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7th grade · Science · Unit 2 of 10

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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 7L.1.2.1.1; 7L.3.1.1.1 · evidence that living things are made of cells, and what the parts of a cell do

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. All living things are made of cells. Bacteria are one cell; people are trillions.
  2. The nucleus controls the cell. The membrane controls what goes in and out. Mitochondria release energy.
  3. Plant cells also have a cell wall and chloroplasts.

Example: Which part controls the cell’s activities? It holds the cell’s DNA. It acts like the cell’s control center. Answer: the nucleus

Cells: Life's Building Blocks in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 2 of 10 in 7th grade Science, after Natural Selection and before Cells & Life Processes.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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 structure is found in plant cells but not animal cells?

    • Cell membrane
    • Nucleus
    • Cell wall
    • Mitochondria

  2. Question 2

    The cell theory says that all cells come from…

    • other cells
    • nothing
    • air
    • water

  3. Question 3

    Which evidence shows a pond sample has living things?

    • It smells like mud
    • The water is wet
    • The jar is clear
    • Cells seen under a microscope

  4. Question 4

    Which is NOT made of cells?

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

  5. Question 5

    Plant cells have a large…

    • central vacuole for storing water
    • cell wall made of bone
    • nucleus with no DNA
    • chloroplast in the roots only

  6. Question 6

    If a cell's membrane were damaged, the cell could not…

    • contain DNA anywhere
    • be seen
    • control what enters and leaves
    • have a shape ever

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