This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 6th grade Science content.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 6th Grade Science course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

Please make a copy and edit to fit the needs of your students.

Butterflies are dependent on native plants for survival. The decrease in the number and diversity of native plants has caused a drop in butterfly populations. Planting a butterfly garden, using plants native to the area, can promote butterfly population growth. This article explains the life cycle of the butterfly, the reasons for the loss of native habitat and the basics of creating a butterfly garden. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Arctic warming produces biological winners (whales) and losers (polar bears). This article explains why they are impacted differently and includes supplemental images. This lesson is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

In this lesson, students diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.

Students will research a plant from around the world to see how it has evolved to survive in that specific habitat. This lesson was developed by Freddy Wang as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

Students will learn about different pollinators around the world. This lesson was developed by Freddy Wang as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

After pollination, seeds need to be scattered. We will talk about how plants will spread their seeds depending on their environment. This lesson was developed by Freddy Wang as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

This is a set of two improv-style activites that encourage participants to participate in learning about living and nonliving things. Learners will get to know each other through an icebreaker activity and state their ideas and previous experience with living versus nonliving things. This will help prepare them to explore how scientists define and look for life in worlds beyond our own. It also includes specific tips for effectively engaging girls in STEM. This is the icebreaker activity in Explore: Life on Mars? that was developed specifically for use in libraries.

In this lesson, students consider the ongoing role of light energy in humans' lives. Through a folktale about the Sun, students are reminded that sunlight is the primary source of light energy on Earth. Students investigate a variety of early light emitting devices and consider their benefits and drawbacks.

In this short video and accompanying activity and readings, students learn about the Venus Fly Trap and how it adapts to its environment to survive.

In this short video, accompanying activity, and readings, students learn about wetlands by exploring the wetlands at Haw River State Park.

In this short video and accompanying activity and readings, students learn about a unique blackwater river in North Carolina - the Lumber River. The river has played an important role for the plants, people, and animals that have called it home.

Each team has a budget of $45 to spend to modify a cup into the ultimate predator.  After predators are constructed, students battle to pop each others’ balloons.  Whichever predator is able to survive is the ultimate predator. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade Science. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade Science. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team and is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade Science.