6th Grade Advanced Science

Class Outline (approximate dates based on quarters - testing schedule will effect dates for the final units)

1A. How do scientists work together to solve problems? 

• Science and Engineering Process Skills (ongoing throughout the year)

1B. Light and Matter 

When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency (color) of the light.

The path that light travels can be traced as straight lines, except at surfaces between different transparent materials (e.g., air and water, air and glass) where the light path bends.

• MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials

Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories.

• MS-LS1-8: Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptor responds to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories

1C. Thermal Energy

Gases and liquids are made of molecules or inert atoms that are moving about relative to each other. (MS‑PS1‑4)

In a liquid, the molecules are constantly in contact with others; in a gas, they are widely spaced except when they happen to collide. In a solid, atoms are closely spaced and may vibrate in position but do not change relative locations. (MS‑PS1‑4)

The changes of state that occur with variations in temperature or pressure can be described and predicted using these models of matter. (MS‑PS1‑4)

• *MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

The term “heat” as used in everyday language refers both to thermal energy (the motion of atoms or molecules within a substance) and the transfer of that thermal energy from one object to another. In science, heat is used only for this second meaning; it refers to the energy transferred due to the temperature difference between two objects. (secondary to MS‑PS1‑4)

Temperature is not a measure of energy; the relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. (secondary to MS‑PS1‑4)

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. The relationship between the temperature and the total energy of a system depends on the types, states, and amounts of matter present. (MS‑PS3‑3), (MS‑PS3‑4)

• MS-PS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.

When the kinetic energy of an object changes, there is inevitably some other change in energy at the same time. (MS‑PS3‑5)

The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the size of the sample, and the environment. (MS‑PS3‑4)

Energy is spontaneously transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones. (MS‑PS3‑3)

• MS-PS3-4: Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.

• MS-PS3-5: Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the motion energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency (color) of the light. (MS‑PS4‑2)

• MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

2. Weather, Climate, and Water Cycling:  Why does a lot of hail, rain, or snow fall at some times, but not others?

Phenomena Part 1: exploration of a series of videos of hailstorms from different locations across the country at different times of the year

Phenomena Part 2: changes in weather conditions over the entire country over multiple days, as well as forecasts of three other storms that are forecasted to affect other parts of the country 

Matter and Its Interactions 

• *MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

Earth Systems 

Global movements of water and its changes in form are propelled by sunlight and gravity.

The complex patterns of the changes and the movement of water in the atmosphere, determined by winds, landforms, and ocean temperatures and currents, are major determinants of local weather patterns.

Variations in density due to variations in temperature and salinity drive a global pattern of interconnected ocean currents.

Water continually cycles among land, ocean, and atmosphere via transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, and precipitation, as well as downhill flows on land.

Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. 

Because these patterns are so complex, weather can only be predicted probabilistically.

The ocean exerts a major influence on weather and climate by absorbing energy from the sun, releasing it over time, and globally redistributing it through ocean currents.

• MS-ESS2-4: Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.

• MS-ESS2-5: Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses result in changes in weather conditions.

• MS-ESS2-6: Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates

3. Plate Tectonics and Rock cycling: How and why does Earth's surface change?

Phenomenon: 2015 Himalayan earthquake at Mt. Everest

Earth’s Place in the Universe 

The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale. (MS‑ESS1‑4)

• MS-ESS1-4 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

Earth’s Systems

All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and the matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms. (MS‑ESS2‑1)

• MS-ESS2-1 Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

The planet’s systems interact over scales that range from microscopic to global in size, and they operate over fractions of a second to billions of years. These interactions have shaped Earth’s history and will determine its future. (MS‑ESS2‑2)

Water’s movements—both on land and underground—cause weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and create underground formations. (MS‑ESS2‑2)

• MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

Tectonic processes continually generate new ocean seafloor at ridges and destroy old seafloor at trenches. (HS.ESS1.C GBE) (secondary to MS‑ESS2‑3)

Maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart. (MS‑ESS2‑3)

• MS-ESS2-3 Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.

4. Natural Hazards: Where do natural hazards happen and how do we prepare for them?

Phenomenon: 2011 Great Sendai

Earth and Human Activity 

Mapping the history of natural hazards in a region, combined with an understanding of related geologic forces can help forecast the locations and likelihoods of future events.

• MS-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions. 

• MS-ETS1-1* Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem. 

