Sample Lesson Plan
Lesson Objective: By modeling their own cell and exploring virtual simulations of the cell, students will be able to diagram and define the functions of the cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi complex, mitochondria, chloroplast, lysosome, and ribosome.
Standards addressed:
Content Standard: Introduction to 9th grade Cell Biology or 7th grade cell biology.
Next Generation Science Standard: model, obtaining and communicating information
Notes and Knowledge Package: The model of the cell is currently presented in seventh grade life science. This lesson serves as a fun refresher class that leads into the any of the particular functions of the organelles.
Engage: (10 min) Ask students what they think a "unit of life" or "the smallest unit of life" could be. Get into the idea of what the smallest living thing needs to consist of. Use this time to perhaps present some historical context into the discovery of the cell.
Explore: (10 min) Have students think of what components of a cell would be necessary (what functions would it need to do? How does it get the energy to do this? Can you think of an analogy to the cell?) Write a list or draw a model on poster paper.
Explain: (5 min) Have students pick one aspect of their city-cell to share. Students can jot these down to add to their own models.
Explore: (15 min) Students will explore the cell through the Virtual Cell tour or Interactive Cell Model and add to their models. Use the terminology presented to match this up to their models (for example, if they had a "city cell" in their original plan, they can equate this to "nucleus" after learning about the terminology).
Explain: (10 min) Students will share out their observations and made a comprehensive list of organelles.
Evaluate: (20 min) Outdoor review session using the freeze-tag featured on the Neuroscience for Kids page. Students will review the terminology of cell parts and organelles while playing a game of brain-freeze tag. In order to unfreeze each other, they will need to provide the proper counterpart/ function of the organelle listed.
Extend: (5 min) Wrap up and review. Students will make their own analogy to the cell (e.g. farm, machine). When piloting this, the teacher might also use this time to assess how well the virtual tour and the tag helped their learning. Lead in to the next unit that goes more in-depth to an organelle function (e.g. cell membrane, mitochondria, etc.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
The initial model for the students seems a bit difficult, especially if it's going to be their first encounter with the parts of the cell. But that aside, the way you embedded the Virtual Cell Tour was good! It would definitely be helpful for the students to interact with the cell and see how the organelles are compartmentalized into the cell. It's way better than coloring in and labeling a sheet of paper. Also, the freeze-tag game sound fun, just make sure to have careful referee skills if you do this in real life :-)
ReplyDeleteOverall - lovely blog Minnie!
If students don't have enough prior knowledge to participate in the first 'explore' i think they can begin using the simulation right after the 'engage' portion.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with what Gabby said, the freeze tag game sounds fun and engaging, but students need to be monitored closely, or since they are in high school, they might not want to run around.