Welcome to year 6!!

UNIT 1: THE GEOLOGY OF PLANET EARTH

The 4 Main Layers of the Earth

Crust 🍕
- The crust is the outer layer where we live.
- It’s made of rock and soil.
- It’s like the thin skin of an apple compared to the whole Earth!
- 🌋 It includes the land, the ocean floor, and even mountains.

Mantle 🔥
- The mantle is below the crust.
- It’s made of hot, thick rock that moves slowly like warm slime.
- This movement causes earthquakes and volcanoes!

Outer Core 💧 (but super hot metal!)
- The outer core is made of melted (liquid) iron and nickel.
- It’s very hot—even hotter than lava!
- The moving metal here creates Earth’s magnetic field, which protects us from the Sun’s harmful rays.

Inner Core 🌟
- The inner core is the center of the Earth.
- It’s a solid ball made mostly of iron and nickel.
- It’s as hot as the surface of the Sun!

🌋 What Are Tectonic Plates?

The Earth’s crust (the outer layer) isn’t one big piece — it’s broken into huge puzzle pieces called tectonic plates. 🧩
These plates fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and float on the soft, hot rock of the mantle below.

🪨 How Do They Move?

The plates move very slowly — only a few centimeters each year (about how fast your fingernails grow!).
This happens because heat from inside the Earth makes the mantle move, and that pushes the plates around.

💥 What Happens When Plates Move?

Plates Pull Apart → New crust forms! 🌋 (like in the middle of the ocean)
Plates Push Together → Mountains form! ⛰️
Plates Slide Past Each Other → Earthquakes happen! 🌎💥

🤓 Fun Facts

The Pacific Plate is the biggest one!
Mount Everest formed where two plates crashed together.
California’s earthquakes happen where plates slide past each other (the San Andreas Fault).

🌍 What Are Mountains?

Mountains are big, tall landforms that rise high above the land around them.
They’re made when the Earth’s crust moves and pushes upward — kind of like wrinkles on a blanket!

🧩 How Are Mountains Formed?

Mountains are formed by movements of tectonic plates — the giant puzzle pieces that make up Earth’s surface.
There are four main ways mountains can form:

1. 🏔️ Fold Mountains

When two plates push toward each other, the rocks between them crumple and fold upward.
This forms long, high mountain ranges!
🗻 Examples: The Himalayas, Rocky Mountains, and Andes.

🌍 What Is a Volcano?

A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of melted rock (magma) inside the Earth.
When pressure builds up, the magma erupts through an opening called a vent, and lava, ash, and gases come out! 💥

When the lava cools, it hardens into rock, and over time, a volcano grows bigger.

Volcanoes

Plate Tectonics

U.6: DIGITAL REVOLUTION

In this unit,

We will learn what digital technology is and find out some of the most important events that led up to the digital revolution.

We will also consider the future of science and technology and how STEM has changed society.

STEM

Advantages into the Digital Age

U.5: MACHINES CAN MOVE

In this unit,

We will learn about different types of simple and complex machines.

We will also study how a plane flies, how a ship floats and how a car moves and learn about the different forces involved in these processes.

Types of machines

Simple machines

Simple and complex machines

What is the Archimedes’ Principle? | Gravitation

How levers work

U.4: ELECTRICITY

In this unit,

We will learn what electricity is.
We will also study sources of electrical energy and find out how they reach our homes.
Finally, we will learn about what a robot is and the advantages and disadvantages of using robots.

Types of electricity

Electrical charge

Electrical circuits

How electricity reaches our homes

Sources of electricity

Conductors and insulators

U.3: ENERGY

In this unit,

We will learn about the different forms of energy and how it is measured.
We will also study the advantages and disadvantages of different renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
Finally, we will learn about how different discoveries and inventions about energy have changed our society.

Visual summary

https://youtu.be/gffWDhyZAFY

Renewable and Nonrenewable

As humans we use a lot of energy to drive our cars, heat and cool our houses, watch TV, and more. This energy comes from a variety of places and in a number of forms. Conservationists classify the energy we use into two types: renewable and nonrenewable. Nonrenewable energy uses up resources that we cannot recreate. Some examples of this are gas to run our car and coal burned in power plants. Once they are used, they are gone forever. A renewable energy source is one that can be replenished. Examples of this include hydropower from turbines in a dam, wind power from windmills, and solar power from the sun.

