Proposed NGSS Standards for 6th Grade

California Department of Education
Proposed Standards
July 29, 2013

Grade 6

On July 10, 2013, Superintendent Torlakson recommended the following to the State Board of Education (SBE): That the SBE adopt Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for California as follows:

• Kindergarten through grade five (K–5) at each grade level as presented by NGSS;
• At specific grade levels in middle school, grades six; seven and eight; and
• In grade spans for grades nine through twelve (9–12) as presented in NGSS.

NGSS presents middle grade standards in a grade span of sixth through eighth grade. However, California is a K–8 Instructional Materials adoption state and requires that standards be placed at specific grade levels – sixth, seventh, and eighth. Therefore, the Superintendent recommended the adoption of the placement of these original NGSS standards at each grade level as described in the document below. This arrangement of standards was developed by the Science Expert Panel (SEP), a group made up of kindergarten through grade twelve (K–12) teachers, scientists, educators, business, industry representatives and informal science educators. Feedback was provided by the Science Review Panel, from the public via three open forums, and a webinar.

The SEP used the following criteria to arrange the performance expectations (standards) for grades six, seven, and eight:

• Performance expectations (PEs) were placed at each grade level so that they support content articulation across grade levels (from fifth through eighth grade) and provide the opportunity for content integration within each grade level.
• Performance expectations were aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics so that science learning would not be dependent upon math skills not yet acquired.
• The final arrangement of performance expectations reflected a balance both in content complexity and number at each grade level with human impact and engineering performance expectations appropriately integrated.

In addition to these criteria, the SEP worked to ensure that the performance expectations could be bundled together in various ways to facilitate curriculum development.

The chart below illustrates the vision for middle school: opportunities for articulation between grades (six, seven, eight) within the disciplines, as well as opportunities for content integration across disciplines at each grade.

Middle School Learning Progression

Keep this chart in mind as you explore the arrangement of the performance expectations explained below.

First, the performance expectations for grade six are listed. The order in which the performance expectation in each discipline is listed does not imply the order of teaching or the instructional sequence. This is followed by a discussion of how bundling the performance expectations provides a content topic view to which one can more easily apply cross-cutting concepts as the topics are integrated. Lastly, the performance expectations are presented in a six through eight topic view to illustrate articulation from sixth to seventh to eighth grade for each discipline.

Grade Level List of Performance Expectations

The performance expectations assigned to sixth grade are:

• LS1-1. Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells.
• LS1-2. Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
• LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
• LS1-8. Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
• LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
• LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
• LS3-2. Develop and use a model to describe why asexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
• ESS2-4. Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
• ESS2-5. Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
• ESS2-6. Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.
• ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
• ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
• PS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
• PS3-4. Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
• PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.
• ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
• ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
• ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Topic Arrangement for Integration

Bundling the above listed performance expectations provides a content topic view to which one can more easily align crosscutting concepts as seen in this chart:

Cross Cutting Concepts

While many cross-cutting concepts could be used to organize the performance expectations for sixth grade, the SEP identified three: Systems & System Models, Patterns, and Structure & Function. Examples of how these cross-cutting concepts could be used to deepen and connect student understanding are presented below.

Systems & System Models is one of the cross-cutting concepts emphasized in sixth grade. A system is a well-defined set of interacting pieces/components, which work together to function as a whole. Each component may itself be a sub-system with its own sub-structure and function. The way a system functions can be explained in the context of a model of the system in terms of its sub-systems, and their interactions. The boundary of each system or sub-system may be a natural surface, or may be artificially defined in order to make the model. It is always important to consider what flows or acts (external forces) across this boundary as well as what happens within the system itself.

Life science in sixth grade looks at the system of cells and its organelles, and at the body as a system of interacting sub-systems built of cells and specialized for particular functions. In earth sciences, the major systems treated in this year are the atmosphere and the oceans. Modeling oceans and atmosphere as composed of sub-systems, regions or volumes of air or water characterized by their temperature, density, humidity, or flow pattern, helps explain and describe their patterns of change over time. These sub-systems have artificially defined boundaries, and eventually change and mix due to flows of matter and energy within (and between) the atmosphere and ocean. However, it is useful to define such sub-systems in order to describe and model patterns within the larger system, such as prevailing winds, ocean currents and storms. The Human Impact performance expectation allows the students to see how humans can influence such systems.

