SC.6.S. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES

6.S.1. The student will use the science and engineering practices, including the processes and skills of scientific inquiry, to develop understandings of science content.

6.S.1A. Conceptual Understanding: The practices of science and engineering support the development of science concepts, develop the habits of mind that are necessary for scientific thinking, and allow students to engage in science in ways that are similar to those used by scientists and engineers.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.S.1A.2. Develop, use, and refine models to (1) understand or represent phenomena, processes, and relationships, (2) test devices or solutions, or (3) communicate ideas to others.

6.S.1A.3. Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to answer questions, test hypotheses, and develop explanations: (1) formulate scientific questions and testable hypotheses, (2) identify materials, procedures, and variables, (3) select and use appropriate tools or instruments to collect qualitative and quantitative data, and (4) record and represent data in an appropriate form. Use appropriate safety procedures.

6.S.1A.4. Analyze and interpret data from informational texts, observations, measurements, or investigations using a range of methods (such as tabulation, graphing, or statistical analysis) to (1) reveal patterns and construct meaning or (2) support hypotheses, explanations, claims, or designs.

6.S.1A.6. Construct explanations of phenomena using (1) primary or secondary scientific evidence and models, (2) conclusions from scientific investigations, (3) predictions based on observations and measurements, or (4) data communicated in graphs, tables, or diagrams.

SC.6.E. EARTH SCIENCE: EARTH’S WEATHER AND CLIMATE

6.E.2. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the interactions within Earth’s systems (flow of energy) that regulate weather and climate.

6.E.2A. Conceptual Understanding: Earth’s atmosphere, an envelope of gases that surround the planet, makes conditions on Earth suitable for living things and influences weather. Water is always moving between the atmosphere (troposphere) and the surface of Earth as a result of the force of gravity and energy from the Sun. The Sun is the driving energy source for heating Earth and for the circulation of Earth’s atmosphere.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.E.2A.1. Develop and use models to exemplify the properties of the atmosphere (including the gases, temperature and pressure differences, and altitude changes) and the relative scale in relation to the size of Earth.

6.E.2A.2. Critically analyze scientific arguments based on evidence for and against how different phenomena (natural and human induced) may contribute to the composition of Earth’s atmosphere.

6.E.2A.3. Construct explanations of the processes involved in the cycling of water through Earth’s systems (including transpiration, evaporation, condensation and crystallization, precipitation, and downhill flow of water on land).

6.E.2B. Conceptual Understanding: The complex patterns of changes and movement of water in the atmosphere determined by winds, landforms, ocean temperatures and currents, and convection are major determinants of local weather patterns and climate. Technology has enhanced our ability to measure and predict weather patterns.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.E.2B.2. Develop and use models to explain how relationships between the movement and interactions of air masses, high and low pressure systems, and frontal boundaries result in weather conditions and storms (including thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes).

6.E.2B.4. Construct explanations for how climate is determined in an area (including latitude, elevation, shape of the land, distance from water, global winds, and ocean currents).

SC.6.P. PHYSICAL SCIENCE: ENERGY TRANSFER AND CONSERVATION

6.P.3. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the properties of energy, the transfer and conservation of energy, and the relationship between energy and forces.

6.P.3A. Conceptual Understanding: Energy manifests itself in multiple forms, such as mechanical (kinetic energy and potential energy), electrical, chemical, radiant (solar), and thermal energy. According to the principle of conservation of energy, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but it can be transferred from one place to another and transformed between systems.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.P.3A.1. Analyze and interpret data to describe the properties and compare sources of different forms of energy (including mechanical, electrical, chemical, radiant, and thermal).

6.P.3A.2. Develop and use models to exemplify the conservation of energy as it is transformed from kinetic to potential (gravitational and elastic) and vice versa.

6.P.3A.5. Develop and use models to describe and compare the directional transfer of heat through convection, radiation, and conduction.

6.P.3A.6. Design and test devices that minimize or maximize heat transfer by conduction, convection, or radiation.

