North Carolina Standards
North Carolina 5th Grade Math Standards
All 17 North Carolina math standards for 5th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's document, linked at the end of this page.
17 standards
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
2 standardsNC.5.OA.2
Write, evaluate and explain expressions for up to two-step problems, using the order of operations, parentheses and number properties, like 20 - 3 x 4 = 8.
NC.5.OA.3
Make two number patterns from two rules, like add 3 and add 6, compare matching terms, turn them into ordered pairs and graph them.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
5 standardsNC.5.NBT.1
Explain place value patterns from millions to thousandths, like each place being 10 times the next one right, and how multiplying or dividing by 10 shifts digits.
NC.5.NBT.3
Read and write decimals to thousandths, like 347.392, in words and expanded form, and compare two decimals digit by digit.
NC.5.NBT.5
Use the standard algorithm to multiply whole numbers quickly and accurately, as large as 3 digits times 2 digits, like 346 x 27.
NC.5.NBT.6
Divide numbers as large as 4 digits by 2-digit divisors, with remainders, using arrays, area models or partial quotients, and connect the models to the algorithm.
NC.5.NBT.7
Add, subtract, multiply and divide with decimals in real problems, to thousandths for sums and products and hundredths for division, using models and estimating to check.
Number and Operations – Fractions
4 standardsNC.5.NF.1
Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with related denominators, like 1/3 + 5/12, checking with benchmarks and solving story problems with models and equations.
NC.5.NF.3
See a fraction as division, like 3/4 being 3 divided by 4, and solve sharing story problems whose answers are fractions or mixed numbers, using models or equations.
NC.5.NF.4
Multiply by fractions and mixed numbers with models and in story problems, and explain why a factor above 1 makes a product bigger and one below 1 makes it smaller.
NC.5.NF.7
Divide a unit fraction by a whole number or a whole number by a unit fraction in one-step story problems, like 1/3 ÷ 4 or 5 ÷ 1/2, using models and equations.
Measurement and Data
4 standardsNC.5.MD.1
Use a conversion chart and multiplication or division to change units within one system, like 4 feet = 48 inches or 2.5 kilograms = 2,500 grams.
NC.5.MD.2
Collect data that changes over time, show and read it on a line graph, and tell whether a survey question gives categories, numbers or change over time.
NC.5.MD.4
Understand volume as the space a solid takes up and measure it by counting unit cubes, like cubic centimeters, cubic inches, cubic feet or homemade cubes.
NC.5.MD.5
Find the volume of rectangular prisms by packing unit cubes and by multiplying length x width x height, including shapes made of two prisms with one-digit sides.
Geometry
2 standardsNC.5.G.1
Plot and read points on a coordinate grid using only positive x and y values, and use what the coordinates mean to solve problems, like moves on a map.
NC.5.G.3
Sort quadrilaterals into a family tree by their properties, explaining that a square has every feature of a rectangle because it is one.
The official North Carolina documents
- North Carolina K-12 Mathematics Standard Course of Study · adopted June 2017 · since 2018-19, through 2027-28
- North Carolina Standard Course of Study, K-8 Mathematics · adopted June 2017 · since 2018-19, through 2027-28
- 2026 K-12 Mathematics Standard Course of Study · coming next · adopted October 2026 · installation years 2026-27 and 2027-28
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of North Carolina's standards, not the official wording, which North Carolina Department of Public Instruction publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.