Grade 6 Phenomena Poster Bundle

Bring phenomenon-based science instruction to life with this complete Grade 6 Phenomena Bundle.

This bundle includes all nine Grade 6 science units and provides 54 full-color phenomena posters designed to spark curiosity, strengthen academic vocabulary, encourage evidence-based discussion, and help students develop increasingly sophisticated scientific explanations.

Each unit includes six individual portrait phenomena posters centered around engaging science or engineering phenomena. Students observe carefully, ask questions, analyze models and evidence, identify patterns, make predictions, construct explanations, and revise their thinking as their understanding develops.

These posters are designed to function as active instructional tools rather than simple classroom decorations. Use them to launch investigations, build interactive science focus walls, introduce challenging concepts, reinforce vocabulary, support modeling, and provide repeated Claim-Evidence-Reasoning practice throughout the year.

Units Included

Geology on Mars

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Phase Change

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Populations and Resources

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Earth’s Changing Climate

Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Each unit includes six phenomena posters for a total of 54 posters in the complete Grade 6 bundle.

What’s Included on Each Phenomena Poster

Each poster includes:

A high-interest phenomenon question

A detailed science visual, model, graph, map, or real-world scenario

“What do you notice?” observation prompts

“What do you wonder?” discussion questions

Key science vocabulary

A “Try This Thinking” activity or challenge

A CER Starter for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning practice

A concise science statement reinforcing the central concept

Geology on Mars

Help students investigate the geological history of Mars using evidence from its surface.

Students examine channels, landforms, sediments, and other Martian features while considering how processes such as flowing water, erosion, and deposition may have shaped the planet.

The phenomena encourage students to compare Mars with Earth and use present-day evidence to infer what may have happened in the past.

Students begin thinking like planetary geologists as they distinguish observations from inferences and evaluate competing explanations.

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Help students investigate the relationships among Earth, the moon, and the sun.

Students explore Earth’s rotation, the moon’s orbit, moon phases, patterns in the sky, light, and shadows while using visual models to explain what observers experience from Earth.

The phenomena help students connect familiar astronomical observations with movements occurring on a much larger scale.

Students can develop, analyze, and revise models as their understanding of the Earth-moon-sun system grows.

Phase Change

Help students investigate what happens when matter changes between solid, liquid, and gas states.

Students explore melting, freezing, evaporation, condensation, temperature, thermal energy, and particle motion.

The phenomena encourage students to connect visible changes in matter with processes occurring at the particle level.

Students use models to explain how adding or removing thermal energy changes particle motion and can lead to a phase change.

Phase Change Engineering Internship

Help students apply their understanding of phase change and thermal energy to engineering problems.

Students analyze how controlling energy transfer can influence matter and consider how engineers might use materials and designs to achieve a desired result.

The phenomena provide opportunities to compare possible solutions, consider criteria and constraints, analyze evidence, and improve designs.

Students see how knowledge of thermal energy and phase change can be transformed into practical problem solving.

Populations and Resources

Help students investigate how the availability of resources can affect populations.

Students explore relationships among food, water, space, environmental conditions, competition, survival, and reproduction.

The phenomena encourage students to examine population patterns and use evidence to explain why a population may increase, decrease, or remain relatively stable.

Students begin recognizing population changes as part of larger ecological systems.

Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Help students investigate how matter and energy move through ecosystems.

Students explore producers, consumers, decomposers, food chains, food webs, photosynthesis, energy transfer, and the cycling of matter.

The phenomena help students distinguish between energy flowing through an ecosystem and matter being reused and recycled.

Students can trace relationships among organisms and explain how changes in one part of a food web may affect other parts of the system.

Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Help students investigate how the ocean and atmosphere interact to influence weather and climate.

Students explore ocean currents, atmospheric circulation, temperature differences, convection, wind, and thermal energy transfer.

The phenomena encourage students to trace energy through Earth systems and recognize patterns in the movement of air and water.

Students begin connecting large-scale ocean and atmospheric processes with regional and global climate patterns.

Earth’s Changing Climate

Help students investigate how scientists use long-term evidence to understand changes in Earth’s climate.

Students examine climate trends, temperature patterns, atmospheric conditions, Earth system interactions, graphs, models, and other forms of evidence.

The phenomena encourage students to distinguish weather from climate and analyze patterns that occur over extended periods of time.

Students practice developing explanations based on multiple pieces of scientific evidence.

Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship

Help students apply climate science to authentic engineering challenges.

Students analyze environmental evidence, consider possible solutions, identify criteria and constraints, evaluate trade-offs, and justify engineering decisions.

The phenomena connect Earth science with design thinking and demonstrate how scientific knowledge can guide possible responses to real-world problems.

Students practice using evidence to compare solutions rather than relying on personal preference.

Build Strong Notice and Wonder Routines

Every poster provides a ready-to-use opportunity for students to investigate before being given an explanation.

Students can examine the visual, model, graph, or scenario and begin by describing what they notice.

They then generate questions, identify patterns, make predictions, compare ideas, and develop possible explanations.

