The current primary NGSS standards for 6th grade relate to:
Energy
Earth's Spheres
Weather
Climate and Resources
Plate tectonics
Earthquakes & Volcanoes
Genetics
Human impact on Earth
A common theme throughout each unit is the students themselves -
How do Earth’s systems affect me?
How do I affect Earth’s systems?
What are the systems inside of me?
Our current topic:
Climate Change
Lesson Objectives At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Explain that global climate change is related to warmer temperatures and loss of ice at the Earth’s poles.
Explain how humans may be contributing to global climate change.
Brainstorm ways engineers might be able to reduce energy use through the design of more energy efficient buildings.
Define heat as the transfer of thermal energy.
Define temperature as an indication of how hot or cold it is in a particular location.
Explain the difference between heat and temperature. Heat is the transfer of thermal energy… heat, by definition, moves. Temperature can be measured with many different scales such as Fahrenheit or Celsius, and it is a measure that indicates the thermal energy there is at a particular point.
Demonstrate that some materials are better insulators than others, i.e. felt insulates better than foil. Insulators reduce heat transfer.
Apply knowledge that some materials are better than others at reducing the transfer of thermal energy than others.
Compare different materials to determine which ones are better at reducing heat transfer.
Guiding Questions:
- What causes climate change?
- What happens to Earth's environment when the climate changes?
- How are we responsible?
- What can we do to help?