Grade 6 Natural Sciences and Technology is the final year of the Intermediate Phase and consolidates scientific literacy at a level that prepares learners for Grade 7. The CAPS curriculum extends all four knowledge strands and introduces more complex scientific concepts including reproduction, chemical changes, the water cycle and renewable energy systems. Learners are expected to plan and conduct fair investigations independently, interpret results and draw evidence-based conclusions. The Technology component requires learners to apply the complete design process with greater independence.
- Reproduction in plants: sexual and asexual reproduction
- Pollination: self- and cross-pollination, agents of pollination
- Seed dispersal: wind, water, animals, explosive mechanisms
- Reproduction in animals: sexual reproduction, life cycles
- Human reproductive system — introduction
- Growth and development in humans: puberty changes
- Technology: design a seed dispersal experiment
- Investigation: germination — conditions needed for seeds to sprout
- Chemical changes: burning, rusting, cooking — irreversible changes
- Evidence of chemical change: colour change, gas production, heat, smell
- Acids and bases: introduction — safe examples in daily life (vinegar, baking soda)
- Indicators: litmus paper, red cabbage juice
- Oxidation: rust formation and rust prevention
- Ceramics, glass and fibres — properties and uses
- Technology: design a product using knowledge of materials
- Investigation: test household liquids as acid or base
- Forms of energy revision: kinetic, potential, thermal, light, sound, electrical, chemical
- Energy transfer and transformation — energy chain diagrams
- Renewable energy: solar, wind, hydro, biomass
- Non-renewable energy: coal, oil, gas, nuclear
- South Africa's energy challenges and Eskom
- Simple machines: lever, pulley, wheel and axle, inclined plane
- Technology: design a wind turbine or solar cooker
- Investigation: compare efficiency of different simple machines
- The atmosphere: layers — troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
- Composition of the atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour
- The greenhouse effect and climate change — causes and consequences
- Ozone layer: depletion and protection
- Earthquakes and volcanoes: causes, effects and safety
- The Moon: phases, tides, lunar and solar eclipses
- Space exploration: satellites, space stations, Mars missions
- Technology: design a model showing the greenhouse effect
Understand the fair test process. In tests you are often asked to describe or design a fair test. Remember: change only ONE variable, keep everything else the same, and observe what happens.
Use labelled diagrams — they earn marks. Labelled diagrams of plants, animals, circuits, the water cycle or the solar system are worth marks. Practise drawing and labelling them from memory.
Learn the key vocabulary. Natural Sciences uses precise technical vocabulary. Words like 'photosynthesis', 'vertebrate', 'conductor' and 'decomposer' have specific meanings — use them correctly.
Connect science to real life. The best way to remember content is to connect it to real examples. When you study the water cycle, think of rain. When you study food webs, think of your local environment.
Know the difference between physical and chemical change. Physical change is reversible (cutting, dissolving). Chemical change is irreversible (burning, rusting). This distinction appears in almost every Grade 5 and 6 NST test.