Board
Approved – April 8, 2004
Science
Grade 6 – Grade Level Expectations
PHYSICAL
SCIENCE
For
best printing results, click here (pdf).
SYSTEMS
(Content)
PROPERTIES
Properties
of Substances
- Describe
why freshwater and saltwater with the same volume may have different densities.
- Use
the properties of an unknown substance to identify the substance.
Motion
of Objects
- Identify
and describe the relative position or change of position of one or two objects.
- Identify
and describe the speed of an object relative to speed of another object.
- Identify,
describe and explain an objects' motion as speeding up, slowing down or moving
with constant speed using models, numbers, words, diagrams, or graphs.
- Measure
and describe the relative position or change in position of one or two objects.
- Measure
and describe the speed of an object relative to the speed of another object.
Wave
Behavior
- Identify
and describe how water waves affect the motion of the particles in the substance
through which the wave is traveling (e.g., motion of water molecules in an
ocean wave).
- Identify
and describe the height and wavelength of water waves.
Energy
Sources and Kinds
- Explain
that matter has energy because the particles of a substance are in continual
motion (kinetic energy).
- Describe
electrical and mechanical as forms of energy
- Compare
and contrast or explain the forms of stored (potential) energy for different
systems (e.g., springs, electric circuits, fuel for vehicles, ball held up
from floor, catapult).
- Identify
and explain the kind or form of energy at some place in a system.
STRUCTURE
Systems
Approach
- Reassemble
disassembled simple mechanical devices.
- Recognize
how the parts or components of a system interconnect and influence each other.
- Identify
the inputs, and outputs of a system.
- Locate
the transfers of energy and matter within a system (e.g., electrical energy
is transferred to light in a light bulb in an electric circuit).
Energy
Transfer and Transformation
- Describe
the transfer of energy by waves.
- Describe
how an increase in one type of energy of an object or system results in a
decrease in other types of energy within that object or system.
- Trace
and explain the transfer of energy within a system (e.g., simple machines).
CHANGES
Nature
of Forces
- Label
the forces acting on an object and identify the factors determining the strength
of interaction.
- Identify
the forces in a system and explain the factors that determine their strength.
Forces
to Explain Motion
- Cite
factors that affect the motion of an object.
- Explain
the effects of an unbalanced force on an object moving in a straight line.
- Identify
and describe how unbalanced forces can change the speed or direction of motion
of an object or how mass can affect the speed of an object.
- Measure
the change in an object's motion due to a change in the force on the object.
- Describe
how changing the mass of an object affects the object's motion.
Changes
in Matter
- Explain
that matter is neither created nor destroyed when substances undergo (non-nuclear)
physical and/or chemical changes (e.g., law of conservation of matter and
energy).
EARTH/SPACE
SCIENCE
SYSTEMS
(Content)
PROPERTIES
Nature
and Properties of Earth Materials
- Identify
and describe the properties of minerals and rocks (e.g., texture, luster,
cleavage, hardness, pH).
- Identify
and describe the properties of soils (e.g., chemical composition such as Nitrate
nutrients and texture such as clay, sand, and gravel).
- Identify
and describe the processes that create different types of rocks.
- Identify
and describe processes that contribute to the composition of soil (e.g., weathering
rock, decomposition via plant acids).
STRUCTURE
Components
and Patterns of the Earth System
- Describe
the components among the parts of Earth's systems (hydrosphere, lithosphere).
- Describe
the interactions among the parts of the Earth's systems (hydrosphere, lithosphere).
CHANGES
Processes
and Interactions in the Earth System
- Differentiate
between changes that happened quickly and those that have occurred over a
long period of time.
- Identify
and describe how rocks change in form, composition, and location during the
rock cycle.
- Explain
the causes of weathering, erosion and deposition.
- Identify
and describe how human activities cause changes in landforms and bodies of
water.
History
and Evolution of the Earth
- Show
how fossil and other evidence can be used to document past life and conditions
on Earth.
- Explain
how fossil or other evidence can be used to document environmental changes
(extinction, evolution, major climatic changes, and relative age of rock layers).
LIFE
SCIENCE
SYSTEMS
(Content)
PROPERTIES
Characteristics
of Living Matter
- Categorize
plants and/or animals into groups according to how they accomplish life processes
such as food production/consumption or reproduction, or whether they are consumers,
producers, or decomposers.
- Categorize
plants and/or animals into groups by similarities and differences in physical
characteristics, functional characteristics, and/or internal and external
structures.
- Explain
an inference about whether animals or plants have a biological relationship
based on given characteristics.
- Explain
why an organism is classified as a producer, consumer, or decomposer.
STRUCTURE
Systems
Approach
- Identify
the parts and components of an ecosystem.
- Describe
the interconnections between the parts of an ecosystem.
- Identify
the inputs, and outputs of an ecosystem.
- Locate
the transfers of energy and matter within an ecosystem.
CHANGES
Biological
Evolution
- Describe
how natural selection functions and how it leads to changes in species over
time.
- Using
external and/or internal characteristics, explain how several species could
have a common ancestor.
- Explain
how environmental changes can lead to the extinction of one species or the
emergence of a new species.
- Describe
why more recently deposited rock layers are more likely to contain fossils
resembling existing species.
Interdependence
of Life
- Illustrate
the cycle of nutrients and the flow of energy through a food chain or web.
- Identify
and describe how competition among species can affect the population of one
or the other species in an ecosystem.
- Identify
and describe one or more mutually beneficial relationship among species in
an ecosystem.
- Explain
how an organism's role (predator, prey, consumer, producer, decomposer, scavenger)
and non-living factors contribute to the balance of an ecosystem.
- Describe
how population changes in an ecosystem can affect other species in that ecosystem.
- Describe
how substances such as air, water, and nutrients are continually recycled
in ecosystems.