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

Students ask questions about patterns in the sky, like why the sun rises at different times each season, and turn those questions into problems worth investigating.

Students ask questions about what they observe, what experiments show, and what they read. This includes questioning each other's ideas and pushing back on conclusions that need more evidence.

Students watch how the moon, planets, and stars move across the night sky, then ask questions about what a basic solar system model can and can't explain.

Students read charts and graphs about space, weather, or Earth's features to spot patterns and draw conclusions. The data does the talking; students explain what it shows.

Students look at science data, like temperature readings or moon phases recorded over time, and spot patterns. Then they explain what those patterns might mean and whether one thing could be causing another to change.

Students compare data about planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system to find what they have in common and how they differ. They look at things like surface features, size, and what's happening on or around each object.

Students build and use models to show how objects in space move, how forces shape a planet's surface, or how energy flows through a system. The model can be a drawing, a diagram, or a physical object.

Students build and refine diagrams or physical models to show how something in Earth and space science works, then use those models to explain their thinking and share it with others.

Students build scale models of the solar system to show how big planets and the sun are, how far apart they sit, and how they move. The models also explain why gravity and inertia keep each planet on its path instead of flying off or falling in.

Students build explanations for patterns they observe in space, like why seasons change or why the moon looks different each night, and sketch out solutions to problems those patterns create here on Earth.

Students use real evidence, from experiments, data, or research, to explain why something happens in the natural world. They also look for gaps or mistakes in scientific explanations, including their own.

Rock layers act like pages in Earth's history book. Students use evidence from those layers to explain how scientists divide Earth's 4.6-billion-year past into chunks of time, from ancient seas to the first dinosaurs to today.

Students read and compare sources to explain how early observations of the night sky led to modern ideas about Earth's place in space. They evaluate whether sources agree and communicate what the evidence shows.

Students study how different cultures, including Minnesota American Indian tribes, have developed their own ways of explaining natural events and solving problems. They gather and share what they find.

Students explain how the Moon's shape appears to change throughout the month, why eclipses happen, and why seasons shift, drawing on scientific models and the sky knowledge of Minnesota American Indian communities and other cultures.

Students form a clear question or problem statement before starting an investigation. This is how scientific work begins.

Students ask questions about what they observe, what experiments show, and what they read. The questions push thinking further, whether they come from a lab result, a classmate's idea, or a passage in a book.

Students look at a stack of rock layers and ask questions about which layers formed first and which formed most recently. They practice reading Earth's history the way you'd read pages in a book, oldest at the bottom, newest at the top.

Students design and run their own science investigations to answer a question about Earth's systems, then record what they observe and explain what the results mean.

Students design their own experiments to test a question, then collect and organize data that backs up their conclusions. This covers both classroom labs and fieldwork.

Students gather weather data and use digital tools to find patterns in how air masses move and collide. Those patterns show why temperature, wind, and precipitation change from day to day.

Students read charts, graphs, and tables about Earth's systems to spot patterns and draw conclusions. The data does the talking; students explain what it means.

Students look at data they've collected about Earth's systems, spot patterns in it, and figure out what those patterns might mean. They practice asking: "Why do these numbers change together?"

Students look at maps of fossils, rock layers, and ocean floor shapes to figure out how Earth's continents have moved over millions of years.

Students build and use diagrams or physical models to show how parts of Earth's systems interact, then revise those models when new evidence changes the picture.

Students build and update diagrams or physical models to show how something in nature works, then use those models to explain their thinking to others.

Students build a diagram or model showing how rocks form, break down, and change over millions of years, and identify the heat and pressure inside Earth that keep the cycle moving.

Students build a diagram or model showing how water moves from oceans and land up into clouds and back down as rain or snow. The model explains what drives that cycle: heat from the Sun and the pull of gravity.

Students back up their ideas about Earth's systems with real evidence. They listen to other explanations, weigh the evidence on each side, and change their thinking when the evidence calls for it.

Students back up their explanations about Earth's systems with evidence, then defend or revise those explanations when new information shows up. They also question other students' scientific arguments and offer their own counterarguments.

Students build a written argument explaining how forces like erosion, earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions have reshaped Earth's surface over time, from a single landslide to millions of years of continental drift. Evidence from data or observations backs each claim.

Students learn to ask testable questions and frame problems clearly before jumping to solutions. This is the starting point for any science investigation.

Students form questions about what they observe, what experiments show, and what they read. A good question pushes the investigation further or challenges an idea someone else proposed.

Students look at data on rising temperatures over the last hundred years and ask focused questions about what caused the change. They learn to tell the difference between natural factors and human ones, like burning fossil fuels.

Students read charts and graphs about how human activities affect Earth, then draw conclusions from patterns in the data.

Students collect data about Earth's systems and look for patterns, like whether rising temperatures match changes in sea level or weather. Finding those patterns helps students figure out how one thing might be causing another.

Students study real data from past earthquakes, floods, and storms to predict where disasters are likely to strike next and how to reduce the damage they cause.

Students look at real-world problems caused by Earth's changing systems and use evidence to explain what is happening. Then they sketch out practical solutions that could actually work.

Students use scientific evidence from experiments, studies, or data to explain why something happens in the natural world. They also spot flaws in their own explanations or someone else's when the evidence doesn't hold up.

Students explain why coal, oil, drinkable water, or useful minerals are plentiful in some places and scarce in others. The answer comes from Earth's own history: volcanic activity, ancient seas, and shifting land built these resources unevenly over millions of years.

Students design a real plan to track and reduce a human impact on the environment, like pollution or habitat loss, using science to back up each choice they make.