6th Grade · Week 1 of 36 · Science
Cells are the unit of life
1. Hook
- Read (or listen to) what you’re learning. Don’t jump to the quiz.
- Walk the worked example. Then use the interactive lab on this page.
- Guided set → independent set → mastery check → teach-back.
- If you write a paper, stay on campus: Citation Helper, Source Library, Paper Studio.
This is self-paced homeschool on Life Academy. Everything you need is on this page.
A brick wall is made of bricks. A living thing is made of... what? And is a single bacterium "alive" all by itself?
Then: lab → guided → quiz → teach it back. The lab is the lesson, not a decoration.
2. Teach
Gather evidence that all living things are made of one or more cells, the smallest unit of life (NGSS MS-LS1-1).
Standards alignment: NGSS MS-LS (domain-level; works with any state’s standards)
Measure it: most cells are microscopic (a typical human cell is about 10 to 100 micrometers). Calculate how many 50-micrometer cells would line up across 1 mm (answer: 20).
- Cell theory: all living things are made of cells; the cell is the basic unit of structure and function; all cells come from existing cells.
- Some organisms are unicellular (bacteria, amoebas); others are multicellular (plants, animals, people).
- Cells were first described by Robert Hooke in 1665, who saw cork "cells" through a microscope; Antonie van Leeuwenhoek later observed living microorganisms.
A single bacterium carries out every life function: it takes in nutrients, releases wastes, responds to its environment, grows, and reproduces. That is why a cell is the smallest unit of life.
Your body has trillions of cells of many types (skin, muscle, nerve, blood), each shaped for its job. Non-living things like rocks or water are not made of cells.
- Claim: a leaf is made of cells.
- Evidence: under a microscope, an onion skin or Elodea leaf shows many small box-like units with walls.
- Reasoning: cell theory says living things are made of cells, and these units are cells.
- Conclusion: the observation supports cell theory.
Sort these into living (made of cells) and non-living: mushroom, sand, yeast, a feather from a living bird (once part of a living thing), a crystal, pond scum. Explain one tricky case.
Thinking only animals are made of cells, or that a once-living thing (like wood) was never made of cells.
Doctors diagnose disease by looking at cells (for example, a blood test or biopsy).
No classroom teacher today — this page is the lesson. Follow the how-to, then the lab, then the quiz. Follow Lesson Studio, then the lab, then the quiz.
Interactive lab (on this page)
Change one variable. Record what happened. This model is the lab — not an off-site sim.
Your work — type it here
Do the lab first. Then write what you noticed. Then a because-sentence. That is the assignment.
3. Guided practice
Try these with me — type the missing word, then check.
Reveal the thinking
Living things show all life functions, and the smallest thing that can do them all is a cell.
4. Independent practice
Work the set. Check when finished — this is practice (mastery quiz is next).
5. Mastery check
Scored quiz — results save to your gradebook.
The lab is on this page
Do the experiment here. Change one thing. Read what happened. We do not send you to an outside simulation site. Today: Cells are the unit of life.
Classroom · Gradebook · Transcripts
Stay on this page. The studio, the lab, pictures, and Your work are the lesson.
6. Reflection / teach-back
Teach-back: Explain Cells are the unit of life in your own words. Give one example and name the usual mistake.