Dominican International School
General Science Course
Grade level: 6
Teacher: Catherine Macalintal
1 year, 1 credit
SY : 2014 – 2015
Email: cmacalintal@dishs.tp.edu.tw
COURSE DESCRIPTION
“Science is the knowledge of consequences and dependence of one fact
upon another”- Thomas Hobbes
Grade 6 Science is an integrated science course that explores the scientific
method through the study and experimentation of topics in Life science, Earth
Science and Physical Science.
General Science course is specifically designed to bridge skills and knowledge from the
middle school science level to the more specialized sciences of Physics, Chemistry and Biology
that are studied at the high school level the following year. This general science course has the
following topics: Nature of science, protists and fungi, living and non - living things,
Atmosphere, solar system, minerals, Energy, chemical changes and temperature. This course
develops a strong conceptual understanding and gives fundamental principles of life Science,
Earth Science and Physical Science.
Teaching Strategies
A variety of teaching strategies will be provided for the students throughout the year to
develop their knowledge. Students work in cooperative learning groups during both laboratory
work and lecture components.
Portfolio requirements for the class will include science
activities. Virtual labs are interactive activities that extend important scientific concepts. It
offer students the opportunity to form hypothesis, manipulate variables, make observations,
record data, and work with objects and substances often not available in classroom laboratories.
We encourage students to have their Science Journal to take notes during presentation by teacher
to learn basic science concept, to learn important terms and facts of science, to prepare for
further study in science.
Student Activities
Student Activity provides all students with opportunities to develop abilities and
understanding of scientific inquiry. As they study science, they will make many observations and
conduct investigations and experiments. Students also will
work in small groups

