Indiana State Standards for Science: Grade 6

IN.6.1. The Nature of Science and Technology: Students design investigations. They use computers and other technology to collect and analyze data; they explain findings, and can relate how they conduct investigations to how the scientific enterprise functions as a whole. Students understand that technology has allowed humans to do many things, yet it cannot always provide solutions to our needs.

6.1.1. The Scientific View of the World: Explain that some scientific knowledge, such as the length of the year, is very old and yet is still applicable today. Understand, however, that scientific knowledge is never exempt from review and criticism. 32
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.1.

6.1.2. Scientific Inquiry: Give examples of different ways scientists investigate natural phenomena and identify processes all scientists use, such as collection of relevant evidence, the use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations in order to make sense of the evidence. 10
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.2.

6.1.3. Scientific Inquiry: Recognize and explain that hypotheses are valuable, even if they turn out not to be true, if they lead to fruitful investigations. 10
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.3.

6.1.4. The Scientific Enterprise: Give examples of employers who hire scientists, such as colleges and universities, businesses and industries, hospitals and many government agencies. 44
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.4.

6.1.5. The Scientific Enterprise: Identify places where scientists work including offices, classrooms, laboratories, farms, factories, and natural field settings ranging from space to the ocean floor. 99
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.5.

6.1.6. The Scientific Enterprise: Explain that computers have become invaluable in science because they speed up and extend people's ability to collect, store, compile, and analyze data, prepare research reports, and share data and ideas with investigators all over the world. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.6.

6.1.7. Technology and Science: Explain that technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.7.

6.1.8. Technology and Science: Describe instances showing that technology cannot always provide successful solutions for problems or fulfill every human need. 14
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.8.

6.1.9. Technology and Science: Explain how technologies can influence all living things. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.1.9.

IN.6.2. Scientific Thinking: Students use computers and other tools to collect information, calculate, and analyze data. They prepare tables and graphs, using these to summarize data and identify relationships.

6.2.1. Computation and Estimation: Find the mean and median of a set of data. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.1.

6.2.2. Computation and Estimation: Use technology, such as calculators or computer spreadsheets, in analysis of data. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.2.

6.2.3. Manipulation and Observation: Select tools such as cameras and tape recorders for capturing information. 11
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.3.

6.2.4. Manipulation and Observation: Inspect, disassemble, and reassemble simple mechanical devices and describe what the various parts are for. Estimate what the effect of making a change in one part of a system is likely to have on the system as a whole. 11
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.4.

6.2.5. Communication Skills: Organize information in simple tables and graphs and identify relationships they reveal. Use tables and graphs as examples of evidence for explanations when writing essays or writing about lab work, fieldwork, etc. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.5.

6.2.6. Communication Skills: Read simple tables and graphs produced by others and describe in words what they show. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.6.

6.2.7. Communication Skills: Locate information in reference books, back issues of newspapers and magazines, compact disks, and computer databases. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.7.

6.2.8. Communication Skills: Analyze and interpret a given set of findings, demonstrating that there may be more than one good way to do so. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.8.

6.2.9. Critical Response Skills: Compare consumer products, such as generic and brand-name products, and consider reasonable personal trade-offs among them on the basis of features, performance, durability, and costs. 10
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.2.9.

IN.6.3. The Physical Setting: Students collect and organize data to identify relationships between physical objects, events, and processes. They use logical reasoning to question their own ideas as new information challenges their conceptions of the natural world.

6.3.1. The Universe: Compare and contrast the size, composition, and surface features of the planets that comprise the solar system, as well as the objects orbiting them. Explain that the planets, except Pluto, move around the sun in nearly circular orbits. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.1.

6.3.2. The Universe: Observe and describe that planets change their position relative to the background of stars. 6
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.2.

6.3.3. The Universe: Explain that the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the sun, and that the moon, as well as many artificial satellites and debris, orbit around the Earth. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.3.

6.3.4. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Explain that we live on a planet which appears at present to be the only body in the solar system capable of supporting life. 1
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.4.

6.3.5. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Use models or drawings to explain that the Earth has different seasons and weather patterns because it turns daily on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's yearly orbit around the sun. Know that because of this, sunlight falls more intensely on different parts of the Earth during the year (the accompanying greater length of days also has an effect) and the difference in heating produces seasons and weather patterns. 18
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.5.

