SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE

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1 SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE I. CORE CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE: The students will utilize scientific process skills and problem solving strategies to solve meaningful problems. A. CONTENT AND SKILLS: By the end of grade six all students will know the meaning and application of: 1. Scientists use the scientific method to conduct research and investigations in a clear and concise format. Inferences Predictions Qualitative Quantitative Hypothesis Independent variable Dependent variable Constant Data table Graph By the end of grade six, all students should be able to: a. Formulate an investigative question and a cause and effect hypothesis. b. Support investigative questions using current scientific knowledge and research background information. c. Design and conduct experiments using observations and accurate measurements. Identify and control variables. Clarify ideas that that are influencing the investigation. d. Use scientific tools and metric system to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Use computers for the collection, summary, and display of By the end of grade six all students will understand: The scientific process is the means by which scientists discover the world Essential Skill Missouri Show-Me Standards E SC7 CA3 M1 M2 M3 National Science Education Standards A Scientific Inquiry G- Science as a Human Endeavor

2 Conclusion Volume Density Mass Length Width Temperature evidence. e. Organize data and information into useful forms for analysis and presentation. Judge the strength of the data and information. Reformulate the hypothesis, redesign the experiment and re-experiment if necessary. f. Communicate the procedures used and the results of investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations. g. Use critical thinking skills to review data from an experiment, summarize data, and form logical arguments about the cause-and-effect relationships in experiments. h. Remain open to and acknowledge different ideas and explanations, accept the skepticism of others, and consider alternative explanations.

3 ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1: Why do scientists use systems of measurement and problem solving strategies? FACILITATING ACTIVIES: The scientific inquiry unit should be embedded throughout the entire course on all experiments, projects, and lab work.

4 SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE II. CORE CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE: The students will discover that organisms carry out life processes in order to survive. A. CONTENT AND SKILLS: By the end of grade six all students will know the meaning and application of: 1. The cell contains a set of structures called organelles that interact to carry out life processes through physical and chemical means. Cell membrane Cell wall Nucleus Cytoplasm DNA Chloroplast Organelle Ribosome Endoplasmic Reticulum Mitochondria Golgi complex By the end of grade six, all students should be able to: a. Explain the functions and interrelationships of different parts of the cell. b. Compare and contrast the following plants and animal structures: cell membrane, nucleus, cell wall, chloroplast, and cytoplasm. c. Recognize the cell membrane helps regulate the transfer of materials in and out of the cell d. Recognize the function of chloroplast in photosynthesis. By the end of grade six all students will understand: Essential Skills Missouri Show-Me Standards E 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3 National Science Education Standards Structures and Functions of Living Things.

5 Vacuole Lysosome Diffusion Osmosis Active transport Passive transport 2. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are complementary processes necessary to the survival of most organisms on Earth. a. Illustrate the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle using photosynthesis and respiration. b. Compare and contrast respiration and photosynthesis. c. Explain the chemical basis for cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Energy can be transferred in predictable patterns E 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1 Structures and Functions of Living Things. 3. Complex multi-cellular organisms have systems that interact to carry out life processes through physical and chemical means. Cell tissue organ Organ system Xylem Phloem Roots Leaves a. Identify and give examples of each level or organization (e.g. cell tissue, organ, organ system) in multi-cellular organisms. b. Illustrate and explain the path water and nutrients take as they move through the transport system of a plant. Energy can be transferred in predictable patterns E Structures and Functions of Living Things.

6 4. Cellular activities and responses can maintain stability internally while external conditions are changing. Homeostasis Metabolism Adrenaline rush Internal balance a. Predict the response the body may take to maintain internal balance during an environmental change (e.g. shivering when cold, slowing metabolism when food supply low or when dehydrated, adrenaline rush when frightened). Energy can be transferred in predictable patterns Structures and Functions of Living Things. 5. Research and technology have identified and are working towards cures for human diseases. Cancer Mutations Tumor Malignant a. Research current understanding of cancer and what strides have been made in finding a cure. Humans have an impact on everything around us both positively and negatively Structures and Functions of Living Things.

