This unit is intended to follow the core disciplinary ideas, cross-cutting concepts and science and engineering practices as outlined through Next Generation Science Standards. The students will cycle through a series of lessons and investigations that will take them on a cross curricular journey to better enable them to understand the world around them and their place in it. Grade six students will demonstrate their understanding of basic genetics by constructing an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population and gather and synthesize information about technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits. Students will also apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships. Key CT standards in Social Studies will also be addressed, allowing students to evaluate how individuals, groups, and institutions in the United States have both promoted and hindered people’s struggle for freedom, equality, and social justice, explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives, understand how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments and analyze the roles and relationships of diverse groups of people contributing to the United States and early New Haven's cultural heritage.