Science: Systems, Evidence & Deep Time
Objectives
- D06.S1.07.01 Distinguish correlation from causation and explain why a pattern alone does not prove a cause.
- D06.S1.07.02 Evaluate whether a claim is supported by evidence and identify what further evidence would help.
- D06.S2.07.01 Explain how variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations over time using evidence.
- D06.S2.07.02 Describe relationships among species (such as predation, competition, and symbiosis) and how they shape communities.
- D06.S3.07.01 Explain force, mass, and acceleration and use them to describe everyday motion.
- D06.S3.07.02 Describe how waves (such as sound, light, and water) carry energy and relate wave properties to what we observe.
- D06.S4.07.01 Explain how the atmosphere, oceans, and land interact to shape climate and weather.
- D06.S4.07.02 Explain how evidence (such as fossils, rock layers, and ice cores) tells the story of deep time and past life.
Essential questions
- How do I tell correlation from causation, and know whether a claim is really supported by evidence?
- How do variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations — and how do species interact?
- How do forces and waves explain motion and energy, and how do Earth's systems shape climate and deep time?
Big ideas
- A pattern alone does not prove a cause, and good claims are supported by evidence and open to more.
- Variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations over time, and species interact through predation, competition, and symbiosis.
- Force, mass, and acceleration describe motion; waves carry energy; and Earth's systems write the story of climate and deep time.
Lessons
- 1 Correlation Is Not Causation 50 minutes
- 2 Why a Pattern Alone Does Not Prove a Cause 50 minutes
- 3 Is the Claim Supported by Evidence? 50 minutes
- 4 Variation and Inheritance 50 minutes
- 5 Natural Selection Shapes Populations 50 minutes
- 6 Species in Relationship 50 minutes
- 7 Force, Mass, and Acceleration 50 minutes
- 8 Forces in Everyday Motion 50 minutes
- 9 Waves Carry Energy 50 minutes
- 10 Wave Properties and What We Observe 50 minutes
- 11 Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Shape Climate 50 minutes
- 12 Reading Deep Time 50 minutes
Assessment plan
Observation of correlation-versus-causation reasoning and evidence evaluation; a natural-selection model, a species-relationship map, a force-and-wave investigation, and a deep-time evidence note as portfolio artifacts.
Unit 6 — Science: Systems, Evidence & Deep Time
Overview
This unit looks out at the world through the lens of systems, deepening Grade 6’s investigation of error and bias into the logic of evidence itself. Learners distinguish correlation from causation and explain why a pattern alone does not prove a cause, and evaluate whether a claim is supported by evidence and identify what further evidence would help. They explain how variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations over time using evidence, and describe relationships among species — predation, competition, symbiosis — and how they shape communities. They explain force, mass, and acceleration and use them to describe everyday motion, and describe how waves — sound, light, water — carry energy and how wave properties relate to what we observe. They explain how the atmosphere, oceans, and land interact to shape climate and weather, and how evidence — fossils, rock layers, ice cores — tells the story of deep time and past life. Origins here are offered as models with evidence, held as inquiry alongside other ways of knowing, never as creed.
Essential questions
- How do I tell correlation from causation, and know whether a claim is really supported by evidence?
- How do variation, inheritance, and natural selection shape populations — and how do species interact?
- How do forces and waves explain motion and energy, and how do Earth’s systems shape climate and deep time?
Lessons
| Lesson | Title | Standards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Correlation Is Not Causation | D06.S1.07.01 |
| 2 | Why a Pattern Alone Does Not Prove a Cause | D06.S1.07.01 |
| 3 | Is the Claim Supported by Evidence? | D06.S1.07.02 |
| 4 | Variation and Inheritance | D06.S2.07.01 |
| 5 | Natural Selection Shapes Populations | D06.S2.07.01 |
| 6 | Species in Relationship | D06.S2.07.02 |
| 7 | Force, Mass, and Acceleration | D06.S3.07.01 |
| 8 | Forces in Everyday Motion | D06.S3.07.01 |
| 9 | Waves Carry Energy | D06.S3.07.02 |
| 10 | Wave Properties and What We Observe | D06.S3.07.02 |
| 11 | Atmosphere, Oceans, and Land Shape Climate | D06.S4.07.01 |
| 12 | Reading Deep Time | D06.S4.07.02 |