Oklahoma Science 6.ESS2.1
The Standard
Develop and revise a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives these processes within and among Earth’s systems.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (2026)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students draw a model of water and rock material moving through air, water, land, and living things. They use arrows to show where materials go and label the energy that drives the changes. They revise the model when they find a missing step.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can trace water through evaporation, rain, and runoff. They can trace rock material through melting, eruption, weathering, and sediment buildup. Their model shows that sunlight drives evaporation and heat inside Earth drives melting.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think evaporated water disappears instead of moving into the air. They may draw every rock melting before it changes, or think sunlight heats rock into magma.
How to Assess It
- Give students a sketch of a volcano beside a lake, with arrows for evaporation and eruption but no energy labels or erosion arrow. Ask them to label each energy source and add an arrow showing where rain carries volcanic ash.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Pour water over a sand slope, then hold a cold lid above warm water; add erosion and condensation arrows to a shared systems diagram.
Ask, 'Which arrows on our diagram would stop without sunlight, and which would stop without heat inside Earth? Explain each choice.'
Give groups cards for evaporation, rain, erosion, melting, and eruption; have them match each process to a material path and energy source.
Show a photo of a volcanic island after rain; students trace where ash and water travel and label what drives each move.
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