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What Grade 5 covers in Alberta — and how to practise it at home

Grade 5 deepens everything: decimals and fractions start working together, and explanations matter as much as answers. Here is the year as Alberta schools teach it under the new curriculum — unit by unit, in order — so you can see what your child is working on right now, and what's coming next.

7 unitsMath
6 unitsScience
5 unitsSocial Studies
43 weeksEnglish & French

Math — the new Alberta curriculum (program of studies), in teaching order

Alberta math runs as a sequence: each unit builds on the one before it. The week ranges below follow the school year from September; teachers vary pacing.

1

Place Value to 1 000 000 & Decimals

Weeks 1–6 · September–October

Analyzing patterns in place value to 1 000 000; decimal numbers to thousandths — representing, comparing and ordering.

Worth watching: mixing decimals and fractions trips many kids ("0.35 > 0.5 because 35 > 5"). Place value is the cure, and it responds quickly to practice.

2

Standard Algorithms: Add & Subtract

Weeks 7–12 · October–November

Adding and subtracting within 1 000 000, including decimal numbers to thousandths, using standard algorithms.

3

Multiplication, Division & Divisibility

Weeks 13–18 · November–December

Multiplying and dividing natural numbers within 100 000 including standard algorithms; determining divisibility of natural numbers.

4

Fractions & Ratios

Weeks 19–24 · January–February

Interpreting improper fractions and mixed numbers; adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators; employing ratios to represent relationships between quantities.

5

Expressions & Sequences

Weeks 25–30 · February–March

Interpreting numerical and algebraic expressions; relating terms to position within an arithmetic sequence.

6

Symmetry & the Grid

Weeks 31–36 · March–May

Investigating symmetry as a geometric property; relating location to position on a grid with ordered pairs in the first quadrant.

7

Area & Data Frequency

Weeks 37–43 · May–June

Estimating and calculating area using standard units; analyzing frequency in categorical data with tables and graphs.

Try one — a real Grade 5 question

Math · Decimals

Which is bigger: 0.5 or 0.35?

A typical first answer
0.35, because 35 is bigger than 5
Homework Hub's feedback
That's the classic trap! Decimals aren't whole numbers in disguise. 0.5 means 5 tenths — which is 0.50. Now compare 0.50 and 0.35: which has more?
Next try
0.5
Right — 0.5 is 50 hundredths, and 0.35 is only 35 hundredths. Lining up place value settles every decimal duel. 🎯

Science across the year

1

The Particle Model of Matter

Weeks 1–7 · September–October

Investigating the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids and gases.

2

Forces in Water & Air

Weeks 8–14 · October–December

Investigating and comparing how forces — buoyancy, drag, lift — affect living things and objects in water and air.

3

Energy Resources

Weeks 15–21 · December–January

Investigating and analyzing various energy resources — renewable and non-renewable — and how they are used.

4

Climate, Weather & Agriculture

Weeks 22–28 · January–March

Analyzing climate and connecting it to weather conditions and agricultural practices in Alberta and beyond.

5

Body Systems

Weeks 29–35 · March–April

Investigating the internal systems of organisms — digestive, respiratory, circulatory — and explaining how they support vital biological processes.

6

Astronomy, Design & Ethics

Weeks 36–43 · May–June

Investigating and interpreting astronomical phenomena — day and night, seasons, phases of the Moon; how evidence is gathered and why ethics matter in science.

Science · Human Body

Why does your heart beat faster when you run?

A typical first answer
Because you get scared when you run fast.
Homework Hub's feedback
Fear can do it — but that's not what's happening in gym class! Your leg muscles are working hard, and working muscles need more of something that blood delivers…
Next try
To pump more blood and oxygen to my muscles.
Exactly — hard-working muscles burn oxygen fast, so the heart speeds up deliveries. Built-in turbo mode. ❤️

Social Studies

1

What Is a Civilization?

Weeks 1–9 · September–October

Examining ancient civilizations — where and how the earliest societies formed, and what made them civilizations.

2

Geography of the Ancient World

Weeks 10–18 · November–December

Examining how geographical features and environmental changes contributed to the settlement and trade of ancient civilizations — rivers, coasts, climate.

3

Ancient Economies & Trade

Weeks 19–27 · January–March

Examining the development of economic practices in ancient civilizations — farming, currency, markets and trade networks.

4

Government & Society in the Ancient World

Weeks 28–35 · March–April

Examining government and social systems in ancient civilizations and empires — rulers, laws, citizens and daily life.

5

Learning About the World & Taking Action

Weeks 36–43 · May–June

Investigating ways to learn about the world and take action for positive change in communities.

English & French — skills that build weekly, not units

How language works in Grade 5

Unlike math and science, the language curriculum isn't taught as a sequence of units — it's a set of skills that deepen all year: reading comprehension and inference, writing structure and conventions, vocabulary, and oral communication. French works the same way. Homework Hub practises these as grade-matched weekly skills — a reading passage with real comprehension questions, a sentence to fix, a short prompt to write to — rather than pretending there's a unit list.

Practice that follows this exact sequence

Homework Hub generates fresh questions matched to these very units — in season, at your child's level, marked with hints that teach. You set the days; it does the rest.

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This page is generated from the same curriculum map that powers Homework Hub's practice questions (the new Alberta curriculum (program of studies) and current science and social studies expectations, described in our own words). School boards and teachers vary pacing — week ranges are a typical rhythm, not a rule.