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Hudson Area Schools Course Syllabus
SYLLABUS
1. Course Title: 6th Grade Science
2. Course Description: Students will work on developing their science skills through a
variety of investigations, lab reports, and simulations, and writings.
3. Credit Hours: None
4. Course Prerequisites: None
5. Course Times: 3rd and 5th hours
6. Course Location: Room 209
7. Instructor: Mrs. Miller, [email protected] 448-8912 X 209
8. Required Text and Other Learning Resources: Supplemental material to support
the Battle Creek Science Kits. The teacher will provide readings for students to keep and use
throughout the course.
9. Course Overview: Students will be learning and reinforcing the State of Michigan 6th
Grade Science Grade Level Content Expectations. We will be using four units that have been
designed to align with these content expectations. In addition, we will be using various
readings to supplement these units and further complement the themes.
Within the units and the various supplemental readings, students will learn about the
following topics: scientific method, potential and kinetic energy, energy transformations,
conduction, convection, radiation, consumers, producers, energy sources, changes of state;
solid, liquid, gas, populations, ecosystems, consumers, decomposers, relationships between
organisms, biotic and abiotic organisms, physical and chemical weathering, formation of rock
types, plate tectonics.
10. Course Content Expectations: Upon completion of this course, students should be
able to do the following:
S.IP.06.11 Generate scientific questions based on observations, investigations, and research.
S.IP.06.12 Design and conduct scientific investigations.
S.IP.06.13 Use tools and equipment (spring scales, stop watches, meter sticks and tapes, models, hand lens,
thermometer, models, sieves, microscopes) appropriate to scientific investigations.
S.IP.06.14 Use metric measurement devices in an investigation.
S.IP.06.15 Construct charts and graphs from data and observations.
S.IP.06.16 Identify patterns in data.
S.RS.06.11 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and data.
S.RS.06.12 Describe limitations in personal and scientific knowledge.
S.RS.06.13 Identify the need for evidence in making scientific decisions.
S.RS.06.14 Evaluate scientific explanations based on current evidence and scientific principles.
S.RS.06.15 Demonstrate scientific concepts through various illustrations, performances, models, exhibits, and
activities.
S.RS.06.16 Design solutions to problems using technology.
S.RS.06.17 Describe the effect humans and other organisms have on the balance of the natural world.
Hudson Area Schools Course Syllabus
S.RS.06.18 Describe what science and technology can and cannot reasonably contribute to society.
S.RS.06.19 Describe how science and technology have advanced because of the contributions of many people
throughout history and across cultures
P.EN.06.11 Identify kinetic or potential energy in everyday situations (for example: stretched rubber band,
objects in motion, ball on a hill, food energy).
P.EN.06.12 Demonstrate the transformation between potential and kinetic energy in simple mechanical systems
(for example: roller coasters, pendulums)
P.EN.06.41 Explain how different forms of energy can be transferred from one place to another by radiation,
conduction, or convection.
P.EN.06.42 Illustrate how energy can be transferred while no energy is lost or gained in the transfer.
L.OL.06.51 Classify organisms (producers, consumers, and decomposers) based on their source of energy for
growth and development.
L.OL.06.52 Distinguish between the ways in which consumers and decomposers obtain energy.
P.CM.06.11 Describe and illustrate changes in state, in terms of the arrangement and relative motion of the
atoms or molecules.
P.CM.06.12 Explain how mass is conserved as it changes from state to state in a closed system.
L.EC.06.11 List examples of populations, communities, and ecosystems including the Great Lakes region.
L.EC.06.21 Describe common patterns of relationships between and among populations (competition,
parasitism, symbiosis, predator/prey).
L.EC.06.22 Explain how two populations of organisms can be mutually beneficial and how that can lead to
interdependency.
L.EC.06.23 Predict how changes in one population might affect other populations based upon their relationships
in the food web.
L.EC.06.31 Identify the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components of an ecosystem.
L.EC.06.32 Identify the factors in an ecosystem that influence changes in population size.
