Grade 6 Units

Browse Grade 6 unit plans in Science, Social Studies, Math, and Language Arts with standards-aligned lessons that promote inquiry, literacy, and problem-solving.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade 6 Science): Plate Tectonics & Earth’s Internal Heat

Grade 6 unit explaining how Earth’s internal heat drives plate motion, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and landforms that reshape the surface at different scales.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade 6 Science): The Rock Cycle

Grade 6 unit modeling how Earth’s materials cycle through igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, driven by internal heat, the Sun, and gravity over time.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade 6 Science): Space Systems — Quarter Synthesis

Grade 6 unit modeling celestial motions, gravity-driven orbits, and solar system scale, then applying science to an engineering design challenge in space systems.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade 6 Science): Engineering Space Missions

Grade 6 unit where students define space mission design problems, set criteria and constraints, brainstorm solutions, and evaluate designs for feasibility.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade 6 Science): Stars, Galaxies & the Universe

Grade 6 unit where students analyze star brightness and distance, model the Milky Way’s structure and gravity, and explore our place in the universe.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 6 (Grade 6 Science): Scale of the Solar System

Grade 6 unit using data, graphs, and scale models to compare planet sizes and distances, building accurate understanding of solar system scale and spacing.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 5 (Grade 6 Science): Gravity & Orbits

Grade 6 unit modeling how gravity and forward motion create orbits, explaining how gravity shapes the motion of planets, moons, and satellites in the solar system.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 4 (Grade 6 Science): Eclipses & Seasons

Grade 6 unit using Earth–Sun–Moon models to explain seasons from Earth’s tilt and orbit, and rare solar/lunar eclipses from precise alignment.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 3 (Grade 6 Science): Phases of the Moon

Grade 6 unit modeling the lunar cycle: students explain Moon phases as views of the lit half during its orbit, naming and sequencing phases in a monthly pattern.

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Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 2 (Grade 6 Science): Earth–Sun–Moon Basics

Grade 6 unit using Earth–Sun–Moon models to explain rotation, day/night, Sun’s apparent motion, and shadow patterns as foundations for phases and seasons.

Grade 6 Science Units

Unit Plan 1 (Grade 6 Science): Science Skills & Investigation Routines

Launch Grade 6 science with safety, notebooks, measurement, graphing, and simple Earth–Sun–Moon models to build skills for engineering and space systems.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 36 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Cumulative Synthesis & Exhibition

Show how geography, resources, trade, and civic decision-making connect across global networks as students create maps, models, and inquiry exhibits that synthesize history, economics, civics, and spatial thinking.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 35 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Preserving Our Shared Past

Examine how archaeology, museums, and digital archives protect cultural heritage through context, provenance, conservation, and repatriation, highlighting why preserving artifacts and their stories matters for communities today.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 34 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Economics of Empire and Trade

Explore how ancient regions produced, traded, and exchanged goods by examining scarcity, opportunity cost, specialization, supply and demand, and interdependence, showing how geography shaped markets and economic decision-making.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 33 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Belief Systems and Global Values

Belief systems like Hinduism, Confucianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and polytheistic traditions shaped moral codes, laws, and social order, revealing how values such as justice, duty, and compassion guided early civilizations.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 32 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Law, Justice, and Civic Ideals Across Cultures

Compare how ancient civilizations defined justice by examining their law codes, governing structures, and concepts of rights and responsibilities, revealing diverse approaches to fairness across Mesopotamia, Greece/Rome, Persia, South Asia, and East Asia.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 31 (Grade 6 Social Studies): The Rise of Global Trade Systems

Analyze how major exchange networks connected Asia, Europe, and Africa, showing how geography, technology, supply/demand, and strategic hubs created interdependent trade systems and spread goods, people, and ideas.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 30 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Early Empires of Africa

Explore how Kush, Aksum, and early West African kingdoms used geography, resources, and trade networks to become powerful centers of exchange, culture, and innovation across Africa.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 29 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Cultural Diffusion and Innovation

Ideas, beliefs, writing systems, and technologies spread along ancient trade and migration networks, showing how geography, human connections, and cultural exchange transformed societies through adoption, adaptation, and long-lasting turning points.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 28 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Trade Routes of the Ancient World

Global overland and maritime trade networks—Silk Road routes and Indian Ocean/Mediterranean sea lanes—moved goods, ideas, and technologies across regions, revealing how geography, monsoons, supply/demand, and strategic hubs shaped interdependent Afro-Eurasian exchange.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Midyear Project—Legacies of Greece and Rome

Roman governance, the Senate, and the Twelve Tables laid the foundations of rule of law and citizenship, showing how written laws, shared rights, and civic responsibilities shaped fairness, voice, and public life in the early Roman Republic.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Rome’s Republic and Laws

Roman governance, the Senate, and the Twelve Tables laid the foundations of rule of law and citizenship, showing how written laws, shared rights, and civic responsibilities shaped fairness, voice, and public life in the early Roman Republic.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 6 Social Studies): The Rise of Rome

Rome’s geography, origin stories, and early political struggles shaped its transition from monarchy to a republic, helping explain how physical location, cultural influences, and evolving civic roles laid the foundation for citizen participation in early Rome.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 24 (Grade 6 Social Studies): Alexander the Great and Hellenistic Culture

Greek ideas, language, and science spread across the Hellenistic world as new cities, ports, and caravan routes created powerful networks of diffusion and trade interdependence from the Mediterranean to South and Central Asia.

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Grade 6 Social Studies Units

Unit Plan 23 (Grade 6 Social Studies): The Persian Empire and Cultural Exchange

Persian rule blended tolerance, satrapy governance, and powerful infrastructure—roads, relay posts, coinage, and qanats—to maintain order, boost trade, and spread ideas across a diverse, connected empire.