The Cell

Sixth Grade

Teaching Message 1: All living

things are made up of building
blocks called cells.

 All living things are made of building

blocks called CELLS.
Humans, plants, animals, and bacteria
are made up of one or many cells.

 Where do you think cells are located in

our body?
EVERYWHERE!!!
Humans are made up of cells that work
together and build muscle, bones, skin, and
other organs.

Teaching Message 2: Cells are

incredibly small so small that
microscopes are needed to
magnify them so that we can
see them.

 How many cells are in the human body?

10 TRILLION!!! (10,000,000,000,000)

Animation: How big is a

cell?
http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.
htm

Teaching Message 3: Cells

divide and make more cells to
help us grow and repair in a
process called mitosis.

Fertilized egg: the result of the fusion of

an egg (from the mother) and a sperm
(from the father)
Mitosis: the process through which cells
divide

Each cell divides into two identical cells.

Many cells in the human body continuously
die (like those in our bones, blood, and skin).
Mitosis allows for those cells to be replaced
One exception is nerve cells, or neurons. Most
do not divide.

Mitosis, Tumor Cells, and

Cancer Cells
Mitosis is strictly regulated. However,
sometimes the process is defective
and cells divide uncontrollably. These
cells become tumor cells which
eventually crowd normal cells. If
these cells continue to grow and
spread, they become cancer cells.

Animation: Mitosis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
GO5YN_t1fqw

Teaching Message 4: All cells

have the same basic parts to
do specific tasks, including the
cell membrane, nucleus,
mitochondria, and endoplasmic
reticulum.

The Animal
Cell
Nucleus

Cell Membrane
Cytoplasm

Mitochondria

Endoplasmic
Reticulum

Teaching Message 5: Cells

differentiate to become
specialized cells to carry out
specialized functions to result
in many different types of cells
such as muscle cells, nerve
cells blood cells, and others.

The Nerve
Cell

Red Blood Cells

Muscle Cells

Egg and Sperm Cells

Teaching Message 6: Different

cell types group together to
form organs and organ
systems. All systems work
together to form a living and
functional organism.

 Organs: formed from specialized cells

Heart, lungs, brain, stomach, etc.

 Organ system: made up of organs that

work together to perform a particular task
For example, the digestive system is made up
of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small
intestines, large intestines, etc.

Review: Teaching Messages

1: All living things are made of cells.
2: Cells are very small.
3: Cells divide and make more cells to
help us grow.
4: All cells have the same basic parts to
do specific tasks.
5: There are many different types of
cells in our body doing many different
jobs.
6: Cells form organs, which form organ
systems.