Grade 6 - Science

Lesson 1: Movement in Space

• Identify objects and constellations visible without a telescope.
• Develop models to explain the apparent motions of stars and planets throughout the year.
• Explain the motion of Earth, other planets, and the sun through space.

• Watching the Skies- Model Earth’s movement around the sun to demonstrate the change of position of stars

Lesson 2: Earth’s Movement in Space

• Explain what causes the cycle of seasons on Earth.
• Describe how the moon affects the amount of daylight.
• Made models to describe factors that keep the moon and Earth in orbit.

• Patterns of Day and Night
• Earth rotation and revolution models
• Sunlight and Temperature (Tilt of Earth causes seasons and temperature change.)
• Lighten Up! (Weight, mass, gravity)
• The Great Gravity Escape (gravity and orbit)

Lesson 3: Phases and Eclipses

• Explain why the moon appears to change shape.
• Describe what causes solar and lunar eclipses.
• Predict the position of the Earth, sun, and moon during a given type of eclipse.
• Describe how the sun and moon affect tides.

• STEM-Design and Build Tidal Turbine
• Why do we only see one side of the moon?
• Phases of moon model
• Eclipse model
• Solar and Lunar eclipse trifold
• Graph and examine tidal cycles

Lesson 1: Solar System Objects

• Interpret data to compare and contrast solar system objects based on their characteristics.
• Describe the role of gravity in the motions of the planets and other objects in the solar system.
• Describe the role of gravity in the sun’s function.
• Describe the relationships between solar system objects.

Lesson 2: Learning About the Universe

• Identify and describe how scientists use electromagnetic radiation to learn about the universe.
• Describe the role of technology in outer space, collecting, analyzing, and communicating data.

Lesson 3: Stars and Galaxies

• Analyze the distances between objects in the universe and the methods used to measure those distances.
• Explain the hierarchical relationships between the various bodies in the universe.

Essential Question 3: Earth's Surface Systems: What processes change Earth’s surface?

Lesson 1: Weathering and Soil

• Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth’s surface is torn down by mechanical and chemical weathering
• Understand how Earth’s surface is built up by the formation of soil
• Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth’s surface is torn down by the process of erosion

Lesson 2: Erosion and Deposition

• Describe and give examples of processes that cause erosion and deposition
• Describe how mass movement of rock and soil change the surface
• Describe how wind contributes to erosion and deposition

Lesson 3: Water Erosion

• Understand how Earth’s surface is built up and torn down by water erosion.
• Give examples of landforms that form from water erosion and deposition.
• Explain how groundwater affects and changes Earth’s surface.

Lesson 4: Glacial and Wave Erosion

• Describe and give examples of ways in which Earth’s surface is changed by glaciers and wave erosion

Essential Question 4: Plate Tectonics: How do geological processes change Earth’s surface?

Lesson 1: Evidence of Plate Motions

• Identify and describe evidence that:
• Continents were once fused together in a supercontinent called Pangaea
• Land masses drifted apart over time into the continents known today
• Continental coastlines appear to fit together and mountain ranges on different continents line up
• Similar plant and animal fossils are found on continents that are separated by oceans
• Analyze cause and effect relationships to describe how mid ocean ridges and deep-sea trenches provide evidence for plate movement

Lesson 2: Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Surface

• Analyze and interpret data to describe evidence that Earth’s plates are in slow constant motion due to forces within the mantle and convection current
• Use models to demonstrate that some features on Earth’s surface coincide with plate boundaries

Lesson 3: Earthquakes and Tsunami Hazards

• Use and develop models to explain how plate movement and stress produce new landforms
• Analyze and interpret data:
  • as evidence that energy released from interacting plates result in earthquakes
  • to compare the magnitude of earthquakes
  • to relate the energy of an earthquake to the formation of a tsunami

Lesson 4: Volcanoes and Earth’s Surface

• Identify patterns to explain how plate tectonics is connected to volcanic eruptions

Lesson 1: Matter and Energy in Earth’s Systems

• Analyze and interpret data to describe evidence that Earth has four major subsystems, or spheres, that cycle matter and energy and shape Earth’s surface (atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere).
• Understand that the Earth system involves flows of matter and energy through different components.
• Understand that Earth’s system has two main sources of energy: heat from the sun and heat from Earth’s interior.
• Demonstrate how a system returns information about itself, and that information results in change.

Lesson 2: Surface Features in the Geosphere

• Demonstrate how there are a variety of landforms on Earth because Earth’s surface is different from place to place.
• Describe evidence that the topography of the land is constantly being created and destroyed by competing constructive and destructive forces.
• Understand that the geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere interact with each other to affect Earth.
• Demonstrate how computers create topographic and other maps from aerial photography and satellite imagery to model Earth’s landforms.

Lesson 3: The Hydrosphere

• Analyze and interpret data to describe evidence that:
  • the majority of Earth’s freshwater is frozen into glaciers and thickened ice masses.
  • the remaining fresh water is found underground, in lakes and rivers, and the atmosphere.
  • oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds are all part of the surface water in the hydrosphere.
• Develop and use models to demonstrate how the process of evaporation, condensation, transpiration, and precipitation continually cycle water from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back again.

Lesson 1: The Atmosphere Around You

• Understand the layers of Earth’s atmosphere

Lesson 2: Water in the Atmosphere

• Analyze and interpret data to describe evidence that:
• water vapor enters the atmosphere through a number of processes
• water is continually evaporating and condensing in the atmosphere and this process forms clouds
• precipitation is a vital part of the water cycle
• Develop and use models to demonstrate water is always moving between the surface of Earth and the atmosphere
• Understand that temperature determines the type of precipitation for an area

Lesson 3: Air Masses

• Describe evidence that air masses are moved by the prevailing winds and jet streams
• Use models to demonstrate how air masses of different temperatures and humidity collide, resulting in a front
• Understand that storms and changeable weather often develop along fronts
• Understand that the type of front that develops depends on the characteristics of the air masses and the direction in which they move

Lesson 4: Predicting Weather Changes

• Develop and use models to demonstrate how meteorologists use tools to predict weather and determine the effect of global patterns on local weather

Lesson 5: Severe Weather and Floods

Essential Question 7: Climate: How have natural processes and human activities changed Earth’s climate?

Lesson 1: Climate Factors

Lesson 2: Climate Change

Lesson 3: Effects of a Changing Climate

Essential Question 8: Human Impact on the Environment: How does human activity impact Earth’s systems?

Lesson 1: Population Growth and Resource Consumption

Lesson 2: Air Pollution

Lesson 3: Impacts on Land

Lesson 4: Water Pollution