6th+Grade+Science

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= **General Files for 6th grade science:** =

Curriculum:

FOSS Kit overview files (check out investigations 3-6 for ideas - you will need to incorporate parts of a few)

Building Instructions for the Rocket (you likely will not need a modelling knife)

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***PLEASE: Only paste subject-specific games/activtities, etc. here. If the activity can be generalized, please enter it on the "Games and Activities!" page.***

=** HERE IS A SAMPLE TEMPLATE WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS!--- **= TITLE: Give it a catchy, fun title **- and use a color!**

TOPIC INVOLVED:

IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?:

REQUIRED MATERIALS:
 * Please list and materials that are need (or possible low-cost substitutions)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
 * Describe the activity in steps.
 * Make sure you are describing the activity, game, etc. so that it is reproducable **(which is the scientific way after all!).**
 * give an approximate time for the activity

ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?:
 * mention anything you recommend based on your personal experience!

SOURCE:
 * Credit yourself for listing it! Write your name in this form:"First Last (site year)" **=> e.g. Joe Smith (Ransom 2003)**
 * As always, remember to credit any sources if you upload a worksheet or activity. Please do this right beneath your link.

If there is a relevant document, please upload it here (meaning, please "paste" the document below this line): Upload document, picture, etc. right here if you have one!

= Here are some useful activities, games, etc. that you might find helpful: =

TITLE: Track the Sunspots

TOPIC INVOLVED: This activity from NASA uses real data from the sun to track sunspots in order to calculate how long it takes for the sun to make a complete rotation.

IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: This is an inclass powerpoint activity that takes the entire period. Students have a worksheet that they weill follow along with, and they will work in pairs or groups of 3. It takes about 2 to 2 and a half class periods to get all the information across-from introducing sunspots, doing the acticity, doing the wrap up calculations, and finally reflecting on the activity.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:  Sunspot map grid worksheets from the website- 1 copy for every pair Powerpoint from NASA's website, laptop and projector to show them to the class.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: In this activity, you will show 12 days worth of sunspot images from NASA via powerpoint in sequential order. There are three sunspots to be tracked, so one or two pairs per class will track the same spot. Every "day" (new slide) the students will draw the sunspot in its new location on their grid worksheet. At the end of the 12 days, they calculate how many degrees their sunspot has travleed in 12 days, and then using the information that there are 360 degrees in a cricle can calculate how long it takes for sunspots to make a complete revolution, and therefore how long it takes for the sun to complete a revolution. The website also has a really good explanation for teachers leading this activity.

ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: The powerpoint provided from NASA is complete and very detailed. However, it may be more in depth than you would like to go. Also, I suggest that you explain what sunspots are in a previous class in order to save time. Finally, when you make the groups, don't allow them to be with their friends- this activity takes a lot of concentration and following along, so pairing kids who are independent workers with those who aren't so independent is a good idea. Also, leave a lot of time for the math calculations at the end- it will spread over into the next day

SOURCE: Laura Zaim (Carrollton 2010)

If there is a relevant document, please upload it here:


 * TITLE: Earth Layers Foldables **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: Interior layers of the Earth **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Activity. The Earth Layer foldable packet, color pencils, stapler, and glue sticks. **


 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This is an activity that you can do to teach the interior layers if the Earth. The students really enjoyed doing this activity. In this activity you make a foldable to organize their notes in a creative way. There is also an worksheet that you can have them do for homework. There are more foldable ideas at [] and there are plenty of ideas in the Earth Science book. **


 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: Make sure that you plan for two class periods to do this. You will need one day to put the foldable together and one day for note taking. This foldable will help the students label the Earth layers and keep their notes neat. Make sure that you explain the directions clearly so that the students understand them. **


 * SOURCE: Christina Cary (2010) **
 * [] **


 * TITLE: Mimmicking our Solar System **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: The Solar System and the Astronomical Unit **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: This is an outdoor activity. It allows students to get a visual representation on how far away the planets are from each other. **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Enough room to do the activity (like a field or the gym). **


