Students begin their sixth-grade year by exploring black boxes.  These first investigations introduce the foundations of scientific practice and the concepts of models and systems. Students practice making detailed observations and supporting inferences with a body of evidence.  Students collect qualitative and quantitative data and create physical and conceptual models to represent their ideas. Next, students investigate the mechanics of pendulums, spring-boards, and vehicles on ramps.  In doing so, they learn how to manipulate variables and design simple controlled experiments to answer questions about design (using standards and changing only one variable at a time). This second unit culminates when students conduct controlled experiments of their own choice and design.  In their third unit of study, students complete a project that introduces the processes involved in engineering a solution to a given design challenge - constructing a Mars satellite on a budget. Our fourth unit focuses on the diversity of life.  Sixth-graders learn about characteristics that are common to all living organisms and become familiar with biological structures and functions at different levels of organization. Students learn to use microscopes and proper slide preparation techniques to explore several microorganisms. Students use their observations and experimental data to make inferences about organisms.  In the spring, students participate in a field trip where they observe a wide variety of organisms in forest and stream communities, and classify these organisms into the appropriate kingdoms while exploring structure and function in a natural environment.