7 ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1: How do functions of each cell organelle allow the cell to survive? FACILITATING ACTIVIES: The student will: 1. Create cell models using gelatin and a variety of fruits. 2. Compare the parts of the cell to a business or factory. 3. Observe microscope slides or enlarged pictures of various cells. 4. Draw, label, and explain the functions of each cellular part. 5. Create an action to represent the function of the organelle. 6. Compare and contrast healthy cells with cancer cells. 7. Compare and contrast plant and animal cells. 8. Have students build cell models using household items to represent the function of the organelle. Ex. Floppy disk for nucleus or colander for cell membrane. 9. Perform an experiment using eggs to show the movement of materials through a membrane. ESSENTIAL QUESTION #2: How do cellular activities and structures differ between plants and animals and how do these differences help them carry out life processes? FACILITATING ACTIVITIES: The student will: 1. Prepare slides to distinguish characteristics of multi-cellular and unicellular organisms. 2. Dissect a flower. 3. Determine the number of calories you need everyday in order to survive. 4. Illustrate the carbon dioxide and oxygen cycle using photosynthesis and respiration using manipulatives. 5. Demonstrate the flow of water and flow of minerals through the xylem using food dye and carnations. 6. Analyze tree rings to identify phloem and xylem. 7. Test different foods and plants for the presence of sugars and starches. 8. Test for the production of CO2 using a living organism such as elodea or yeast.

8 SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE III. CORE CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE: The students will discover the diversity of living things characteristics. A. CONTENT AND SKILLS: By the end of grade six all students will know the meaning and application of: 1. have common characteristics. Cells Response to stimuli Reproduce DNA Energy use Growth Development 2. Organisms have basic needs for survival. By the end of grade six, all students should be able to: a. Draw a conclusion on whether an organism is living based on observations. Be able to support your answer. b. Describe the characteristics of living things. a. Identify ways both plants and animals meet their basic needs. By the end of grade six all students will understand: Essential Skills Missouri Show-Me Standards E SC4 E SC4 National Science Education Standards Organisms and Environments Organisms and Environments

9 3. Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related. Animals Plants Fungus Protists Archaebacteria Eubacteria Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species a. Identify examples of unicellular and multi-cellular organisms. b. Determine the kingdom an organism belongs to based on its characteristics. c. Use a classification key to place organisms into categories. Identify kingdom, phylum and class of various organisms. d. Compare current classification systems to past and future systems. E SC4 Organisms and Environments ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1: What is life and how is it classified? FACILITATING ACTIVITIES: The student will: 1. Classify various vertebrates based on their characteristics. 2. Use a dichotomous key to classify. 3. Create your own classification system.

10 4. Create a poster showing living and non-living things. Write a paragraph explaining the characteristics that identify each as living or non-living. 5. Show students pictures of a variety of habitats and have them hypothesize how organisms meet their needs in varying environments. 6. Compare and contrast the ways plants and animals acquire food, water, and air.

11 SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE IV. CORE CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE: Students will investigate the interactions of organisms with their environment and the changes in an environment. A. CONTENT AND SKILLS: By the end of grade six all students will know the meaning and application of: 1. All populations living together within a community interact with one another and with their environment in order to survive and maintain a balanced ecosystem. Biotic Abiotic Soil Soil composition Populations Communities Balanced system Ecosystem By the end of grade six, all students should be able to: a. Identify the biotic factors (populations of organisms) and abiotic factors (quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, soil composition) that make up the ecosystem. By the end of grade six all students will understand: Essential Skills Missouri Show-Me Standards E 1.2, 1.4, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3, 2.7 SC4 CA3 National Science Education Standards Organisms and their environment Populations and Ecosystems

