Sixth Grade - Science

Sixth Grade - Science Indicators

Earth Systems

Describe the rock cycle and explain that there are sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks that have distinct properties (e.g., color, texture) and are formed in different ways.
Explain that rocks are made of one or more minerals.
Identify minerals by their characteristic properties.

Characteristics and Structure of Life	Explain that many of the basic functions of organisms are carried out by or within cells and are similar in all organisms. Explain that multi-cellular organisms have a variety of specialized cells, tissues, organs and organ systems that perform specialized functions. Identify how plant cells differ from animal cells (e.g., cell wall and chloroplasts).
Heredity	Recognize that an individual organism does not live forever, therefore reproduction is necessary for the continuation of every species and traits are passed on to the next generation through reproduction. Describe that in asexual reproduction all the inherited traits come from a single parent. Describe that in sexual reproduction an egg and sperm unite and some traits come from each parent, so the offspring is never identical to either of its parents. Recognize that likenesses between parents and offspring (e.g., eye color, flower color) are inherited. Other likenesses, such as table manners are learned.
Diversity & Interdependency of Life	Describe how organisms may interact with one another.

Physical Sciences

Nature of Matter

Explain that equal volumes of different substances usually have different masses.
Describe that in a chemical change new substances are formed with different properties than the original substance (e.g., rusting, burning).
Describe that in a physical change (e.g., state, shape and size) the chemical properties of a substance remain unchanged).
Describe that chemical and physical changed occur all around us (e.g., in the human body, cooking and industry).

Nature of Energy

Explain that the energy found in nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels (e.g., oil, coal, and natural gas) originally came from the sun and may renew slowly over millions of years.
Explain that energy derived from renewable resources such as wind and water is assumed to be available indefinitely.
Describe how electric energy can be produced from a variety of sources (e.g., sun, wind and coal).
Describe how renewable and nonrenewable energy resources can be managed (e.g., fossil, fuels, trees and water).

Science and Technology

Understanding Technology

Explain how technology influences the quality of life.
Explain how decisions about the use of products and systems can result in desirable or undesirable consequences (e.g., social and environmental).
Describe how automation (e.g., robots) has changed manufacturing including manual labor being replaced by highly-skilled jobs.
Explain how the usefulness of manufactured parts of an object depend on how well their properties allow them to fit and interact with other materials.

Abilities to Do Technological Design

Design and build a product or create a solution to a problem given one constraint (e.g., limits of cost and time for design and production, supply of materials and environmental effects).

Scientific Inquiry

Doing Scientific Inquiry

Explain that there are not fixed procedures for guiding scientific investigations; however, the nature of an investigation determines the procedures needed.
Choose the appropriate tools or instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations.
Distinguish between observations and inference.
Explain that a single example can never prove that something is always correct, but sometimes a single example can disprove something.

Scientific Ways of Knowing

Nature of Science	Identify that hypotheses are valuable even when they are not supported.
Ethical Practices	Describe why it is important to keep clear, thorough and accurate records.
Science & Society	Identify ways scientific thinking is helpful in a variety of everyday settings. Describe how the pursuit of scientific knowledge is beneficial for any career and for daily life. Research how men and women of all countries and cultures have contributed to the development of science.

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