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Search every subject world, from Preschool to Grade 12. The first five courses of every subject path are free.

16 courses

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Science · Grade 6

Identify a Need and Constraints

Engineering starts with people, not gadgets. Learners observe and listen to users and stakeholders to find a genuine need, plan respectful user research with neutral questions, write solution-neutral problem statements with a sensible scope, and turn a client's wish list into a specification: firm constraints plus measurable criteria with target values, units and test methods. An optional Going further lesson adds factors of safety, shared budgets and breaking a large problem into sub-problems.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 110 min
  • Quiz: 10 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Scientific Models, Variables and Measurement

Learners turn everyday questions into testable ones, name the independent, dependent and controlled variables, and measure length, mass, volume and temperature in SI units with sensible precision. They run a ramp simulation one variable at a time, use a simple mathematical model to predict, and compare physical, conceptual and mathematical models, always asking what a model shows and what it leaves out.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Particles and States of Matter

Learners use the particle model to explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases, then follow particles through melting, freezing, evaporation, boiling and condensation. They read heating and cooling curves and explain why temperature stays level during a change of state, calculate density from mass and volume to predict floating and sinking, and distinguish dissolving from melting while keeping track of mass.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 125 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Research, Sketch and Model

Learners take a defined problem (a tablet stand for a school's video-call corner) from research to a modelled concept. They analyse existing solutions function by function and record sources honestly, generate many ideas before judging, select concepts by screening against constraints and comparing with a reference design, communicate with annotated sketches and orthographic views, convert between drawing and real lengths with scales, and choose physical, digital or mathematical models while stating their limits. An optional Going further lesson explores how areas and masses change when models are scaled, and counts concepts in a morphological chart.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Materials, Structures and Mechanisms

Learners equip a school's outdoor classroom. They choose materials by matching whole property profiles (strength, stiffness, density, toughness, durability, conductivity, cost) to requirements, using density data from a float simulation; explain tension, compression, triangulation, trusses and deep beams; and use levers, pulleys, wheels and axles and gears, calculating ideal mechanical advantage and the force-for-distance tradeoff. An optional Going further lesson calculates work, efficiency and compound gear ratios.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 120 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Thermal Energy and Transfer

Learners separate temperature (how fast particles move on average) from thermal energy (the total energy of all the particles' motion) and predict that energy always moves from warmer to cooler objects. They identify conduction, convection and radiation, use heat-transfer simulation data and temperature–time graphs to compare conductors and insulators, then apply criteria and constraints to evaluate and improve an insulated container.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Forces, Motion and Systems

Learners describe forces as interactions between two objects, define a system and its surroundings, and combine forces along a line to find the net force and predict changes in motion. They investigate friction with the ramp simulation, calculate average speed with units, and read and draw distance–time graphs in which steepness shows speed.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 125 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Energy, Controls and Simple Systems

Learners treat devices as systems. They trace energy chains through devices and separate useful outputs from energy that spreads to the surroundings; describe a school greenhouse's cooling system as inputs, processes and outputs with sensors, a controller, actuators and a power source; compare open-loop and closed-loop control and write and trace flowcharts; and use a circuit simulation to choose series or parallel arrangements for a lantern. An optional Going further lesson calculates power, energy budgets, battery run time and efficiency, and adds a switching band (hysteresis) to on/off control.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 10 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Cells and Organism Systems

Learners examine the evidence behind cell theory, use microscope calculations for total magnification and image size, and compare plant and animal cells by matching cell parts to their jobs. They order the levels of organisation from cell to organism, explain how body systems work together during exercise and eating, and compare how unicellular and multicellular organisms carry out life functions.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 125 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Prototype in Safe Virtual Environments

Learners choose prototypes of the right fidelity for each design question, then use two simulations as virtual prototypes: a ramp model to map a design space and find every setting that lands a toy car in a target zone, and a heat-transfer model to screen handle materials for a camping mug. They list what each simulation leaves out, separate questions a model can answer from those that need a physical test, and plan safe physical prototyping with a hazard–risk–control assessment. An optional Going further lesson calibrates a model against real measurements and contrasts interpolation with extrapolation.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 120 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions
Free starter

Science · Grade 6

Test, Measure and Iterate

A maker club's recycled-card shelf brackets keep failing, and learners use them to practise the testing half of engineering. They write test plans tied to specific requirements with pass thresholds and repeated trials, choose instruments with suitable resolution, summarise repeated measurements, handle odd results honestly, and use a sampling simulation to see why quality checks need large enough samples. They analyse failures with the 'five whys' to separate symptoms from root causes, then make data-driven iterations, one change at a time, and decide when to stop. An optional Going further lesson quantifies measurement uncertainty and compares designs whose results overlap.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions

Science · Grade 6

Ecological Relationships and Resource Limits

Learners classify organisms as producers, consumers and decomposers and trace energy and matter through food chains and food webs. They classify competition, predation, mutualism and parasitism across different ecosystems, use population graphs to explain limiting factors and carrying capacity, and run a predator–prey simulation to explain why predator numbers rise and fall after their prey's.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 125 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions

Science · Grade 6

Accessibility, Sustainability and Tradeoffs

Good designs work for the full range of people who will use them and do as little harm as possible across their whole life. Learners apply universal-design principles and check accessibility with real users, trace a product's environmental impact through its life cycle, and weigh competing criteria with a weighted decision matrix and a sensitivity check. A Going further lesson compares options quantitatively with functional units, break-even points and payback times.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 10 questions

Science · Grade 6

Water, Weather and Earth Systems

Learners model the water cycle as water moving among oceans, air, land, ice and living things, driven by energy from the Sun and by gravity. They explain humidity, dew point and cloud formation, link air pressure to wind and weather, use weather-station data to identify a passing front, and distinguish day-to-day weather from long-term climate using data tables and graphs.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 125 min
  • Quiz: 11 questions

Science · Grade 6

Document and Demonstrate a Design

The final course turns a design project into evidence other people can trust and build on. Learners keep an honest engineering notebook, structure a design report that traces every requirement to a test and a result, present data clearly and truthfully, credit sources and teammates, and plan an accessible demonstration that invites critique. A Going further lesson adds a bill of materials, safety margins and a verification summary.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 115 min
  • Quiz: 10 questions

Science · Grade 6

Engineering Investigation and Evidence-Based Explanation

In this year capstone, learners work as an engineering team helping a community garden club. They define a design problem with measurable criteria and constraints, plan a fair test, generate data with the plant-growth and heat-transfer simulations, analyse means, ranges and outliers, write claim–evidence–reasoning explanations, and use test results to improve a design while weighing trade-offs.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 130 min
  • Quiz: 12 questions