Changes to the Curriculum Components

Investigations 3 has eight units per grade. Each grade level consists of approximately 140 sessions. The Differentiation and Intervention Guide (2011), and Investigations and the Common Core Standards (2012), have been integrated into the curriculum units, eliminating these 2nd edition components. Support around the Standards for Mathematical Practice, differentiation for the range of learners, and assessment have been added or expanded. A new set of online tools includes e-texts, planning tools, digital presentations, games, and provides access for families. The Student Math Handbook is now a digital-only resource called Math Words and Ideas.

Investigations 3 at Grade 5 consists of 134 sessions across 8 units.

• Unit 1: Puzzles, Clusters, and Towers (19 Sessions)
• Unit 2: Prisms and Solids (12 Sessions)
• Unit 3: Rectangles, Clocks, and Tracks (19 Sessions)
• Unit 4: How Many People and Teams? (17 Sessions)
• Unit 5: Temperature, Height, and Growth (14 Sessions)
• Unit 6: Between 0 and 1 (17 Sessions)
• Unit 7: Races, Arrays, and Grids (26 Sessions)
• Unit 8: Properties of Polygons (10 Sessions)

Changes to the Content

Investigations 3 is based in large part on the 2nd edition of Investigations in Number, Data, and Space (2008). Content from Investigations and the Common Core Standards (2012) and the Differentiation and Intervention Guide (2011) has been integrated and, in many cases, expanded upon. Other material has been deleted, moved, or merged to create a focused, coherent, and rigorous K-5 mathematics curriculum, fully aligned to the content and practice standards of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

The following is not meant to be a comprehensive description of the Grade 5 curriculum, but rather a brief summary of the major changes.

Changes at the Unit Level

• The Multiplication and Division units now include:
  • Work on the order of operations.
  • An added emphasis on fluency with the multiplication algorithm.
• The 3-D Geometry and Measurement unit now includes emphasis on the additive nature of volume. The unit no longer includes the investigation on the volume of pyramids, cylinders, and cones.
• The Rational Numbers units has been expanded from 2 units to 3 units.  The changes to these units include:
  • A new unit focused on multiplication and division of rational numbers.
  • More emphasis on using equivalent fractions to add and subtract fractions.
  • Work on adding and subtracting decimals.
  • Work on converting like measurements.
  • These units no longer include work with percents.
• The 2-D Geometry and Measurement unit no longer includes the investigation on similarity. It no longer includes activities that use the LogoPaths software.
• The 2nd edition units that focused on data and probability and on addition and subtraction are no longer part of the Grade 5 sequence.

Changes to the Ten-Minute Math Activities

• A new Ten-Minute Math activity, Order of Operations, focuses on applying the order of operations to expressions and inserting grouping symbols into equations with more than one operation.
• A new Ten-Minute Math activity, Today’s Number, focuses on giving students computational practice with whole numbers and fractions.
• The Ten-Minute Math activity, Closest Estimate, now includes all four operations with rational numbers.
• The Practicing Place Value activity now includes:
  • Rounding whole numbers and decimals.
  • Writing whole numbers in expanded form using exponents to denote powers of 10.
  • Writing decimals in expanded form.
• The Ten-Minute Math activities, Estimation and Number Sense, Number Puzzles, and Quick Surveys are no longer a part of the Grade 5 sequence.