6th Grade Science
Quarter 1, 2015
Ms. L. Luckasavitch
Room SS15
Email: lluckasavitch@cic-valencia.org.ve
Website: luckasavitch.weebly.com
Course Description:
The goal of Science 6 is to provide students with the foundation of knowledge to understand, construct, and
reinforce scientific concepts. The topics covered will include an overview of science and the scientific method,
plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, minerals and rocks, weathering and erosion, geologic time, freshwater
systems, the ocean, weather and climate, human impact on the environment, and our solar system. To this
regard, students will actively engage in hands-on exploration of these topics. Students will learn how to think
like scientists while applying the concepts of observing, measuring, communicating, classifying, predicting,
inferring, hypothesizing, and experimenting.
Textbooks:
Science Explorer: The nature of science and technology. Kemp, Andrew C. and Beth Miaoulis. Prentice Hall.
2007
Science Explorer: Inside Earth. Vogel, Carole Garbuny and Michael Wysession. Prentice Hall. 2007
Materials:
Ringed Binder
Pens, pencils, erasers
Units of Study:
Unit 1 – Science and Technology (3 weeks)
Essential Questions: How does one go about performing science? What is the relationship between science
and technology? How is society affected by technology?
Ch. 1: What is Science and Ch. 3: Technology and Engineering
Objectives: Students will learn the process of science and how it leads to technology. They will also recognize
the impacts of technology on society.
Desired outcomes: The students will be able to…
1. Identify and demonstrate the steps and methods that scientists often use to solve problems.
2. Recognize how science and technology are interrelated.
3. Discuss the effects of technology on society.
Unit 2 – Inside Earth (5 weeks)
Essential Question: What is inside the Earth and how does that affect the outside layer that we live on? What
causes earthquakes and volcanoes? How has Earth’s surface changed over time?
Ch. 1: Plate Tectonics, Ch. 2: Earthquakes and Ch. 3: Volcanoes
Objectives: Students will understand the characteristics and movements of Earth’s layers and then apply that
knowledge to the understanding of continental drift, sea-floor spreading, and plate tectonics. They will
understand the relationship between plate boundaries, earthquakes, and volcanoes. They will know the cause
and effect of earthquakes, how volcanoes form, and effect that both have on the surrounding landscape and
humans.
Desired outcomes: The students will be able to…
1. Describe ways in which geologists have learned about Earth’s inner structure.
2. Describe the characteristics of Earth’s three layers.
3. Explain the cause and effect of convection currents in Earth’s mantle and core.
4. Starting with Alfred Wegner’s hypothesis, explain continental drift, including the evidence that supports
it, and why it was initially rejected.
5. Explain the cause and effect of sea-floor spreading and the evidence that supports it.
6. Explain the theory of place tectonics and describe the three types of boundaries formed at plate edges.
7. Describe how stress in the crust changes Earth’s surface.
8. State where faults are usually found and why they formed.
9. Explain how scientists detect and try to predict earthquakes.
10. State damages caused by an earthquake and ways to reduce those damages.
11. Describe the relationship between plate boundaries and the location of volcanoes.
12. Explain how volcanoes are able to form far from plate boundaries.
13. Describe the signs that scientists use to predict volcanic eruptions.
14. Describe the landforms created through volcanic activity.
Unit 3 – Minerals and Rocks (3 weeks)
Essential Questions: What makes a mineral a mineral, and a rock a rock? How do rocks change over time?
Why are minerals and rocks important to us?
Ch. 4: Minerals and Ch. 5: Rocks
Objectives: Students will understand the characteristics, properties, formation, and use of minerals and rocks.
They will also explain how rocks change form as they move through the rock cycle.
Desired outcomes: The students will be able to…
1. Explain how minerals form.
2. Discuss the use of minerals in society and how they are mined from the Earth.
3. Describe the properties use to identify rocks and distinguish between the three main types of rocks.
4. Describe the characteristics and classifications of the three main types of rocks.
5. Describe how the three main types of rock are formed.
6. Discuss how the three main types of rock are used in society.
7. Using the rock cycle, explain how rocks are able to change form over long periods of time.
8. Explain the role of plate tectonics in the rock cycle.
Evaluation:
Formative Assessments (homework, quizzes, assignments, mini-labs)
Summative Assignments (tests, labs, projects, presentations, etc.)
40%
60%
Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's
surface at varying time and spatial scales.
MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor
structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions.
MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this
process.
MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the
development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
HS-ESS1-5. Evaluate evidence of the past and current movements of continental and oceanic crust and the
theory of plate tectonics to explain the ages of crustal rocks.
HS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to illustrate how Earth’s internal and surface processes operate at different spatial
and temporal scales to form continental and ocean-floor features.
MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this
process.
MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's
mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.