The NGSS in California
Skills available for California sixth-grade science standards. Standards are listed below and extra practice/examples can be found on IXL.com.
LS Life Sciences
- Structure, Function, and Information Processing
- MS-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.
- MS-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.
- MS-LS1-3 Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
- MS-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.
- Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms
- MS-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.
- MS-LS1-5 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
- MS-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.
- Genetics vocabulary: genotype and phenotype (6-Q.2)
- Genetics vocabulary: dominant and recessive (6-Q.3)
- Genetic variation in sexual reproduction (6-Q.4)
- Complete and interpret Punnett squares (6-Q.5)
- Use Punnett squares to calculate ratios of offspring types (6-Q.6)
- Flowering plant and conifer life cycles (6-T.1)
- Moss and fern life cycles (6-T.2)
ESS Earth and Space Systems
- Earth’s Systems
- MS-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.
- Weather and Climate
- MS-ESS2-5 Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.
- MS-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.
- MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
- Human Impacts
- MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
PS Physical Sciences
- Energy
- MS-PS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.
- MS-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.
- MS-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.
ETS Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
- Engineering Design
- MS-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.
- MS-ETS1-2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- MS-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.
- MS-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.