6th grade Science
10 units matched to the New York State Learning Standards.
Focus areas
- Cells, body systems, growth and reproduction
- Heat, energy and mixtures
- Weather, climate 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
Mixtures & Solutions
Telling pure substances from mixtures, mechanical mixtures from solutions, solutes and solvents, comparing concentration, and choosing separation methods like filtering, evaporation, magnets and distillation.
Learning standard: MS-PS1-8; MS-PS1-2 · mixtures as combinations of substances, and properties such as solubility that tell substances apart
Unit 3
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 4
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 5
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 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 New York's lake-effect snow and nor'easters.
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, lakes and winds shape regional climate, such as the milder winters on Long Island and the colder Adirondacks, 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.
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
Unit 10
Engineering Design
Practices defining a design problem with criteria and constraints, evaluating competing solutions, analyzing test data, 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
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