 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The teacher will convert the disctances (in Astronomical Units) of each of the planets from the Sun into steps. Depending on the amount of space available, you might want to do 3 to 4 steps for 1 AU. Assign each one of the students a planet before going outside. Depending on class size, you might want to make yourself the Sun or have one of the students be it. If there's more students, you may use Pluto in your field model. Line the students up, in order, before leaving the classroom and walk the over to the designated area in a single file line. When you get to the area to be used, have each one of the students walk the amount of steps you give them, one by one. When you get to the gas giants, simply show then the amount of steps on paper - this way, the rest of the students would simply observe them walk like if the would never stop (something that will catch their attention). When all, the "planets" are lined up, talk to them a little on how together the inner planets are and how far apart the outer planets are. If there is enough space, you can do some orbits to demonstrate the speed of the planets as they go around the Sun (or you can just have Mercury quickly run around the Sun in circles). **


 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: Talk about the AU, conversions, and the activity to the students before going outside. Also, leave some time at the end of the class so that students can come in and reflect in their science notebooks. Lastly, make sure you reserve the designated area of execution (field, gym, etc.) before hand! **


 * SOURCE: Jorge L. Rodriguez (Ransom 2010) **


 * If there is a relevant document, please upload it here (meaning, please "paste" the document below this line):**


 * TITLE: MOON LANDING! (FOSS ACTIVITY 7) **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: survival skils, creative thinking, location of previous moon landings **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: Activity **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Map of moon landing (in FOSS kit), dry erase markers, construction paper **

The average distance from the moon to the Earth is 238,857 miles (384,392 kilometers). Compare this to something relevant, I said that from here to Disney is about 240 miles, so the distance from here to the moon is about 996 trips to disney, or 498 back and forth. So they are seeing that the moon is far awaym but not THAT far. Then I told them about the Apollo project, there were 20 trips planned and only 17 went through because of budget cuts. I mentioned some of the more interesting ones, and they pinpointed some of the landings on the map with their dry erase markers.We also went over the reason why the moon has craters and moonquakes! Also going over how the moon and Earth are similar or different in composition would be a good addition. So,the moon has now become the most wanted place to be at for tourist. As a group, you have 15 minutes to figure out where you will land on the moon and what you will bring. Make sure each team member has a specific role. Think about what you will recreate if your team had to be the one to start civilization on the moon. On the construction paper have a diagram of the moons nearside (part of the moon facing Earth) and the spots where tourist can visit and what they will see. I did this acitivty in a 45 minute class.
 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: **

Have the kids get really creative with it! Walk around and make sure they are focused. Put desks in group formation! Look at some of the following websites to get some ideas.
 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: **

**FOSS Activity 7**
 * SOURCE: **

[]

www2.semo.edu/mast/mlc/moon.htm Teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/exploringthemoon/index.html

(Yosleny Perez, Ransom 2011)


 * If there is a relevant document, please upload it here (meaning, please "paste" the document below this line):**


 * TITLE: Rockets! **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: Space Travel **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: End of the Summer Project **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Rocket Materials provided by the science department, glue, and scissors. **


 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: **
 * PREPARATION **
 * First and foremost, before attempting to build the rockets with the students, the teacher must build and launch his/her own rocket. By doing that, the teacher will be able to have an idea of the building process and any things that may go wrong during the building or launch. Additionally, before beginning the building process, the students should be instructed a little bit on the background of rockets. Specifically, the teacher may mention things such as historical aspects of rockets, any NASA facts about rockets, and rocket mechanism. For rocket mechanism, the teacher may get into how **** Newton **** ’s Third Law plays an important role during the launch of a rocket. This may be discussed along with a Stomp Rocket demonstration before, during, or after the building of the rockets. **


