6th grade Standards/ Essential Questions

6th grade Science

Process Skills 

NGSS Standards	Essential Questions for student inquiry
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in text with a version of that information expressed visually. (ELA RST 6-8.7)	How does your data provide support for an inference?
Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-ETS 1-3)	Why is it essential to follow safety expectations during a lab investigation?
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks. (ELA RST 6-8.2)	Why are the steps within the scientific method essential to answer a research question?
Develop a model to generate data to test ideas about designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs. (MS-ETS 1-4)	What are some ways in which you can determine if your data is valid/reliable?
Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions. (MS-ETS 1-1)

6th grade Science

Earth Science 

NGSS Standards	Essential Questions for student inquiry
Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures. (MS-ESS2-3)	How do scientists support observations that the Earth has three main interior layers?
Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems. (MS-ESS3-4)	What changes have occurred to Earth over time and how does these changes impact today, tomorrow, and the future?
Analyze and interpret data on natural disasters to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to migrate their effects. (MS-ESS3-2)	How do we know that continents once were all connected together in a single landmass called Pangaea? What evidence supports Pangaea?
Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. (MS-ESS2-1)
Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surfaces at varying time and spatial scales to provide evidence of the past plate motions (MS-ESS2-2)

6th grade Science

Astronomy

NGSS Standards	Essential Questions for student inquiry
Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-Moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and Moon, and seasons. (MS-ESS 1-1)	Why is our calendar driven by Earth’s rotation/revolution/phases of the moon?
Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system. (MS-ESS 1-2)	Why do inner and outer planets vary based on specific characteristics observed through NASA, scientists, and early civilization?
Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system. (MS-ESS 1-3)	What predictable patterns occur as a result of the interaction between the Earth, sun, and Moon?
Construct and present arguments using evidence to support the claim that gravitational interactions are attractive and depend on the masses of interacting objects. (MS-PS 2-4)	How has technology expanded our knowledge of the universe?

6th grade Science

Life Science

NGSS Standards	Essential Questions for student inquiry
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-LS 1-1)	Why do various amounts of water, liquid, and nutrients diffuse into and out of cells?
Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to that function. (MS-LS 1-2)	How does cell organelle functions support life?
Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively. (MS- LS 1-4)	Why does microscopes unlock the doors to the “unknown” world?
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of orgaisms. (MS-LS 1-6)	Why is a microscope beneficial in the observation of small specimens and cells?
	How do plants respond to stimuli and seasonal changes?
	Why and how do seed plants vary in our environment?
	How are plants classified into various sub-groups based on characteristic traits?
	Why are plants able to grow, develop, and reproduce?
	How are living organisms identified and organized by scientists?
	Why are plants considered living organisms?
	Has our world impacted the development and growth of plants?