SCIENCE AS INQUIRY

NOTES

1a. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing understanding of how the scientific enterprise operates.

Students will be able to:

A.  Solve problems using a variety of strategies

B.  Pose questions for scientific investigations and make predictions about the outcomes

C.  Design and conduct a scientific investigation exploring the relationship between two variables

D.  Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, organize, and interpret data

E.  Compare and estimate very large/very small numbers

F.  Use appropriate measurement units

G.  Read bar graphs, line graphs, circle graphs, and tables

H.  Construct explanations, including the development of simple models, for observations made

I.  Work in small teams to investigate problems, but form own conclusions

J.  Discuss the relationship between evidence and explanations

K.  Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and procedures

L.  Communicate scientific procedures and explanation

M.  Make hypotheses and design simple experiments to test hypotheses made

N. Recognize the variables in a situation and the importance of controlling them when conducting a scientific investigation

O.  Seek information for comparing past and present scientific ideas and theories

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

NOTES:

2a. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to use measuring instruments to gather accurate and/or precise information.

Students will be able to:

A. Use an assortment of measuring instruments, with a variety of scales, such as rulers, thermometers, graduated cylinders, balances, and timers

B.Describe and practice appropriate techniques for using simple measuring devices

C.Use technology to explore events in nature (e.g., telescopes, microscopes, computer probes)

2b. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to use technology to observe nature.

Students will be able to:

A.  Explore nature with simple scientific tools (e.g., magnifying glasses, levers, pulleys, batteries and bulbs)

B.  Use technology to capture information on film, tape, etc.

2c. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to analyze, synthesize, and communicate scientific information using technology.

Students will be able to:

A.  Record data using appropriate units

B.  Use a calculator to determine other important quantitative values from data, using proper units (e.g., speed, density, area, volume)

C. Compile and display classroom data on a computer

D.  Use technology to share data with classmates or other groups of students

2d. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand how technology is used to synthesize new products.

Students will be able to:

A.  Construct simple projects from readily available materials found at home

B.  Choose appropriate common materials for mechanical construction of simple models

C.  Make safe electrical connections with various electrical components

D.  Assemble and/or take apart a device to identify how it works (e.g., simple motor, door bell, telephone, ice cream maker)

E.  Create and/or reassemble technological models and identify how they work

2e. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that science and technology affect individuals, and that individuals in turn can affect science and technology.

Students will be able to:

A.  Describe and defend decisions that they have made involving themselves and their environment

B.  Identify and gather information needed to make a decision on a science and/or technology~related issue

C.  Describe the possible consequences of various alternative decisions to a science and/or technology~related issue

2f. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that progress in science and technology is controlled by societal attitudes and beliefs.

Students will be able to:

A.  Demonstrate that knowledge makes it possible to make informed decisions

B.  Cite examples which show that society can affect the direction taken by science and technology

C.  Describe how science and technology affect career choices and the kinds of work people do

UNIFYING THEMES AND CONCEPTS

NOTES:

6a. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to recognize parts of any object or system, and understand how the parts interrelate in the operation of that object or system.

Students will be able to:

A.  Identify and describe the essential parts of any object or system

B.  Relate structure and function of parts of any object in a system to the system as a whole

C. Describe the interrelationships among the parts of an object or system

6b. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the meaning of stability and change and will be able to identify and explain change in terms of cause and effect.

Students will be able to:

A.  Identify and describe several ways in which things may change

B.  Identify and describe several types of change

C.  Identify and describe how change may be prevented or enhanced

D.  Distinguish between important and unimportant changes in given situations

6c. Curriculum Standard: Students will understand the meaning of models, their appropriate use and limitations, and how models can help them in understanding the natural world.

Students will be able to:

A.  Define and describe various physical models and their uses (e.g., cell model, model cars)

B.  Use graphs, geometric figures, number and time lines, and other devices to represent events and processes in the natural world

C.  Construct one or more physical models representative of objects or processes in the natural world, and explain how the elements of the model are representative of the real object (e.g., solar system, dinosaurs, telephone)

D.  Recognize that a model is a representation of an object or process and is not identical to the object or process

6d. Curriculum Standard: Students will increasingly quantify their interactions with phenomena in the natural world, use these results to understand differences of scale in objects and systems, and determine how changes in scale affect various properties of these objects and systems.

Students will be able to:

A.  Measure properties of objects, to a reasonable degree of accuracy, using standard scientific instruments such as a ruler, balance clock, and thermometer

B.  Calculate derived measurement of objects, such as area, volume, and density from direct measurements made in the laboratory

C.  Estimate the smallest and largest limits, or the range in size, of certain objects in quantitative terms

D.  Determine that increases in linear dimensions (length) have a large effect on area and volume

LIFE SCIENCE: Environmental Science

NOTES:

3a.  Curriculum Standard:  Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to recognize patterns and products of evolution, including genetic variation, specialization, adaptation, and natural selection.

Students will be able to:

G.  Create examples of food chains and webs in several types of ecosystems (e.g., deciduous forest, fresh water, desert, etc.)