 * BUILDING PROCESS **
 * It is recommended that students work in pairs (unless there is an unlimited amount of rockets or there is a class that is composed of as few as 6 students which in such case, individual work is a possibility). Each student will collaborate in the building of the rocket. As the students build, it is suggested that the teacher monitors the students as he/she asks specific questions pertaining to any possible flaw in the building and how making an error in a certain step can affect the launch of the rocket. Furthermore, although the guidelines for building the rockets can be easily followed, there are certain steps that might become a bit difficult for some students. Such steps include: inserting the silver hook into the blue tube, tying the shock cord to the head of the rocket, tying the parachute to the shock cord, and folding/rolling/inserting the parachute into the body of the rocket. Additionally, the teacher may choose to designate some time for the students to decorate and personalize their rockets with paint; however, paint might not turn out to be very effective. Thus, the stickers included in the rocket kit will do. Finally, **** have each pair decide who in the pair will keep the rocket. If both students wish to keep the rocket after the launch, they may flip a coin or do a quick game of “rock, paper, scissors” in order to decide. **
 * LAUNCH **
 * Before the launch, the teacher should brief the students on the process of launching the rocket. In particular, the teacher should discuss how to handle the launch pad, safety, etc. Once out in the designated area for launch, it is suggested that the teacher quickly review with the students on how to handle the launch pad. The student in each pair that will not get to keep the rocket will be designated to launch the rocket. The other student will be in charge of recovering the rocket. Once each pair launches, they will be responsible for completing a worksheet (the worksheet should include yes/no questions such as “did the rocket launch?”, “did the parachute open?”, “did rocket go high?”, “did the head of the rocket separate from its body?”, etc.). If any rocket misfires, the pair in charge of that rocket will be responsible for writing what they believe went wrong with their rocket. Any misfired rockets will be fixed and re-launched the following day. In addition, the teacher should designate a responsible pair of students to measure the altitude of each rocket flight with an Altitrack and record it. **

[] (This is an amazing website with activites you can incoporporate for the week of doing rockets)
 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: **
 * -Designate a large area for the rocket launch. If necessary, reserve such area in advance! **
 * -Begin building rockets with enough time to spare. Preferably, the students should begin building on the Friday of the fifth week of the program. This will allow room for switching launch day in any case something comes up such as rain. The building of the rockets shouldn’t take more that three class sessions. **
 * -If more that one class is launching on the same day, in the same large area, the teachers should designate a space for their class and launch one rocket at a time (the classes should not launch rockets simultaneously!). **
 * -It recommended having an assistant (teacher or volunteer) out in the field to aid in facilitating the launch as the help in keeping order. **
 * -The pair students that are designated for measuring and recording the altitude of each launch should be the first ones to launch. This will allows them to record the altitude for every other launch. Be mindful of how far away from the rocket these students are standing. It is recommended for the person using the Altitrack to be standing about **** 500 ft **** away from the launch area in order to obtain accurate values; however, **** 250 ft **** is fine, as long as the value obtained is divided by two. **
 * -Before going out to the field, the teacher must be clear to the students about being on their best behavior. Only one person should be running out to recover the rocket after it has been launched. (Trust me, you don’t want to have a crowd of kids running everywhere in the field). If the rocket ends up on a tree or on the roof of a building, the students should not attempt to recover it. **
 * -If a rocket misfires, it would be usually because of the engine. Thus, replacing the engine usually fixes the problem. **
 * SOURCE: **** Jorge L. Rodriguez and Yosleny Perez (Ransom 2011) **
 * If there is a relevant document, please upload it here (meaning, please "paste" the document below this line):**


 * TITLE: Earth and Atmospheric Layers Foldables **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: The Layers of the Earth and The Atmospheric Layers of the Earth **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: Activity **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Colored Printing Paper (5 Sheets per students), coloring pencils/markers/crayons, and a stapler. **


