# Grade 6 Integrated Science — Curriculum Design Specification

**A custom, research-grounded middle-school science curriculum.**
Author: Louis Rosche. Audience: any teacher, school, family, or self-directed
learner. This document is the **build contract**: every lesson in this grade is
authored to the standards defined here. It is not adapted from any single
published program — it is designed from the primary research base below and the
Next Generation Science Standards.

---

## 1. Design principles & research base

Each principle below names the evidence it rests on and how it shows up in every
lesson. These are non-negotiable lesson requirements, not aspirations.

| # | Principle | Research base | How it appears in every lesson |
|---|-----------|---------------|--------------------------------|
| P1 | **Phenomenon-first, three-dimensional learning** | NGSS / *A Framework for K-12 Science Education* (NRC 2012); storyline pedagogy (Reiser et al. 2021) | Each lesson opens with an anchoring or investigative phenomenon and a student-owned question; students build understanding by *figuring out*, not being told. Science & Engineering Practices (SEP), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI), and Crosscutting Concepts (CCC) are tagged explicitly. |
| P2 | **Universal Design for Learning (UDL)** | CAST UDL Guidelines 3.0 (2024) | Every lesson provides multiple means of **representation** (text + visual + audio/TTS + simplified reading level), **action & expression** (write / draw / speak / build response options), and **engagement** (choice, relevance, self-regulation prompts). |
| P3 | **Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)** | Fuchs & Fuchs (2017); *MTSS* (Center on MTSS, AIR) | Every task is layered: **Tier 1** universal core, **Tier 2** targeted scaffolds (sentence frames, vocabulary supports, chunking, graphic organizers, guided models), **Tier 3** intensive re-teach paths (concrete analogies, reduced load, 1:1 prompts), plus **Extension** for above-grade reach. Tiers are *additive supports on the same goal*, never a lowered goal. |
| P4 | **Social-Emotional Learning (CASEL 5)** | CASEL framework (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making) | Each lesson embeds at least one explicit SEL move: a regulation check-in, a collaboration protocol, or a metacognitive reflection tied to the science work. |
| P5 | **Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS)** | Sugai & Horner (2009); SWPBIS Tiered Fidelity | Expectations are pre-taught and visible; routines are predictable and named; feedback is specific and strengths-first. Brain breaks and movement are built in, not bolted on. |
| P6 | **Retrieval, spacing & interleaving** | Roediger & Karpicke (2006); Cepeda et al. (2006); Rohrer (2012) | Every lesson includes low-stakes retrieval (Do-Now), and assessments **spiral** prior content (interleaved review) rather than testing only the current week. |
| P7 | **Managing cognitive load / worked examples** | Sweller (1988); van Merriënboer & Sweller (2005) | New procedures are introduced with a fully worked example before independent practice; the worked example fades support across the lesson (completion → independent). |
| P8 | **Explicit, structured instruction** | Rosenshine, *Principles of Instruction* (2012) | Small steps, models, guided practice, checks for understanding at each step, high success rate before release to independence. |
| P9 | **Dual coding / multimedia learning** | Paivio (1986); Mayer, *Multimedia Learning* (2009) | Concepts pair words with a purpose-built visual (diagram / animation / simulation); no decorative-only media; visuals carry instructional load and have text equivalents. |
| P10 | **Formative assessment as the engine** | Black & Wiliam (1998); Wiliam (2011) | Each lesson has visible success criteria and a branching self-check: *got it → extend*; *not yet → targeted scaffold*. Grades are not the point; next-step feedback is. |
| P11 | **Culturally responsive & sustaining pedagogy** | Gay (2018); Hammond, *Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain* (2015); Paris & Alim (2017) | Phenomena are relatable and varied; examples draw on diverse contributors to science; reading is accessible to multilingual learners; student assets and home language are treated as resources. |
| P12 | **Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA)** | W3C WCAG 2.1; dyslexia-friendly type research (Rello & Baeza-Yates 2013) | Atkinson Hyperlegible typeface, ≥4.5:1 contrast, keyboard operability, semantic structure, captions/alt text, no information by color alone, respects `prefers-reduced-motion`. |

**The lesson contract (a lesson is not "done" until all are true):** P1 phenomenon
+ question · P2 three representation modes + response choice · P3 all four support
tiers on the core task · P4 one SEL move · P5 visible expectations + a brain break
· P6 retrieval Do-Now + spiral in the check · P7 one faded worked example · P8
small-step model→guided→independent · P9 one instructional visual with text
equivalent · P10 success criteria + branching self-check · P11 relatable,
inclusive framing · P12 passes WCAG 2.1 AA.

