“Doing Science”

6th grade science at the

Northwest School

GoalsScience 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:

MeasurementTransfer of

Energy Simple

MachinesRube Goldberg

Machines, Simple Coding

Activities

Quint III: Historical Figures in Math, Science, Engineering &

Invention - integrated project with HumanitiesEnergy Types/Sources

Quint IVPeriodic Table of the Elements, Conductivity, Energy Flow through living systems, Combustion Reactions

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP (energy for cell

use)

6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

 

Sun (radiant) Energy

Quint V:

Chemistry topicsPhysical/Chemical Properties & Changes

DensitypHMystery Liquid identification