This Animal and Plant Cells Worksheet asks 5th grade students to label the organelles of an animal cell and a plant cell using a word bank. Answer key included for fast, no-prep science review.
This Skin Diagram Worksheet has 5th graders label the epidermis, dermis, fat layer, and more on a clear skin cross-section. Includes an answer key—perfect for a no-prep human body science lesson.
This human body systems worksheet has 5th graders match eight major body systems to their functions and reflect on how they work together. Answer key included for quick, no-prep science review.
While Parts of the Body Song (MP3), students learn about the different parts of the body while listening to catchy lyrics.
Using this Muscular System Writing Worksheet, students read and then write about each part of the muscular system and explain its function in our body.
Cells, systems and the amazing you
In 5th grade, anatomy zooms in and zooms out. Kids learn that every living thing is made of cells, and that plant and animal cells have different parts, like a cell wall in plants. Then they zoom out to see how cells form tissues, tissues form organs, and organs work together as body systems: skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, respiratory and nervous. The big idea is teamwork. When you run, your muscles, bones, heart and lungs all work together, and 5th graders start to explain how.
Body systems are easier to remember when kids can see them, label them and connect them. These moves do all three.
Give kids a diagram of the skin and have them label each layer. Then they pick one layer and write a single sentence about its job. Labeling builds vocabulary, and the sentence shows they understand it.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withSkin Diagram WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Have kids draw a plant cell and an animal cell side by side and color the parts that both share. Then they circle the parts only plants have. Seeing it side by side makes the differences stick.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Try it withAnimal and Plant Cells WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Call out an action, like "eating lunch" or "running a race," and kids name every body system involved. Start a timer and see how many they can list. It reinforces the teamwork idea in two minutes.
Why it works: pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than rereading it, one of the strongest findings in learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withHuman Body Systems WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Fifth graders love gross facts and getting up out of their seats. Use both!
WorksheetsKids write a short story from the point of view of a muscle during a basketball game. Science and writing in one!
Open Muscular System Writing Worksheet →
SongsKids find their pulse, count for 15 seconds, then do jumping jacks and count again. Talk about which systems changed and why.
Open Parts of the Body Song (MP3) →Teacher favorites right now: Animal and Plant Cells Worksheet, Skin Diagram Worksheet and Human Body Systems Worksheet.
Most 5th grade science covers the skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems, and how they work together to keep the body running.
Plant cells have a stiff cell wall, chloroplasts for making food from sunlight, and a large vacuole. Animal cells have none of those, but both have a cell membrane, nucleus and cytoplasm.
Connect each system to something they do every day. Ask, "When you eat breakfast, which system goes to work?" Drawing and labeling a simple diagram from memory is great review.
Cells are the building blocks of all living things. Understanding them helps kids make sense of how organs and body systems work.
Loved by 2 million teachers & families
Printables, songs and games for every subject, Preschool through 6th. Ready to teach today, and kids beg for more.
