LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Science — Grade 6

Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.

Objective 1.04. Analyze variables in scientific investigations:

  • Identify dependent and independent.
  • Use of a control.
  • Manipulate.
  • Describe relationships between.
  • Define operationally.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Heat racers
In Design technology: Children's engineering, page 2.5
In this lesson, students will learn about insulators and conductors by creating sleeves for thermometers that will either raise the thermometer's temperature or keep it the same on a sunny day.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
By Erin Denniston.
Expand and contract
In Design technology: Children's engineering, page 2.4
In this lesson, students will learn that heat causes most substances to expand and become less dense. They will measure the circumference of a balloon, then heat it, and measure the circumference again.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
By Erin Denniston.

Resources on the web

Worry beads
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students hear about a study that was conducted to examine whether people who kept their hands busy during high-stress situations experienced fewer adverse effects. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Snow goggles
The aim of this lesson, from Science NetLinks, is to illustrate how the scientific method can be used to solve different kinds of problems. As part of this lesson, students build snow goggles similar to those used by the Inuit peoples. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Similarities attract
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students hear about a study showing that genetic similarities may play a role in how people choose their friends and mates. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sensing the invisible: The Herschel Experiment
In this lesson, from Science NetLinks, students find out that there is radiation other than visible light being emitted from the sun. They reproduce a version of William Herschel's 1800 experiment that discovered the existence of infrared radiation. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sardines
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students hear about how the humble sardine could save the lives of countless sea creatures. Science Updates are audio interviews with scientists and are accompanied by a set of questions as well as links to helpful... (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sanitation and human health
The purpose of this Science NetLinks lesson is to develop an understanding of the impact of improved sanitation on human health. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Robotic arm
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, you'll hear about a real-life robotic arm that may help stroke victims regain control of their movement. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–7 and 9–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Renewable energy sources
In this lesson, students will use Internet resources to investigate renewable sources of energy. The students should already have a basic understanding of energy, and know several examples of renewable and nonrenewable sources. This lesson is designed to... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 and 9–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Phytoplankton and ocean color
Students will identify function of phytoplankton in the biosphere by conducting experiments and simulations and reading for information. Students will also detect the presence of phytoplankton in bodies of water by examining ocean color in satellite images... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
Provided by: NOAA Coral Reef Watch
My angle on cooling: Effects of distance and inclination
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students discuss what heat is and how it travels. They discover that one way to cool an object in the presence of a heat source is to increase the distance from it or change the angle at which it is faced. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Mummy's curse
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students hear about a scientific investigation that tested the Egyptian legend of the mummy's curse. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Modern Leeching
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students will hear about how leeches, popular in medicine in the 1800s, are still used by doctors today, sometimes for safely removing congested blood from a wound. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Lying
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks students hear about how people generally see their own lies as being less harmful and more due to situation and not personality, while they are more likely to blame personality if another person lies. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
JFK analysis
In this Science Update, from Science NetLinks, students will hear atmospheric chemist Ken Rahn describe how he and a ballistics specialist have re-analyzed the data from two major forensic studies of the John F. Kennedy assassination. (Learn more)
Format: activity/lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Inventing and presenting unit 2: Effective speeches and building the invention
This lesson is part of a three-part unit from ReadWriteThink titled “Inventing and Presenting.” In this interdisciplinary unit, students use what they have learned about experimentation and the scientific method, critical thinking, clear writing,... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Science)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Introducing atoms
In this lesson from Science NetLinks, students will be asked to review websites to learn about the atom's basic structure and the positive and negative charges of its subparticles. This is the first of a series of four lessons about static electricity. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 7–12 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Food webs in the bay
In this Science NetLinks lesson, students will research plants and animals that live in the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) of a bay area. After researching the organisms, students will do class presentations and create a food web using pictures of all... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Extending human ability through technology
The purpose of this lesson, from Science NetLinks, is to explore how technology has been used to enhance human abilities. Students also learn something about human capabilities and limitations. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science)
Provided by: American Association for the Advancement of Science