Grade 6 Unit 6

Unit Overview

The big picture stuff: The California standards have introduced students to magnets and simple circuits in primary grades and grade 4, without emphasizing electromagnetic forces in middle school. The NGSS introduce magnetism and simple electric circuits in grades 3 and 4, revisiting and deepening these concepts in the middle school grades. This unit could be implemented with the focus on forces in grade 8 or as is determined appropriate in grades 6 or 7.

Next Generation Science Standards – Middle School (NGSS-MS):

PS2-3. Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces.

Examples: devices that use electric and magnetic forces could include electromagnets, electric motors, or generators. Examples of data could include the effect of the number of turns of wire on the strength of an electromagnet, or the effect of increasing the number or strength of magnets on the speed of an electric motor.

Core ideas: Electric and magnetic (electromagnetic) forces can be attractive or repulsive, and their sizes depend on the magnitudes of the charges, currents, or magnetic strengths involved and on the distances between the interacting objects.

PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.

Examples: the interactions of magnets, electrically-charged strips of tape, and electrically-charged pith balls. Examples of investigations could include first-hand experiences or simulations.

Core ideas: Forces that act at a distance (electric and magnetic) can be explained by fields that extend through space and can be mapped by their effect on a test object (a ball, a charged object, or a magnet, respectively).

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.

Core ideas: 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.

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

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

ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Core ideas: Sometimes parts of different solutions can be combined to create a solution that is better than any of its predecessors. Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process—that is, some of those characteristics may be incorporated into the new design.

ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Core ideas: A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results, in order to improve it. Models of all kinds are important for testing solutions. The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution.

Science and Engineering:

• Ask questions that can be investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles.
• Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that can meet the goals of the investigation.

Crosscutting concepts:

• Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

California Science Standards: Grade 8

2f. Students know the greater the mass of an object, the more force is needed to achieve the same rate of change in motion.

Investigation and Experimentation Standards: Grade 6

7a. Develop a hypothesis.

7b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.

7c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables.

7d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.

7e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.

Investigation and Experimentation Standards: Grade 7

7a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.

7c. Communicate the logical connection among hypotheses, science concepts, tests conducted, data collected, and conclusions drawn from the scientific evidence.

7d. Construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth’s plates and cell structure).

7e. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.

Investigation and Experimentation Standards: Grade 8

9a. Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.

9b. Evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data.

9c. Distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test.

9e. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop quantitative statements about the relationships between variables.