Sixth grade science begins with a study of ecology to develop an understanding of one’s place in the world and the impact of one’s actions on the Earth. This study comprises environmental issues, such as resource use, water, agriculture, pollution, and waste management; ecosystems; and watersheds. Hands-on activities and experiments investigate water usage, human development and impact, water pollution, outdoor ethics, food webs, consumption, overharvesting of aquatic environments, dissolved oxygen, and water salinity. As part of the exploration of the concept “watershed,” students practice map-reading skills via maps of the local area and Chesapeake Bay. The three-day, two-night residential program at the Echo Hill Outdoor School, located on the Chesapeake Bay, provides field experiences relevant to the ecology curriculum. An exploration of systems and common characteristics links ecosystems to the study of plant and animal cells. Students then study the skeletal, muscular, and digestive systems, and participate in a rat dissection. A final science symposium project engages students in the scientific method, whereby they develop a written project plan that includes a scientific question, hypothesis, materials list, variables, and experimental procedure; conduct an experiment to investigate the hypothesis; record results; compare results to predictions; and draw conclusions based on the results.