L.EC.06.41 Describe how human beings are part of the ecosystem of the Earth and that human activity can
purposefully, or accidentally, alter the balance in ecosystems.
L.EC.06.42 Predict possible consequences of overpopulation of organisms, including humans, (for example:
species extinction, resource depletion, climate change, pollution).
E.SE.06.11 Explain how physical and chemical weathering lead to erosion and the formation of soils and
sediments.
E.SE.06.12 Explain how waves, wind, water, and glacier movement, shape and reshape the land surface of the
Earth by eroding rock in some areas and depositing sediments in other areas.
E.SE.06.13 Describe how soil is a mixture, made up of weather eroded rock and decomposed organic material.
E.SE.06.14 Compare different soil samples based on particle size and texture.
E.SE.06.41 Compare and contrast the formation of rock types (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) and
demonstrate the similarities and differences using the rock cycle model.
E.SE.06.51 Explain plate tectonic movement and how the lithospheric plates move centimeters each year.
E.SE.06.52 Demonstrate how major geological events (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mountain building)
result from these plate motions.
E.SE.06.53 Describe layers of the Earth as a lithosphere (crust and upper mantle), convecting mantle, and
dense metallic core.
E.SE.06.61 Describe the Earth as a magnet and compare the magnetic properties of the Earth to that of a
natural or man-made magnet.
E.SE.06.62 Explain how a compass works using the magnetic field of the Earth, and how a compass is used for
navigation on land and sea.
E.ST.06.31 Explain how rocks and fossils are used to understand the age and geological history of the earth
(timelines and relative dating, rock layers).
E.ST.06.41 Explain how Earth processes (erosion, mountain building, and glacier movement) are used for the
measurement of geologic time through observing rock layers.
E.ST.06.42 Describe how fossils provide important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have
changed.
Hudson Area Schools Course Syllabus
11. Tentative Course Calendar/Schedule:
First nine weeks of the 1st trimester, we will learn about the Planet Rock. Weeks
10-12 and the first 7 weeks of the second trimester we will learn about Energetic
Connections. Weeks 8-12 of third trimester and weeks 1-4 of the third trimester
we will be learning about Earth- Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. The final 9
weeks of the third trimester we will be learning about Energy in an Ecosystem.
12. Grading Policy and Rubric:
100
93-99
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
59.45-62
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
D-
4.00
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.0
2.67
2.33
2.00
1.67
1.33
1.00
.67
13. Course Policies:
Students are to turn in completed work by 7:40 of the day that it is due.
Unacceptable work, or work not turned in will have to be redone or completed if
mastery of the content strand was not achieved. Students will be able to retake
quizzes and/or tests IF work has been satisfactorily corrected or a review sheet has
been done.
All missing work will be posted on the board. You will have the number of days you
were absent to make up your work.
Each student will receive 2 bathroom passes per class each marking period.
Come to class with all materials needed for that class. Bring an AR book in case you
finish early with a lab or an assignment.
14. Teacher Responsibilities.
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I will work with you to help you achieve success in this class.
I will work with you to solve any problems or concerns.
Hudson Area Schools Course Syllabus
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I will grade and return all work in a timely manner.
I will show you the same respect you show to me.
15. Student Responsibilities.
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BE PREPARED! You are expected to have a pencil/pen, paper, textbook(s), AR book,
and any other necessary materials at your desk each day.
Students are expected to complete all assignments and turn them in on time.
Assignments are to be done in pencil or blue/black pen. Illegible work will not be
accepted. Final copies of writing assignments must be typed or written in blue or
black ink.
Ask questions when you don’t understand something.
No eating or drinking is allowed in class, except for bottled water.
Be on time each day.
Respect school property and the property of your peers: desks, textbooks, computers,
supplies, etc. Destruction of school property will not be tolerated.
Respect your peers – no verbal or physical abuse will be tolerated.
Lockers are used for coats and empty book bags only.
Prearranged absence work is due the day you return to school.
It is the student’s responsibility to get missing work from being absent. Students will
receive extra time for assignments if they have been absent. For each day a student
is absent, they are allowed 1 day to make up that work.