Grade 6 Science Curriculum
Family-facing version of the grade 6 Science curriculum
Goals
The purposes of scientific investigation and discovery are to satisfy humankind’s quest for knowledge and understanding and to preserve and enhance the quality of the human experience. Therefore, as a result of science instruction, students will be able to achieve the following objectives:
- Develop and use an experimental design in scientific inquiry.
- Use the language of science to communicate understanding.
- Investigate phenomena using technology.
- Apply scientific concepts, skills, and processes to everyday experiences.
- Experience the richness and excitement of scientific discovery of the natural world through the collaborative quest for knowledge and understanding.
- Make informed decisions regarding contemporary issues.
- Develop scientific dispositions and habits of mind.
- Develop an understanding of the interrelationship of science with technology, engineering and mathematics.
- Explore science-related careers and interests.
Quarterly Overview of Grade 6 Science
The objectives and outcomes for each unit are common across FCPS and based on the Virginia Standards of Learning. The pacing by quarter and by week provides an example of how the curriculum can be organized throughout the year. Teacher teams may adjust the pacing or order of units to best meet the needs of students.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Quarter 1
Quarter 2
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
Units and Details
Students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of scientific and engineering practices.
- Investigate and understand that
- The solar system is organized and the various bodies in the solar system interact.
- There is a relationship between the sun, Earth, and the moon.
Students will understand:
- With the development of new technology, our knowledge of the solar system has increased substantially.
- Gravity acts everywhere in the universe and plays a role in its organization.
- The position of Earth in relation to the sun and moon has an impact on life on Earth.
- The solar system consists of many different bodies, each with their own characteristics.
- Models provide a way of visually representing abstract concepts.
Extended Standards
In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning above, students who receive Full-Time Advanced Academic Services engage with these extensions.
- Explain how relationships between variables affect the outcome of an investigation.
- Synthesize data to identify short and long term consequences.
- Explain implications of data considering multiple perspectives (i.e., environment, ecosystems, people, communities).
- Identify and explain errors or limitations in scientific findings.
- Explain scientific understandings through a concept or “big idea” that supports interdisciplinary connections (i.e. change, systems, patterns, relationships, etc.).
- Create and/or refine models to explain complex scientific ideas.
- Communicate scientific information using evidence and data to support a claim, conclusion, or thesis statement.
- Explain how scientific understandings gained from investigations/experiments apply to real world problems, issues, and scenarios.
- Analyze the forces and laws that control orbital motion and matter in the solar system.
- Evaluate historical and current solar system models and explain how scientific understanding has progressed over time.
- Investigate how planetary characteristics (size, distance, composition) influence their interactions and potential for supporting life.
- Predict the behavior of celestial bodies based on the rules of gravity and observed data.
- Analyze how Earth and Moon's movements (rotation, revolution, tilt) and gravity cause predictable events like day/night, Moon phases, seasons, and tides.)
- Model the Sun-Earth-Moon system to predict various celestial events or phenomena over time.
- Investigate how Earth's unique features and its connection to the Moon impact Earth's natural processes and living things.
- Evaluate how small changes in Earth's orbit or its tilt affect long-term climate and life on Earth.
Students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of scientific and engineering practices.
- Investigate and understand that
- There are basic sources of energy and that energy can be transformed.
- Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.
- Air has properties and that Earth’s atmosphere has structure and is dynamic.
Students will understand:
- The distribution of solar energy throughout the atmosphere and on Earth’s surface causes change in weather and climate.
- The relationships between air pressure, humidity, and temperature drive predictable weather patterns.
- Earth’s atmosphere has a specific composition, but it can be changed by natural and human causes, which impacts weather and climate.
- Weather follows predictable patterns based on scientific evidence, and these patterns impact living things.
Extended Standards
In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning above, students who receive Full-Time Advanced Academic Services engage with these extensions.
- Explain how relationships between variables affect the outcome of an investigation.
- Synthesize data to identify short and long term consequences.
- Explain implications of data considering multiple perspectives (i.e., environment, ecosystems, people, communities).
- Identify and explain errors or limitations in scientific findings.
- Explain scientific understandings through a concept or “big idea” that supports interdisciplinary connections (i.e., change, systems, patterns, relationships, etc.).
- Create and/or refine models to explain complex scientific ideas.
- Communicate scientific information using evidence and data to support a claim, conclusion, or thesis statement.
- Explain how scientific understandings gained from investigations/experiments apply to real world problems, issues, and scenarios.