Environmental Detectives GEMS Unit (Lafayette)

Nature at Work book. British Museum (Priscilla Didio BES)

Kids Discover Ecology magazine. (Priscilla Didio BES)

“Web of Life” activity from Project Learning Tree. Form food web with students – each person has a tag identifying them as particular plant, animal, decomposer, etc. Connect with string. (PLT activity guide available from Priscilla Didio - BES)

“Ecosystem Food Web” lesson plan (Note – this is a .pdf file, must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open)

3b. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand how environmental factors affect all living systems (i.e., individuals, community, biome, the biosphere) as well as species to species interactions.

Biome research project

Environmental problem project - Research problem, write letters to government officials, share information - See Priscilla Didio

Bean plant experiment.  Add one variable in experimental plant for environmental influence:  salt, motor oil, dye, less water, less sun, etc.  Graph growth changes.

“Good Buddies” and “Muskox Maneuvers” activities from Project WILD – activity guide available from Priscilla Didio (BES)

Nature at Work.

Photosynthesis web site - http://www.ftexploring.com/photosyn/photosynth.html

Students will be able to:

C.  Conduct an investigation which illustrates how the environment affects the viability of plants or animals within that environment

D.  Describe and give examples of the various types of interactions that occur among organisms (e.g., predator/prey, symbiotic, producer/consumer/decomposer, host/parasite) to demonstrate how organisms compete or cooperate with each other to gain food, resources or space

E.  Identify and describe examples of New Hampshire animals and plants that live together in one ecosystem (e.g., forest, seashore, lake, river, stream)

A.  Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the process of photosynthesis and its importance for all life forms

3c. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that organisms are linked to one another and to their physical setting by the transfer and transformation of matter and energy to maintain a dynamic equilibrium

Kids Discover Ecology magazine.  Students perform a play or song demonstrating chosen cycle. (Priscilla Didio)

Carbon Cycle website - http://library.thinkquest.org/11226/why.htm

Carbon Dioxide Sources and Sinks activity - http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link
=/teacher_resources/teach_CO2.html

Water science for schools website -
 http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/index.html

Water cycle diagram - http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclegraphichi.html

Yarn Sunbeam activity (BES), Biomass Pyramid (BES)

Links to the Sun activity (BES)

Environmental Science Bibliography

Students will be able to:

A.  Identify common materials that cycle through the environment (e.g., carbon, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen)

B.  Explore through models, experiments, and observations how matter and energy interact in any ecosystem

C.  Describe how organisms can acquire energy directly or indirectly from the energy of the sun

PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Forces

NOTES:

5e. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing understanding of how an unbalanced force exerted on an object causes a change in the state of rest or motion of that object in the direction of the unbalanced force.

In the teaching of these topics it may be better to combine several like concepts. For example: all concepts that relate to sound could be done together.

Motion activities:

Slowing down; changing direction; increasing speed; constant speed – constant speed car/toys, hot wheels.

Drop a ball… - egg drop – weighing things – roll things down ramps – measure them – particularly speeds

Newton’s 3^rd Law – for every force applied in a direction – there is an equal but opposite force – Spring jumpers – let the balloon go – grasshopper…

Bowling Ball Tap – from Operation Primary Physical Science (entire binder available from Paul Williams)

Newton’s Toy Box – Delta Kit (has activities for all of these objectives) – BES has the kit (this link is to Delta Science Modules home page)

Resources:

Stop Faking It – Force and Motion – by Bill Robertson NSTA press has background info in simple terms plus easy activities that require very few materials (Priscilla Didio at BES has the book)

Exploring Energy with Toys Terrific Science Press

Students will be able to:

A.  Observe and describe objects in motion, including vibrational motion

B.  Define the force which causes an object to undergo a change in direction or speed

C.  Design a simple experiment which demonstrates the effect of gravitational force on an object

D.  Describe or conduct an investigation which illustrates that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

5f. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing understanding that energy can be transmitted by waves using light and sound as examples.

Awesome Experiments in: “Force and Motion”

Awesome Experiments in: “Light and Sound”

Tuning forks - Profile

Buzzing straw!! Rubber Bands; slinkies (Delta Kit for Light and Sound- BES)

Krumhorn

Diffraction gratings work better than better

Incandescent bulb – filament; fluorescent – electricity; firefly, glo-stick, bioluminescence, phosphorescence

Delta Kit (Light) (BES)

Students will be able to:

A.  Produce sounds by causing several types of objects to vibrate

B.  Relate the pitch of a sound to the rapidity of an object's vibration

C.  Use a prism to separate white light into the visible spectrum

D.  Identify ways in which light can be generated (e.g., heat, electricity, chemicals)

E.  Distinguish among objects which are opaque, transparent, and translucent

PHYSICAL SCIENCE: Energy

NOTES:

5c. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand the relationship among different types and forms of energy

This is a good introduction to the whole physical science piece.

