6th grade Science
9 units matched to the California Content Standards.
Focus areas
- Thermal energy, weather and climate
- Cells and body systems
- Growth, development and engineering design
Units
Unit 1
Body Systems
How the nervous and endocrine (hormone) systems send messages, how the excretory system removes waste, and the basic organs of the reproductive system, all at a simple organ-and-job level.
Learning standard: MS-LS1-3 · body systems made of interacting groups of cells
Unit 2
Our Senses
Practices natural sensory systems: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It follows the Grade 6 science skill descriptors on natural and technical sensory systems in the New Brunswick curriculum.
Learning standard: MS-LS1-8 · sensory receptors that send messages to the brain
Unit 3
Cells: Life's Building Blocks
Practices evidence that living things are made of cells, the parts of plant and animal cells and their jobs, and how the cell works as a system.
Learning standard: MS-LS1-1; MS-LS1-2 · living things are made of cells, and the parts of a cell work together
Unit 4
Thermal Energy & Insulation
Practices how thermal energy moves from warmer to cooler objects, how mass and material affect temperature change, and how to design a device that slows heat transfer.
Learning standard: MS-PS3-3; MS-PS3-4 · designing to reduce heat transfer, and how mass and material affect temperature change
Unit 5
Engineering Design
Practices the engineering design process: defining a problem with criteria and constraints, comparing solutions, testing to find the best features, and improving a design step by step.
Learning standard: MS-ETS1-1; MS-ETS1-2; MS-ETS1-3; MS-ETS1-4 · defining design problems, evaluating and testing solutions, and improving designs
Unit 6
Work, Energy & Efficiency
Using the scientific terms force, displacement, work, energy and efficiency, calculating work as force times displacement, finding efficiency, and how friction and design affect the energy lost from machines.
Learning standard: MS-PS3-5 · when an object's kinetic energy changes, energy is transferred to or from it, as in work
Unit 7
Weather Systems
Practices how air masses and fronts change the weather, and how the sun and gravity drive the water cycle, including the Sierra Nevada's rain shadow and the atmospheric rivers that bring California's winter storms.
Learning standard: MS-ESS2-4; MS-ESS2-5 · the water cycle driven by sunlight and gravity, and how air masses cause weather changes
Unit 8
Climate & Climate Change
Practices how latitude, oceans, mountains and winds shape regional climate, such as California's mild coast and dry deserts, and the evidence for and causes of rising global temperatures.
Learning standard: MS-ESS2-6; MS-ESS3-5 · what shapes regional climate, and the causes of rising global temperatures
Unit 9
Growing & Reproducing
Practices how animal behaviors and plant structures help reproduction, how environment and genes affect growth, and how asexual and sexual reproduction differ. California places these middle school standards in 6th grade.
Learning standard: MS-LS1-4; MS-LS1-5; MS-LS3-2 · behaviors and structures that help organisms reproduce, what affects growth, and asexual versus sexual reproduction
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