Science Curriclum

This Year in Sixth Grade Science

SOLID EARTH
How do physical & chemical weathering lead to erosion & the formation of soils & sediments?
• Weathering & Soil Formation
• Chemical Weathering
• Mechanical Weathering

How does soil form & how are soils classified?
• Soil Formation & types
• Soil Conservation

How do the agents of erosion shape & reshape the land surface of the Earth?
• Erosion (5 Agents)
• Deposition (Landforms)

How are rocks formed?
• Introduction to Minerals & how they relate to rocks
• Classifying Rocks
• Igneous Rocks
• Metamorphic Rocks
• Sedimentary Rocks
• The Rock Cycle

What is the theory of plate tectonics and how are major geological events a result of it?
• Earth’s Interior
• Convection & Mantle
• Drifting Continents
• Sea-Floor Spreading
• The Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Earthquakes & Seismic Waves
• Volcanoes & Eruptions/Landforms

EARTH IN SPACE & TIME
How are rocks & fossils used to understand the age & geological history of the Earth? How old is the Earth? How are erosion, mountain building, & glacier movement used for the measurement of geologic time through observing rock layers? How do fossils provide important evidence of how life & environmental conditions have changed?
• Fossils
• Relative Age of Rocks
• Radioactive Dating
• Geologic Time Scale
• Early Earth

Why is the Earth considered a magnet?
• Earth’s Interior & the Core as Magnetic Field

ENERGY
What is energy? What are the basic forms of energy, and how are they related?
What is life on Earth like because of energy or energy transformation?
Energy
• Kinetic Energy
• Potential Energy and Gravitational Potential Energy
• Elastic Potential Energy
• Mechanical Energy
• Other Forms of Energy (Thermal, electrical, chemical, nuclear, & electromagnetic)

Energy Transformations and Conservation
• Single
• Multiple
• Transformation Between Potential and Kinetic Energy
• Conservation of Energy (Friction and Matter) Law States: Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

Energy and Fossil Fuels
• Formation of Fossil Fuels
• Uses of Fossil Fuels
• Fossil Fuels

Changes is State
• Thermal Energy & Changes in State
• Solid
• Liquid
• Gas
• Uses of Heat

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
What are producers, consumers, & decomposers, and how do they obtain energy? What interactions take place between organisms, populations, and communities?
What are biotic and abiotic factors, and how do they influence population?
• Living Things & the Environment
• Biotic & Abiotic Factors
• Studying Populations
• Interactions Among Living Things
• Changes in Community
• Energy Flow in Ecosystems
• Cycles of Matter
• Biogeography
• Biomes
• Aquatic Ecosystems

Environmental Impact
• Environmental Issues
• Forest & Fisheries
• Biodiversity
• Waste Disposal & Recycling
• Water Pollution & Solutions
• Air Pollution & Solutions