6.3.6. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Use models or drawings to explain that the phases of the moon are caused by the moon's orbit around the Earth, once in about 28 days, changing what part of the moon is lighted by the sun and how much of that part can be seen from the Earth, both during the day and night. 4
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.6.

6.3.7. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Understand and describe the scales involved in characterizing the Earth and its atmosphere. Describe that the Earth is mostly rock, that three-fourths of its surface is covered by a relatively thin layer of water, and that the entire planet is surrounded by a relatively thin blanket of air. 1
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.7.

6.3.8. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Explain that fresh water, limited in supply and uneven in distribution, is essential for life and also for most industrial processes. Understand that this resource can be depleted or polluted, making it unavailable or unsuitable for life. 19
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.8.

6.3.9. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Illustrate that the cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere plays an important role in determining climatic patterns. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.9.

6.3.10. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Describe the motions of ocean waters, such as tides, and identify their causes. 3
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.10.

6.3.11. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Identify and explain the effects of oceans on climate. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.11.

6.3.12. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Describe ways human beings protect themselves from adverse weather conditions. 5
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.12.

6.3.13. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Identify, explain, and discuss some effects human activities, such as the creation of pollution, have on weather and the atmosphere. 44
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.13.

6.3.14. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Give examples of some minerals that are very rare and some that exist in great quantities. Explain how recycling and the development of substitutes can reduce the rate of depletion of minerals. 3
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.14.

6.3.15. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Explain that although weathered rock is the basic component of soil, the composition and texture of soil and its fertility and resistance to erosion are greatly influenced by plant roots and debris, bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, and other organisms. 1
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.15.

6.3.16. The Earth and the Processes That Shape It: Explain that human activities, such as reducing the amount of forest cover, increasing the amount and variety of chemicals released into the atmosphere, and intensive farming, have changed the capacity of the environment to support some life forms. 44
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.16.

6.3.17. Matter and Energy: Recognize and describe that energy is a property of many objects and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion and sound. 27
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.17.

6.3.18. Matter and Energy: Investigate and describe that when a new material, such as concrete, is made by combining two or more materials, it has properties that are different from the original materials. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.18.

6.3.19. Matter and Energy: Investigate that materials may be composed of parts that are too small to be seen without magnification. 7
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.19.

6.3.20. Matter and Energy: Investigate that equal volumes of different substances usually have different masses as well as different densities. 12
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.20.

6.3.21. Forces of Nature: Investigate, using a prism for example, that light is made up of a mixture of many different colors of light, even though the light is perceived as almost white. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.21.

6.3.22. Forces of Nature: Demonstrate that vibrations in materials set up wavelike disturbances that spread away from the source such as sound and earthquake waves. 17
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.22.

6.3.23. Forces of Nature: Explain that electrical circuits provide a means of transferring electrical energy from sources such as generators to devices in which heat, light, sound, and chemical changes are produced. 7
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.3.23.

IN.6.4. The Living Environment: Students recognize that plants and animals obtain energy in different ways, and they can describe some of the internal structures of organisms related to this function. They examine the similarities and differences between humans and other species. They use microscopes to observe cells and recognize cells as the building blocks of all life.

6.4.1. Diversity of Life: Explain that one of the most general distinctions among organisms is between green plants, which use sunlight to make their own food, and animals, which consume energy-rich foods. 56
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.1.

6.4.2. Diversity of Life: Give examples of organisms that cannot be neatly classified as either plants or animals, such as fungi and bacteria. 26
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.2.

6.4.3. Diversity of Life: Describe some of the great variety of body plans and internal structures animals and plants have that contribute to their being able to make or find food and reproduce. 21
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.3.

6.4.4. Diversity of Life: Recognize and describe that a species comprises all organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring. 28
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.4.

6.4.5. Diversity of Life: Investigate and explain that all living things are composed of cells whose details are usually visible only through a microscope. 22
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.5.

6.4.6. Diversity of Life: Distinguish the main differences between plant and animal cells, such as the presence of chlorophyll and cell walls in plant cells and their absence in animal cells. 34
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.6.

