Grade 6 Science Tutor
In the sixth grade, students will explore biodiversity, the science of flight and they will investigate electricity and electrical devices. They will also delve into space to discover the very beginnings of our universe.
Overall Expectations
- Assess human impacts on biodiversity, and identify ways of preserving biodiversity
- Investigate the characteristics of living things, and classify diverse organisms according to specific characteristics
- Demonstrate an understanding of biodiversity, its contributions to the stability of natural systems, and its benefits to humans
- Assess the societal and environmental impacts of flying devices that make use of properties of air
- Investigate ways in which flying devices make use of properties of air
- Evaluate the impact of the use of electricity on both the way we live and the environment
- Investigate the characteristics of static and current electricity, and construct simple circuits
- Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of electrical energy and its transformation into and from other forms of energy
- Assess the impact of space exploration on society and the environment
- Investigate characteristics of the systems of which the earth is a part and the relationship between the earth, the sun, and the moon
- Demonstrate an understanding of components of the systems of which the earth is a part, and explain the phenomena that result from the movement of different bodies in space
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Grade 6 Science Sample Curriculum
Understanding life systems: Biodiversity
- Analyse a local issue related to biodiversity, taking different points of view into consideration, propose action that can be taken to preserve biodiversity, and act on the proposal
- Assess the benefits that human societies derive from biodiversity and the problems that occur when biodiversity is diminished
- Investigate the organisms found in a specific habitat and classify them
- Use scientific inquiry/research skills to compare the characteristics of organisms within the plant or animal kingdoms
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including classification, biodiversity, natural community, interrelationships, vertebrate, invertebrate, stability, characteristics, and organism
- Identify and describe the distinguishing characteristics of different groups of plants and animals, and use these characteristics to further classify various kinds of plants and animals
- Demonstrate an understanding of biodiversity as the variety of life on earth
- Describe ways in which biodiversity within species is important for maintaining the resilience of those species
- Describe ways in which biodiversity within and among communities is important for maintaining the resilience of these communities
- Describe interrelationships within species, between species and explain how these interrelationships sustain biodiversity
- Identify everyday products that come from a diversity of organisms
- Explain how invasive species reduce biodiversity in local environments
Understanding structures and mechanisms: Flight
- Assess the benefits and costs of aviation technology for society and the environment, taking different social and economic perspectives into account
- Investigate the properties of air
- Investigate characteristics and adaptations that enable living things to fly
- Design, build, and test a flying device
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including aerodynamics, compress, flight, glide, propel, drag, thrust, and lift
- Identify the properties of air that make flight possible
- Identify common applications of the properties of air, such as its compressibility and insulating qualities
- Identify and describe the four forces of flight – lift, weight, drag, and thrust
- Describe, in qualitative terms, the relationships between the forces of lift, weight, thrust, and drag that are required for flight
- Describe ways in which flying devices or living things use unbalanced forces to control their flight
- Describe ways in which the four forces of flight can be altered
Understanding Matter and Energy: Electricity and electrical devices
- Assess the short- and long-term environmental effects of the different ways in which electricity is generated including the effect of each method on natural resources and living things in the environment
- Assess opportunities for reducing electricity consumption at home or at school that could affect the use of non-renewable resources in a positive way or reduce the impact of electricity generation on the environment
- Design and build series and parallel circuits, draw labelled diagrams identifying the components used in each, and describe the role of each component in the circuit
- Investigate the characteristics of static electricity
- Design, build, and test a device that produces electricity
- Design, build, and test a device that transforms electrical energy into another form of energy in order to perform a function
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including current, battery, circuit, transform, static, electrostatic, and energy
- Distinguish between current and static electricity
- Use the principles of static electricity to explain common electrostatic phenomena
- Identify materials that are good conductors of and good insulators
- Describe how various forms of energy can be transformed into electrical energy
- Identify ways in which electrical energy is transformed into other forms of energy
- Explain the functions of the components of a simple electrical circuit
- Describe series circuits and parallel circuits and identify where each is used
- Describe ways in which the use of electricity by society, including the amount of electrical energy used, has changed over time
Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Space
- Evaluate the social and environmental costs and benefits of space exploration, taking different points of view into account
- Design, build, and test devices for investigating the motions of different bodies in the solar system
- Investigate scientific and technological advances that allow humans to adapt to life in space
- Use appropriate science and technology vocabulary, including axis, tilt, rotation, revolution, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids, in oral and written communication
- Identify components of the solar system, including the sun, the earth, and other planets, natural satellites, comets, asteroids, and meteoroids, and describe their physical characteristics in qualitative terms
- Identify the bodies in space that emit light and those that reflect light
- Explain how humans meet their basic biological needs in space
- Identify the technological tools and devices needed for space exploration
- Describe the effects of the relative positions and motions of the earth, moon, and sun
