The Cambridge Primary Science series has been developed to match

the Cambridge International Examinations Primary Science curriculum

framework. It is a fun, flexible and easy to use course that gives both
learners and teachers the support they need. In keeping with the aims of
the curriculum itself, it encourages learners to be actively engaged with
the content, and develop enquiry skills as well as subject knowledge.

This Learner's Book for Stage 5 covers all the content from Stage 5 of the
curriculum framework. The topics are covered in the order in which they are
presented in the curriculum for easy navigation, but can be taught in any
order that is appropriate to you.

Throughout the book you will find ideas for practical activities, which will
help learners to develop their Scientific Enquiry skills as well as introduce
them to the thrill of scientific discovery.

The 'Talk about it!' question in each topic can be used as a starting
point for classroom discussion, encouraging learners to use the scientific
vocabulary and develop their understanding.

'Check your progress' questions at the end of each unit can be used to
assess learners' understanding. Learners who will be taking the Cambridge
Primary Progression test for Stage 5 will find these questions useful
preparation.

We strongly advise you to use the Teacher's Resource for Stage 5, ISBN
978-1-107-67673-2, alongside this book. This resource contains extensive
guidance on all the topics, ideas for classroom activities, and guidance
notes on all the activities presented in this Learners' Book. You will also find
a large collection of worksheets, and ·cmswers· to all tt�·questions from the
Stage 5 products. · ,. · ,,
�i

.
)
•
•

·,

Also available is the Activity Book ·fo!:i.,�tg* e 5, ISBN 978-1-lQ}-65897-4.

This book offers a variety of exen;is�i t�f,6 _ .
Jearners consoli�ate
understanding, practise vocabutory,-·apply knowledge to new s.ituations
and develop enquiry skills. Learner�_cari co.mplete the exercises in class or
be given them as homework. · -.- .<
.... ;-:·
We hope you enjoy using this series.

With best wishes,

the Cambridge Primary Science team.

Introduction
 Activity 1 .4
Draw a bar chart of plant growth
Ashok and his friends grew some plants in pots.
Ashok put his plant in a sunny place and watered it twice a week.
Marco put his plant in a shady plac e and watered it twic e a week.
Leo put his plant in a sunny plac e but forgot to water it.
Tariq kept his plant under bed and watered it twice a week.
After two weeks they measured how much their plants had grown.

Name How the plants looked Growth of plants in cm

Ashok �reen and health1 25

ffiarco lighter green and quite health1 1i
Leo dri and brown c;
Tariq thin and weak 14
Draw a bar chart of the results.

Questions
.1 Whose plant grew the best?
2 Whose plant grew the worst?

3 Why did Leo's plant look dry and brown?

4 Why was Marco's plant smaller than Ashok's?
5 Explain why Tariq's plant was thin and weak.
6 a Predict the height of a plant placed in a greenhouse and watered.
Explain your pre.diction.
b Draw Cinother bar on your chart
to show your prediction.
Talk about it!
Do plants need soil
'What you have learnt for growth?
w Plants need factors from the environment to
make them grow.
� The factors plants need are light energy, air, water and warmth.

l Investigating plant growth

 2.4 The parts of a flower
Words to lecirn
sepals stamen
carpel ovary
pollen anther
Activity 2.4a stigma
···································-..
\ You 'Will need: ·.
\ a flower • a hand lens ·•.
�--··································
Investigating the parts of a flower ..
LooR at the jlower. What colour is it?
Count the coloured parts. What are they called? Are these parts separate
or joined?
Find the little green parts that looR liRe leaves at the base of the jlower.
How many are there?
LooR inside the jlower. This is where you fmd the male parts and female parts.
Count the little thin stalRs. How many stalRs have yellow or brown tips?
Touch their tips gently. What do you notice on your ftngers?
LooR for a single stalR in the centre of the jlower that looks different.
Touch the tip. How does it feel?

Flowers have these main parts. These parts are arranged in rings, one inside
the other. stigma - the female part of the flower that receives
pollen at pollination

anther - the tip of the stamen

stamen - the male part of the flower

which makes a powder called pollen in its
tip, called an anther

ovary - the female part of the

flower that contains the eggs

::...----carpel - the female part of the flower

that contains tiny eggs inside an
ovary. Its tip is called a stigma.
petals - often brightly
coloured to attract sepals - little green leaves that protect the flower bud
insects to the flower

• .. · t-1- /-._�·:·,d. I .. ,i ...

