Welcome to 6th Grade Science!

Teacher:  Connie Miller

To all 6th grade students and their families, I want to extend a warm welcome to the Selwyn 6th Grade Science Class.  I have been a  Selwyn educator since 2008, and I have taught many different grade levels and subjects.  Science is one of my favorite subjects to teach, and I am very excited about teaching Earth Science (specifically the Hydrosphere) to the incoming 6th graders.  

The Hydrosphere is all the water on our planet.  This includes the water on the Earth's surface, underground, and in the air.  It can be liquid, ice, or water vapor.  Throughout the year, we will study the water cycle, freshwater and saltwater properties, natural disasters, ecosystems, climate and weather, global water issues, conservation, and many more Earth Science topics.  It's going to be a great year!

A typical day in our science class will include the following types of activities:

• Activities designed to build science/STEM skills

• Cornell note-taking and/or science journaling 

• Activities for the different phases of the 5E Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate):

  • Engage activities are pre-assessments

  • Explore activities are typically hands-on experiments or observational in nature

  • The Explain phase is the teacher-led portion of the unit.  A variety of books, lectures, videos, and other software usage increases the student's knowledge and understanding of the subject matter.

  • The Elaborate phase is when the students must show what they have learned.  The may do additional experiments, create posters, give presentations, work on group projects, or showcase their knowledge in some other manner.

  • Evaluate activities are the final assessments for the unit of study (tests, written assignments, presentations, etc.)

We will seek knowledge in many different ways during our science classes.  The students will do vocabulary practice, group projects and experiments, and independent studies, as well as the other activities listed above. I believe we will have a little fun along the way, as well!