6.4.7. Diversity of Life: Explain that about two thirds of the mass of a cell is accounted for by water. Water gives cells many of their properties. 22
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.7.

6.4.8. Interdependence of Life and Evolution: Explain that in all environments, such as freshwater, marine, forest, desert, grassland, mountain, and others, organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for resources, including food, space, water, air, and shelter. In any environment, the growth and survival of organisms depend on the physical conditions. 2
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.8.

6.4.9. Interdependence of Life and Evolution: Recognize and explain that two types of organisms may interact in a competitive or cooperative relationship, such as producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host. 13
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.9.

6.4.10. Interdependence of Life and Evolution: Describe how life on Earth depends on energy from the sun. 4
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.10.

6.4.11. Human Identity: Describe that human beings have body systems for obtaining and providing energy, defense, reproduction, and the coordination of body functions. 57
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.11.

6.4.12. Human Identity: Explain that human beings have many similarities and differences and that the similarities make it possible for human beings to reproduce and to donate blood and organs to one another. 57
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.12.

6.4.13. Human Identity: Give examples of how human beings use technology to match or exceed many of the abilities of other species. 24
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.4.13.

IN.6.5. The Mathematical World: Students apply mathematics in scientific contexts. They use mathematical ideas, such as relations between operations, symbols, shapes in three dimensions, statistical relationships, and the use of logical reasoning, to represent and synthesize data.

6.5.1. Numbers: Demonstrate that the operations addition and subtraction are inverses and that multiplication and division are inverses of each other. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.1.

6.5.2. Numbers: Evaluate the precision and usefulness of data based on measurements taken. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.2.

6.5.3. Shapes and Symbolic Relationships: Explain why shapes on a sphere like the Earth cannot be depicted on a flat surface without some distortion. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.3.

6.5.4. Shapes and Symbolic Relationships: Demonstrate how graphs may help to show patterns, such as trends, varying rates of change, gaps, or clusters, which can be used to make predictions. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.4.

6.5.5. Reasoning and Uncertainty: Explain the strengths and weaknesses of using an analogy to help describe an event, object, etc. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.5.

6.5.6. Reasoning and Uncertainty: Predict the frequency of the occurrence of future events based on data. 24
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.6.

6.5.7. Reasoning and Uncertainty: Demonstrate how probabilities and ratios can be expressed as fractions, percentages, or odds. 16
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.5.7.

IN.6.6. Historical Perspectives: Students gain understanding of how the scientific enterprise operates through examples of historical events. Through the study of these events, they understand that new ideas are limited by the context in which they are conceived, that the ideas are often rejected by the scientific establishment, that the ideas sometimes spring from unexpected findings, and that the ideas grow or transform slowly through the contributions of many different investigators.

6.6.1. Understand and explain that from the earliest times until now, people have believed that even though countless different kinds of materials seem to exist in the world, most things can be made up of combinations of just a few basic kinds of things. Note that there has not always been agreement, however, on what those basic kinds of things are, such as the theory of long ago that the basic substances were earth, water, air, and fire. Understand that this theory seemed to explain many observations about the world, but as we know now, it fails to explain many others. 36
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.6.1.

6.6.2. Understand and describe that scientists are still working out the details of what the basic kinds of matter are on the smallest scale, and of how they combine, or can be made to combine, to make other substances. 11
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.6.2.

6.6.3. Understand and explain that the experimental and theoretical work done by French scientist Antoine Lavoisier in the decade between the American and French Revolutions contributed crucially to the modern science of chemistry. 17
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.6.3.

IN.6.7. Common Themes: Students use mental and physical models to conceptualize processes. They recognize that many systems have feedback mechanisms that limit changes.

6.7.1. Systems: Describe that a system, such as the human body, is composed of subsystems. 57
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.7.1.

6.7.2. Models and Scale: Use models to illustrate processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly, or are too vast to be changed deliberately, or are potentially dangerous. 9
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.7.2.

6.7.3. Constancy and Change: Identify examples of feedback mechanisms within systems that serve to keep changes within specified limits. 47
Suggested Titles for Indiana Science State Standard 6.7.3.