12 Environment Ecology 2. Living organisms have the ability to produce populations of infinite size, however environments and resources are finite. Limiting factors Space Food Water Air Shelter a. Describe how limiting factors affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g. food availability, abiotic factors such as light, water, temperature, temperature range, soil composition, disease, competition, and predation. b. Predict possible effects of changes in the number and type of organisms in an ecosystem on the populations of other organisms within that ecosystem. E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6 Reproduction and heredity 3. In all environments (biomes) organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources, including food, space, water, air, and shelter. Competition Predation Predator Prey Symbiosis a. Classify the relationships of organisms as competitive, predatory, or symbiotic. Justify the reasoning. b. Describe several examples of interacting organisms. E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6 Populations and ecosystems Organisms and their environment

13 Mutualism Commensalisms Parasitism Parasite Host 4. The diversity of species within an ecosystem is affected by changes in the environment, which can be caused by other organisms or outside processes. Deforestation Overpopulation Water pollution Air pollution Global warming Restoration River bank Stabilization Recycling Channelization Reintroduction of species Depletion of resources Forest fire Flood Volcanic eruption Avalanche Disease a. Describe beneficial and harmful activities or organisms including humans and explain how these activities affect organisms within an ecosystem. b. Predict the impact (beneficial or harmful) of a natural environmental change on the organisms within an ecosystem. c. Describe possible solutions to potentially harmful environmental changes within an ecosystem. d. Explain the beneficial or detrimental impact that some organisms (i.e. viruses, bacteria, protests, fungi) may have on other organisms. E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6 Populations and ecosystems Organisms and their environment

14 Antibiotics Fermentation Waste break down 5. As energy flows through the ecosystem, all organisms capture a portion of that energy and transform it to a form of energy they can use. Producer Consumer Decomposer Predator Prey Unicellular Multi-cellular Food chain Food web 6. Matter is recycled through an ecosystem Oxygen cycle Carbon dioxide cycle Nitrogen cycle 7. Evidence for the nature and rates of evolution can be found in anatomical a. Diagram and describe the transfer of energy in an aquatic food web and a land food web with reference to producers, consumers, decomposers, scavengers, and predator/prey relationships. b. Classify populations of unicellular and multi-cellular organisms as producers, consumers, decomposers by the role they serve in the ecosystem. c. Predict the effects of environmental changes on the balance of a food web. d. Assess the consequences of specific environmental changes. a. Illustrate the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycles. b. Describe the processes involved in the recycling of matter in the oxygen/carbon dioxide cycles. a. Identify fossils as evidence of some types of organisms (i.e. dinosaurs, trilobites, mammoths, giant tree Energy can be transferred in predictable patterns. Energy and matter can not be created or destroyed only changed. E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, E Organisms and their environment F- Changes in environments Organisms and their environment Populations and Ecosystems Organisms and their

15 and molecular characteristics of organisms and in the fossil record. Evolution Adaptation Fossil record Mammoths Tree ferns Trilobite 8. Natural selection is the process of sorting individuals based on their ability to survive and reproduce within their ecosystem. Natural selection Behavior Body structure Coloration Survival traits ferns) that once lived in the past and have since become extinct, have similarities with and differences from organisms today. a. Relate examples of adaptations (specialized structures or behaviors) within a species to its ability to survive in a specific environment (e.g. hollow bones for flight, hollow hair for insulation, dense root structure for compact soil, etc.) b. Predict how certain adaptations, such as behavior, body structure, or coloration, may offer a survival advantage t an organism in a particular environment. c. Analyze an organism s change over time in response to changing limiting factors in an environment. E environment Populations and Ecosystems Organisms and their environment Populations and Ecosystems

16 ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1: How do organisms interact in their environment with other living and non-living things? FACILITATING ACTIVITIES: The student will: 1. Participate in the construction of a class food web to demonstrate the interrelationships among organisms. 2. Create an energy pyramid, which includes humans as part of the global food webs using inspiration software. 3. Create a poster that shows examples of adaptations of various plants and animals. Present the poster to a group. 4. Give examples where organisms compete with humans for food, space, water, and shelter. 5. Play Missouri deer game.

