Week at a Glance

Dec 1-5, 2025

6TH GRADE SCIENCE

Monday

Topic: Light Waves lesson 1

Objective: How does light from the sun cause skin cancer?

To do list:

1. Introducing the High Skin Cancer Rate in Australia: Students are introduced to the unit problem and their role as student researchers.

2. Observe: Students observe light interacting with different objects and record evidence that light carries energy.

Homework: 

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Tuesday- 

Topic: Light Waves lesson 1 (cont)

Objective: How does light from the sun cause skin cancer?

To do list:

3. Introducing the High Skin Cancer Rate in Australia: Students are introduced to the unit problem and their role as student researchers.

4. Observe: Students observe light interacting with different objects and record evidence that light carries energy.

Homework: 

Upcoming events: 

Wednesday- 

Topic: Light Waves lesson 2 

Objective: Why can light cause materials to change?

To do list:

1. Do: Students use the Sim, or watch a video of the Sim investigation, to help them visualize what happens to energy when light hits a material and causes a change.

2. Observe: Students observe data from the Sim about how light affects genetic material, a step toward figuring out why the rate of skin cancer in Australia is so high.

Homework: 

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Thursday- 

Topic: Light Waves lesson 2 (cont)

Objective: Why can light cause materials to change?

To do list:

3. Do: Students use the Sim, or watch a video of the Sim investigation, to help them visualize what happens to energy when light hits a material and causes a change.

4. Observe: Students observe data from the Sim about how light affects genetic material, a step toward figuring out why the rate of skin cancer in Australia is so high.

Homework: 

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Friday- 

Topic: Light Waves lesson 3

Objective: Why can light cause materials to change?

To do list:

1. Reviewing Key Concepts and Vocabulary: Students review the @Home Science Wall, including the Chapter Questions, key concepts, and vocabulary.

2. Reflect: Students create a model to show how light from the sun can cause skin cancer.

3. Talk: Using the Write and Share routine, students use data about sunlight to make predictions about the rates of skin cancer in Brazil and Egypt in comparison to Australia. Students then compare their predictions to actual skin cancer data and use that data to evaluate a claim about the cause of the rate of skin cancer in Australia.

Homework: 

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7TH GRADE SCIENCE

Monday

Topic: Chemical Reactions lesson 1

Objective: How can you tell one substance from another?

To do list:

1. Introducing the water problem in Westfield: Students watch a video about the work of chemists in keeping water clean, and then they are introduced to the key substances in the Westfield water problem. 

2. Observe: Students make observations of the properties of four samples to start to think about how chemists tell substances apart. 

3. Talk: Students discuss their observations and predict if any of the four samples are the same substance.

4. Do: Students compare the properties of substances they find in their homes.   

Homework: 

Upcoming events: 

Tuesday- 

Topic: Chemical Reactions lesson 1 (cont)

Objective: How can you tell one substance from another?

To do list:

5. Introducing the water problem in Westfield: Students watch a video about the work of chemists in keeping water clean, and then they are introduced to the key substances in the Westfield water problem. 

6. Observe: Students make observations of the properties of four samples to start to think about how chemists tell substances apart. 

7. Talk: Students discuss their observations and predict if any of the four samples are the same substance.

8. Do: Students compare the properties of substances they find in their homes.   

Homework: 

Upcoming events: 

Wednesday- 

Topic: Chemical Reactions lesson 2

Objective: Why do different substances have different properties?

To do list:

1. Introduction to atoms: Students watch a video introducing the idea that all matter is made up of atoms.

2. Read: Students read the article “Atomic Zoom-In,” which introduces the idea that substances have different properties because they are made up of different atoms.

3. Talk: Pairs discuss the article and their annotations.

Homework: 

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Thursday- 

Topic: Chemical Reactions lesson 3

Objective: Why do different substances have different properties?

To do list:

1. Do: Students compare substances with similar atoms in the Sim to gather evidence that they are or are not the same substance.

2. Read: Students return to the “Atomic Zoom-In” article to gather evidence about the investigation question.

3. Do: Students pick two substances they have at home and explain to someone in their household why they have different properties.

Homework: 

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Friday- 

Topic: Chemical Reactions lesson 4

Objective: Why do different substances have different properties?

To do list:

1. Talk: Students discuss evidence about the reddish-brown substance and use the evidence to support a claim about its identity. 

2. Reviewing Key Concepts and Vocabulary: Students review the @Home Science Wall, including the Chapter 1 Question, key concepts, and vocabulary.

3. Write: Students write an argument to the people of Westfield explaining what the reddish-brown substance is.

Homework: 

Upcoming events: