All lessons align to Grade-Level ELA Standards.
Lessons at a Glance
Grade 6 • The Good Garden
Using the Engineering Design Process, students will design and build a container for composting, so Maria and her neighbors can join in on sustainable farming.
Grade 6 • Quangle Wangle’s Hat
Design a scaled model of the Quangle Wangle’s hat, ensuring there is enough surface area for homes for his friends.
Grade 6 • Not A Box
Create a method to amplify a song being played from a cell phone and describe the physical effects of amplification.
Grade 6 • Ghost
Help the coach develop an informational product that informs the athletes on best practices for training and competing
Grade 6 • Ada’s Violin
Students are challenged to reforge everyday materials into playable instruments that are performed as a one-player-band in their musical STEAM talent show.
Full Lessons
Grade 6 • Ada’s Violin
Ada’s Violin
Lesson Summary
In Paraguay, a young girl named Ada Rios showed us that with ingenuity and creativity we can use materials we find in our environments, even items that have been deemed “trash” to meet musical functions. In this lesson, students are challenged to reforge everyday materials (like coffee cans, soda cans, lids of various materials, and rubber bands) into playable instruments that are played and performed as a one-player-band.
ELA Standards:
Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, maps) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue
STE or Math Standards:
6.MS-ETS2-2(MA). Given a design task, select appropriate materials based on specific properties needed in the construction of a solution.
Clarification Statement: Examples of materials can include metals, plastics, wood, and ceramics.
Video
Ada’s Violin read by Miss Caitlin
Grade 6 • Ghost
Ghost
Lesson Summary
Castle Cranshaw, who calls himself Ghost, lives in the city and is fascinated by world records. One day while watching a track team practice, he challenges a sprinter and catches the eye of the Olympic medalist coach, who persuades him to join the team. Ghost has a lot of natural talent but he is facing unexpected challenges in how his body is reacting to the intense training.
Challenge: Help the coach develop an informational product that informs the athletes on best practices for training and competing. Students will research 2-4 body systems and how those systems work together to help an athlete. They will create a product (video, brochure, poster board, etc.) that can be shown at a preseason meeting, such as Meet the Coach, that persuades athletes to keep themselves healthy throughout the season.
*This project would work well with a team of teachers: ELA, Science, and see Possible Extensions at the end for ways to involve Math and Social Studies standards as well.
STE or Math Standards
- 6.MS-LS1-3. Construct an argument supported by evidence that the body systems interact to carry out essential functions of life.
ELA Standards
- Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
- 4. Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume, and pronunciation. (See grade 6 Language Standards 4–6 for specific expectations regarding vocabulary.)
- 5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.
- 6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grade 6 Language Standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
Video
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Grade 6 • Not A Box
Not A Box
Lesson Summary
In our story “Not A Box,” our protagonist adamantly believes their box is NOT a box. That level of imagination is necessary to be a successful innovator!
Using a box, create a device/method to amplify a song being played from a cell phone and describe the physical effects of amplification.
STE or Math Standards
- Science
- 6.MS-PS4-1; Use diagrams of a simple wave to explain that (a) a wave has a repeating pattern with a specific amplitude, frequency, and wavelength, and (b) the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy of the wave.
- 6.MS-PS4-2; Use diagrams and other models to show that both light rays and mechanical waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
ELA Standards
- Write arguments (e.g., essays, letters to the editor, advocacy speeches) to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically in paragraphs and sections.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a style appropriate to audience and purpose (e.g., formal for academic writing).
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
Video
Not A Box
Grade 6 • Quangle Wangle’s Hat
Quangle Wangle’s Hat
Lesson Summary
The Quangle Wangle lives in the crumpetty tree and wears an enormous hat! But he is not truly happy until his creature friends come to build homes on his hat.
Challenge: Using the dimensions given in the poem, students will design and build a scaled model of the Quangle Wangle’s hat, ensuring there is enough surface area for homes for his friends.
STE or Math Standards
- STE: Technology/Engineering
6.MS-ETS1-5(MA). Create visual representations of solutions to a design problem. Accurately interpret and apply scale and proportion to visual representations.*
Math: Expressions and Equations 6.EE
6.GA Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area, and volume
4. Represent three dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface areas of these figures. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
6.RP.3c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30∕100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.
ELA Standards
- Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 4. Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume, and pronunciation. (See grade 6 Language Standards 4–6 for specific expectations regarding vocabulary.) 5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify information. 6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grade 6 Language Standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
Video
The Quangle Wangle’s Hat by Edward Lear
Grade 6 • The Good Garden
The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough
Lesson Summary
María’s family are Honduran farmers, growing barely enough to eat. When they have a poor rainy season and little growth, her and her family have to eat the seeds they need to plant in the spring. They face some tough decisions. They can either borrow seeds from the coyote who wants to be repaid three times what he lends and will take their land if the debt isn’t paid, or her father must leave to find work in the highlands, in order to get more seeds. While her father is away for work, a new teacher comes to town and shows María sustainable farming practices that yield good crops. One of those practices is creating healthy soil through composting.
Using the Engineering Design Process, students will design and build a container for composting, so Maria and her neighbors can join in on sustainable farming. The model compost container should have at least 2-bins, be a right rectangular prism, be able to hold at least 4 cups of soil* and take up an area on the ground no larger than 30 sq in (since land space is limited.)
Note: The amount of soil and required area can be adjusted.
STE or Math Standards
-
STE: Technology/Engineering
6.MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution. Include potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.*
Math: Expressions and Equations 6.EE
- Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers.
- Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations).
For example, use the formulas V = s3 and A = 6s2 to find the volume and surface area of a cube with sides of length s = ½ .
ELA Standards
-
Grade 6 Speaking and Listening Standards [SL]
Comprehension and Collaboration
- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Video
The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough