WELCOME TO 6TH GRADE SCIENCE 2023

• Know the major types of rocks
  • Igneous
  • Sedimentary
  • metamorphic
• Know the properties of a mineral
• Know what weather is
• Know what climate is
• Know the difference between weather and climate
• Know about Earth’s crust
  • Inner core
  • Outer core
  • Mantle
  • Lithosphere
  • Crust
• Know the layers of Earth
• Know what weathering is
• Know what erosion is
• Know the difference
• Know about rainfall and runoff
• Know about Earth’s four spheres
  • Biosphere
  • Geosphere
  • Atmosphere
  • Hydrosphere
• Know where Earthquakes usually occur
• Know the difference between condensation, precipitation and evaporation.

• Using radioactive dating, scientist found rocks on earth that were 4 billion years old
• But scientist think that Earth is a bit older
• Scientist believe that the moon is formed from materials off of Earth when Earth was very young and got hit by something
• Moon rocks, using radioactive dating, are 4.6 billion years old
• So scientist think that earth is 4.6 billion years old

• Scientist think that Earth began as a ball of dust, rocks and ice in space and that gravity pulled it all together. (gravity?  From where?  How?)
• As Earth grew larger gravity pulled in more ice, dust and rocks
• The energy from the collision of all this materials raised earths temp.
• Scientist believe earth got so hot it melted a bit – causing heavier rocks to mold together at the center of earth = earth’s core
• Less dense rocks hardened over time to form Earth’s outer layers = the crust and mantle

• Earth’s first atmosphere
  • May have included light gases such as hydrogen and helium
  • But gravity could not hold onto these gases as the sun releases strong burst of particles called solar wind
  • This light atmosphere blew away
• Earth’s next atmosphere
  • Volcanic eruptions and collisions with comets released carbon dioxide, water vaper, nitrogen and other gases into the atmosphere
• The Oceans
  • First the Earth was too hot for water
  • As Earth cooled water condensed and formed rain
  • The water filled up the oceans
  • The oceans absorbed much of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
• The Continents
  • During Precambrian time much of Earth’s rock cooled and hardened. 
  • Less than 500 million years after Earth formed the rock at the surface formed continents
  • The continents move very slowly over Earth’s surface
  • Over the billions of years Earth’s landmasses have repeatedly formed, broken apart and then crashed together again
• Early Organisms
  • Scientist cannot found exactly when and where life formed on Earth
  • But a fossil of a single celled organism was found that dated back 3.5 billion years ago
  • About 2.5 billion years ago, many organisms began using energy from the sun to make food = Photosynthesis
  • Photosynthesis makes Oxygen
  • The oxygen formed an ozone layer around the Earth
  • The ozone layer protected Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays
  • Thus organisms could begin to survive on land

• Erosion
• Sediment
• Deposition
• Gravity
• Mass movement

• Erosion – the process by which natural forces move weathered rock and soil from one place to another.
• Agents of Erosion
  • Gravity
  • Moving water
  • Glaciers
  • Waves
  • Wind
• The material moved by erosion is called sediment
• Sediment is made up of  
  • Pieces of rock and soil
  • Remains of plants and animals
• Deposition occurs where the agents of erosion deposit or lay down the sediment.
  • Deposition changes the shape of the land
• Weathering, erosion, and deposition act together in a cycle that wears down and builds up Earth’s surface
• As a mountain wears down in one place a new landform builds up in another place
• This cycle is never ending.

• Gravity – the force that pulls you downward
• Mass movement –movement of sediment downhill.  There are four types of mass movement
  • Landslides
  • Mudflows
  • Slumps and
  • Creep
• Mudflows
  • Rapid down hill movement of a mixture of water, rock, and soil.
  • Usually occur after heavy rain.
  • Clay soil is usually involved
• Landslides
  • When rock and soil slide quickly down a steep slope
  • May contain huge masses of rock
  • Usually from unstable slopes
• Slumps
  • When a mass of rock and soil suddenly slips down a slope – all as one
  • Usually occurs when water soaks the bottom of the soil that is rich in clay
• Creep
  • Very slow downhill movement of rock and soil
  • Usually occurs from the freezing and thawing of water increased layers of rock beneath the soil.
  • Creep may tilt objects at unusual angles.

• vocab
  • Runoff – moving water that moves over land carrying particles with it.  Runoff causes sheet erosion
    • The amount of runoff depends on
      • Amount of rain an area
      • Vegetation – more vegetation less runoff
      • Type of soil
      • Shape of the land.  Steeper land more runoff
      • How people use the land ex paved parking lot does not absorb water so more runoff
    • More runoff = more erosion
    • Reduce runoff = reduce erosion
  • Rill – tiny grooves in the soil cause by runoff
  • Gully – many rills coming together – a larger groove or channel in the soil that carries runoff after a rainstorm.
    • Gullies only contain water when it rains
  • Stream – when gullies join together to form a larger channel = a stream
    • A stream is a channel along which water is continually flowing down a slop.
    • It rarely dries up
  • River – streams coming together to form a river. – a large stream = a river
  • Tributary – a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river.
  • Drainage basin or watershed = an area from which a river and its tributaries collect their water.

