Lab 2013
Developing a Plant Cell
Sarah Martz
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1996/fernandez_cell.html
Background
This lesson will answer several questions for students.
1. 1.
What do plant cells look like?
2. What are the different cell organelles and what is their function?
Make sure when the students begin to draw their structure that you keep an eye on the size of
the structure as well as the amount of structures they are making. It is also a good idea to
double check the information that they will be reporting on for accuracy. The first group to do
their presentation must be the cell wall/cell membrane group. This group will draw their
structures directly onto the butcher paper. They will trace the pencil outline that was drawn
by the teacher. The rest of the presentations do not have to be in any particular order, I have
found that the order outlined in the Cell Part Notes works best. After each presentation, the
group should label their cell part.
The students are required to find information about their assigned cell part. They will draw and
cut out an appropriate amount of their cell structure. They will present their information to the
class and tape their cell structure(s) to the plant cell in the front of the room.
There is not that much prep time needed for this activity. Beforehand, the teacher must cut out
one large pieces of butcher paper (approximately 3 feet by 4 feet). With a pencil, draw an outline
of a plant cell as a guide for students. This will enable students to judge how large their cell part
must be. Then gather up paper to draw structures on, markers to color the structures and scissors
to cut out the structures.
Project
1. Researching the function of their assigned cell part.
2. Drawing and cutting out their assigned cell part.
3. Presenting their information to the class and placing their cell part on the classroom plant
cells.
At the end of this activity, students will see a home made plant cell. They will understand the
parts of a cell and their functions by the research they conducted and from the information they
gathered from listening to their peers. They will be able to visually see the plant cells.
Materials:
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1 pieces of butcher paper (1 for the plant cell and 1 for the animal cell)
White paper to make their drawings
Markers to color their drawings
Scissors to cut out their drawings
The Cell
The cell theory tells us that the cell is the basic unit of life, all organisms are made up of cells,
and new cells come only from other living cells. Whether you are a simple organism, an amoeba,
made up of only one cell or a complex organism, a human, made up of many cells, each cell is
built the same way. A single cell works like a fast food restaurant. There are many important jobs
to be done to get an order out to the customer, someone to make the french fries, someone to cook
the hamburgers, someone to prepare the sandwiches, someone to prepare the drinks, someone to
take the order, etc. In order for a cell to work as efficiently, there are many cell parts that must
work together as well. Cells can also work together to perform some complicated functions. For
example, cells work together to form muscle tissue which aids in movement. In later chapters, we
will be investigating the detailed work of the cell as they function together in all of the systems of
the human body. However, before we can understand these complicated functions we must
understand the functions of the cell and it's parts.
Each group will be assigned a cell part(s). Each group will find the following information about
their cell part:
1. Write the function(s) of the cell part(s).
2. Draw and cut a picture of your cell part. If the cell is equipped with more than one of
your cell parts, then you need to draw and cut out the appropriate number of cell parts for
each cell. Be sure to notice the size of our plant cell. Make sure that you cell part is the
appropriate size.
Each group will present their cell part(s) to the class. Each member of the group must participate
in the presentation. During the presentation, explain the information your group researched then
place your cell part(s) on the butcher paper in the appropriate place for the plant cell.
You will be assigned one of the following cell parts:
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Nucleus
Endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes
Mitochondria
Chloroplast and chlorophyll (you will draw your structures directly on the butcher paper)
Cell membrane and cell wall
Cytoplasm, protoplasm and vacuole
At the end of all of the presentations, everyone will be responsible for the function of all of the
cell parts so be sure to take good notes!