2 The life cycle of flowering plants
 \_
Words t:o Zec:J.rn
2.5 Pollination pollination nectar
fertilisation
Have you noticed bees, butterflies and
other insects on flowers? They are moving pollen from the stamen
to the stigma of a flower. The process is called pollination.
In pollination, the pollen moves from the stamen to the stigma
of the same kind of flower.
•

This bee is pollinating There are two main ways that pollen is
a flower. carried from the stamens to the stigma­
t ,,,; - , -�,,. ., "..J -��,- .. ,':"' . • . . by insects or by wind.
h,Pollinatior t b_y".insects
t� :-::...--;\: : ..,� �/ ": �: \i';, ....· •-!..� ,:, • \• •
' '
• •

Flowers pollinated by insects usually have brightly coloured, scented petals.

Some flowers also maize nectar, a sweet liquid. Insects visit the flowers to feed
on the nectar. They get covered in pollen and carry the pollen to the stigma of
the same flower or another flower.

•
; •I • ••

t�o�,,�PJi_on· �Y wind
_
Flowers pollinated by wind are not brightly
coloured and do not have petals or scent.
Wind-pollinated flowers maize lots of pollen.
Pollen blows in the wind from the stamens
to the stigmas of other flowers.
The wind blows the pollen from
this grass flower to other flowers.

Activity 2.5 .........................................·.

.·. ...You
.... wi.11 need:
Which type of pollination? •
hand lens • paper • pencils ·•
---.........=···- ··- ··-·························
Look .at d�ferent flowers in the school grounds,
local community park, or in pictures. Draw pictures of the flowers and label

•
their parts. Decide how each flower is pollinated and why.

2 The life cycle of flowering plants

 Activity 3.8 .... ······················�•
.
.
,...,. ......... u--=-----~

You wi.11 need:

Investigating the melting point of ice . ice cubes • a beaker or jar ..
1 a thermometer • a watch
···
Put the ice in. the beaker. ································
Measure the temperature of the ice every minute
un.tU it melts.
Carry on. measuring the temperature in the beaker every minute
for another 10 min.utes.
Record your measuremen.ts in a table like this one.

Time in minutes Temperature of ice in °C

Questions
.1 a What pattern. can. you see in the results?
b What sort of chart will you draw to show the results?
2 a At what temperature did the ice melt?
b Will ice always melt at this temperature?
How can. you fLn.d out?
c How could you make the ice melt faster?
3 a Predict what the temperature of the melted ice will be 20 minutes
after it has melted. Explain your prediction.
b Test your prediction. Were you correct?
4 The meltin.g point of ice is O 0 C. This is the same
temperature as the freezing point of water.
Why do you think this� is so?
... . ,,••············
•' •·
··· .
//
i.·i Talk about it!
W"'h.cif: you 'h.cive leci�nt: \
How does putting salt
on frozen roads make
� Meltin.g is when a solid chan.ges into a liquid. \.
\ the roads less icy?
�i Particles within a solid gain energy when. they are
heated and chan.ge in.to a liquid.
!� The meltin.g point of ice is 0 ° C.

.., .
3 States of matter
LooR at the times of sunrise and sunset. You fLnd the length of day by
subtracting the sunrise time from the sunset time.
Is there a difference in the length of day from one day to the next?
WorR out the difference in the lengths of day between 3 February 2013 and
7 February 2013. Repeat these ca_lculations for the period between 16 March
2013 and 20 March 2013.
Collect data for sunrise and sunset times for a weeR where you live. Present the
data in a table. Draw bar line charts to show your data.

Questions
% Between 3 February and 20 March are the days in Cape Town getting
longer or shorter?
2 a Predict how the length of day will change during the month of April.
b How could you test your prediction?
3 Compare the pattern of changing length of day in Cape Town with the
pattern of changing length of day where you live.

Predict how you thinR the length of day will change in Cape Town from May
until the end of the year.
How could you collect sufficient evidence to test this idea?

·
...- · ·············· ····
"' ,_!..... Talk about it!
··

, Why do you think

the length of
\. ._
�a.t you 'ha.ve lea.rnt day changes?
� The Sun appears to rise in the east and
set in the west.
� Sunrise and sunset times and the length of
day change every day throughout the year.

6 Earth's movements •