Sixth Grade Science Curriculum Objectives

2011-212

Nature of Science

1. Formulating questions & hypothesizing.
2. Planning & critiquing investigations.
3. Conducting investigations.
4. Developing & evaluating explanations.

Life Science Food Webs, Ecosystems, Classification(S5-6:34; S5-6:35; S5-6:36; S5-6:37; S 7-8:33; S 7-8:34, S 7-8:38)

1. Student demonstrates understanding of food chains, webs and equilibrium in an ecosystem.
2. Student demonstrates understanding of Energy Flow in an Ecosystem by developing a model that shows the flow of energy through an ecosystem starting with a description of how light is transformed into chemical energy by producers, showing how this chemical energy is used by organisms to sustain life, identifying the recycling role of decomposers and explaining how products of decomposition are utilized by the ecosystem to sustain life while conserving mass (e.g. food chains, composting, pyramid of mass.).
3. Student understands Classification of Organisms by comparing and sorting organisms with similar characteristics into groups based on internal and external features so that:
   1. Student identifies common characteristics of Living Things.
   2. Student identifies characteristics that define each of the following five kingdoms of living organisms (Monerans, Protists, Fungi, Plants, Animals), use these characteristics to classify organisms into kingdoms, and explain why viruses are an outlier in this schema.
   3. Student recognizes subdivisions of the Kingdom classification schema (e.g. phyla, class, species), specifically identifying a species by their ability to reproduce with one another and produce fertile offspring.
   4. Student demonstrates the ability to classify an organism by using a dichotomous key.
   Environmental Science Human Impact on Natural World, Global Climate Change, Water Cycle S5-6:48; S5-6:49; S 7-8:48)
   
   1. Student demonstrates understanding of human impact on the functioning of the natural world by calculating an ecological footprint and researching the management of natural resources (both responsible and poor, e.g pollution, sustainable harvesting).
   2. Student demonstrates understanding of global climate change by identifying the major gases of earth’s atmosphere and understanding the role of greenhouse gases in global warming.
   3. Student demonstrates understanding of the water cycle by diagramming, labeling and explaining the process of the water cycle (e.g., evaporation, condensation, transpiration, respiration, precipitation, run-off, and ground water).
   Physical Science Physical and Chemical Change, Properties of Matter, Light Energy (S5-6:14; S5-6:15; S7-8:9; S7-8:10; S7-8:12; S 7-8:15, S5-6:28; S 7-8:28)
   
   1. Student identifies the difference between Physical Change and Chemical Change and predicts the effect of heating and cooling on the physical state and the mass of a substance.
   2. Student demonstrates understanding of properties of matter by recognizing that all living and non-living things are formed from combinations of about 100 elements and are able to illustrate the differences between atoms and molecules.
   3. Student demonstrates understanding of the states of matter by modeling (plays, models, diagrams) molecular motion of the three states of matter and explaining how that motion defines each state.
   4. Student demonstrates understanding of the states of matter by explaining why all three states of matter can be observed in a room that has a uniform temperature.
   5. Student demonstrates understanding of Chemical Change by observing evidence of chemical change and offering qualitative explanations for the observed changes in substances in terms of interaction and rearrangement of the atoms, and the production of new substances with different characteristics, but the same mass as the original substance.
   6. Student demonstrates understanding of Light Energy by explaining that visible light is made up of colored light waves.
   Astronomy and Earth Science Solar System, Earth Systems and Plate Tectonics (S5-6:44; S7-8:48; S5-6:45; S7-8:45; S5-6:47; S5-6:46)
   
   1. Student understands the motion of the moon, earth, and sun by creating a diagram or model the orbit of the earth around the sun AND the moon around the earth including phases of the moon and explaining the effects of these motions.
   2. Student demonstrates understanding of the seasons by creating a model showing the tilt of the earth on its axis and explaining how the sun’s energy hitting the earth surface creates the seasons.
   3. Student understands the relative size and position of the sun/moon and how that influences what we see (e.g. view from the earth, lunar and solar eclipses).
   4. Student demonstrates understanding of change in earth systems and plate tectonics by plotting locations of volcanoes and earthquakes and using these data to explain the relationship between location and plate movement, geologic features on the earth’s surface (ie: ocean trenches, mountain ranges, etc.)
   5. Student creates a model of the earth's structure and explains the nature of the layers.