Course Overview

In grades six through eight, the standards and performance indicators for the science and

engineering practices and core science content, transition students to developing and planning

controlled investigations to create more explicit and detailed models and explanations. The seven

core concepts (patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system

models; energy and matter; structure and function; and stability and change) are reinforced in the

appropriate context of the core science content through hands-on instruction in the classroom.

Science in the middle school provides students with the foundation to be successful in high school

science courses, by providing a range of content in the life, earth, and physical sciences.

The 5 core areas of the grade six standards include:

States of Matter and Energy

Waves and Their Applications

From Molecules to Organisms

Earth's Geologic and Human Activity

Earth's Atmospheric Systems and Human Activity