Science Connections 6

Course Description:

This one-year course is designed to integrate science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas from the life sciences. The topics covered include Structure, Function, and Information Processing; Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems; Independent Relationships in Ecosystems; Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms; Natural Selection and Adaptations; Human Impact; and Engineering Design. Demonstrations and lab experiences that employ proper safety techniques are essential to this course. Instructional practices incorporate integration of diversity awareness including appreciation of all cultures and their important contributions to society. The appropriate use of technology is an integral part of this course. This course fulfills the science requirement for sixth-grade students.

Course Goals:

1. To provide evidence that living things are made of one or more specialized cells and model how the cell and its parts contribute to the function of the cell. [MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-2]

2. To develop a conceptual understanding of the hierarchical organization of organisms emphasizing the interdependence of body systems and their response to stimuli. [MS-LS1-3, MS-LS1-8]

3. To develop and use models that show how matter and energy are cycled within an ecosystem through the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. [MS-LS1-6, MS-LS1-7, MS-LS2-3]

4. To explain how resource availability, changes in an environment, and interactions among organisms affect populations in predictable patterns. [MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-2, MS-LS2-4]

5. To evaluate solutions that consider scientific, economic, and social factors associated with preserving the environment. [MS-LS2-5, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2]

6. To compare the genetic outcomes that result from asexual and sexual reproduction. [MS-LS3-2]

7. To examine environmental and genetic factors as well as the behavioral and structural traits that influence the reproduction and growth of plants and animals. [MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5]

8. To model the effects of genetic mutations on organisms and analyze how technology has influenced the process of artificial selection. [MS-LS3-1, MS-LS4-5]

9. To use probability and proportional reasoning to explain how genetic variations, environmental factors, and natural selection cause populations to change over time. [MS-LS4-4, MS-LS4-6]

10. To infer evolutionary relationships of organisms based on evidence in the fossil record and by comparing anatomical structures and embryological development. [MS-LS4-1, MS-LS4-2, MS-LS4-3]