Mystery Cells
Cold Case - File #25436
A journey into the differences between
plant and animal cells
Learning Target:
I can identify the
differences between
plant and animal cells.
Day 1
The Situation
situation
The
• Police contacted the administration
of Westwood Middle School early
this morning. A dead body was
found in the field behind our school.
• Investigators think it was murder
and due to budget problems (thanks
to the government shutdown), they
are asking for our cooperation to
help solve the crime.
Medical
Examiner’s
The situation
Statement
• “ We found no external marks on the
body, suggesting no physical
trauma. We did, however, recover
some unique cells from inside the
body that have been saved for
analysis. Before we can determine
what exactly they are, we need to
decide whether or not they belong
to a plant or animal species.”
The
situation
Research
• In order for you to be of
assistance to the police
department, you need to learn
more about cells, and the
differences between them.
To learn more, you will use the
classroom microscopes to view
slides of different cells.
You will look at ALL of the slides eventually,
but only 6 today.
Today, you will look for 4
minutes at 6 slides.
Take your time to carefully draw
exactly what you see.
Use the highlighter tool for more
variety of shades.
WARNING!
Please do NOT touch anything on
the microscope.
The slides have been set up in a
certain way, and you will ruin it
for us all if you adjust them! 
When you get to a
microscope…
1. Record the number of the
slide/microscope.
2. Draw what you see in the circles
in your science notebook.
3. Make a prediction
- Plant OR animal cell?
- Explain why.
Each circle should have 3
things…
1. Slide Number
2. Drawing
3. Prediction
(plant or animal)
8
Day 2
Slide
Number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Prediction
(Plant or Animal)
Reasoning
(Explain why you think this)
Plant/Animal Predictions
• Fill in the 6 you already looked at.
• We will look at the other slides.
• Fill in the chart for these too.
• You do NOT need to draw
anything.
• You will have ~1 minute per slide.
Mystery Cells: Reflection
• Answer the following questions:
(below your plant/animal chart)
1. Do all cells look alike? (Yes or No)
2. Give some examples of how they
are different.
3. Give some examples of how they
are the same.
4. Why might some cells look different
from others?
Day 2
Plant + Animal Slide Results
(Slide Set A)
Keep track of how many
you get correct!
Microscope Parts
Lets Practice!
1. Focus
- Coarse Adjust
(large knob = large change)
- Fine Adjust
(small knob = small change)
2. Magnification
- 40x
- 100x
- 400x
Lets Practice!
• When I say “break,” go to the
scope where you did your FIRST
drawing and wait for instructions.
The situation
Create-A-Slide
• Today we will make some of
our own slides.
• You are an animal.
• An elodea is a plant.
Prepare your own slides:
• Plant = Elodea cells
• Animal = YOUR cheek cells!
Draw what you see in
the correct circle!
Plant Cells
(Elodea)
Animal Cells
(Human Cheek)