6th Grade Earth Science Syllabus
Teacher
E-mail
Phone
Conference Hours
Rozi J. Ourfalian
[email protected]
[email protected]
1-818-784-6228
Monday - Friday, 3:30 – 4:00 PM
Course Name
Course Number
Grade Level
Textbooks
Earth Science
602
6th grade
Glencoe science 6: Focus on Earth Science
Resources
Required
Materials
Textbook
2 Composition Notebooks (1 per semester)
Writing materials (pencil, eraser, black and/or blue ink pen)
Binder with loose-leaf paper and 4 dividers with the following labels:
 Homework
 Classwork
 Quizzes & Tests
 Notes & Handouts
Course Description:
Welcome to sixth grade Earth Science! This intriguing class will allow students to gather further
knowledge about different aspects of science, specifically earth science. This class is all about the
student and his/her understanding of the planet they inhibit and the world we live in.
This science class aims to provide students with all the information they might need in the future as
they climb the ladder of success and aim for higher education. Topics that might be discussed in
class will include the following:
- Earth's Structure
- Plate tectonics
- Energy and Heat
- Earth's surface
- Earthquakes and volcanoes
- Earth's atmosphere
- Weather & Climate
- Earth's resources
With the wealth of knowledge that this class provides our young scholars, they will be able to face
the educational years ahead of them with confidence and a wide array of information.
ESLRs Addressed
1a
1b 1c
2a 2b 2c
3a 3b 3c
4a 4b 4c
5a 5b 5c
Re-enter in the following boxes the designated ESLRs numbers, which are addressed by this course
1a, 1b, 1c
3a, 3b, 3c
4a, 4b, 4c
5a, 5b
Content Standards
The following is the California Department of Education Content Standards of this Course.
Focus on Earth Science
Plate Tectonics and Earth's Structure
1. Plate tectonics accounts for important features of Earth's surface and major geologic
events. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know evidence of plate tectonics is derived from the fit of the
continents; the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and midocean ridges; and
the distribution of fossils, rock types, and ancient climatic zones.
b. Students know Earth is composed of several layers: a cold, brittle lithosphere;
a hot, convecting mantle; and a dense, metallic core.
c. Students know lithospheric plates the size of continents and oceans move at
rates of centimeters per year in response to movements in the mantle.
d. Students know that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust
called faults and that volcanoes and fissures are locations where magma
reaches the surface.
e. Students know major geologic events, such as earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, and mountain building, result from plate motions.
f. Students know how to explain major features of California geology
(including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in terms of plate tectonics.
g. Students know how to determine the epicenter of an earthquake and know
that the effects of an earthquake on any region vary, depending on the size of
the earthquake, the distance of the region from the epicenter, the local
geology, and the type of construction in the region.
Shaping Earth's Surface
2. Topography is reshaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation
and deposition of sediment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know water running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the
landscape, including California's landscape.
b. Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport
sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural and recurring
patterns.
c. Students know beaches are dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by
rivers and moved along the coast by the action of waves.
d. Students know earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods change
human and wildlife habitats.
Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Sciences)
3. Heat moves in a predictable flow from warmer objects to cooler objects until all the
objects are at the same temperature. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow
or by waves, including water, light and sound waves, or by moving objects.
b. Students know that when fuel is consumed, most of the energy released
becomes heat energy.
c. Students know heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of
matter) and in fluids by conduction and by convection (which involves flow
of matter).
d. Students know heat energy is also transferred between objects by radiation
(radiation can travel through space).
Energy in the Earth System
4. Many phenomena on Earth's surface are affected by the transfer of energy through
radiation and convection currents. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on
Earth's surface; it powers winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
b. Students know solar energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the
form of visible light.
c. Students know heat from Earth's interior reaches the surface primarily
through convection.
d. Students know convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and
oceans.
e. Students know differences in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity
result in changes of weather.