---

## 2. Year architecture

- **Cycle-agnostic, time-of-year aligned.** The year is organized into six
  **units** anchored to phenomena that fit the season they are taught in — not to
  any school's internal cycle calendar. A teacher on any calendar can run them in
  order or pick a unit.
- **Integrated middle-school science.** NGSS does not split the middle grades by
  year; this is a coherent, defensible 6th-grade slice that bundles Physical,
  Earth/Space, and Life science with **Energy and Matter** as the year-long
  crosscutting throughline.
- **~5 weeks per unit; one richly differentiated lesson per week** (a "week" is a
  self-contained learning experience, calendar-flexible). Each unit ends with a
  performance task, not only a quiz.

### Scope & sequence

| Unit | Season | Title & driving question | Primary NGSS (DCI) | Anchor phenomenon |
|------|--------|--------------------------|--------------------|-------------------|
| **1** | Early fall | **Energy & Matter in My World** — *Where does energy go, and where does "stuff" come from?* | MS-PS1 (structure/properties of matter), MS-PS3 (energy) | A hand-warmer heats up with no flame; cocoa cools on a cold morning. |
| **2** | Late fall | **Light, Sound & Information** — *How do we send and receive information across space?* | MS-PS4 (waves & their applications) | A phone gets a message from the other side of the world in seconds. |
| **3** | Winter | **Weather, Water & Climate** — *Why does the sky do what it does?* | MS-ESS2 (Earth's systems) | A winter storm forms, snows, and clears in two days. |
| **4** | Late winter | **Earth's Restless Surface** — *Why is the ground not as solid as it looks?* | MS-ESS2 (plate tectonics, rock cycle), MS-ESS3 (natural hazards) | The same mountain holds seashell fossils at its peak. |
| **5** | Spring | **Cells & Living Systems** — *What makes something alive, and how does it stay alive?* | MS-LS1 (from molecules to organisms) | A seed left in a cup by the window becomes a plant. |
| **6** | Late spring | **Ecosystems & Our Footprint** — *How do living things depend on each other and on us?* | MS-LS2 (ecosystems), MS-ESS3 (human impact) | A schoolyard patch teems with life that all traces back to the sun. |

**Energy & Matter** (an NGSS crosscutting concept) is the spine: every unit
revisits "where did the energy/matter go?" so the year coheres and supports
interleaved retrieval (P6).

---

## 3. The lesson page (technical + structural contract)

Every weekly lesson is **one self-contained HTML file** under
`grade-6/unit-N-slug/week-K.html`. No Google Forms, no Apps Script, no external
build step — it opens in any browser, prints cleanly, and works offline.

**Shared assets (authored once, used by every lesson):**
- `grade-6/assets/lesson.css` — the lesson design system (extends the portfolio
  tokens in `/styles.css`; dark/light; print styles).
- `grade-6/assets/lesson.js` — the interactive layer: reading-level toggle,
  per-task support-tier disclosure, branching self-checks, text-to-speech of any
  passage, progress save to `localStorage`, all wrapped in fail-silent
  `try/catch` (portfolio JS resilience pattern). No external libraries.

