November: What is Grade 6 Studying?

ELA: Module: Greek Mythology

Students will be ending unit 2 and move into the final phase of module 1. In the second half of the unit 2; students will be required to compare and contrast the movie The Lightning Thief to certain events taking place in the novel. The final end of unit 2 assessment will require students to  write a literary analysis essay using the structure of comparing and contrasting. Unit 3 will begin with students reimagining a scene from The Lightning Thief,which will then lead into their own research and creation of a Greek god that will later strategically  be inserted as a character into a scene from the movie.

Math:  

Students will learn to understand and apply concepts like ratios, rates and percentages, often using visual representations like double number lines, tables and tape diagrams to solve problems related to constant speed, measurement conversion, recipes, color mixture  and more.They will recognize when two ratios are  or are not equivalent and that equivalent ratios have equal unit rates.

Science:

Thermal Energy Unit 2

Temperature is a fundamental part of human life. From the daily highs and lows reported on the news to the settings on an oven, temperature measurements are ubiquitous, reflecting the important role that temperature changes play in one’s experiences of the world. Although the sensory experience of temperature is intuitive, this intuition obscures the true nature of temperature and why it changes. To understand heating and cooling, students will go beyond intuition to discover that observed temperature changes can be explained by the movement of molecules, which facilitates the transfer of kinetic energy from one place to another.

In their role as student thermal scientists, students work with the principal of Riverdale School, a fictional school, in order to help choose a new heater system. The principal is considering two proposed systems, both of which would use water to heat the school. However, these systems differ in important ways. How these two systems work serves as the anchor phenomenon for this unit and the explanations students make allow them to make a recommendation to the principal. The water heater system uses a small amount of warmer water to heat the school. The groundwater system uses a large amount of slightly cooler water to heat the school. Throughout the unit, students are called upon to analyze the differences between these two systems at the molecular scale and to explain how and why they will heat the school. To do so, students make use of the Thermal Energy Simulation, which provides evidence about the molecular nature of temperature and its relationship to kinetic energy. At the end of Chapter 3, students make a recommendation to the principal in favor of the system that will heat the school more during the winter.

Social Studies:  Geography

First Humans, Neolithic Revolution, and the Early River Valley Civilizations

In this unit students will discover and explore the answer to the following questions: 

• How does the archaeological record shape our understanding of prehistoric hominids and early humans? • How did the first humans adapt to and modify their environment? • Why was the Neolithic Revolution a significant turning point in world history? • What characteristics did early river valley civilizations share? • What are the achievements and contributions of early river civilizations?