Grade 6

Whole Year plan around Science

This plan was made in response to a challenge to develop a whole year plan for Australian Curriculum: Science.
It has been designed alongside the goal to develop a sense of place for Launceston Grade 6 students.
Unit and lesson plans have been designed to fill in the week by week detail.
Overarching goal for science: By the end of this year, grade 6 students will use scientific processes to help explain things they wonder about
our place, how it links to the wider world and to inform choices that support preferred futures for themselves and our valley.

Term 1 (Feb Apr) The systems that support us

Unit name
Guiding
question

Learning
intentions

Sudden natural changes to our place

Why manipulate nature to manage affects of drought
in Northern Tasmania?

Rationale

Incidence of hotter drier summers is a topical issue at

the end of summer.
Connecting with place begin with fundamental
understandings of the Earth systems that support life.
This unit can be built on throughout the year as natural
disasters and extreme weather events occur.
1. Evaluate effects of drought on living and non-living aspects of Northern Tasmania.
2. Apply scientific understandings to community conversations about cloud seeding.
3. Record and read data in a table, graph, and correlate related sets of data to make meaning of an investigation.

Australian
Curriculum
links
(ACARA,
2015)

Science Understanding:
Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earths surface (ACSSU096)
Science as a human endeavour:
(ACSHE100)

Science
Inquiry Skills

Questioning/Predicting
Planning/conducting
Processing/analysing

Evaluating
Communicating
Week
Learning
activities

Resources and
logistics
Cross
curriculum
priorities

General
capabilities

Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Week before - Prior learning, local news, images, collect BOM Weather Kit
Week 2 plan excursion
Week5 invite Parents/Peers to youth conference
Sustainabil
ity

Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
Histories
and
Cultures

Asia and
Australias
engagemen
t with Asia

Literacy
Numeracy
ICT
Critical/creative thinking
Personal/Social capabilities
Ethical understanding
Intercultural understanding

Term 2 (May - Jul) Our valley sustains us

Unit name

Science helps our place thrive

10

Summative
assessment

Guiding
questions

How does science influence the food our valley

produces?
How should land be managed for people and native
species to thrive?

Learning
intentions

1. Explain how land managers use science to grow food crops.

2. Manage variables to effectively investigate the impact of different factors upon crop production.
3. Write a scientific report of investigation.
4. Evaluate the impact of farming upon native animal species.
Science Understanding:
The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)
Science as a human endeavour:
(ACSHE100) and (ACSHE098)
Questioning/Predicting
Planning/conducting
Processing/analysing
Evaluating
Communicating
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Australian
curriculum
links
Science
Inquiry Skills

Learning
activities

Resources and

Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Online resources. Start with

Rationale

Students chose a Tasmanian threatened animal in Term

1 as a year-long research project. Different habitats
were experienced in week 8 excursion. Now students
consider their species as they investigate how our land
is used to grow food crops.
In coming terms students follow their animal through
seasons and in connection to resource use and choices.

Summative
assessment
Scientific
report
Design an
island

logistics

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/may/13/miracle-grow-indian-rice-farmer-sri-systemrice-intensification-record-crop
http://kidcyber.com.au/topics/people-places/indonesia-farming/
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2016/02/01/4397892.htm
Habitat photos Term 1 excursion.
Organise pots, various qualities of seed, water, soil.
Week 2 organise guest speakers -Tasmanian Seed Dressing and Storage Co.; Tas Irrigation; Serve-Ag.

Cross
curriculum
priorities
General
capabilities

Term 3 (Aug - Sep) Living in our town

Unit name
Guiding
questions

Learning
intentions

Lighting up winter
How does water generate electricity?
How does electricity generate light and heat?

Rationale

Following our river systems from the Great Lake,

through irrigation systems and now into Launceston
encourages students to connect science learning with
our place.
History of hydro electricity in Launceston is a great
platform to appreciate instant heat and light in our
homes during winter.

1. Describe how hydro electricity is generated.

2. Illustrate how energy is transferred and transformed in a circuit with a lamp.

3. Create a model that includes necessary components of an electrical circuit.

Australian
curriculum
links

Science Understanding:

Electrical energy can be transferred and transformed in electrical circuits and can be generated from a range of
sources (ACSSU097)
Science as a human endeavour:
(ACSHE100) and (ACSHE098)

Science
Inquiry Skills

Learning
activities

Resources and
logistics

Cross
curriculum

Questioning/Predicting
Planning/conducting
Processing/analysing
Evaluating
Communicating
Week

Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
http://duckreach.com.au
https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/portal/system/files/engineering-heritage-australia/nominationtitle/Duck_Reach_Nomination_Part_1.pdf
Map of proposed lighting in Launceston order from LINC
Week1 Excursion letter to parents
Circuit and generator components and recycled containers

10

Summative
assessment
- Design
challenge
- Tell a story
our place
1895.

priorities
General
capabilities

Term 4 (Oct - Dec) My choices in the world

Unit name
Guiding
questions

Learning
intentions

Turning irreversible changes into reversible ones recycling

What irreversible changes to materials are ok?
Rationale
How does scientific literacy make me powerful?

Linking back to local land use, now looking into tree

farming and papermaking processes.
A unit at the end of Primary school to demonstrate
individual choices and actions can make a positive
difference to our place and our future.
1. Observe changes in materials and sort them as reversible or irreversible changes.
2. Apply process of paper making to turn scrap paper into a gift-card.

Australian
curriculum
links

Science Understanding: Chemical science

Science
Inquiry Skills

Questioning/Predicting
Planning/conducting
Processing/analysing
Evaluating

Changes to materials can be reversible or irreversible (ACSSU095)

Science as a human endeavour:
(ACSHE100) and (ACSHE098)

Communicating
Week

Learning
activities

Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate

Resources and
logistics
Cross
curriculum
priorities
General
capabilities

Week1 Schedule guest speakers

Blender, tubs and screens for paper making

What learning
could students
show me?
Term 1
Term 2

10

Summative
assessment
- Sorting
activity.
- Instruction
video.
-Debate.
- Personal
logo & motto.

End of term teacher self-assessment to inform future planning

By the end of Year 6, students compare and classify different types of observable changes to materials. They analyse
requirements for the transfer of electricity and describe how energy can be transformed from one form to another
when generating electricity. They explain how natural events cause rapid change to Earths surface. They describe and
predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things. Students explain how scientific knowledge

Term 3
Term 4

helps us to solve problems and inform decisions and identify historical and cultural contributions.
Students follow procedures to develop investigable questions and design investigations into simple cause-and-effect
relationships. They identify variables to be changed and measured and describe potential safety risks when planning
methods. They collect, organise and interpret their data, identifying where improvements to their methods or research
could improve the data. They describe and analyse relationships in data using appropriate representations and
construct multimodal texts to communicate ideas, methods and findings.
(ACARA, 2015, Year 6 Science Achievement Standard)
Comments:

What went
well?
What took
longer?
What will I do
next time?

Engagement?
Resources?
Community contacts?
Learning activities?
Common misunderstandings?
What have I learned about how children learn this best?