What does a student learn in StateGeorgia,GradeGrade 6,SubjectScience?

Students study how humans figured out the size, shape, and age of the universe, from early star charts to modern telescopes. They look at the evidence scientists used and how those ideas changed over time.

Scientists don't always get it right the first time. Students trace how big ideas shifted over time, like why we stopped thinking Earth sat at the center of everything, and what new discoveries changed the story.

Students place the solar system within the Milky Way galaxy, then place the Milky Way within the broader universe. The goal is to build a mental picture of where our corner of space sits in the larger structure.

Students compare the eight planets using data: how big each one is next to Earth, what its surface and atmosphere look like, how far it sits from the sun, and whether conditions there could support life.

Gravity pulls planets and moons inward while inertia keeps them moving forward. Students use models to show how these two forces working together keep objects in steady orbits around the sun or a planet.

Comets, asteroids, and meteoroids are three different kinds of objects traveling through space. Students compare what each one is made of, what it looks like, and where in the solar system it tends to be found.

Students study how the positions of the sun, Earth, and moon create day and night, the phases of the moon, and solar and lunar eclipses. The focus is on how those three bodies line up and what changes when they do.

Students build or draw a model showing where the sun, Earth, and moon sit relative to each other, then use it to explain why the moon appears to change shape across a month.

Students explain why the sky goes dark during a solar eclipse (the moon blocks sunlight) and why the moon dims during a lunar eclipse (Earth's shadow falls across it).

Students study why Earth's tilt causes some parts of the planet to receive more direct sunlight at certain times of year. That uneven distribution of sunlight is what drives the seasons.

Water shapes nearly everything on Earth's surface. Students study how water moves through the environment, carves landscapes, and drives weather patterns.

Students identify where water is found on Earth's surface (oceans, rivers, lakes, swamps, underground, and ice) and compare how much water sits in each location. Most of it is ocean saltwater, with only a small share in freshwater sources.

The sun heats water on Earth's surface, turning it into vapor that rises, cools, and falls back as rain or snow. Students investigate how solar energy drives that cycle by designing and running a simple experiment.

Students read graphs and maps to describe what ocean water is made of, where the major oceans sit, and what the seafloor looks like beneath the surface.

Students read ocean data and draw graphs or diagrams showing what causes waves, currents, and tides and what effects they have on Earth.

Students study how the sun's heat, land surfaces, and oceans work together to shape local weather patterns and longer-term climate. They read, compare, and discuss sources to explain why some places are hotter, wetter, or stormier than others.

Students learn what the atmosphere is made of, layer by layer, and how certain gases trap heat near Earth's surface the way a blanket holds in warmth at night.

Students investigate why sand gets hotter than water on a sunny day. They design a test to see how sunlight warms soil, water, and air at different speeds.

Students build a model to show why wind forms: the sun heats land and water unevenly, and Earth's rotation bends that moving air into the wind patterns we feel locally and see on global weather maps.

Students learn how differences in air pressure move weather fronts and air masses across the sky, and why those shifts can set off thunderstorms or tornados.

Students look at real weather data to explain how water evaporating from the ocean fuels storms. This includes tracing how that ocean moisture drives weather patterns and builds powerful storms like hurricanes.

Students study how Earth's surface takes shape, from shifting tectonic plates and volcanic activity to erosion and rock formation. They read real data, weigh sources, and explain the evidence behind what shaped the ground beneath our feet.

Students compare the four layers inside Earth, noting how each one differs in temperature, thickness, density, and what it's made of. Think of it as cutting through Earth like an apple and describing each layer from skin to core.

Students investigate real minerals, observing their color, hardness, and texture, then connect what they find to how those minerals make up the rocks around them.

Rocks fall into three groups based on how they formed: from cooled magma, from compressed sediment, or from existing rock changed by heat and pressure. Students learn how rocks shift between those groups over time through the rock cycle.

Weathering breaks rocks apart; erosion moves the pieces by wind, water, or ice; and deposition drops them somewhere new. Students learn to tell these three processes apart and name what causes each one.

Students build or draw a model showing how wind, water, and ice slowly break down rocks and move the pieces somewhere new. They also show how human activity, like construction or mining, changes the land.

Moving pieces of Earth's outer layer grind together, pull apart, or collide. Students explain how those movements trigger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Fossils found in rock layers tell a story about what Earth looked like millions of years ago. Students use maps and fossil data to argue how land and climate have shifted over time.

Students dig into or examine soil samples to find evidence that soil is built from layers: broken-down rock at the bottom and decomposed plant or animal material closer to the surface.

Students study where natural resources like water, soil, and minerals come from, how people use them, and what happens to the land, air, and water when those resources run out or get damaged.

Students sort energy sources into two groups: ones that replenish naturally, like sunlight and wind, and ones that run out, like oil and coal. They also connect each source to real everyday uses.

Students design and test solutions to protect resources like clean water, healthy soil, and breathable air, then weigh the trade-offs of each approach.

Students look at data from the past 100 years and build an argument explaining what has caused global temperatures to rise, weighing evidence from human activity and natural sources.