Activity - Make your own plant cell!

(For this activity, there are 25 students in our 6th grade class)

Learning Objectives:

• The students will be able to identify the structures of major organelles of plant cells.

• The students will be able to explain the functions of major organelles of plant cells.

• The students will collaborate with peers in order to build a model.

State Standards:

6.LS.1: Cells are the fundamental unit of life. All living things are composed of cells. Different body tissues and organs are made of different kinds of cells. The ways cells function are similar in all living organisms.

6.LS.1c: Recognize that living things are made of cells.

6.LS.3: Cells carry on specific functions that sustain life. Many basic functions of organisms occur in cells. Cells take in nutrients and energy to perform work, like making various molecules required by that cell or an organism. Every cell is covered by a membrane that controls what can enter and leave the cell. Within the cell are specialized parts for the transport of materials, energy capture and release, protein building, waste disposal, information feedback, and movement.

6.LS.3b: Match an organelle to its function.

Materials:

• Leaf from outside/Houseplant (Teacher demonstration)

• 1 empty shoe box per group (5 boxes total)

• Play-Doh (6 colors per group - 35 containers total)

• Green markers, crayons, colored pencil, etc.

• Index cards for labels (7 per group - 35 total)

• Pencils

• Scissors (class set, multiple per group)

• Tooth picks

• Styrofoam blocks (colored green)

• Glue

Steps:

1. Begin the lesson by starting with a discussion about plant cells. Using a houseplant, or simple leaf from outside for viewing, ask the students, "Who knows what this leaf is made out of?" As students are volunteering their ideas, continue the discussion until students answer with the word "cells." Review what we know about cells. Simply, all living things are made of cells. Explain that plant cells are the basic unit of life for all plants.

2. After reviewing cells, students will tasked with creating a 3D model of a plant cell in groups of 5 with their classmates. There should be 5 groups of 5 students. Students will be using a shoe box as their "cell," which will be filled with styrofoam acting as the cytoplasm. Students will be tasked with attaching parts of the cell and labeling them.

3. The students will be asked to first, label each index card with a different part of the cell. This includes: the mitochondria, vacuole, nucleus, cytoplasm, cell wall, cell membrane, chloroplast.

4. After labeling each index card, students will flip the card over and write its function for the cell. Since there are 7 basic parts of the cell we are focusing on, some students in each group will have 2 cards to fill out.

5. After creating their labels, students will work together to decide which part of the cell will belong to each Play-Doh color. They will be asked to choose only 6 Play-Doh colors, as we are using a whole structure of styrofoam to act as the cytoplasm. This will allow the students to be creative for a task that is otherwise singularly straight-forward.

6. After matching each label to a Play-Doh color, students will color the front of each label with the corresponding color. We do not want to color the back and make our functions difficult to read.

7. After completing their labels, the students will color their shoe boxes green, and color the styrofoam blocks green.

8. Following that, the students will then glue their labels to a toothpick, about 3/4 of the way up.

9. After coloring, the students will place the styrofoam into their shoeboxes, to act as the cytoplasm.

10. The students will shape their assigned Play-Doh's into the shapes that they depict as parts of the cell. For example, for the Nucleus, students may use a rolled-up ball of Play-Doh, or they might choose to cut the ball in half so it "sits" on the Cytoplasm. The Vacuole may be depicted as a large oval, etc.

11. After creating their Play-Doh parts, they will mold the parts onto the Cytoplasm, using hands or extra toothpicks that are broken in half to hide the scaffold. Then, students will attach their labels to their corresponding parts.

By creating the 3D plant cell model with their peers, students display their knowledge of plant cells, their parts and their corresponding functions. This project will act as a hands-on Summative Assessment for students.

Worksheets/ Coloring Pages: