Fractions can be challenging when taught in an abstract way. That’s why this unit invites learners to engage with fractions and mixed numbers in very visual and concrete ways using number lines, tape diagrams and area models. Students will learn different strategies to practice identifying and generating equivalent fractions.

Understanding how our ten number system works enables students to see interesting and useful patterns and relationships in these math activities. These patterns allow students to develop more efficient mental math strategies when multiplying by multiples of 10 or 100. Students will also review rounding and apply this skill to larger numbers - up to 100,000’s place.

Calculating the volume of rectangular prisms is a new skill that is introduced in 5th grade. Students will apply mathematical formulas to find the volume of different kinds of figures and also determine the volume of a figure composed of two connected rectangular prisms. Learners will also work with other kinds of measurement when they make larger or smaller versions of figures (to scale) and learn to convert measurements.

Representing data on graphs makes math visual and involves some creativity and design. Plotting data using fractional units takes their learning one step further. Also in this unit, students learn to measure using both traditional units (like inches, feet and yards) and metric units, and how to convert measurements within each system. The concept of measurement gets two dimensional when students explore measuring and working with angles.