• Through erosion, a river creates valleys, waterfalls, flood plains, meanders, and oxbow lakes.
• Rivers usually begin on steep mountains slopes
• Near the top the rivers flow heavy and quickly causing a deep V shape river to form
• Waterfalls
  • Occur where a river meets an area of hard rock next to an area of soft rock. As the soft rock erodes the water falls over the higher hard rock
  • This also causes rapids
• Flood Plain
  • Form in flat areas, lower down the rivers course,
  • The water is not moving so fast, so it is not in a deep V shape and it spreads out and erodes the land forming a wider river valley.
  • Wen the river overflows its banks it fills the flood plain
• Meanders
  • Formed when a river flows through easily eroded rock or sediment
  • Is a loop like bend in a river
  • As the river flows from side to side, it erodes the outer bank and deposits sediment on the inner bank
  • Over time the loop becomes bigger
• Oxbow lake
  • Formed by meandering rivers that are cut off from the river
  • When a flood comes and the water moves quicker and stronger it breaks free of the meander and follows a more direct root. 
  • Deposit sediment dams up the meander causing a lake to form

• As water moves it carries sediment with it.
• When water slows down it drops its sediment
• This is called deposition
• Deposition creates landforms such as alluvial fans and deltas
• Delta
  • A river ends its journey when it flows into a still body of water such as an ocean or a lake.
  • Since it is no longer going down hill it slows down and drops its sediment
  • This sediment builds up to form delta’s or land forms
• Alluvial fans
  • Where a stream flows out of a steep narrow mountain valley, the stream becomes wider and shallower and the water drops its sediment
  • This sediment will form a alluvial fan.

• Groundwater is water that flows underground.  It is not absorbed in plants nor is it flowing in rivers.
  • It affects the shape of the land
  • Groundwater can cause erosion through a process of chemical weathering.
  • Water combines with carbon dioxide and forms a weak acid called carbonic acid.
  • Groundwater contains carbonic acid
  • Carbonic acid erodes limestone.
  • This cause underground caves to form
• Cave Formations
  • Caves form underground from carbonic acid eroding the limestone
  • Inside the limestone caves water still seeps in
  • The water still contains sediment and carbonic acid
  • The dripping water from the top of the cave forms stalactites
    • Stalactites are like icicles from the roof of a cave
  • As the water drips off the stalactites, the dripping builds up on the cave floor cause cone- shaped stalagmites to form
    • Stalagmites are formed from the dripping of the stalactites and are found on a caves floor.
• Karst Topography
  • A region where there is a layer of limestone near the surface, and a lot of rain.
  • There are not many streams or rivers because the limestone absorbs the water
  • The water erodes the limestone
  • This can cause a sinkhole to form
  • A sinkhole is when the roof of an underground cave caves in leaving a deep hole with little or no warning.

• vocab
  • Glacier – any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land
  • Continental glacier – a glacier that covers much of a continent or a large island (Greenland)
  • Valley glacier – a long narrow glacier that forms when snow and ice build up high in a mountain valley.
  • Ice age – when continental glaciers cover a large portion of Earth’s surface
  • Plucking
  • Till moraine
  • Kettle

• Glaciers can form only in an area where more snow falls than melts
• Continental Glaciers cover about 10 % of the earth
  • They cover Antarctica and most of Greenland
• Continental Glaciers can flow in all directions as they move. 
  • They are pulled down by gravity
• Valley Glaciers – can be found in between the sides of mountains.
  • They usually move down the valley that was already cut by a river
• Gravity constantly pulls a glacier downhill
  • Valley Glaciers can move from a few centimeters in a year to a few kilometers in a year

• The two processes by which glaciers erode the land are plucking and abrasion. 
  • Plucking – as the glacier flows over the land, it picks up rocks.
    • The weight of the Glacier can break rocks
    • These rock pieces freeze into the bottom of the Glacier
    • When the Glacier moves it carries the rocks with it
    • Many rocks remain on the bottom of the Glacier
    • As the Glacier moves it drags the rocks across the land
  • Abrasion
    • As the Glacier moves with the rocks on the bottom scratching the land This is Abrasion  – the Glacier scratches and gorges the bedrock

• When a Glacier melts, it deposits the sediment it eroded from the land, creating various landforms. 
  • These landforms remain for thousands of years after the Glacier melts
  • The sediment that the Glaciers deposits is called Till
  • Till is made up of particles of different sizes – Glaciers can move boulders. And it is made up of clay, silt, sand, gravel and boulders.
• Moraine
  • The till deposited at the edges of a glacier – it usually forms a ridge
  • A terminal moraine is a ridge at the furthest point the Glacier reached
    • Long Island NY is a terminal Ridge
• Kettle
  • Retreating Glaciers can create a Kettle
  • A Kettle is when a chuck of ice is left in a glacier till – it creates a depression
  • These depressions sometimes fill with water and are called Kettle lakes
• Features of Erosion
  • Horn = when glaciers carve away the sides of a mountion resulting in a sharpened peak
  • Cirque = a bowl shaped hollow eroded by a glacier
  • Arête = a sharp ridge separating two cirques
  • U-shaped Valley = a flowing glacier scoops out a U shaped valley
• Features of Deposition
  • Moraine = where glacier deposits form a ridge
  • Drumlin = a long mound of till that is smoothed in the direction of a glacier flow
  • Kettle Lakes = forms when a depression left in till by melting ice fills with water

• Groundwater is water that flows underground.  It is not absorbed in plants nor is it flowing in rivers.
  • It affects the shape of the land
  • Groundwater can cause erosion through a process of chemical weathering.
  • Water combines with carbon dioxide and forms a weak acid called carbonic acid.
  • Groundwater contains carbonic acid
  • Carbonic acid erodes limestone.
  • This cause underground caves to form

• Cave Formations
  • Caves form underground from carbonic acid eroding the limestone
  • Inside the limestone caves water still seeps in
  • The water still contains sediment and carbonic acid
  • The dripping water from the top of the cave forms stalactites
    • Stalactites are like icicles from the roof of a cave
  • As the water drips off the stalactites, the dripping builds up on the cave floor cause cone- shaped stalagmites to form
    • Stalagmites are formed from the dripping of the stalactites and are found on a caves floor.
• Karst Topography
  • A region where there is a layer of limestone near the surface, and a lot of rain.
  • There are not many streams or rivers because the limestone absorbs the water
  • The water erodes the limestone
  • This can cause a sinkhole to form

1. Projects can start after Thanksgiving, November 28, 2022
2. Students need an unused copybook for their science fair project by Monday Nov. 28
3. Projects need to be completed by Jan 20, 2023
4. Students need a trifold board for their science fair project
5. Completed Boards and experiments are due into the school on Jan 27, 2023
6. Awards ceremony Thursday Feb 9, 2023 7:00 pm all are invited to come and check out all the fabulous science experiments.

1. All projects must be in the form of an experiment.  Not a demonstration. 
2. The work on each student’s project will be completed at home.  This includes research, data collecting, experiments, conclusion and creating the trifold board.
3. Every student must create and keep a Log Notebook.  Every thought must be recorded in this Log Notebook.
4. Experiments can come in to school to be shown off at the science fair. – But remember to take pictures and document everything every step of the way. 
5. All students are expected to present their projects in class and to explain their experiment.  They will also need to answer questions during the judging.
6. Projects may not include
   1. Science or math kits from stores
   2. Live animals
   3. Fire
   4. Bodily fluids
   5. Parts to fragile to be handled and to travel to and from school
   6. Uncontained messes
7. Students must follow the Scientific Method

• You and your parents read through this packet
• Buy a Log Notebook – bring it to school by Monday 11/28
• Return the signature slip to school by Monday 11/28

• Use a new copybook
• Make it your own – title it – draw on it – put your name on it
• Be sure to DATE each entry!
• Start Today!
• Brainstorm – all your thoughts and ideas get written down in this notebook
• Write about all your ideas
• Write about your interests
• Write any questions that come to your mind – I wonder if . . .
• Write about the problems you came across and how you think you can solved them
• Once you decided on a problem/question write it down
• Start your research here – date it, write where you found it, summarize it.
• Record all of your investigations – in detail
• Record any drawings that you have
• Basically, anything to do with your project should be recorded in your log book

• Aerodynamics and Hydrodynamics
• Astronomy
• Chemistry
• Cooking and Food Science
•  Music
• Photography, Digital Photography
• Physics
• Sports Science

• Human Biology and Health
• Plant Biology

• Civil Engineering
• Electricity and Electronics
• Energy and Power
• Environmental Engineering
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Robotics

• Environmental Science
• Geology
• Ocean Sciences
• Weather and Atmosphere

• Human Behavior
• Sociology

• Computer Science
• Pure Mathematics
• Video and Computer Games

1. Create a materials List – Remember everything right now is going in your Log Notebook. 
2. Write out your Procedure.  Procedures are numbered.  First do this, second do this, third do this . . .
3. List your controlled variables and your independent variable.
   1. Controlled variable = the things that will be the same for each experiment
   2. Independent variable = the thing that will change – what you are testing.

• Scientific Method
• Science fair
• Earth’s place in the universe
  • Gravity
  • Scale
  • Geologic time scale
• Earth’s Systems
  • Flow of energy
  • Geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface
  • Evidence of past plate motions
  • Cycling of water
  • Air masses and changes in weather conditions
  • Atmospheric and oceanic circulation
• Earth and human activity
  • Monitoring and minimizing human impact