17 SIXTH GRADE CHALLENGE V. CORE CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVE: There is a genetic basis for the transfer of biological characteristics from one generation to the next through reproductive processes. A. CONTENT AND SKILLS: By the end of grade six all students will know the meaning and application of: By the end of grade six, all students should be able to: By the end of grade six all students will understand: Essential Skills Missouri Show-Me Standards National Science Education Standards 1. Reproduction can occur asexually or sexually. Asexual Sexual Heredity Life cycle Binary fission Budding Organ Embryo Sperm Egg Zygote Fertilization Regeneration a. Compare and contrast the processes of asexual and sexual reproduction, including the type and number of cells involved (one body cell in asexual, two sex cells in sexual) passed from parents to offspring. b. Identify examples of asexual reproduction (i.e. plants budding, binary fission of single cell organisms). c. Compare and contrast the reproduction mechanisms of classes of vertebrates (i.e. internal vs. external fertilization). d. Explain how flowering plants E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.3, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5 SC8 CA3 Reproduction and heredity G- Science as a human endeavor

18 Self-pollination Cross-pollination True breeding Pollen Anther Stigma 2. Chromosomes are components of cells that occur in pairs and carry hereditary information from one cell to daughter cells and from parent to offspring during reproduction. Alleles Traits Gregor Mendel Inherited Phenotype Genotype Dominant Recessive Punnett Square Mitosis Meiosis Probability Monohybrid Dihybrid Pure breed reproduce sexually. a. Identify chromosomes as cellular structures that carry hereditary information in units called genes. b. Recognize that when asexual reproduction occurs the same genetic information found in the parent cell is copied and passed onto each new daughter cell (assess only the concept not the term of process of mitosis). c. Recognize that when sexual reproduction occurs, genetic material from both parents is passed on and combined to form the genetic code for the new organism. (assess only the concept not the term or process of mitosis.) d. Research Gregor Mendel s investigations of how traits are inherited and explain his contribution to the study of inherited traits. e. Given a variety of traits, create a E 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6 Reproduction and heredity

19 Hybrid visual representation of variants in offspring. f. Predict the possible offspring from various combinations of parents. g. Distinguish between genotype and phenotype. h. Using the Punnett Square, complete a monohybrid cross and interpret the resulting data to determine the possible genotypes and phenotypes. 3. Genetic characteristics can be predicted in future generations using mathematical ratios. di-hybrid cross allele ratios dominant traits recessive traits a. Make predictions on the appearance and genetic characteristics of future generations using mathematical calculations and ratios. 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6 Reproduction and heredity

20 ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1: How do organisms ensure survival for future generations through reproduction? FACILITATING ACTIVIES: The student will: 1. Plant various leaf parts (leaf, stem, stem with leaf, root) in pots to examine which parts will regenerate into a new plant. 2. Diagram models of chromosomes demonstrating sexual and asexual reproduction. ESSENTIAL QUESTION #2: How are traits passed on from parent to offspring? FACILITATING ACTIVITIES: The student will: 1. Describe the life of Mendel and his genetic experiments. 2. Using Punnett Squares, students will predict the genetic combination involving dominant and recessive traits. 3. Create a graphic organizer to show the relationship between DNA, genes, chromosomes, and nucleus. 4. Research, using a variety of technological tools, the pros and cons of genetic engineering.

6 th Grade Life Science Strand 3: Characteristics and Interactions of Living Organisms

6 th Grade Life Science Strand 3: Characteristics and Interactions of Living Organisms Middle School Life Science Standards There are 15 standards that encompass the proposed middle school life science standards. The new standards are listed 4 times to match the four times life science is