Dear 6th Grade White Team Families,

What’s happening in science class next month? In short: rocks, movement, GPS, and a whole lot of patience. We need more prizes and supplies for the classroom! Check out my Amazon Wish List for ideas: Wish List! It is that time of year to send in tissues and paper towels also, Thanks for your support!

This month, students will be learning about rate—specifically the rate at which Earth’s tectonic plates move. Spoiler alert: it is not fast. In fact, if tectonic plates were racing turtles, the turtles would still win. 🐢

We’ll start by talking about earthquakes and volcanoes, because nothing grabs attention like exploding mountains and shaking ground. While these events are dramatic, students quickly learn they are not evidence that plates are zooming around under our feet. Instead, plates move at a rate so slow that humans can’t feel it happening at all.

So how do scientists know plates are moving? Enter GPS technology—the same idea that helps you find the nearest coffee shop, but instead helps geologists measure plate movement down to tiny distances over time. Students will watch a video on how scientists use GPS, then hop into a digital simulation to calculate plate movement over millions of years (because sometimes science requires thinking really big).

Next, students officially become student geologists 🪨 as we dive into an investigation centered on two familiar places: the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. These locations may look very different today, but students will be shocked to discover that rocks from both places share surprisingly similar mineral compositions. This mystery becomes our “anchor phenomenon” as students explore how rocks form, change, and travel over time.

Through hands-on models, simulations, data analysis, and science texts, students will investigate the rock cycle, learning how matter is constantly recycled on Earth and how energy from both the Sun and Earth’s interior drive these changes. By the end of the unit, students will be able to explain how rock material from the Rocky Mountains eventually became part of the Great Plains—without any rocks packing suitcases or calling an Uber.

While this unit involves slow movement, big time scales, and lots of thinking, it’s packed with curiosity, discovery, and “wait… WHAT?!” moments. Ask your child how fast tectonic plates move or how GPS helps scientists—you might be surprised by the answer.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Science class is rocking along… just very, very slowly.

As January is coming to a close, Mr. Himes’ Social Studies classes have been busy completing their unit on Africa. We spent time before winter break, and the beginning of January, wrapping up Ancient Egypt - paying close attention to important Pharaohs and Egyptian Mythology. As January comes to a close, we are finishing our unit on Africa and ending the unit with a final project focusing on a Pharaoh, or god or goddess within Egyptian mythology, and researching more about them (more info to come). 

With February on the horizon, we will be shifting focus from Africa to Southwest Asia (present-day Middle East). This will take students to Mesopotamia where we will focus on the Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Persians. At the end of this next unit, we will focus on one of the six major world religions: Judaism.

On another note, as we are entering the thick of cold and flu season, any donations of tissues or hand sanitizer would be greatly appreciated!

I wanted to share a quick update from 6th grade math with Mrs. Guiswite. We have just completed Unit 4 in Envision Math, which focused on solving equations and inequalities.

We have now begun Unit 5, which is all about ratios, rates, and unit rates. In this unit, students will work on:

• Understanding ratios

• Generating and comparing equivalent ratios

• Representing and graphing ratios

• Understanding rates and unit rates

• Comparing unit rates

• Solving unit rate problems

• Converting customary units

• Converting metric units

• Relating customary and metric units

Please encourage your child to ask questions and practice these skills as we move through the unit. Thank you for your continued support!

*Reminder for Studying for Tests: The practice test should be reviewed at home prior to any test.  The students will spend two periods of class time filling out the practice test.  The teacher answer key will also be posted in Google Classroom in case a student was not able to complete the practice test in class.  The practice test and the real test are VERY similar.  The problems only differ by changing subjects and numbers, not the actual operation or skill.