SCIENCE
Curriculum Snapshot
During the study of science in sixth grade, emphasis will be placed on learning and practicing the different process skills of science. These skills include: classifying, observing, predicting and estimating, forming a hypothesis, recording data, analyzing and interpreting data, controlling variables, drawing conclusions, and applying and generalizing. Students will study four areas of science.
Structure of Matter
Students will study the properties and structure of matter in different states, explaining observable characteristics of matter, such as changes in state, using knowledge of atoms, molecules, and energy. Students will gain a basic familiarity with the periodic table of the elements, compounds, mixtures, and chemical bonds.
Interdependence of Life
Students will study biomes as caused by climatic forces and realize ecosystems as communities determined by biotic (plants, animals, decomposers) and a-biotic (climate, minerals, nutrients, soil) factors. Students will classify organisms based on their source of energy (producers, consumers, decomposers, predator, prey) and the unique ways that they relate to other organisms. By studying changes in populations and the transfer of energy between different parts of the food web, students will become familiar with how living organisms, including humans, can affect the balance of an ecosystem.
Solid Earth
Using knowledge of the layers of the earth, students will explain phenomenon such as earthquakes, volcanoes, rifts, and mountains. Students will also study rocks and soils, explaining the their formation of each. Students will examine the chemical and mechanical weathering of rocks and the importance of soil to all living organisms, particularly people. Fossils will be used as evidence of the changing nature of earth and life.
Reproductive Health
The "Wonder Years" curriculum will be presented to students involving lessons in Growing Together, Building Blocks of Life, Fetal Development, How My Body Works, Emotions and Relationships and Growing Strong. A significant focus of this unit is informing students of and discouraging them from participating in "risky behaviors."
Structure of Matter
Students will study the properties and structure of matter in different states, explaining observable characteristics of matter, such as changes in state, using knowledge of atoms, molecules, and energy. Students will gain a basic familiarity with the periodic table of the elements, compounds, mixtures, and chemical bonds.
Interdependence of Life
Students will study biomes as caused by climatic forces and realize ecosystems as communities determined by biotic (plants, animals, decomposers) and a-biotic (climate, minerals, nutrients, soil) factors. Students will classify organisms based on their source of energy (producers, consumers, decomposers, predator, prey) and the unique ways that they relate to other organisms. By studying changes in populations and the transfer of energy between different parts of the food web, students will become familiar with how living organisms, including humans, can affect the balance of an ecosystem.
Solid Earth
Using knowledge of the layers of the earth, students will explain phenomenon such as earthquakes, volcanoes, rifts, and mountains. Students will also study rocks and soils, explaining the their formation of each. Students will examine the chemical and mechanical weathering of rocks and the importance of soil to all living organisms, particularly people. Fossils will be used as evidence of the changing nature of earth and life.
Reproductive Health
The "Wonder Years" curriculum will be presented to students involving lessons in Growing Together, Building Blocks of Life, Fetal Development, How My Body Works, Emotions and Relationships and Growing Strong. A significant focus of this unit is informing students of and discouraging them from participating in "risky behaviors."