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6th grade · Science · Unit 3 of 6

Cells: Life's Building Blocks

All living things are made of cells.

What your child practices

Practices evidence that living things are made of cells, the parts of plant and animal cells and their jobs, and how the cell works as a system.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: MS-LS1-1; MS-LS1-2 · living things are made of cells, and the parts of a cell work together

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. All living things are made of cells. Most cells are seen with a microscope.
  2. Cell parts have jobs: the nucleus holds the instructions and mitochondria release energy from food.
  3. Similar cells working together form a tissue. Tissues form organs.

Example: Which cell part releases energy from food? The nucleus is the control center. Mitochondria are the cell's power plants. Answer: mitochondria

Cells: Life's Building Blocks in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 3 of 6 in 6th grade Science, after Our Senses and before Thermal Energy & Insulation.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is NOT made of cells?

    • A rock
    • A tree
    • A worm
    • A mushroom

  2. Question 2

    Which part controls the cell's activities?

    • Chloroplast
    • Nucleus
    • Vacuole
    • Cell wall

  3. Question 3

    Which part lets materials in and out of the cell?

    • Cell wall only
    • Nucleus
    • Chloroplast
    • Cell membrane

  4. Question 4

    Which part releases energy from food?

    • Vacuole
    • Nucleus
    • Mitochondria
    • Cell wall

  5. Question 5

    What is the smallest unit of life?

    • The tissue
    • The atom
    • The organ
    • The cell

  6. Question 6

    A cell is like a city. Mitochondria are like…

    • city hall
    • the garbage dump
    • the power plant
    • the library

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