SIXTH GRADE: ACADEMIC STANDARDS
6.PS3: Energy
1) Analyze the properties and compare sources of kinetic, elastic potential, gravitational potential,
electric potential, chemical, and thermal energy.
2) Construct a scientific explanation of the transformations between potential and kinetic energy.
3) Analyze and interpret data to show the relationship between kinetic energy and the mass of an
object in motion and its speed.
4) Conduct an investigation to demonstrate the way that heat (thermal energy) moves among objects
through radiation, conduction, or convection.
6.LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
1) Evaluate and communicate the impact of environmental variables on population size.
2) Determine the impact of competitive, symbiotic, and predatory interactions in an ecosystem.
3) Draw conclusions about the transfer of energy through a food web and energy pyramid in an
ecosystem.
4) Using evidence from climate data, draw conclusions about the patterns of abiotic and biotic factors
in different biomes, specifically the tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, desert, grasslands, rainforest,
marine, and freshwater ecosystems.
5) Analyze existing evidence about the effect of a specific invasive species on native populations in
Tennessee and design a solution to mitigate its impact.
6) Research the ways in which an ecosystem has changed over time in response to changes in physical
conditions, population balances, human interactions, and natural catastrophes.
7) Compare and contrast auditory and visual methods of communication among organisms in relation
to survival strategies of a population.
6.LS4: Biological Change: Unity and Diversity
1) Explain how changes in biodiversity would impact ecosystem stability and natural resources.
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