Grade 6 - Science

Notes:

• The science standards apply to students in grade 6.
• The standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects are a subset of the literacy standards and apply to students in the 6-12 grade span.
• Performance expectations marked with an asterisk (*) integrate traditional science content with engineering through a Practice or Disciplinary Core Idea.

MS-PS1 Matter and Its Interactions

Students who demonstrate understanding can: 

MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. 

MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. 

MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. 

MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved. 

MS-PS1-6. Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.* 

MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. 

MS-LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.

MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. 

MS-LS1-8. Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

MS-LS3 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.

MS-ESS2 Earth’s Systems

Students who demonstrate understanding can: 

MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. 

MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales. 

MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. 

MS-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-ESS3-1. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes. 

MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. 

MS-ETS1 Engineering Design

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. 

MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success. 

MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.