Ecology (Life Sciences)
5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with
the environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by
producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis and then from
organism to organism through food webs.
b. Students know matter is transferred over time from one organism to others in
the food web and between organisms and the physical environment.
c. Students know populations of organisms can be categorized by the functions
they serve in an ecosystem.
d. Students know different kinds of organisms may play similar ecological roles
in similar biomes.
e. Students know the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support
depends on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities
of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil composition.
Resources
6. Sources of energy and materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and the
time required for their formation. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know the utility of energy sources is determined by factors that are
involved in converting these sources to useful forms and the consequences of
the conversion process.
b. Students know different natural energy and material resources, including air,
soil, rocks, minerals, petroleum, fresh water, wildlife, and forests, and know
how to classify them as renewable or nonrenewable.
c. Students know the natural origin of the materials used to make common
objects.
Investigation and Experimentation
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful
investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Develop a hypothesis.
b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators,
computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform
tests, collect data, and display data.
c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements
about the relationships between variables.
d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports
and oral presentations.
e. Recognize whether evidence is consistent with a proposed explanation.
f. Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the
maps and construct and interpret a simple scale map.
g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the
relative ages of rocks and intrusions).
h. Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the
phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a grove of trees, a stream, a hill slope).
Common Core Standards
(If available)
The following is the Common Core Standards
California has adopted the California Next Generation Science
Standards that are connected to Common Core Standards.
The detailed standards can be found on the CA Department of
Education website:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/ngssstandards.asp
Syllabus Content
Semi-quarter syllabus includes the textbook chapters, additional resources and other relevant
information.
Semi-Quarter 1
Week 1
Introduction to textbook, the class, and the rules
Chapter 1 lesson 1 (Reading Maps)
Week 2
Chapter 1 lesson 2 (topographic and geological maps)
Test on Chapter 1
Week 3
Chapter 2 lesson 1 (landforms)
Chapter 2 lesson 2 (minerals and rocks)
Week 4
Chapter 2 lesson 3 (earth's interior)
Review for test
Test on Chapter 2
Chapter 3 lesson 1 (forms of energy)
Quiz Chapter 3 lesson 1
Week 5
Semi-Quarter 2
Week 1
Chapter 3 lesson 2 (energy transfer)
Quiz on Chapter 3 (lesson 2)
Week 2
Chapter 3 lesson 3 (temperature, thermal energy, and heat)
Chapter 3 lesson 4 (conduction, convection, and radiation)
Week 3
Review for test
Test Chapter 3 (lesson 3 and 4)
Week 4
Chapter 4 lesson 1 (continental drift)
Chapter 4 lesson 2 (seafloor spreading)
Week 5
Review for test
Test Chapter 4 (lesson 1 and 2)
Week 1
Semi-Quarter 3
Chapter 4 lesson 3 (theory of plate tectonics)
Quiz Chapter 4 lesson 3
Week 2
Chapter 5 lesson 1 (interactions at plate boundaries)
Chapter 5 lesson 2 (California geology)
Week 3
Review for test
Test Chapter 5
Week 4
Chapter 6 lesson 1 (earthquakes and plate boundaries)
Chapter 6 lesson 2 (earthquakes and seismic waves)
Week 5
Quiz Chapter 6 lesson 1 and 2
Chapter 6 lesson 3 (measuring earthquakes)
Chapter 6 lesson 4 (earthquake hazards and safety)
Week 1
Semi-Quarter 4
Review for test
Test Chapter 6 (lesson 3 and 4)
Week 2
Chapter 7 lesson 1 (volcanoes and plate boundaries)
Quiz Chapter 7 lesson 1
Week 3
Chapter 7 lesson 2 (volcanic eruptions and features)
Chapter 7 lesson 3 (hazards of volcanic eruptions)
Week 4
Review for test