• MS-ETS1-2* Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

5. Cells and Development: How do living things heal?

Phenomenon: Case study of a middle school student who suffered an injury in PE class to their foot.

From Molecules to Organisms  

All living things are made up of cells, which is the smallest unit that can be said to be alive. An organism may consist of one single cell (unicellular) or many different numbers and types of cells (multicellular).

Within cells, special structures are responsible for particular functions, and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell.

In multicellular organisms, the body is a system of multiple interacting subsystems. These subsystems are groups of cells that work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions.

Information Processing. Each sense receptor responds to different inputs (electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical), transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories.

• MS-LS1-1 Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.

• MS-LS1-2* Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

• MS-LS1-3* Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

• MSLS1-8* Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

6. Earth's Resources and Human Impact: How do changes in the Earth's system impact our communities and what can we do about it?

Phenomenon: Explaining how rising temperatures could cause both droughts and floods 

Earth and Human Activity

Humans depend on Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere for many different resources. Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources are limited, and many are not renewable or replaceable over human lifetimes. These resources are distributed unevenly around the planet as a result of past geologic processes.

Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things.

Typically as human populations and per‑capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth, unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise.

Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding human behavior and applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.

• ESS3-1- 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.

• ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.*

• ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems. 

• ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Engineering Design

There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem.

• ETS1-2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

7. Earth in Space: How are we connected to the patterns we see in the sky and space?

Phenomena:

Sunset Alignment with Human-Made Structures

Earth, Sun, and Moon Model

Light Changes in Different Mediums

Gravity and Galaxies

Earth’s Place in the Universe

Patterns of the apparent motion of the Sun, the Moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models.

This model of the solar system can explain eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. Earth’s spin axis is fixed in direction over the short-term but tilted relative to its orbit around the Sun. The seasons are a result of that tilt and are caused by the differential intensity of sunlight on different areas of Earth across the year.

• MS-ESS1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.

The solar system appears to have formed from a disk of dust and gas, drawn together by gravity.

• MS-ESS1-2  Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. 

Earth and its solar system are part of the Milky Way galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the universe.

The solar system consists of the Sun and a collection of objects, including planets, their moons, and asteroids that are held in orbit around the Sun by its gravitational pull on them.

• MS-ESS1-3 Analyze and interpret data to determine the scale properties of objects in the solar system. 

Forces and Interactions

Gravitational forces are always attractive. There is a gravitational force between any two masses, but it is very small except when one or both of the objects have large mass—e.g., Earth and the Sun.

• MS-PS2-4 Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. 

Waves and Their Application

A wave model of light is useful for explaining brightness, color, and the frequency-dependent bending of light at a surface between media.

However, because light can travel through space, it cannot be a matter wave, like sound or water waves.

• MS-PS4-2  Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials

8. Comprehensive Health: How can you make personal decisions that promote healthy relationships?

Your 6th grade child will be involved in a science-based Reproductive and Social Health education program in the classroom. This program meets Colorado State Standards for Science, Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, and is in alignment with Colorado State laws HB13-1081 and HB1292.

This prioritized Health and Science education program uses the Colorado Department of Education grade level expectations and outcomes for 6th grade as follows:

1. Identify valid and reliable resources regarding qualities of healthy family and peer relationships

2. Comprehend the relationship between feelings and actions during adolescence

3. Analyze how positive health behaviors can benefit people throughout their lifespan

4. Understand how to be mentally and emotionally healthy

5. Apply effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills to enhance health

6. Analyze the factors that influence a person's decision to use or not to use alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs

7. Demonstrate ways to advocate for a positive, respectful school and community environment that supports pro-social behavior

You may examine all instructional materials at the Division of Equity in Learning Office by appointment with the Health Education TOSA. If you have questions, please contact Shelia Siegert, Assistant to the Director, Teaching & Learning.

9. (Time permitting) P.A.R.M.I project: How can a 6th-grader have a positive impact on the environment over the course of 1 year?

In this independent research project, students will explore human impact on the environment in terms of energy and resource consumption as well as positive and negative effects on air and/or water quality by self-selecting an idea/action that appeals to them and directing their learning as they develop a personal action plan that can improve the environment. They will research the personal, local, and global impact of the action as they identify the problem(s) it causes. Students will also present their plan and its importance to peers to communicate their ideas and understandings. Additionally, students will create a persuasive product to inform others of their idea and to convince them of its importance. (There are many possible standards that this project can address, most of which are dependent upon the student's choices.)