Carousel brainstorm activity - See Priscilla Didio

Energy Applications activity - See Priscilla Didio

Energy Transfer Chart activity – simple chart to brainstorm energy transfer

Crank it up activity – explains how energy can be transformed, workings of motors and gears (from Project LABS)

What Powers Your Computer? Activity – good background information on energy transfer (from Scholastic lesson plans)

Create little motors – paper clip and batteries…

Build a solar collector

Newton’s Toy Box – Delta Kit – BES has the kit

Slinkys, springs, rubber bands, and grasshoppers…

Buzzing straws, tuning forks and water; different musical instruments

Students will be able to:

A.  Recognize and give examples of the various forms of energy (e.g., heat, light, sound, electrical, mechanical, magnetic, chemical, and nuclear)

B.  Show by examples how types of energy are used for specific purposes

C.  Observe and describe how one form of energy may be transformed into another

D.  Build or design a device to demonstrate energy transfer and apply the knowledge gained to explain how energy transfer is involved in the operation of devices found in the home (e.g., home heating systems, refrigerators, solar houses, simple motors) [slightly revised from frameworks]

E.  Design a simple experiment or demonstration to show the difference between potential and kinetic energy

F.  Identify the relationship between the pitch of a sound and the frequency of the sound wave.

,5d. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing understanding of how electrical and magnetic systems interact with matter and energy.

Fudge Factory Simulation from  Interact (available at BES)

Sample unit plan for teaching electricity by Priscilla Didio

Human simulation of electrical circuit (see Paul Williams)

Evrett Frizzell – PSNH  - Lancaster

Students will be able to:

B.  Plan, conduct, and explain an investigation which demonstrates a complete simple circuit with wires, bulbs, switches, and a power source

C.  Describe and practice appropriate safety precautions, particularly in regard to electricity

5f. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing understanding that energy can be transmitted by waves, using light and sound as examples.

Make waves in a fish tank.

 Slinky activity.

Light – using convergent lenses, focus light to a point, solar stove

Frozen Film activity using clear nail polish – www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/
teacher_resources/frozen_film_edu.html

Sound – umbrella activity like at the Montshire Museum (parabolic reflectors)  (umbrellas at each end of hall, whisper on one end, can hear at other end)

Flashlights, shadow puppets, changing position of light

Sundials

Outside-  shadow sticks with the sun

Shadows experiment lesson plan -

www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/teacher_
resources/shadows_edu.html

Students will be able to:

A.  Observe that waves in a container start at a source, travel along the surface, and bounce off objects, just as do light and sound

B.  Explore how sound and light can be concentrated (e.g., using reflectors or lenses, megaphones)

C.  Utilize different types of prisms and lenses to observe what happens when light passes through them

D.  Conduct simple experiments to explain how shadows change with changes in the position of the sun or other light sources

EARTH SCIENCE: The Earth and its Resources

NOTES:

4a. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the earth is a unique member of our solar system, located in a galaxy, within the universe. 

Students will be able to:

G. Cite evidence that the earth is very old

Flip books of Pangaea;

Geololgic Time Line activity

Plate Tectonics from Science Seekers Hidden in Rocks (Tom Snyder) available at BES

Plate Tectonics activity using food - http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/
teacher_resources/teach_snacktectonics.html

4b. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the earth is a complex planet with five interacting systems, which consists of the solid earth (lithosphere), air (atmosphere), water (hydrosphere), ice (cryosphere), and life (biosphere).

Came from Delta - Science Seekers, Hidden in Rocks – Tom Snyder Productions – interactive CD and activities;

Delta Kit – Erosion, Earth Processes

Visit Lost River, AMC, Flume, Basin, Polar Caves, Bald Knob, Mount Willard,

Nature Scope: the Active Earth, Geology – Priscilla

Delta Kit for Rocks and Minerals

Stream table (erosion table)

Students will be able to:

A.  Analyze rocks to obtain evidence of weathering and erosion

C.  Describe basic facts about major features of the earth's surfaces and natural changes in the features (e.g., volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, weathering)

F.  Identify events in nature that have repeating patterns or cycles (e.g., weather patterns, water cycle, rock cycle)

G.  Identify common rocks and minerals using their physical properties

H.  Construct models that demonstrate the effects of water, ice, wind, and waves on the earth's land surfaces (e.g., stream tables, wave tanks)

4c. Curriculum Standard: Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to understand that the earth contains a variety of renewable and nonrenewable resources.

Reinforced from 4^th grade: Make lists; research – renewable/non renewable

Particularly New Hampshire – lumber, petroleum, iron ore (historical tie in), Lyman Dodge Gold Mine, gold panning in the Wild Ammonoosuc, granite quarries, sand and gravel industry, maple syrup, fisheries.

Make a list…; discuss water cycle; keep track of how many gallons of water used in a day

Environmental detective Unit – Gems  (Dawn); Forest Watch,

Students will be able to:

A.  Identify earth resources used in their life

B.  Explain how some of the earth's resources are processed to make them useful

C. List some ways that the earth's water supply can be conserved

D. Identify/explain some effects human activities have on the atmosphere (e.g., smog, industrial wastes)

Instructional Resources for Grade 6

Resource

Location

Notes

Terms of Grade 6

Term:

Definition