Test Chapter 7
Week 5
Review for MIDTERMS
MIDTERM
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 1
Semi-Quarter 5
Chapter 8 lesson 1 (weathering)
Chapter 8 lesson 2 (erosion and deposition)
Chapter 8 lesson 3 (reshaping the California landscape)
Quiz Chapter 8
Chapter 9 lesson 1 (energy and the sun)
Chapter 9 lesson 2 (energy transfer in the atmosphere)
Chapter 9 lesson 3 (air currents)
Review for test
Test Chapter 9
Chapter 10 lesson 1 (earth's oceans)
Chapter 10 lesson 2 (ocean currents)
Quiz Chapter 10 (lesson 1 and 2)
Semi-Quarter 6
Chapter 10 lesson 3 (the ocean shore)
Chapter 10 lesson 4 (living on the CA coast)
Week 2
Review for test
Test Chapter 10 (lesson 3 and 4)
Week 3
Chapter 11 lesson 1 (weather)
Chapter 11 lesson 2 (weather patterns)
Week 4
Quiz Chapter 11 (lesson 1 and 2)
Chapter 11 lesson 3 (climate)
Week 5
Week 1
Chapter 11 lesson 4 (CA climate and local weather
patterns)
Quiz Chapter 11 (lesson 3 and 4)
Semi-Quarter 7
Chapter 12 lesson 1 (abiotic and biotic factors)
Chapter 12 lesson 2 (organisms and ecosystems)
Week 2
Review for test
Test Chapter 12
Week 3
Chapter 13 lesson 1 (producers and consumers)
Quiz Chapter 13 lesson 1
Week 4
Chapter 13 lesson 2 (energy in ecosystems )
Chapter 13 lesson 3 (matter in ecosystems)
Week 5
Review for test
Test Chapter 13
Week 1
Semi-Quarter 8
Chapter 14 lesson 1 (natural resources)
Quiz Chapter 14 lesson 1
Week 2
Chapter 14 lesson 2 (energy resources)
Quiz Chapter 14 lesson 2
Week 3
Chapter 14 lesson 3 (using energy resources)
Quiz Chapter 14 lesson 3
Week 4
Review for test
Test Chapter 14
Week 5
Review for finals
FINAL EXAMS
Classroom Rules
This section includes the rules set by the teacher and the consequences of violating these rules.
All school-wide rules will be followed and implemented in our class.
Students should pay special attention to the following rules for our class:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Be on time, prepared, and in your seats when the bell rings
Listen while others are speaking
Follow directions
Respect yourself, your classmates, and all staff and
administration members
5) Avoid inappropriate physical contact
6) Avoid swearing, insulting, or using profanities
7) Avoid chewing gum in class
8) Avoid bringing food or drinks to class
9) Plagiarism or cheating will result in an F
10) Raise your hand when you want to speak or contribute to class
11) Work and play safely
12) Do your best & have fun!
Assessment Method
This section includes rules set by the school administration
Test/Quiz Policy
Students take at least TWO tests and two quizzes per class or course per semi-quarter. Two to four
quizzes may be counted as one test. It is up to the individual teacher to adopt a policy to drop the
lowest test grade of a student in calculating the quarter grade. No more than two tests are scheduled
on the same day. The test scheduled last will be automatically dropped.
Test/Quiz Make-Up
Students with excused absences shall have the opportunity to complete missed class work and make
up all tests receiving full credit. The student is responsible to arrange for the make-up.
Students who miss a test/quiz because of an unexcused absence will receive a failing grade on that
test/quiz, except when the teacher decides to offer the chance for make-up.
If a student misses a test/quiz while on suspension, he/she will not have the opportunity to make up
the test/quiz and will receive an "F".
Cheating
Acts of cheating or plagiarism will result in suspension and the student will receive an "F" (20/100)
on the test or the assigned work.
This section includes grade percent distribution and additional rules set by the teacher
Tests
Quizzes
Homework
Projects & Labs
Classroom Participation
40 %
15 %
15 %
15%
15%
Earth Science 2015-2016 Syllabus Acknowledgement Form
Student name: ____________________________________________________
I have reviewed the syllabus for this course, and understand what is expected of me in
this class. I will do my best to meet these expectations.
Student signature: _______________________________________________ Date: ____________
As parent/guardian of the above named student, I have read the Earth Science syllabus,
and am aware of what is expected of her/him in this class.
Parent/Guardian signature: _____________________________________ Date: ____________
Parent email address: _______________________________________________________________
Parent phone #: _____________________________________________________________________