| THIS YEAR IN SCIENCE |
In 6th grade science at HBMS, as well as across the state of Delaware, students study four major science topics: My Body and Me > Earth History > Simple Machines > Forces That Cause Motion 6th grade science is directly related to the entire K-12 science program throughout Delaware and in Red Clay. [I have included a K-8 Science Overview.] So, students should be able to make connections to science kits they completed in grades K-5 and to the important science concepts that were taught. [See the K-5 Overview.] Our 6th grade science program prepares students for science in grades 7 & 8, as well as for high school. We use science kits that come from the Science Coalition of Delaware. All the equipment that we need comes with the kits. Since the program's start during the 1995-1996 school year, science teachers have been required to participate in the state's training in order to receive these kits. Training involves up to 30 hours of instruction/practice for each kit. Both Mrs. Jenner & Miss Whittington have completed all training. We love this kit-based science progam! SCIENCE IS DOING! For the most part, our program is based on hands-on, inquiry-based science. Each kit includes a series of lessons that help students construct basic science concepts and the BIG IDEAS found in each kit. Lessons are developed around SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS rather than scientific method. Hands-on activities are interspersed with reading, writing, and talking about each lesson. We do not have a general textbook that is distributed to each student, however, we have several topic-related textbooks that can be used in class. Plus, each kit includes many reading selections. We read primarily to get information about a particular science topic. Students often work together on kit activities, in groups of two or three. Small groups sometimes join together to share data or ideas. Class data is collected and analyzed. We use basic statistics and graphing, making connections to several topics in 6th grade math. To learn science, we do a great deal of writing. Writing about the science we do in class helps students understand and remember important concepts. It also gives the teacher a chance to assess student learning and the effectiveness of instruction. So, this may be a science class, but there is lots of reading, writing, talking, and math going on! |
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