Patterns is a second cross-cutting concept emphasized in sixth grade. Patterns are observable repeated phenomena or cycles of a system. The PEs in sixth grade address patterns that repeat in time, in addition to patterns of similarity across objects (such as cells). The patterns encountered include those of cell growth and division, and organisms’ life cycles in life science, of water cycles, of climate and weather in earth science, and of the flow of energy in physical science. Humans can impact some of these patterns by introducing changes in conditions of the system.

Structure & Function is the third cross-cutting concept emphasized in sixth grade. Structure represents how objects (living or non-living) are shaped, and made up of parts or substructures. The way a system functions depends on the structure of its parts or sub-systems, and their interactions (e.g., the relationship of shape of the cogs of bicycle gears, and the shape of the links in the chain is critical to how the bicycle works). Structure and function are complementary. In the life sciences, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems and organisms are examples of interrelated structures and functions, which can be analyzed and modeled to describe their relationships. In earth science, scientists model the atmospheres and ocean as composed of sub-structures, volumes or regions that differ in temperature and density and (for the atmosphere) humidity. These structures and their interactions help explain the functioning of ocean currents and weather patterns.

Arrangement for Articulation

This chart illustrates the topic arrangement of the performance expectations to link the learning progression from elementary through middle school in each discipline.

Performance Expectations

Life Science (six–eight): The learning progression builds from the individual organism in sixth grade, to its place in an ecosystem in seventh grade, to the development of these systems over time in eighth grade.  In sixth grade, the focus is on the structure of cells and organisms include body systems, growth and development, and the basis of sexual and asexual reproduction.  More detailed DNA-level of understanding is deferred to eighth grade, after students have developed sufficient understanding of chemical processes and atomic level structure for these concepts to be meaningfully developed. The performance expectations at seventh grade develop the idea of the interdependence of organisms to each other and abiotic factors as well as the cycling of matter and flow of energy that maintains ecosystems. These concepts are supported by the energy and matter concepts from sixth and seventh grade. In eighth grade, the critical ideas of variability and natural selection are introduced, and, together with the ideas of deep time and the fossil record, form the basis for the relationship between the history of the earth and life on it. These topics require understanding of time scale and population distributions of traits that need eighth grade level mathematical sophistication.

Earth and Space Science (six–eight): The learning progression builds from the interaction of earth’s systems in fifth grade to a deeper exploration of the hydrosphere and atmosphere in sixth grade. These two systems play very large roles in weather conditions and in regional and global climate. In seventh grade, the focus turns to the geosphere as students learn about changes to the earth’s surface, plate movement and the formation of earth materials. In eighth grade, the earth takes its place in the solar system and the universe as students get a much broader sense of time and space, including the more cosmic perspectives of the solar system, Milky Way galaxy, and a universe teeming with other galaxies.

Human Impact (six–eight): Embedded in the Earth and Space Science Performance Expectations are those PEs for human impact. In sixth grade, the PE asks students to apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. This links nicely with the concepts of weather and climate. In seventh grade, the PE highlights natural hazards providing opportunities to investigate earthquakes and connect with plate tectonics. In eighth grade, the PE challenges students to think deeply about the consequences of human population growth and resource consumption.

Physical Science (six–eight): The learning progression builds on the knowledge of the particulate structure of matter from fifth grade as student develop an understanding of energy in terms of the motions of particles of matter in sixth grade. Students investigate thermal energy and the transfer of energy. They are also introduced to a conceptual understanding of potential and kinetic energy with the full mathematical understanding of the concepts delayed until eighth grade. In seventh grade, the structure and property of matter and chemical reactions are studied. These build on and deepen ideas from K-5, connect to the chemical nature of the earth and life science concepts in seventh grade, and begin to develop atomic and molecular level ideas about matter that are the base for eighth grade and high school science. Eighth grade provides opportunities to continue the study of forces and interactions built in K-5, applied in the context of structure and function in sixth grade, and structure and properties of matter in seventh grade and finally to the context of space science in eighth grade. In eighth grade, mathematical expressions and relationships for forces and interactions and kinetic and potential energy are introduced and students begin to build an understanding of them that includes these more quantitative aspects. Waves and electromagnetic interactions are also not introduced until eighth grade because of the mathematical representations required to describe and quantify their properties.

Engineering (six–eight): There are four engineering PEs. They are arranged for each grade to maximize opportunities for students to engage in the engineering practices. These standards can be combined with any of the science disciplines to provide rich learning experiences for students.