Cell Analogies

Post date: Jan 8, 2016 6:34:12 PM

I haven't done this in years and now I can't remember why! For some reason, years ago, I started making cell models but what I realized was that students might make a very pretty model but would have no idea what any of the organelles really did as part of the bigger picture. This year I decided to go back to having students make analogies - they could decide what would represent a cell and which components would best represent the function of each organelle. This was SO much fun! Students came up with everything from a school, to a person to a soccer stadium. We hung up all of the posters around my room and essentially did a gallery walk around the room with each group explaining why they chose to assign each organelle function to the analogy component. By the end there was NO doubt that they all had a much deeper understanding of the function of all organelles. I will definitely be doing this again!