**Canonical section order (every lesson):**
1. **Lesson header** — unit, week, title, the driving/lesson question, NGSS 3D
   tags (SEP · DCI · CCC), estimated time, and a "How to use the supports" legend.
2. **Expectations & SEL launch (PBIS + CASEL)** — named expectations for the
   lesson + a 30-second self-regulation check-in.
3. **Do-Now retrieval (P6)** — 2–3 quick recall prompts spiraling prior weeks.
4. **Phenomenon (P1)** — the visual/scenario + the student's own wondering, with
   a notice/wonder capture.
5. **Build understanding (P7, P8, P9)** — a faded worked example and a
   model→guided→independent investigation, with the instructional visual.
6. **Differentiated practice (P2, P3)** — the core task with the four support
   tiers as progressive-disclosure panels and a choice of response mode.
7. **Formative self-check (P10)** — success criteria + branching check
   (got-it → extension; not-yet → targeted re-teach).
8. **Brain break (P5)** — a built-in movement/reset prompt.
9. **Reflection & exit (P4, P10)** — a metacognitive + SEL reflection and a short
   exit ticket (2 new + 2 spiral + 1 transfer item).
10. **Educator panel** (collapsible, end of page) — facilitation guide,
    **IEP/504 accommodation cards**, materials, answer key, and standards
    rationale. Hidden behind a disclosure so the student view stays clean.

**Interactive support affordances (provided by `lesson.js`):**
- **Reading-level toggle** — every core passage has a `data-simplified`
  equivalent; a control swaps to a shorter, plainer version (P2, P11).
- **Support tiers** — each differentiated task exposes Tier-2 / Tier-3 /
  Extension supports as labeled, collapsible panels the learner opens on demand
  (P3) — supports are always available, never gatekept.
- **Listen (TTS)** — a button reads any passage aloud via the Web Speech API,
  with a graceful "not supported" fallback (P2, P12).
- **Branching self-check** — selecting an answer routes to a tailored next step
  rather than just "right/wrong" (P10).

---

## 4. Differentiation & accessibility matrix (per lesson)

| Learner need | Built-in support |
|--------------|------------------|
| Reads below grade level | Reading-level toggle to simplified text; TTS; visual-first explanations; pre-taught vocabulary with images |
| Multilingual / English learner | Plain-language toggle; cognate notes; sentence frames; visuals carrying meaning; home-language reflection allowed |
| Needs more scaffolding (Tier 2/3) | Faded worked example, sentence/CER frames, graphic organizers, chunked steps, concrete analogies, reduced-item paths |
| Ready for more (Extension) | Open-inquiry extensions, "go deeper" prompts, design challenges |
| Attention / executive function | Short chunks, visible steps, progress saving, built-in brain breaks, predictable routine (PBIS) |
| Dyslexia / low vision | Atkinson Hyperlegible type, generous spacing, high contrast, no color-only cues |
| Motor / keyboard-only | Fully keyboard-operable controls, large targets, focus-visible |
| IEP / 504 | Per-lesson accommodation cards in the educator panel mapping common accommodations to the specific tasks |

---

## 5. Assessment model

- **Formative (every lesson):** success criteria + branching self-check + exit
  ticket (**2 new + 2 spiral + 1 transfer** — interleaving per P6).
- **Summative (every unit):** an NGSS performance task asking students to *use*
  the three dimensions to explain a new phenomenon or design a solution, scored
  with a 3-dimensional, student-facing rubric (SEP × DCI × CCC) — never a
  recall-only test.
- **Strengths-first feedback (PBIS):** rubrics and self-checks name what to do
  next, not only what was missed.

---

## 6. How the build swarm uses this document

1. Read this spec + the gold-standard exemplar (`unit-1-energy-and-matter/week-1.html`).
2. Author your assigned `week-K.html` to the **canonical section order (§3)** and
   the **lesson contract (§1)**, reusing `assets/lesson.css` + `assets/lesson.js`
   (do not invent new CSS/JS; extend via the documented hooks).
3. Use only the portfolio design tokens; pass WCAG 2.1 AA; no external requests;
   no Kairos/KAMS references; no real student data.
4. Every claim about a learner support must map to a principle in §1.

