remains pile up over time. The heat and the pressure from the top layers push down on the bottom layers, forming fossil fuels.

All of my renewable and nonrenewable energy experiments and activities are included in my Sources of Energy Unit Plans.

You can also find more fun activities to teach the sources of energy SOL in THIS BLOG POST.

5th- Grade Science SOL-Aligned Resources

The first year I taught the 5th-grade science SOLs in Virginia, I was completely overwhelmed. There are a lot of big concepts to teach students in a limited amount of time!

But, the more hands-on I can make the lessons, the more students enjoy science and retain the information.

If you are looking for more hands-on ways to teach a specific 5th-grade science SOL to your students, make sure to check out my complete list of blog posts about the 5th-grade science SOLs. I also have lesson plans and activities for every SOL in my store.

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Have you heard of the Virginia Teacher Club®? The Virginia Teacher Club® is a one-of-a-kind program for upper elementary teachers in Virginia. Members receive instant access to a curriculum library of SOL-aligned math, science, social studies, and ELA resources. There are lesson plans, games, assessments, passages, digital activities, and more for EVERY SOL. By using the Virginia Teacher Club®, our members save hours of planning time every month and have access to high-quality, SOL-aligned resources that students love.

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