Topics for this year in 6th Grade Science will include the following:
Introduction to Science - Scientific Method and Tools
Life Science Structure, Function, Information Processing - Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. - Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function. - Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. - Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. Ecosystems - Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. - Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. *
Physical Science Forces and Interactions - Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects. - Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object. - Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. - Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. - Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Earth-Space Science Earth's History - Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. - Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. - Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. Earth's Systems - Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. - Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity. - Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.