---

## 7. Build status & log

**All six units are built (30 lessons + 6 unit overviews).** This grade is
content-complete. Per-week titles, driving questions, NGSS PEs, and the full
facilitation/assessment metadata are SSOT in two places — do not duplicate them
here:
- each `unit-N-slug/index.html` (the unit overview cards), and
- `assets/lessons-meta.json` (one entry per `data-lesson-id`, consumed
  generically by `display.html`, `tracker.html`, and `lakehouse/dashboard.html`).

| Unit | Slug | Built | Anchor / spiral payoff of the Energy & Matter spine |
|------|------|-------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | `unit-1-energy-and-matter` | ✅ | Establishes the spine: energy/matter are conserved, only transferred/rearranged. |
| 2 | `unit-2-light-sound-information` | ✅ | Waves carry **energy, not matter**; absorbed light → thermal energy (ties to U1). |
| 3 | `unit-3-weather-water-climate` | ✅ | The sun's energy drives the water cycle and wind; water is conserved through phase changes. |
| 4 | `unit-4-earths-restless-surface` | ✅ | Interior **heat** drives plate motion (convection); rock cycle conserves matter; quakes release **stored** energy. |
| 5 | `unit-5-cells-living-systems` | ✅ | **Conservation payoff:** a plant's mass comes from CO₂ + water + sunlight, not soil; respiration releases stored energy. |
| 6 | `unit-6-ecosystems-footprint` | ✅ | Capstone: energy flows one way (lost as heat each step); matter **cycles**; humans redirect both at scale. |

Each unit's five-week arc was sequenced so every week's Do-Now and exit ticket
spiral prior weeks/units, and every week revisits "where did the energy/matter
go?" (P6 + the §2 spine). Week 5 of each unit is the NGSS performance task with a
student-facing 3D rubric (SEP × DCI × CCC) and a rubric self-assessment exit.

### Wiring touchpoints when adding/changing a unit

A lesson page is self-contained, but four shared surfaces must stay in sync.
This is the checklist (the validator does **not** scan this subdir, so these are
manual):
1. **`grade-6/index.html`** — the unit card (status pill + week pills) and the
   "lessons available" KPI in `.g6-stats`.
2. **`assets/lessons-meta.json`** — add/edit the lesson entry. The
   `misconceptions` key **must** exactly equal the `data-route="#reteach-…"` id
   on that lesson's wrong-answer button, or live capture won't join to the
   registry.
3. **`../sitemap.xml`** (science-curriculum sitemap) — add the unit `index.html`
   + each `week-K.html` `<loc>`.
4. The unit's own **`index.html`** `.u-arc` cards.

### How this grade was built (swarm playbook + lessons learned)

The 4 remaining units were authored by a parallel Sonnet sub-agent swarm
(one agent per unit; week-5 performance tasks and metadata extraction were
separate follow-up swarms). What held up and what to repeat:

- **Granularity = one agent per unit.** Keeps each unit internally coherent (the
  weeks must spiral within the unit) while still parallelizing across units.
  Per-week agents lose intra-unit coherence; per-grade agents lose parallelism.
- **Design the 5-week arc centrally, hand it to the agent.** The spiral, anchor
  phenomena, and each week's misconception id were specified up front so the
  swarm produced a coherent storyline, not five disconnected lessons.
- **Merge shared files centrally, never from parallel agents.** `index.html`,
  `sitemap.xml`, and `lessons-meta.json` were wired by the orchestrator (agents
  returned only their own unit's files / a temp JSON fragment) to avoid
  concurrent-edit clobbering.
- **Verify on disk; do not trust completion notices.** Background agents
  sometimes report "completed" having written nothing (one week-5 agent silently
  produced no file; agents also hit session limits mid-run). Every file was
  re-checked on disk for: closing `</html>`, `data-lesson-id`, both stylesheet
  links, all 10 sections, ≥1 `data-tts-button`, paired
  `data-standard`/`data-simplified`, the self-check `data-route` ↔ `#reteach-*`
  `<details>` match, the educator panel, and zero `kairos|kams|omni` / external
  `<img src="http">`. Missing/failed files were rebuilt inline by the
  orchestrator rather than re-dispatched blindly.
- **The route↔details match is the load-bearing correctness check.** A mismatch
  silently breaks the branching re-teach. Sweep all lessons for it after a build.