do laboratory science activities

Answer textbook or worksheet questions

Watch a science demonstration

Use mathematics as a tool in problem solving

Watch audiovisual presentations

Work on extended science investigations or projects

Use computers as a tool

Participate in science based field trips
Assessment
Assessment is an essential component of the learning process. It is also the key to unlock
what students actually been learned. Classroom assessment will be given to students throughout
the year to collect feedback on how well they are learning. Students also will be assigned outside
classroom reading. Section or chapter assessment questions will be given to students to evaluate
their knowledge and ability to apply science concepts and to cultivate critical thinking. Tests and
exams will be conducted in every quarter to evaluate students and assess whether they are
learning what the teacher is expecting them to learn, and to structure their academic efforts.
Primary Textbook
Glencoe / McGraw–Hill
A Division of the McGraw. Hill Companies
Technology Resources – Internet
Students will be required to use the Internet to collect information and pictures for their
project work
COURSE OBJECTIVES
FIRST QUARTER
NGSS Standards to be covered
MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and
extended structures.
MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after
the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials
come from natural resources and impact society.
MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does
not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and
minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient
precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific
principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit
possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a
proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
SECOND QUARTER
NGSS Standards to be covered
MS-PS2-3. Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of
electric and magnetic forces.
MS-PS2-5. Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide
evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the
objects are not in contact.
MS-PS3-1.Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the
relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
MS-PS3-2.Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting
at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
MS-PS3-4.Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy
transferred the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of
the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the
kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
MS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that
includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave.
MS-PS4-2. Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or
transmitted through various materials.
THIRD QUARTER
NGSS Standards to be covered
MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of
cells, either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
MS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and
ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to
support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant
structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants
respectively.
MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental
and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of
photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource
availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among
organisms across multiple ecosystems.
MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy
among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to
physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in
offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring
with genetic variation.
MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic
variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving
and reproducing in a specific environment.
MS-LS4-5. Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed
the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
MS-LS4-6. Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural
selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
FOURTH QUARTER
NGSS Standards to be covered
MS-ESS1-1. Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the
cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
MS-ESS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions
within galaxies and the solar system.
MS-ESS1-3. Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the
solar system.
MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow
of energy that drives this process.
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-ESS2-4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth’s systems
driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
MS-ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of
the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional
climates.
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.
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.
FIRST QUARTER TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week
1
(08/11 - 08/15)
2
(08/18 - 08/22)
Topic
Methods of science
Lesson 1 - Understanding science
Lesson 2 - Measurement and scientific tools
3
(08/25 - 08/29)
Test -1 (Methods of Science)
Natural Resources
Lesson 1 - Energy resources
Lesson 2 - Renewable Energy Resources
4
(09/01 - 09/05)
Lesson 3 - Land Resources
Test – 2 (Natural Resources)
5
(09/09-9/12)
Matter and Atoms
Lesson 1 - Substances and Mixtures
6
(09/15-9/19)
Lesson 2 - The Structure of Atoms
Test –3 (Matter and Atoms)
7
(09/22-09/26)
Matter: Properties and Changes
Lesson 1 - Matter and Its Properties
8
(09/29-10/03)
Lesson 2 - Matter and Its Changes
Test –4 (Matter: Properties and Changes)
9
(10/06-10/07)
First Quarter Test
SECOND QUARTER TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week
Topic
10
(10/13-10/17)
Matter: Properties and Changes
Lesson 1 - Matter and Its Properties
Lesson 2 - Matter and Its Changes
11
(10/20 - 10/24)
Test 1 (Matter: Properties and Changes)
Energy
Lesson 1 - Forms of Energy
Lesson 2 - Energy Transformations
12
(10/27 - 10/31)
Test 2 – (Energy)
Energy Transfers Project
13
(11/03 - 11/07)
Waves, Light and Sound
Lesson 1 - Waves
14
(11/10 - 11/14)
Lesson 2 - Light
Lesson 3 - Sound
15
(11/17 - 11/21)
Test 2 – (Waves, Light, Sound)
Electricity and Magnetism
Lesson 1 - Electric charges and Electric Forces Homeostasis
16
(11/24 - 11/28)
Lesson 2 - Electric current and electric circuits
17
(12/01 - 12/05)
Lesson 3 - Magnetism
18
(12/08 - 12/12)
Test 3 – (Electricity and Magnetism)
Quarter review
19
(12/15 - 12/18)
Second Quarter Exam
THIRD QUARTER TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week
20
(01/05 - 01/09)
21
(01/12 - 01/16)
22
(01/19 - 01/23)
23
(01/26 - 01/30)
24
(02/02 - 02/06)
25
(02/09 - 02/13)
26
(02/24 - 02/26)
Topic
Life’s Classification and Structure
Lesson 1 - Classifying Living things
Lesson 2 – Cells
Test 1 – (Life’s Classification and Structure)
Inheritance and Adaptation
Lesson 1 - Inheritance and traits
Lesson 2 - Adaptations in species
Test 2 – (Inheritance and Adaptation)
Introduction to Plants
Lesson 1 - Plant diversity
Lesson 2 - Plant reproduction
Lesson 3 - Plant processes
Test 3 – (Introduction to Plants)
Interactions of Life
Lesson 1 – Ecosystems
27
(03/02 - 03/06)
Lesson 2 - Relationships within ecosystems
28
(03/09 – 03/13
Lesson 3 - Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
29
(03/16 – 03/20)
Test 4 – ( Interactions of Life)
Quarter Review
30
(03/23 – 03/27)
Third Quarter Exam
FOURTH QUARTER TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week
Topic
31
(04/07 - 04/10)
Earth in Space
Lesson1 - The sun Earth-Moon system
Lesson 2 - The solar system
32
(04/13 - 04/17)
Lesson 3 Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe
Test 1 – (Earth in Space)
Our Planet – Earth
Lesson 1 - Earth Systems
33
(04/20 - 04/24)
Lesson 2 - Interactions of Earth Systems
Test 2 – (Our Planet – Earth)
34
(04/27 - 05/01)
Earth’s Dynamic Surface
Lesson 1 - Earth’s Moving Surface
Lesson 2 - Shaping Earth’s Surface
35
(05/04 - 05/08)
Lesson 3 - Changing Earth’s Surface
Test 3 – ( Earth’s Dynamic Surface)
36
(05/11 - 05/15)
Quarter Review
37
(05/18 - 05/20)
Fourth Quarter Exam