This curriculum unit was developed from the Learning Through Performance in Middle School Math and Science Project. The goal of the project was to develop, pilot, and research the efficacy of a 6th grade math course and science course that are designed to align with 6th grade Common Core Mathematics Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. The curriculum was designed to exemplify the use of project-based learning as the primary instructional approach, and instructionally embedded performance-based assessments as the primary assessment strategy. The rationale for building project-based learning units was to support greater student engagement and deeper learning of rigorous content through authentic, real-world applications of math and science. The rationale for building performance-based assessments into each unit of study was to support more reliable and valid measurement of individual students’ learning and performance on relevant math and science concepts and practices.
All of the curriculum materials were designed to have teachers participate in professional development to help support them in the design approach as well as implementing the materials in their classroom. If you would like further information about professional development services, please contact us.
Unit Overview
This summary is based on information found in the NGSS Framework.
Core Idea PS3 Energy
At the macroscopic level, energy can be seen or felt or heard as motion, light, sound, electrical fields, magnetic fields, and thermal energy. At the microscopic level, energy can be modeled either as particle motion or as particles stored in force fields (electric, magnetic, or gravitational).
The goal of this sixth-grade Energy Unit is to help students make connections between the concepts of energy, particle motion, temperature, and the transfer of the energy in motion from one place to another. In this unit, moving particles or motion energy will be identified as kinetic energy. Temperature will be identified as the average kinetic energy of particles of matter. Through investigations, students will determine that there is a relationship between the temperature of a system and the total energy in the system, depending on the amount of matter present. By the end of this unit, students will connect the concepts that all matter (above absolute zero) contains thermal energy, or random motion of particles, and that thermal energy transfer is the transfer of energy from an area of higher temperature (more particle movement) to an area of lower temperature (less particle movement).
In the Energy Unit, students plan an investigation about thermal energy transfer, construct an argument about thermal energy transfer, and design and construct a device to minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer. As you move into sixth-grade curriculum, it is important to know that students have not yet defined the word energy and have only used the word to identify a larger concept. Defining energy is a learning objective for middle school students.
Although students have not specifically defined the word energy, the concept of energy is first introduced in kindergarten. In kindergarten, students learn that the sun warms the Earth. They also start learning about the engineering design process as applied to energy. Students design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area. At the kindergarten level, students are not required to practice quantitative measuring; they focus on the qualitative concept of warmer and cooler. In sixth grade, students will build on this knowledge and again use the engineering design process, but this time they will construct a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
