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Grades 6–8 · Semester 1 · 57 readings

Start with familiar ideas

Begin with quantities and scale. Follow the connected explanations through how sports equipment shapes motion, keeping each small group together and taking time to understand its illustrations.

Start reading →

One possible pace is 3–4 explanations a week over 16 weeks. Keep each small unit together, revisit its pictures and allow more time whenever an idea needs it.

Unit 1Quantities and scale4 readings ⌄

Signed quantities, proportional relationships, scale drawings and unit prices make comparisons precise.

  1. How does a signed number move us along a number line?Mathematics
  2. When does a ratio table show proportionality?Mathematics
  3. Why does a map’s area scale differ from its distance scale?Mathematics
  4. How can different pack sizes be compared fairly?Everyday Life
Unit 2Money across borders2 readings ⌄

Separate currency conversion from the transfer services that move money between people.

  1. How can the price of one currency change the cost of an imported object?Societies
  2. Why can sending the same amount abroad deliver different amounts?Societies
Unit 3Particles and energy5 readings ⌄

Dissolving, diffusion, pressure, conduction and indicator colors explain different relationships between material and its conditions.

  1. Where does sugar go when it dissolves?Materials & Matter
  2. How can random motion produce net diffusion?Materials & Matter
  3. Why does compressing a gas raise its pressure?Materials & Matter
  4. How does thermal energy travel through a solid?Materials & Matter
  5. Why can an indicator change color with pH?Materials & Matter
Unit 4Deep rocks, rising heat2 readings ⌄

Separate plate-driven rock transformations from the engineered extraction of geothermal heat.

  1. How does a sinking tectonic plate help make new rocks?Earth & Space
  2. How can hot groundwater generate electricity without entering a turbine?Systems
Unit 5Air doing useful work2 readings ⌄

Explore familiar objects whose designs help people move, make and understand their surroundings.

  1. How does a bus kneel to make boarding easier?Machines
  2. How do accordion bellows turn moving air into music?Arts & Music
Unit 6Boundaries and transport4 readings ⌄

Cell membranes, plant water routes, lungs and circulation control what moves between places.

  1. How does a cell choose what crosses its boundary?Organisms
  2. How does water reach a plant’s leaves?Organisms
  3. How do lungs exchange gases?Organisms
  4. How does the heart move blood around the body?Organisms
Unit 7Air, sweat and active bodies2 readings ⌄

Follow everyday experiences into the hidden processes that make them possible.

  1. Why does breathing speed up during a game?Organisms
  2. How can a sports shirt move sweat away from your skin?Everyday Life
Unit 8Cells and body responses4 readings ⌄

Reflexes, immune responses, temperature regulation and cell division involve different ways living systems respond or renew themselves.

  1. How can a reflex begin before a conscious decision?Organisms
  2. How do immune defenses work together?Organisms
  3. How do animals respond to temperature changes?Organisms
  4. How can one cell divide into two with chromosome copies?Organisms
Unit 9Sound and signals4 readings ⌄

Speakers and microphones link sound with electrical signals. Binary notation and gates describe a different, discrete kind of representation.

  1. How does a speaker turn a signal into sound?Machines
  2. How does a microphone turn sound into a signal?Machines
  3. How do zeros and ones represent whole numbers in binary?Computing
  4. How do AND, OR and NOT gates transform signals?Computing
Unit 10From your hand to a moving character2 readings ⌄

Follow physical input into a game and find the controls behind its characters.

  1. How does a game controller read your thumb and rumble back?Computing
  2. How does a game character bend without being redrawn?Computing
Unit 11Renewal, vibration and spatial meaning3 readings ⌄

See how a living covering is renewed and how interacting structures carry sound and meaning.

  1. How can a bird replace worn feathers and still keep moving?Organisms
  2. Why does a snare drum snap and buzz after a strike?Arts & Music
  3. How can a sign language use space to keep track of people in a story?Language
Unit 12Networks and records4 readings ⌄

Power networks and internet routes move different things. Compression and sorting change how information is represented or organized.

  1. How does electricity reach a home?Systems
  2. How does a message travel across the internet?Systems
  3. When can repeated pixels use a shorter description?Computing
  4. How can comparing and swapping pairs sort a list?Computing
Unit 13Earth and Moon4 readings ⌄

Weather fronts, seasons, lunar phases and tides explain changes with different mechanisms and time scales.

  1. How do weather fronts move air?Systems
  2. Why do the hemispheres have opposite seasons?Earth & Space
  3. Why does the Moon appear to change shape?Earth & Space
  4. Why does an ideal tidal ocean have two bulges?Earth & Space
Unit 14Observing change3 readings ⌄

Wave arrivals, weather probabilities and tree rings connect measurements with carefully bounded conclusions.

  1. How do earthquake waves reveal distance?Systems
  2. What does a chance of rain mean?Everyday Life
  3. How can tree rings connect wood growth with calendar years?History & Evidence
Unit 15Feedback and coordination4 readings ⌄

Thermostats, float valves, traffic signals and inventory systems use information or timing to coordinate a response.

  1. How does a thermostat use feedback?Systems
  2. How does a float valve stop a tank filling?Systems
  3. How can nearby traffic signals work together?Systems
  4. How does delivery timing affect available stock?Systems
Unit 16Forces and machines4 readings ⌄

Hydraulic brakes, ratchets, canal locks and refrigeration use different mechanisms to guide motion or transfer energy.

  1. How does fluid transmit a braking force?Machines
  2. How does a ratchet allow only one turning direction?Machines
  3. How does a canal lock raise or lower a boat?Systems
  4. How does a refrigerator move heat?Machines
Unit 17How sports equipment shapes motion4 readings ⌄

Follow air, strings, blades, and landing forces through familiar sporting moments.

  1. How can a soccer ball curve around a defender?Everyday Life
  2. Why does a tennis racket have a springy web of strings?Everyday Life
  3. How can an ice skate glide forward but grip during a turn?Everyday Life
  4. Why do our joints bend when we land from a jump?Everyday Life