6^th Grade Science Indicators

Life Sciences:

#1 Explain that many of the basic functions of organisms are carried out by or within cells and are similar in all organisms.

#2 Explain that multi cellular organisms have a variety of specialized cells, tissues, organs and organ systems that perform specialized functions.

#3 Identify how plant cells differ from animals cells.

#4 Recognize that an individual organism does not live forever: therefore reproduction is necessary for the continuation of every species and traits are passed on the next generation through reproduction.

#5 Describe that in asexual reproduction all the inherited traits come from a single parent.

#6 describe that in sexual reproduction an egg and sperm unite and some traits come

from each parent, so the offspring is never identical to either of its parents.

#7 Recognize that likeness between parents and offspring are inherited.

#8 Describe how organisms may interact with one another.

Physical Science:

#1 Explain that equal volumes of different substances usually have different masses.

#2 describe that in a chemical change new substances are formed with different properties than the original substance.

#3 Describe that in a physical change the chemical properties of a substance remain unchanged.

#4 describe that chemical and physical changes occur all around us, in the human body.

#5 Explain that the energy found in nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels originally came from the Sun and may renew slowly over millions of years.

#6 Explain that energy derived from renewable resources such as wind and water is assumed to be available indefinitely.

#7 Describe how electric energy can be produced from a variety of sources.

#8 Describe how renewable and nonrenewable energy resources can be managed.

Science and Technology:

#1 Explain how technology influences the quality of life.

#2 Explain how decisions about the use of products and systems can result in desirable or undesirable consequences.

#3 Describe how automation has changed manufacturing including manual labor being replaced by highly skilled jobs.

#4 Explain how the usefulness of manufactured parts of an object depend on how well their properties allow them to fit and interact wit other materials.

#5 Design and build a product or create a solution to a problem given one constraint.

Scientific Inquiry:

#1 Explain that there are not fixed procedures for guiding scientific investigations: however, the nature of an investigation determines the procedures needed.

#2 Choose the appropriate tools or instruments and use relevant safety procedures to complete scientific investigations.

#3 Distinguish between observation and inference.

#4 Explain that a single example can never prove that something is always correct, but sometimes a single example can disprove something.

Scientific ways of Knowing:

#1 Identify that hypotheses are valuable even when they are not supported.

#2 Describe why it is important to keep clear, thorough and accurate records.

#3 Identify ways scientific thinking is helpful in a variety of everyday settings.

#4 Describe how the pursuit of scientific knowledge is beneficial for any career and daily life.

#5 Research how men and women of all countries and cultures have contributed to the development of science.