What does a student learn in StateMississippi,GradeGrade 6,SubjectScience?

Living things are organized in levels, from tiny cells up through tissues, organs, and whole body systems. Students learn how each level builds on the one below it.

Living things are organized in levels, from tiny cells up to full organisms. Students study how those levels work together so the whole creature stays alive.

Students sort living things from non-living things using evidence from what they observe. The tricky cases, like viruses and bacteria, are part of the work.

Students gather information from texts, experiments, or observations to explain why scientists agree that all living things are made of cells, cells come from existing cells, and the cell is the basic unit of life.

Students draw or build a model of a cell and explain what each part does, showing how the cell wall, membrane, nucleus, and other structures work together to keep the organism alive. This applies to plant, animal, fungus, and bacterial cells.

Students compare cells under a microscope and sort them into groups: protists, fungi, plants, or animals. The goal is to spot the differences and similarities that make each cell type distinct.

Students sort living things into two groups: those made of a single cell (like bacteria) and those made of many cells working together (like plants or animals). They back up their sorting with evidence from observations or data.

Students use diagrams or models to show how cells group into tissues, tissues into organs, and organs into systems that keep a living thing alive.

Students study how living things depend on each other and their surroundings to survive. They learn how changes to one part of an ecosystem, like removing a predator or polluting a water source, can ripple through the whole community.

When conditions in an environment change, some living things survive and others don't. Students study how the variety of species in an ecosystem shapes which populations hold on and which ones struggle.

Living things in an ecosystem (like plants, animals, and bacteria) are biotic. Non-living things (like sunlight, water, and soil) are abiotic. Students explain how living organisms depend on both to survive.

Scientists organize living things into levels, from a single species up to a whole biome. Students build and use models to show how those levels fit together, explaining why a forest, a desert, or an ocean is more than just a collection of animals and plants.

When a drought dries up a pond or a wildfire sweeps through a forest, animal and plant populations shrink, grow, or shift. Students study what caused the change in the environment and trace how that ripple moved through the ecosystem.

Students study how living things affect each other, from predators hunting prey to species that help each other survive. They look at what happens when animals compete for food or space, and when two organisms depend on each other to get by.

Students trace how energy moves through a living community, from plants that make their own food, to animals that eat them, to decomposers that break down what's left. Food chains, webs, and pyramids are the tools they use to map that flow.

Students explain how physical traits and behaviors help living things survive in their environment. A cactus storing water and a bird's camouflage are the kinds of examples they work with.

A dichotomous key is a tool that sorts living things by yes-or-no questions about their traits. Students use one to classify organisms into the six kingdoms, from bacteria too small to see to plants and animals they recognize.

Scientists have sorted living things for thousands of years. Students compare how Aristotle and Linnaeus grouped organisms by physical traits to how scientists today use DNA to draw those same lines.

Students sort living things into kingdoms like animals, plants, and fungi, then explain what features those organisms share. The focus is on using real evidence to back up claims about why two organisms belong together.

Fungi can't make their own food, so students examine mold and other fungi to figure out how they feed on dead or decaying material and how they respond to their surroundings.

Students look at single-celled organisms like euglena, paramecia, and amoebas under a microscope or through video, comparing how each one moves and finds food.

Students study bacteria and viruses to understand how the same microorganism can fight disease in one situation and cause serious illness in another. They practice backing up that claim with scientific evidence.

Students study how objects move, what pushes or pulls them, and how energy is transferred from one thing to another. This is the physical science behind everything from a rolling ball to a swinging pendulum.

Newton's three laws explain why objects speed up, slow down, or stay still. Students use real examples, like a kicked ball or a moving skateboard, to show how force and motion are connected.

Students design and build a safety device like a helmet or seat belt, then test and improve it. The work is grounded in Newton's Laws, which explain why bodies keep moving or stop when a force hits them.

Students add up all the forces pushing or pulling on an object to find out whether it will move, stay still, or change direction. They use both calculations and diagrams to show how those forces combine.

Students test how changing surfaces or adding wheels affects how easily an object moves. They explain what they found and why friction made the difference.

Students sort four forces into groups by what they do and when they show up: gravity pulling objects down, friction slowing things that rub together, and magnetic or electric forces acting without any touch at all.

Students track how an object moves by measuring where it is, which way it's going, and how fast it's speeding up or slowing down. Then they use that information to predict where the object will go next.

Five forces shape how objects move: gravity pulls things down, friction slows surfaces rubbing together, drag resists motion through air or water, lift pushes upward, and thrust drives forward. Students study how these forces change depending on the environment.

Students learn how energy changes form: a ball at the top of a ramp holds stored energy, a rolling ball has moving energy, and friction turns some of that moving energy into heat.

Reading a star map or a scale model of the solar system, students learn how Earth fits into the larger universe, from nearby planets to distant galaxies.

Gravity from the Sun keeps every planet, moon, comet, and asteroid moving in its orbit. Students use scientific sources to explain why objects in the solar system stay on their paths instead of drifting into space.

Students study how scientists think the universe began and what it's made of. They look at older theories and newer evidence, then summarize what the research actually shows.

Stars group into galaxies, and galaxies group into even larger clusters. Students use charts or diagrams to show how these layers fit together, from a single star out to the full scale of the universe.

Students look at the tools scientists use today, like space telescopes and probes, to figure out where our solar system sits inside the Milky Way and beyond. The focus is on evaluating which techniques work and why.

Students research and compare the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteors in our solar system, then build or draw a model showing how those objects move and relate to one another.

Gravity pulls every planet, moon, and comet along its path through the solar system. Students explain how that same force also causes ocean tides to rise and fall here on Earth.

Students build models of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to explain what we see from the ground: why the Moon changes shape each night, why eclipses happen, what causes tides, and why days and years repeat on a predictable schedule.

Sunspots, solar flares, and other activity on the Sun's surface can disrupt satellites, power grids, and radio signals here on Earth. Students study data about these features to explain what might happen when the Sun gets more or less active.