Using the same Notice and Wonder structure throughout all nine units creates a familiar routine while allowing students to apply increasingly sophisticated reasoning to new science content.

Develop Middle School Scientific Reasoning

Grade 6 students are ready to move beyond simply describing what they observe.

These posters encourage students to analyze evidence, explain mechanisms, interpret scientific models, identify relationships within systems, and evaluate alternative explanations.

Students can begin with an initial idea, gather evidence during instruction and investigation, and return to the same phenomenon later to revise their explanation.

This process reinforces the idea that scientific explanations become stronger as new evidence is collected.

Build CER Skills Across 54 Phenomena

Every poster includes a student-friendly CER Starter.

Students practice making a Claim, selecting relevant Evidence, and using Reasoning to explain why the evidence supports the claim.

With 54 phenomena across Earth science, physical science, life science, climate science, and engineering, students receive extensive opportunities to strengthen evidence-based speaking and writing.

The consistent structure also allows teachers to gradually increase expectations as students become more confident constructing scientific arguments.

Strengthen Science Vocabulary in Context

Important academic vocabulary is embedded directly within meaningful phenomena.

Students use science terminology while observing, comparing, modeling, analyzing data, discussing ideas, and constructing explanations.

Vocabulary becomes connected to visual evidence and scientific reasoning rather than remaining an isolated list of definitions.

The posters can remain displayed throughout each unit to provide students with an ongoing visual reference.

Support Scientific Modeling

Many Grade 6 concepts involve processes that students cannot directly observe.

Students cannot watch tectonic changes on Mars unfold over millions of years, see particles during a phase change, observe all the interactions within a food web at once, or directly view global atmospheric circulation.

The posters provide visual models that help students represent these processes, analyze relationships, make predictions, and revise explanations.

This reinforces the important role models play in scientific thinking.

Develop Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is woven throughout the Grade 6 collection.

Students examine interactions within the Earth-moon-sun system, particle systems, ecosystems, population systems, ocean-atmosphere systems, and Earth’s climate system.

They identify system components, trace matter and energy, examine interactions, and consider how changes in one part of a system can affect other parts.

These skills provide an important foundation for more advanced middle school science.

Connect Science and Engineering

The two Engineering Internship units give students opportunities to apply scientific knowledge to real-world problems.

Students consider criteria, constraints, evidence, trade-offs, testing, and design improvement.

They learn that engineering solutions should be supported by scientific principles and evidence rather than simply chosen because they seem appealing.

These experiences help students see science and engineering as connected approaches to understanding and solving problems.

Create an Interactive Science Focus Wall

Display the posters as part of your Grade 6 science focus wall and rotate them as your class progresses through each unit.

Introduce one phenomenon at a time or display several together so students can compare evidence and recognize connections.

Because each poster includes observations, questions, vocabulary, thinking challenges, and CER support, your focus wall becomes an active instructional resource students can return to throughout the learning process.

Flexible for Many Classroom Uses

Use this bundle for:

Whole-group science instruction

Phenomenon launches

Science focus walls

Notice and Wonder routines

Small-group instruction

Science centers

Science notebook responses

Vocabulary development

CER practice

Scientific modeling

Engineering design discussions

Data and graph analysis

Partner conversations

Unit introductions

Review and reinforcement

Assessment discussions

Classroom displays

Use the Posters Before, During, and After Instruction

Before instruction, introduce a phenomenon and collect students’ initial observations, questions, and explanations.

During instruction, revisit the poster as students gather evidence, analyze models, learn new vocabulary, and develop more complete explanations.

After instruction, ask students to return to the original phenomenon and explain it again using what they now understand.

This provides students with a clear way to see how their scientific reasoning develops over time.

Save With the Complete Grade 6 Collection

Instead of purchasing each Grade 6 unit separately, this bundle provides the entire collection in one cohesive resource.

You receive:

9 complete science units

6 phenomena posters per unit

54 total phenomena posters

Consistent formatting across the complete collection

Repeated Notice and Wonder opportunities

Extensive CER practice

Integrated science vocabulary support

Scientific modeling opportunities

Systems-thinking practice

Engineering design connections

A cohesive visual system for Grade 6 science instruction

The consistent format allows students to become familiar with the instructional routine while each new unit introduces fresh phenomena and increasingly complex scientific ideas.

A Yearlong Phenomenon-Based Science Resource

With 54 different phenomena spanning planetary geology, astronomy, phase change, ecology, matter and energy, ocean-atmosphere interactions, climate science, and engineering, this bundle provides an extensive collection of instructional materials for the Grade 6 science classroom.

Whether you use the posters to launch investigations, create a science focus wall, support academic discussion, reinforce vocabulary, interpret models, practice CER, analyze data, or connect science with engineering, students receive repeated opportunities to observe, question, analyze, model, explain, and communicate like scientists.

Important Disclaimer

This resource is independently created and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or produced by Amplify Education. The use of “Amplify” in the product title is intended only to help educators identify the curriculum topics with which this supplemental resource may be used. Amplify Education owns its respective trademarks and curriculum materials.