Unit Plan 34 (Grade 6 Science): Engineering Climate Solutions

Focus: Develop and test models or technologies that support climate mitigation (reducing causes of climate change) or climate adaptation (coping with its effects), while using evidence and questioning about human influence on climate, aligned with MS-ETS1-1–4 and MS-ESS3-4–5.

Grade Level: 6

Subject Area: Science (Earth & Human Activity — Climate & Engineering Design)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students connect climate science to engineering design by exploring how communities can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapt to impacts like heat waves, flooding, or storms. They analyze evidence that human activities and technologies have influenced climate, land use, and water use, and practice asking clarifying questions about factors that drive global temperature change. Then they define a design problem, brainstorm and model climate solutions, test and compare design prototypes, and refine their ideas using data and trade-off reasoning.

Essential Questions

• How have human activities and technologies changed climate, land use, and water use over time?
• What’s the difference between climate mitigation and climate adaptation, and why do communities need both?
• How can we define, test, and improve design solutions that help respond to climate challenges?
• How do evidence, questions, and data guide better engineering decisions about climate solutions?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Use texts, graphs, or maps to construct an evidence-based argument that human activities and technologies have influenced Earth’s climate, land use, or water use (MS-ESS3-4).
2. Ask clarifying questions about factors (natural and human) that cause variations in global temperatures over time (MS-ESS3-5).
3. Define a climate-related design problem (mitigation or adaptation) with clear criteria (what the solution should do) and constraints (limits on cost, time, materials, or impact) (MS-ETS1-1).
4. Develop and compare design solutions, using data from tests to identify similarities, differences, and trade-offs (MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3).
5. Create a prototype or model of a climate solution and explain how testing data informed at least one iteration or improvement (MS-ETS1-4).

Standards Alignment — 6th Grade (NGSS-based custom)

• MS-ETS1-1 — Define design problems with criteria and constraints that ensure successful solutions.
• MS-ETS1-2 — Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process.
• MS-ETS1-3 — Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences between designs.
• MS-ETS1-4 — Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and improvements.
• MS-ESS3-4 — Construct an argument from evidence that human activities and technologies have influenced Earth’s environment (climate, land use, water use).
• MS-ESS3-5 — Ask questions to clarify evidence of factors that cause variations in global temperatures over time, including human activities.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can use graphs, maps, or texts to explain how human activities and technologies have affected climate, land, or water.
• I can write good clarifying questions about different factors (natural and human) that change global temperature.
• I can clearly state a climate design problem, including what the solution must do (criteria) and what limits it faces (constraints).
• I can test and compare at least two designs, and use data to talk about their strengths and weaknesses.
• I can explain how data from tests led me to change or improve my solution, using key terms like criteria, constraints, prototype, iteration, mitigation, adaptation.