Dover Sherborn Middle School Curriculum Road Maps

Course Title: Science Grade: 6

Unit: Ecology

Month Presented: February, March, April Unit Length (in weeks): 8-10

Essential Question (s):

1. Why is it important to protect the environment?
2. How are all of the living and nonliving things in an environment interconnected?
3. How do organisms adapt and change to fit their environment?
4. What are the Earth’s biomes and how do they differ?
5. How do human activities affect ecosystems?

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will understand how adaptation relates to survival
2. Students will understand organisms can be categorized by the functions they serve in an ecosystem: producers, consumer and decomposer
3. Students will understand organisms in an ecosystem have dependent and interdependent relationships which can be illustrated by food webs.
4. Students will understand how matter and energy are recycled.
5. Students will understand the process of photosynthesis.
6. Students will understand that ecosystems change over time.

Skills:

1. Conduct, record and organize daily observations.
2. Communicate information through writing, drawing and discussion.
3. Use a hand lens, pH test kits and measuring devices appropriately.
4. Research information.

Instructional Strategies & Activities:

1. Design and build an aquarium.
2. Design and build a terrarium.
3. Use textbook reading strategies
4. Record obserbvations
5. Sketch and label diagrams
6. Research conservation topic
7. Compose conservation report
8. Recognize select terrestrial and aquatic organisms

Materials Utilized:

Bottle caps, plastic bottles, gravel, soil, seed, guppies, snails, aquatic plants, tape, permanent markers, magnifying glasses, paper towels, scissors, calculators, water test kits, eyedroppers, beakers, graduated cyclinders

Assessment Strategies:

1. Quizzes
2. Written observations and sketches
3. Research report
4. Conservation poster
5. Completed aquarium and terrarium