 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: This activity is a quick way to get the students to learn the Layers of the Earth and the Layers of Earth's Atmosphere in an orderly, well-organized fashion. **
 * The actual foldable is easy to make (and can be done as a 10-15 minute Do Now). First, place one paper on the desk. Place a second one, layered 3/4" on top of the first. Likewise, place a third one, layered 3/4" on top of the second. And, again, repeat the same with the fourth and fifth pieces of paper. Once the pieces of papers are layered on top of one another, and five layers have been formed in the front (at the bottom), and five in the back (at the top), while holding all of them in place, carefully fold the top layers over to the front, forming a total of ten layers. Starting from the bottom, students will label the layers in the following order: Inner Core, Outer Core, Mantle, Crust, Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and Exosphere. While the students are quietly labeling the layers, the teacher should walk around and staple their foldables at the fold (to hold the pieces of paper together). There should be one remaining flap at the top. Students can use that flap to label their foldable as they wish, write their names on it, or decorate as desired. **
 * Once complete, the foldable can be used for note-taking as they fill out the information for each layer (above the Labeled Name of each particular layer), as provided by the teacher. And they complete a sketch/drawing of anything that identifies such layer (i.e. the Mesosphere contains shooting stars). **


 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: **
 * While making the foldables: A foldable should be done by the Teacher WITH the students. Doing it step-by-step with the students will make things go easier. Allow the students to decorate however they want (they can add things at home if they wish but a whole day shouldn't be dedicated just for coloring - this is science class, not art class). **
 * Note-Taking: The note-taking process can take anywhere between 2 to 3 days, depending on how fast the teacher wishes to cover all the layers. The details of each layer will be provided by the teacher. Students should neatly take notes directly into their foldables as they go through all of the layers. **
 * *This is a slightly different version of Christina Cary's Foldable Activity (2010) in that it allows the students to get a full scope of all layers of the Earth (from the Inner Core to the Exosphere). **


 * SOURCE: Jorge L. Rodriguez (Ransom 2012) **
 * If there is a relevant document, please upload it here (meaning, please "paste" the document below this line):**


 * TITLE: Journey to the Edge of Our Solar System **


 * TOPIC INVOLVED: **** Inner and Outer Planets **


 * IS THIS A GAME, ACTIVITY, DOCUMENT, WEBSITE, VIDEO, ETC?: **** Video **
 * REQUIRED MATERIALS: Internet Access and a Projector **


 * BRIEF DESCRIPTION: These video clips (links at the bottom) can be used as teaching aids when covering the inner and outer planets of our Solar System. They can be shown upon providing general characteristics of the Inner Planets and Outer Planets. **


 * ANY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS?: **** Showing a video in class does not mean chill time for the teacher or nap time for the students. The teacher must make sure that students are engaged at all times during the video. One good way to do this is to have the students create flashcards for homework the night before (they don't have to necessarily go buy flashcards - they can create 4-6 from one sheet of paper). One flashcard would be dedicated for each one of the planets in the Solar System. Before playing the video, the teacher should post questions or fill-in-the-blank phrases on the board and have students copy them down. This will help guide the students into note-taking. Examples (based on Part 1) are as follows: **


 * (When watching the section on Mercury) **
 * -Gravitational pull of Mercury: _______ **
 * -"Its heavy metallic core makes up about ____% of its volume." **
 * -Etc. **
 * (When watching the section on Venus) **
 * -Venus's atmosphere is dominated by what gas? **
 * -Etc. **
 * (When watching the section on Mars) **
 * -"_________ Mons is the biggest mountain in the entire Solar System." **
 * -Etc. **


 * Some of the students may be slow note-takers. Therefore, I recommend that the teacher pauses every now and then . Based on whatever fact the teacher has the students write down, the teacher can ask questions after the video and have a little competition with the class (if time permits). Finally, this video activity should be split into different days. Perhaps allow one day for the Inner Planets and another for the Outer Planets. **


 * NOTE: The videos I provided are just an idea, you may choose others. Just be careful with timing. **


 * SOURCE: Jorge L. Rodriguez (Ransom 2012) **

[] (Part 1) [] (Part 2) [] (Part 3)
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