Each unit introduces new skills, concepts, and behaviors, while reviewing those learned at earlier grades. The units are interrelated and sequential, yet independent. Students do not need to complete earlier units to successfully complete higher units. The chart at the back of this guide summarizes the outcomes of each unit in the complete K-6 curriculum. This Grade 6 unit focuses on conserving natural resources.
Students learn about the benefits of the natural environment.
They discover why natural resources from the environment are often overused and that overuse can cause problems, such as loss of habitat, loss of biodiversity, pollution, and food and water shortages. Finally, students learn a variety of everyday behaviors they can use to help conserve natural resources. The chart on the next page shows the skill outcomes, along with the concepts and behaviors children learn in the Grade 6 unit. The skills are assessed on the unit's pretest and posttest and are practiced in the unit's practice exercises and other activities. The concepts are ideas and facts presented in the unit to help students see the environment as an interconnected whole and to motivate them to learn the skills and acquire the behaviors.