2nd Six Weeks Newsletter - Region 13

2010-2011 Second Six Weeks PreviewSciencemeaningful way. It is important to note that this will be students’ first introduction to conductors and insulators. The focuswill be on the idea that energy‘s ability to travel is affected by the object through which it travels. This will allow studentsas fifth graders to better understand how the ability of light to travel in a straight line can be altered by mediums throughwhich it travels. Similarly, students will have no previous experience with electricity and how it travels. An understandingof how electrical energy travels will be a critical foundation for students prior to Grade 5, where they will be required todemonstrate how an electrical current can produce light, heat, and sound. Throughout this unit, students will also build astrong foundation on the critical skill of designing experiments to test the effect of force on an object. Student exposureto forces has been limited to magnetism and gravity (3.6 C).TEKS 4.6A is very similar to 5.8A from the 1998 TEKS; however, there is a marked difference in that the current standardhas excluded the specific study of solar energy. Instead, it has been replaced with mechanical and sound energy.5 th GradeUnit 3: Forces. As a culminating lesson for the physical sciences, this unit ties together some main ideas concerningforces. In Grade 4, students investigate forces such as magnetism and gravity, as well as identifying that a push or a pullchanges the speed or direction of an object. As students enter the middle grades, the emphasis will be on describing thechange in position or speed by graphing.Unit 4: Light and Electrical Energy. The introduction to physical science concepts continues in Unit 3. This unit focuseson the forms and uses of energy. TEKS 5.6A, 5.6B, and 5.6C are bundled together to reinforce that energy interactswith matter to produce light, heat, and sound. Prior to Grade 5, students have investigated the forms of energy includingmechanical, sound, electrical, light, and heat/thermal energy. In Grade 6, students will investigate the transfer ofenergy through matter and demonstrate energy transformations.Unit 5: Energy Resources. In this unit students will research and debate the advantages and disadvantages of usingcoal, oil, natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and solar resources.In prior grades, students identified alternative energy resources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biofuels.In this grade students will design a logical plan to manage energy resources in the home, school, or communitybased on the research they have done. This topic is not covered again before the 8 th grade TAKS.6 th GradeUnit 3: Elements. In this unit students will identify common elements by name and symbol. They will recognize thatsome elements comprise the largest portion of solid Earth, living matter, oceans, and the atmosphere.In prior grades, students identified and classified matter by physical properties. This is an important foundation piece forthe understanding of elements and their properties. In the next unit, students will study the differences between elementsand compounds. The compounds found in Earth and its components will be revisited.Unit 4: Compounds. In this unit students will differentiate common elements and compounds by name and symbol. Studentsshould see examples of reactions between substances that produce new substances very different from the reactants.They will recognize that the formation of a new substance may be identified by using the evidence of a possiblechemical change such as production of a gas, change in temperature, production of a precipitate, or color change.In prior grades, students identified and classified matter by physical properties. This is an important foundation piece forthe understanding of elements and their properties. In the 7 th grade, students will study physical and chemical changes.In the 8 th grade students will study Chemical formulas and equations as well as chemical reactions. This content wasmoved from the 8 th grade TEKS (1998 version) to this grade.7 th GradeUnit 4: Force, Motion, and Energy Relationships. This unit bundles TEKS that focus on energy, force, and motion inliving organisms. In 6 th grade the students studied unbalanced forces and potential and kinetic energy. In 8 th grade studentswill study Newton’s laws of motion and their applications. This is the only time students will investigate forces thataffect motion in everyday life.Force, motion, and energy are observed in living systems and the environment in several ways. Interactions betweenmuscular and skeletal systems allow the body to apply forces and transform energy both internally and externally. Forceand motion can also describe the direction and growth of seedlings, turgor pressure, and geotropism.Unit 5: Factors Impacting the Environment. This unit bundles three student expectations relating to how naturalevents and human activity can impact Earth systems. Specifically, students will predict and describe how the different20