Developed by Stacey Reed at Wayland Middle School
Standards covered:
- Develop and use a model to describe the ways parts of cells contribute to key cellular functions of obtaining nutrients and water from its environment, disposing of waste, and producing energy: a. the nucleus contains genetic information (DNA) which regulates a cell's activities; b. chloroplasts are the site of photosynthesis which produces necessary glucose and oxygen; c. mitochondria facilitate cellular respiration (energy production); d. vacuoles store materials, including water, nutrients, and waste; e. the cell membrane is a protective barrier that enables nutrients to enter the cell and wastes to be expelled; and f. the cell wall provides structural support to some kinds of cells [MS-LS1-2].
We introduced the unit using standards-based learning, including a standard tracker for each student:
Lesson 1 was on cell size and measurements of very small things. The assessment was a card-sorting activity based on measurements and ordering known objects from smallest to largest.
Video:
Size Line Practice Website:
Standard 1 Card Sort Assessment:
Lesson 2 was about cell theory. The assessment was a timeline based on the history of cell theory.
Video:
Cell Theory Textbook HW (From Prentice Hall "Life Science" textbook; ISSBN: 0-13-201243-X)
Timeline generating website (ReadWriteThink):
Student Timelines:
Lesson 3 was about osmosis, diffusion, and the plasma membrane. We did a lab with gummy bears and the assessment was a differentiated lab report.
Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab:
BrainPop Video:
Lesson 4 was about chloroplasts and photosynthesis and introduced the CellCraft game and logbook to the class.
Chloroplast Practice HW:
Cell Craft:
Lesson 5 was about mitochondria and cellular respiration. There was a card-sorting assessment after this lesson about photosynthesis and respiration.
Mitochondria video:
Mitochondria Practice HW:
Card Sort Assessment for Standard 4:
Lesson 6 was on storage and movement in the cell and covered the endoplasmic reticulum, golgi bodies, vacuoles, and vesicles.
Storage and Movement Practice HW:
Storage Assessment (students draw vacuoles on plant and animal; used page protectors and expo markers):
Protein movement assessment (students used cards to tell the story of protein movement in the cell):
Lesson 7 was on the nucleus, ribosomes, DNA, and RNA.
Nucleus video:
Protein Synthesis Video:
DNA/RNA Practice HW:
Lesson 8 was about mitosis. We used the school's iPads to explore the mitosis app and then fill in the screen shot captions for the app. As an assessment, they will do a card sorting activity showing the sequence of mitosis.
Screenshot Slideshow:
Mitosis Practice HW:
Mitosis Card Sort Assessment (students put cards in order to show the cell cycle):
Lesson 9 was on mammal cell types.
Red Blood Cell Video:
White Blood Cell Video:
Fertilization Video:
Animal Cell Types Practice HW: