STANDARDS OF L ENHANCED SCOPE SEQUENCE

1 SCIENCE STANDARDS OF LEARNING ENHANCED SCOPE & SEQUENCE grade 6 Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Education Richmond, Virginia 2007 Copyright 2007 by the Virginia Department of Education Box 2120 Richmond, Virginia 23218-2120 All rights reserved Reproduction of materials contained herein for instructional purposes in Virginia classrooms is permitted. Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Linda M. Wallinger Office of Middle and High School Instructional Services James C. Firebaugh, Director Paula J. Klonowski, Science Coordinator Edited, designed, and produced by the CTE Resource Center Margaret L.

2 Watson, Administrative Coordinator Bruce B. Stevens, Writer/Editor Richmond Medical Park Phone: 804-673-3778 2002 Bremo Road, Lower Level Fax: 804-673-3798 Richmond, Virginia 23226 Web site: CTE Resource Center is a Virginia Department of Education grant project administered by the Henrico County Public Schools. NOTICE TO THE READER The Virginia Department of Education does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, handicapping conditions, or national origin in employment or in its educational programs and activities. Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 Table of Contents v vi Organizing Topic Investigating the Solar 1 Football-Field Solar Round and Round the Earth We Tilting into Telling Sample Released Test Organizing Topic Investigating Atoms, Elements, Molecules, and 33 Which Elements, Where?

3 35 Modeling the Sample Released Test Organizing Topic Investigating 45 Comparing and Contrasting Energy Transforming Energy into Investigating Generating Electricity: What Sources Do We Use?..55 Sample Released Test Organizing Topic Investigating 61 Conservation and the Sample Released Test Organizing Topic Investigating 66 Molecular The Key to Water Formations ..84 Heat and How Dense Can It Be?..96 Physical or Chemical Weathering?..102 Hydroelectric The Ocean s Effect on Climate, Universal Organizing Topic Investigating the Atmosphere and 123 Layers of the The Ocean s Effect on Climate, The Pressure s Cloud Convection What Is Weather?

4 154 Weather Air Blue Skies and Red Virginia Department of Education iii Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 Organizing Topic Investigating 171 Where Are Virginia s Watershed Systems?..173 Water Water Stream Flow and Virginia Department of Education iv Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 Preface The Science STANDARDS of Learning ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE is a resource intended to help teachers align their classroom instruction with the Science STANDARDS of Learning that were adopted by the Board of Education in January 2003. The ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE contains the following: Units organized by topics from the 2003 Science STANDARDS of Learning Sample SCOPE and SEQUENCE .

5 Each topic lists the following: STANDARDS of Learning related to that topic Essential understandings, knowledge, and skills from the Science STANDARDS of Learning Curriculum Framework that students should acquire Sample lesson plans aligned with the essential understandings, knowledge, and skills from the Curriculum Framework. Each lesson contains most or all of the following: An overview Identification of the related Standard(s) of Learning A list of objectives A list of materials needed A description of the instructional activity One or more sample assessments One or more follow-ups/extensions A list of resources Sample released SOL test items for each Organizing Topic.

6 School divisions and teachers can use the ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE as a resource for developing sound curricular and instructional programs. These materials are intended as examples of ways the essential understandings, knowledge, and skills might be presented to students in a SEQUENCE of lessons that has been aligned with the STANDARDS of Learning. Teachers who use the ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE should correlate the essential understandings, knowledge, and skills with available instructional resources as noted in the materials and determine the pacing of instruction as appropriate. This resource is not a complete curriculum and is neither required nor prescriptive, but it can be a valuable instructional tool.

7 Virginia Department of Education v Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 Acknowledgments We wish to express our gratitude to the following individuals for their contributions to the Science STANDARDS of Learning ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE for grade 6: Linda Chin Fairfax County Public Schools Robin Curtis King and Queen County Public Schools Beth Sellars Roanoke County Public Schools Rachel MacMillan Virginia Beach City Schools Jenny Sue Flannagan Virginia Beach Public Schools Virginia Department of Education vi Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 Organizing Topic Investigating the Solar System STANDARDS of Learning The student will plan and conduct investigations in which a) observations are made involving fine discrimination between similar objects and organisms; b) a classification system is developed based on multiple attributes; c) precise and approximate measurements are recorded.

8 D) scale models are used to estimate distance, volume, and quantity; e) hypotheses are stated in ways that identify the independent (manipulated) and dependent (responding) variables; f) a method is devised to test the validity of predictions and inferences; g) one variable is manipulated over time, using many repeated trials; h) data are collected, recorded, analyzed, and reported using appropriate metric measurements; i) data are organized and communicated through graphical representation (graphs, charts, and diagrams); j) models are designed to explain a SEQUENCE ; and k) an understanding of the nature of science is developed and reinforced. The student will investigate and understand the organization of the solar system and the relationships among the various bodies that comprise it.

9 Key concepts include a) the sun, moon, Earth, other planets and their moons, meteors, asteroids, and comets; b) relative size of and distance between planets; c) the role of gravity; d) revolution and rotation; e) the mechanics of day and night and the phases of the moon; f) the unique properties of Earth as a planet; g) the relationship of the Earth s tilt and the seasons; h) the cause of tides; and i) the history and technology of space exploration. Essential Understandings, Correlation to Textbooks and Knowledge, and Skills Other Instructional Materials The students should be able to describe the nine planets and their relative position from the sun; design and interpret a scale model of the solar system; (A scale model may be a physical representation of an object or concept.

10 It can also be a mathematical representation that uses factors such as ratios, proportions, and percentages.) explain the role of gravity in the solar system; compare and contrast revolution and rotation and apply these terms to the relative movements of planets (and moons); model and describe how day and night and the phases of the moon occur; Virginia Department of Education 1 Science ENHANCED SCOPE and SEQUENCE grade 6 model and describe how the Earth s axial tilt causes the seasons; describe the unique characteristics of planet Earth; discuss the relationship between the gravitational pull of the moon and the cycle of tides; compare and contrast the ideas of Ptolemy, Aristotle, Copernicus, and Galileo related to the solar system.