“ Doing Science” 6 th grade science at the Northwest School

Goals Science as a verb – active, creative, sharing of information, asking questions, etc Show variety of options in science – no one goes to college and majors on “science,” there are many choices Positive Attitude – I can do science, it is worth pursuing

Goals Continued… Accessibility – I can do science anywhere – at home, at the beach, in a lab Critical Thinking – Don’t believe everything you read/hear, where did the info come from, on what info is it based, how can you find out more….

Homework: Typically short assignments leading up to major presentation piece. Need to do the former to avoid a crunch at the end to finish the latter. Lab/Tech skills taught in context - so it can seem to take a long time to complete some tasks (ex. Pendulum lab report - teaching about access to Office 365, the school server, graphing with excel)

Quint I: Observation, giving/following directions, the scientific method, researching and reporting skills

Quint II: Measurement Transfer of Energy Simple Machines Rube Goldberg Machines, Simple Coding Activities

Quint III: Historical Figures in Math, Science, Engineering & Invention - integrated project with Humanities Energy Types/Sources

Quint IV Periodic Table of the Elements, Conductivity, Energy Flow through living systems, Combustion Reactions C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O + ATP (energy for cell use) 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 Sun (radiant) Energy

Quint V: Chemistry topics Physical/Chemical Properties & Changes Density pH Mystery Liquid identification