The more renewable power we use the better for our planet and for future generations as they won't run out of resources someday.

Fun Facts about Energy

In 2008 about 7% of the energy used in the United States was from renewable sources.
A modern windmill or turbine can generate enough electricity to power around 300 homes.
People have used waterpower to grind grain for over 2,000 years.
Geothermal power uses energy from geysers, hot springs, and volcanoes.
The entire world could be powered for a year from the energy from the sun that falls on the Earth's surface in one hour. We just need to figure out how to harness it!

Activities

Take a ten question quiz about this page.

Renewable Energy Sources
Renewable Energy
Biomass Energy
Geothermal Energy
Hydropower
Solar Power
Wave and Tidal Energy
Wind Power

The Story of Energy - Where Does Our Power Come From?

UNIT 2: ROCKS, MINERALS AND LANDFORMS

In this unit,

We will learn about how to identify rocks and minerals and how to classify different types of rocks.
We will also learn what mining is and how to make it more sustainable.
Finally, we will learn about how landforms are shaped.

What makes a mineral a mineral?

How much do you know about volcanoes? Click 👇

https://www.dkfindout.com/us/quiz/earth/take-volcanoes-quiz/

Volcanoes

What is an Earthquake?

What do you know about Earth? Click 👇

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/earth/what-do-you-know-about-earth

VISUAL SUMMARY

UNIT 1: MATTER AND ITS PROPERTIES

States of matter

The properties of matter

Elements and compounds

Flotation: a balancing act

Buoyancy: What Makes Something Float or Sink?

Separating Mixtures, Different Methods: Distillation, Evaporation & Centrifugation

VISUAL SUMMARY UNIT 1

UNIT 6: MAGNETISM

Use a Magnet to Make a Paper Clip Chain

The Earth's Magnetic Fields Down To Earth

Easy Science Experiments - You Can Do At Home | How to Make Electromagnets

UNIT 5: CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Learning objectives.

The characteristics of chemical reactions.

Different types of chemical reactions: combustion, oxidation, fermentation.

Knowledge of simple experimental techniques and procedures, incorporating the scientific method.

Combustion (or burning)

EXPERIMENT

This is a fun demonstration of how fire needs oxygen to burn.
Place two candles inside a jar and see which goes out first - the one in the smaller jar, or the larger jar?

FIRE BLANKETS

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Oxidation (or rusting)

Oxidation in metals

Oxidation in food

Fermentation

ACID LACTIC FERMENTATION vs ALCOHOL FERMENTATION

fermentation of yoghurt vs fermentation of beer.
What microorganism is used in each type of fermentation?

UNIT 4: MIXTURES

WHAT'S A MIXTURE?
A mixture is a substance made up of two or more types of matter that aren't chemically combined.
There are two types of mixtures:
Homogeneous mixtures: It is a mixture that has a consistent color and texture. Every part of an homogeneous mixture has the same properties.

Homogeneous mixture Fondant au Chocolat

Heterogeneous mixture: It is a mixture that has a varied color or texture. Each substance in the mixture retains its specific properties.

Fruit Salad.

A solution is a mixture of one or more liquids, with one or more other substances. In a solution, the substances are dissolved in the liquid.
The liquid components of a solution are called solvents. The other components are called solutes.

Making a saline water solution by dissolving table salt in water. The salt is the solute and the water the solvent.

STATES OF MATTER

Elements and Compounds

Paper Chromatography

Separating Mixtures, Different Methods: Distillation, Evaporation & Centrifugation

Evaporation and Condensation lesson

THE ATOMS SONG

UNIT 2: NUTRITION

This unit focuses on the different systems of the human body. It explores the digestive system and the circulatory system in detail, as well as the respiratory and excretory systems.

There is a strong emphasis on health awareness: the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse are highlighted and the importance of healthy lifestyle choices are promoted.

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM