Sixth Grade Expeditions
What’s the Buzz About?
Topics: Exploration of coffee industry-economics, habitat, government, and social structure of South America; soil quality/testing; rainforest study-comparison of rainforest soil to NC soil.
Guiding Questions:
1. How and why do scientists investigate environmental conditions?
2. How do students and other consumers impact the global community?
3. How do the economics of the coffee trade affect children?
Core texts
Ronal Smith, Jaguar
Barbara Justus, The Day Papa Came Home
Iqbal
The Hero! – A Social Studies and Language Arts Expedition
Topics: Study of the Hero’s Journey in literature and history. In the context of catastrophic events, like the Holocaust, regular people become heroes who take risks that change who they are, what they believe and what they’re capable of.
Guiding Questions:
1. What characteristics and experiences do heroes have in common?
2. Why do catastrophic events turn regular people into heroes?
3. What is the force behind heroism and how has it impacted our culture and history?
Core texts
Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey
Greek Mythology
Jerry Spinelli, Milkweed
Lois Lowry, Number the Stars
Patricia Polacco, Butterfly
Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun, Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust Life in a Nazi Concentration Camp
Diary of Anne Frank
The Force! A Science Expedition
Topics: Exploration of natural disasters, and what people need to survive these forces. Changes in the Earth over time, including the lithosphere, seismology, energy transfer, scientific notation, fractions and probability.
Guiding Questions:
- How do natural forces shape the Earth and how do we study them?
- What forces of nature are the result of industrialization and globalization?
- What forces of nature can be harnessed to generate new forms of green energy?
Core texts
Various science articles
Materials from Project N.E.E.D.
Spaceship Earth!
Topics: Exploration of the solar system and what planets need to support life; beliefs about the cosmos and how those beliefs have changed over the last 500 years. Journey and travel literature, exploration, and mapping.
Guiding Questions:
- What characteristics enable a planet to support life?
- How and why have the beliefs about the cosmos changed over the last 500 years?
- How can exploration and the journey provide important analogies for our own choices and destinations?
Core texts
Karen Hesse, Stowaway
Avi, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Gary Paulson, Dogsong
Literacy Overview:
In sixth grade, students continue to practice reading strategies and begin to analyze literature in a deeper fashion. Students engage in weekly vocabulary and grammar study. Writing focuses on persuasive essays, memoirs, travel logs, informative writing, comparison/contrast essays with proper punctuation, writing mechanics, grammar, spelling, and documentation of sources.
Math/Science Overview:
Students continue to practice problem solving strategies while they gain skills that strengthen their use of fractions, decimals, percents, integers, and analysis of data. They learn the basics of Algebraic expressions and find relationships within geometric shapes.
Field Work:
Earthshine outdoor education center, Swannanoa Quarry, cemetery, Health Adventure, Coffee Roaster, 10,000 Villages, Warren Wilson College, Grove Park Inn, end-of-year rafting trip with overnight.
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