Emily Gadberry
PLANT CELL LESSON PLAN
Part 1: Let’s Get Started!
- First, have a few students at a time come up to the 3-D plant cell puzzle and have them pick
one of the pieces/organelles that is labeled on the cell and gently pull it out of the puzzle.
- Next, instruct them to go over to the stack of poems and find the poem that has the
same title as the name on their organelle piece.
- Then, once every student has an organelle in their hand, and their poem, tell
them to first observe their organelle, and then read their partial poem about it.
Part 2: Research Time!
- Inform students that they are going to be finishing the poem that they have on their organelle.
- Use the “Plant Cell” poem as your example for them to follow which is a four stanza couplet.
- Show them in your example how a stanza is a unit within a larger poem, like a verse in a
song. Explain that a couplet is a pair of lines in poetry where the last word of the first line
typically rhymes with the last word of the next line.
- Inform the students that their partial poem on their organelle consists of 2 stanzas of couplets.
In order to make their poem like the example, they must add on 2 more couplet stanzas
making a total of 4 stanzas/4 couplets.
- Next, have students generate a research plan to research their organelle further to be able to
finish their poem. Donate an area in your classroom as the “research area” that contains
Webster dictionary’s, a computer for online research, science textbooks, and any other
available texts on the organelles of plant cells, and tell them to take notes as they research
their organelle. You may even allow your students to interview you or other classmates on
their knowledge of the particular organelle!--TEK 110.14: 25(b) & 26(a)
- They will be able to use these texts/resources to determine the meanings of their organelle and
other unfamiliar words in which they come across in their research. -- TEK 110.14: 4(b)
- Students should then be able to finish the poem on their organelle from the puzzle.
Part 3: Time for Creativity!
- Now that students have researched, following the same format as your example, tell them to
use their own piece of paper to finish their poem. Tell them to write down on their own paper
the stanzas of the poem that were already given, and then add on their 2 couplet stanzas,
making sure that they use the same number of stanzas/verses as in your example, and that
their ending word rhymes with the last word of the line before it. -- TEK 110.14 18(b)
- Remind students that when they are writing their poems that they remember to check spelling,
punctuation, etc. -- TEK 113.5: 17(b)
- When students are done with their poem, have them recreate a picture of their organelle based
upon their research, their finished poem, and how it appears in the puzzle. Tell them to be
creative! They will use markers, colored pencils, or crayons to creatively express their
organelle. --TEK 117.11: 9(a) & 113.5: 17(c)
HAVE STUDENT TAKE PUZZLE PIECE BACK, GET NEW PIECE, & START OVER!!
Emily Gadberry
EXAMPLE:
Plant Cell
Listen close to the story I tell,
It's a rhyming story of a plant cell.
All animals, plants, and humans too,
Are made up of cells with different jobs to do.
The plant cell has many functioning parts,
So lets get to know each one by heart.
Cells are the basic units of living organisms,
And I hope by now you’re following my rhythm.
(Now that you see this example, try to make your own 4 stanza couplet on your cell part!!)
Plasmodesma
These are little holes throughout the cell wall,
Where water can be lost because they’re so small.
It also lets nutrients, waste, and ions pass through,
Which is definitely an important job that they must do…...
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Cell Wall
Every plant has a cell wall.
It holds the plant up so it won’t fall.
It protects the cell and gives it support,
Much like an army needs their fort…….
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Cell Membrane
If there wasn't something called the cell membrane,
There'd be a mess everywhere, and we'd really complain!
Its job isn't simple there's no doubt,
As it lets some particles move in and out…….
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Intermediate Filaments
These medium-sized things are protein fibers,
And crazy enough they resemble wires.
These fibers make up the cytoskeleton,
Which surprisingly has quite a few functions……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Free Ribosomes
These little ribosome’s really are free,
They move around their home just like you and me.
Free Ribosomes are found floating around the cell.
They are used as a “workbench” making proteins quite well…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Ribosomes (on Rough ER)
These tiny little ribosome’s are not very free,
Because they’re attached to the Endoplasmic Reticulum you see.
These protein factories are really quite small,
In fact you’ll need a microscope to see them at all…….
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Nucleus
You and I have a brain, it helps us do what we do,
It keeps us walkin' and talkin' and eatin' our food.
Cells need one too, to keep 'em stayin' alive,
And it’s called a nucleus that floats around inside……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Nuclear Envelope
A nucleus gives orders , kind of like a brain,
But it's protected and isolated by this important nuclear membrane.
The nuclear envelope is like the cell membrane of a cell.
There’s space for RNA and proteins to pass through quite well…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Chromatin
When the cell’s in a resting state, there’s chromatin in the nucleus,
And as you’ll soon see it’s definitely not useless.
When the cell’s going to divide, the chromatin becomes compact.
It condenses into chromosomes making one thick stack……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Nuclear Pore
The nuclear pores are small holes in the nuclear envelope,
But not everything escapes so don’t lose your hope.
It’s lined with little “gatekeepers” allowing things to pass through,
Like water, ions, and small molecules too!……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Nucleolus
It’s like a little nucleus inside a big nucleus, that’s what it is,
A place where our heredity lies, making us a “Whiz”!
The nucleolus contains proteins, RNA, and DNA,
And is a darkly colored region where ribosomes are made……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (Rough ER)
Just when you thought you weren't having any fun,
Along comes the endoplasmic reticulum.
With their attached ribosome’s, they look like sheets of bumpy membranes,
They manufacture proteins, and ship them around like cargo planes…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (Smooth ER)
The Smooth ER manufactures other molecules,
It really is a reason why this organelle rules!
These tube like structures serve as a track,
To carry stuff over to the membrane and back…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Vesicle
Vesicles are like small bubbles of liquid within a cell.
Lets get to know them oh so well!
They’re relatively small, membrane-enclosed sacs,
Which store and transport protein within the cell-- it’s a fact!…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Golgi Apparatus
You pronounce my name “Golgi” the same way you say “squeegee“,
And my shape like a flattened balloon makes identifying me easy.
Well I’m like a train station within my cell you see,
I transport received vesicles from the ER to the rest of me!…..
.
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Chloroplast
Chloroplasts exist in plant cells and no other place,
Making sugars and starches is something they’ve “aced”!
Cells have Chlorophyll and Chloroplasts on their list,
Which allow plants to make their own food by Photosynthesis……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Microtubules
Microtubules are shaped like a cylindrical tube,
And the movement of these parts allows the cells to move.
They are thick, strong spirals of thousands of subunits,
And are proteins that help define cell structure and movement…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Emily Gadberry
Mitochondrion
This organelle acts as like the mighty energizer bunny,
Although I know that does seem quite funny!
Since they turn sugars into energy oh so well,
We call them the powerhouse of the cell……
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!
Central Vacuole
The vacuole acts like a liquid landfill,
It stores amino acids, sugars, and waste that could kill!
They're also filled with a lot of H2O
And they carry food so the cell can grow…..
** Now go research this cell part and add on 2 more couplet stanzas!!