- Analyze how changes in Earth's overall energy balance affect global climates and living things.
- Design ways to show or explain how heat energy moves through radiation, conduction, and convection in nature or in things we build.
- Explain how large bodies of water help control and balance local and world climates.
- Investigate how physical characteristics of the atmosphere (e.g., pressure, density, composition) affect atmospheric phenomena.
- Analyze the complex connections between air movement, how heat energy spreads, and how severe weather forms.
- Interpret and apply weather data to predict local and regional weather patterns and conditions.
- Evaluate weather maps and current data to explain atmospheric events and predict possible outcomes.
Students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of scientific and engineering practices.
- Investigate and understand that
- All matter is composed of atoms.
- Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.
Students will understand:
- The connections between water resources and agriculture, power generation, and public health dictate the need for water conservation.
- Matter is made up of atoms that interact in a predictable way to form all substances in the universe.
- Water has unique chemical properties that make it essential to life.
- Careful and systematic investigations lead to an understanding of the natural world.
Extended Standards
In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning above, students who receive Full-Time Advanced Academic Services engage with these extensions.
- Synthesize data to identify short and long term consequences.
- Explain implications of data considering multiple perspectives (i.e., environment, ecosystems, people, communities).
- Identify and explain errors or limitations in scientific findings.
- Explain scientific understandings through a concept or “big idea” that supports interdisciplinary connections (i.e., change, systems, patterns, relationships, etc.).
- Create and/or refine models to explain complex scientific ideas
Communicate scientific information using evidence and data to support a claim, conclusion, or thesis statement. - Explain how scientific understandings gained from investigations/experiments apply to real world problems, issues, and scenarios.
- Model how atoms join to form new substances and explain the role of electrical forces (bonds) that hold them together.
- Use chemical symbols and formulas to represent different elements and combined substances.
- Explore the elements found in Earth's land, living things, water, and air.
- Explore water's unique ability to dissolve many substances and its role in different types of mixtures.
- Compare water's special features (like how it acts) to other everyday liquids.
- Evaluate effective ways to use water for farming, making power, and health, considering the effects on nature and people.
- Analyze the ways that natural events, human actions, and living/non-living factors interact to affect the health of a local water system (watershed).
- Propose and evaluate solutions for major health and safety issues related to air and water quality, both locally and globally.
Students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of scientific and engineering practices.
- Investigate and understand that
- There are basic sources of energy and that energy can be transformed.
- Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.
- Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment.
Students will understand:
- Energy is continuously transferred from one place to another and transformed among various forms.
- There are advantages and disadvantages to using any energy source. These advantages and disadvantages may affect the environment and have economic implications.
- Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment.
- Natural resource management and health and safety issues related to the use of resources should be considered in the development of public policy.
Extended Standards
In addition to the Virginia Standards of Learning above, students who receive Full-Time Advanced Academic Services engage with these extensions.
- Explain how relationships between variables affect the outcome of an investigation.
- Synthesize data to identify short and long term consequences.
- Explain implications of data considering multiple perspectives (i.e., environment, ecosystems, people, communities).
- Identify and explain errors or limitations in scientific findings.
- Explain scientific understandings through a concept or “big idea” that supports interdisciplinary connections (i.e. change, systems, patterns, relationships, etc.).
- Create and/or refine models to explain complex scientific ideas.
- Communicate scientific information using evidence and data to support a claim, conclusion, or thesis statement.
- Explain how scientific understandings gained from investigations/experiments apply to real world problems, issues, and scenarios.
- Analyze the efficiency of different energy transformations in various systems, considering energy loss.
- Evaluate effective ways to use water for farming, making power, and health, considering the effects on nature and people.
- Propose and evaluate solutions for major health and safety issues related to air and water quality, both locally and globally.
- Analyze the environmental, health, and economic costs and benefits associated with different renewable and nonrenewable energy sources.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of local, state, or federal policies designed to reduce the negative environmental impacts of energy and resource use.
Assessments
Student assessments are part of the teaching and learning process.
- Teachers give assessments to students on an ongoing basis to
- Check for understanding
- Gather information about students' knowledge or skills.
- Assessments provide information about a child's development of knowledge and skills that can help families and teachers better plan for the next steps in instruction.
For testing questions or additional information about how schools and teachers use test results to support student success, families can contact their children's schools.
In Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), grade 3 tests focus on measuring content knowledge and skill development.
