Modeling the Flow of Matter from Food to Cells
Put yourself in the frame of mind to openly discuss ideas about science and
what might be going on about things that we cannot see.
•As a group you will construct a model of your ideas on how matter flows from our
food to our cells and post it in the room as a final product of this assignment.
• Remember to follow the rules of Deliberation:
1. Gather knowledge to develop shared group knowledge toward solving
a common problem.
In this phase you’ll want to make sure you:
A. Hear everyone’s ideas.
B. Support each other to take risks in your thinking.
C. Ask each other questions.
D. Understand and offer different ideas.
2. Make a decision on the course of action.
In this phase not everyone has to agree on the ideas, but everyone
needs to agree on which ideas to try out first.
3. Reflect on your course of action and revise your ideas if necessary.
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Your group will need to incorporate the following ideas on a poster.
1. Research and decide on a healthy meal (have fun!) that includes food items
from or produced by:
A. a plant
B. an animal
C. a bacterium, and
D. either a fungus or a protist
Example: a cheeseburger on a whole wheat bun
whole wheat bun -> sugar and wheat from plants, milk and butter
from an animal, and yeast is a fungus
burger -> beef from an animal
cheddar cheese -> milk from an animal and bacteria
2a. Draw and label a representative cell and its organelles from each type of
organism that produced your food. Only one plant cell, one animal cell, one
bacterial cell, AND one fungal or protist cell is required.
Example:
whole wheat bun -> a plant cell and a fungal cell
burger -> an animal cell
cheddar cheese -> a bacterial cell (the milk for the cheese would be
a product of an animal cell, but I need a bacterial cell)
Make sure to include and label (if present) the cell wall, extracellular matrix,
plasma membrane, nucleus, ribosomes, rough and smooth endoplasmic
reticulum, Golgi body, vacuoles, lysosomes, plastids (chloroplasts, amyloplasts,
chromoplasts), mitochondria, cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella, nucleoid region,
capsule, pili.
2b. Research and photocopy or print out a specific type of cell that shows
some cellular structures from each organism that your food came from.
Example:
whole wheat bun -> a wheat plant cell
whole wheat bun -> a yeast fungal cell
burger -> a muscle or fat cell from a cow
cheddar cheese -> lactococci and lactobacilli bacteria
3. Label each organelle and the cytosol in every cell with the types of molecules
that make up its structure. Be sure to include the following terms where
appropriate:
protein
cellulose
chitin
starch
glycogen
phospholipid
triglyceride
cholesterol
DNA
RNA
water
sodium ions
potassium ions
chloride ions
4. Draw a diagram of your ideas on how water, temperature, pH, and digestive
enzymes work to break down the above biological macromolecules into smaller
subunits. Also include which molecule(s) could not be broken down and
transported out as waste. Be sure to include the following terms:
hydrogen bonds
covalent bonds
ionic bonds
hydrolysis
amino acids
monosaccharides
nucleotides
glycerol
phosphate
saturated fatty acids
cis-unsaturated fatty acids
trans-unsaturated fatty acids
5a. Draw and label a human heart muscle cell and its organelles. As you did
for the food cells, draw and label the organelles and the molecules that make
up each structure. In addition to the list of terms in question 3 above, also
please include the following terms:
actin, myosin, sodium channel, potassium channel.
5b. Include your ideas of why this human cell might or might not need these
molecules, and what it would do with them.
5c. Draw arrows that show the flow of matter from our food to our cells.
When you are done, please tape your poster to an available space around
the room and we will prepare for our gallery walk.