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Hello Tracy,
I each 5th grade, I've been teaching for 18 years and I teach in Florida (we've used the NGSSS for years). I have found that I spend the first month of school teaching the scientific process. Students need to know how to think like scientists and that there are certain "steps" in that process. They don't realize that scientists first come up with questions and then research to find what others in their field have already learned. Then they take those ideas and determine "If I do this.... then this will happen" (their hypothesis). Students often forget that they should think of all the possible outcomes (null hypotheses) and then write down everything as they go along. They need to test their ideas at least 5 times to ensure the experiment is fair and then record their data in a table. When they finish, they should look for trends and analyze the results. If you look for "skittles labs" https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#safe=active&q=skittles%20labs or labs that have to do with candy, you will find lots of fun, quick, easy labs that engage your students, teach the content through inquiry, and give them confidence to be problem solvers. Once they have a good handle on this, then you can jump into your standards. I hope this helps and was what you were looking for!
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