Sixth Grade Curriculum
Science

The grade six science content includes all strands with a focus on earth science. Students continue to learn that living things grow, change, are diverse, interdependent, and interact with the changing environment. They learn about the earth and its changing topography and how energy and matter interact causing changes in the environment. Some examples of specific concepts and skills which students are to master are provided in the topic areas listed below:


Life Science

  • plate tectonics explain major geological events
  • the topography of the earth is reshaped by weathering of rock and soil and by transportation of sediment
  • many phenomena on the earth’s surface are affected by the transfer of energy through radiation and convection currents
  • the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth’s surface: powering winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle

Earth Science

  • heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all objects are the same temperature
  • energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow, or by waves including water waves, light, and sound, or moving objects
  • when fuel is consumed, most of the energy released becomes heat energy
  • heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of matter) and in fluids by conduction and also by convention (which involves the flow of matter)

Physical Science

  • organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the environment
  • energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transformed by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis, and then from organism to organism in food webs
  • the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition