Subscribe

6th grade · Science · Unit 1 of 10

Body Systems

Nerves, hormones, kidneys and more

What your child practices

How the nervous and endocrine (hormone) systems send messages, how the excretory system removes waste, and the basic organs of the reproductive system, all at a simple organ-and-job level.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: MS-LS1-3 · body systems made of interacting groups of cells

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves) sends fast electrical messages.
  2. The endocrine system sends slower messages with hormones. The pituitary is the “master gland”.
  3. The excretory system removes waste: kidneys filter blood into urine, and lungs breathe out carbon dioxide.
  4. In the reproductive system, a baby develops in the uterus.

Example: Which organs filter wastes out of your blood? Filtering blood is part of the excretory system. The kidneys filter blood and make urine. Answer: the kidneys

Body Systems in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 1 of 10 in 6th grade Science, before Mixtures & Solutions.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    How do your lungs help remove waste?

    🫁
    • They release hormones
    • They breathe out carbon dioxide
    • They make urine
    • They store food

  2. Question 2

    A ball is thrown to you. Put the steps in order as your nervous system helps you catch it.

    • 👀Your eyes see the ball coming
    • Sensory nerves send the message to your brain
    • 🙌Your hands close around the ball
    • 🧠Your brain decides to catch it
    • Motor nerves carry signals to your arm muscles

  3. Question 3

    Which part of the body controls thinking, memory and decisions?

    • the heart
    • the kidneys
    • the spinal cord
    • the brain

  4. Question 4

    Puberty is started by chemical messengers. Which body system releases them?

    • the skeletal system
    • the digestive system
    • the endocrine (hormone) system
    • the excretory system

  5. Question 5

    Where does a baby develop before it is born?

    • the kidneys
    • the stomach
    • the uterus
    • the bladder

  6. Question 6

    Which bones protect your brain?

    ⛑️
    • the skull
    • the pelvis
    • the ribs
    • the kneecaps

More 6th grade