6.P.3B. Conceptual Understanding: Energy transfer occurs when two objects interact thereby exerting force on each other. It is the property of an object or a system that enables it to do work (force moving an object over a distance). Machines are governed by this application of energy, work, and conservation of energy.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.P.3B.1. Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to provide evidence for how the design of simple machines (including levers, pulleys, inclined planes) helps transfer mechanical energy by reducing the amount of force required to do work.

SC.6.L. LIFE SCIENCE: DIVERSITY OF LIFE-CLASSIFICATION AND ANIMALS

6.L.4. The student will demonstrate an understanding of how scientists classify organisms and how the structures, processes, behaviors, and adaptations of animals allow them to survive.

6.L.4A. Conceptual Understanding: Life is the quality that differentiates living things (organisms) from nonliving objects or those that were once living. All organisms are made up of cells, need food and water, a way to dispose of waste, and an environment in which they can live. Because of the diversity of life on Earth, scientists have developed a way to organize groups of organisms according to their characteristic traits, making it easier to identify and study them.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.L.4A.2. Develop and use models to classify organisms based on the current hierarchical taxonomic structure (including the kingdoms of protists, plants, fungi, and animals).

6.L.4B. Conceptual Understanding: The Animal Kingdom includes a diversity of organisms that have many characteristics in common. Classification of animals is based on structures that function in growth, reproduction, and survival. Animals have both structural and behavioral adaptations that increase the chances of reproduction and survival in changing environments.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.L.4B.1. Analyze and interpret data related to the diversity of animals to support claims that all animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) share common characteristics.

6.L.4B.2. Obtain and communicate information to explain how the structural adaptations and processes of animals allow for defense, movement, or resource obtainment.

6.L.4B.3. Construct explanations of how animal responses (including hibernation, migration, grouping, and courtship) to environmental stimuli allow them to survive and reproduce.

6.L.4B.4. Obtain and communicate information to compare and classify innate and learned behaviors in animals.

SC.6.L. LIFE SCIENCE: DIVERSITY OF LIFE-PROTISTS, FUNGI AND PLANTS

6.L.5. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the structures, processes, and responses that allow protists, fungi, and plants to survive and reproduce.

6.L.5A. Conceptual Understanding: The Protist Kingdom is one of the most diverse groups and includes organisms that have characteristics similar to but are not classified as plants, animals, or fungi. These microorganisms live in moist environments and vary in how they obtain energy and move. The Fungi Kingdom consists of organisms that do not make their own food (heterotrophs) but obtain their nutrition through external absorption. Fungi can be grouped by their growth habit or fruiting structure and respond to changes in the environmental stimuli similar to plants.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.L.5A.1. Analyze and interpret data from observations to compare how the structures of protists (including euglena, paramecium, and amoeba) and fungi allow them to obtain energy and explore their environment.

6.L.5A.2. Analyze and interpret data to describe how fungi respond to external stimuli (including temperature, light, touch, water, and gravity).

6.L.5B. Conceptual Understanding: The Plant Kingdom consists of organisms that primarily make their own food (autotrophs) and are commonly classified based on internal structures that function in the transport of food and water. Plants have structural and behavioral adaptations that increase the chances of reproduction and survival in changing environments.

Students who demonstrate this understanding can:

6.L.5B.1. Construct explanations of how the internal structures of vascular and nonvascular plants transport food and water.

6.L.5B.2. Analyze and interpret data to explain how the processes of photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration work together to meet the needs of plants.

6.L.5B.3. Develop and use models to compare structural adaptations and processes that flowering plants use for defense, survival and reproduction.

6.L.5B.4. Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to determine how changes in environmental factors (such as air, water, light, minerals, or space) affect the growth and development of a flowering plant.

6.L.5B.5. Analyze and interpret data to describe how plants respond to external stimuli (including temperature, light, touch, water, and gravity).

SC.CC.RST.6-8. Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RST.6-8.7. Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

SC.CC.WHST.6-8. Writing Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects

Text Types and Purposes

WHST.6-8.1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

WHST.6-8.1(e) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

WHST.6-8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

WHST.6-8.2(d) Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

WHST.6-8.2(f) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

Production and Distribution of Writing

WHST.6-8.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.