Plant and Animal Cells (teacher-directed lesson)

Subject: Life Science (7^th grade)

Common Core State Standard: Standard 7.LS1.3 “Evaluate evidence that cells have structural similarities and differences in organisms across kingdoms” (Tennessee Department of Education, 2016).

Objective:

-          Explain the key similarities and differences between plant and animal cells

-          Apply understanding of cell parts to create a model of a plant or animal cell using materials provided

-          Differentiate between pictures of plant and animal cells

Key vocabulary:

-          Cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, vacuole, cytoplasm, chloroplasts, ribosome, organelles, mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, lysosome

Materials:

-          PowerPoint presentation of cell organelles with various pictures of each and different cell types

-          Cell worksheet for taking notes 

-          Materials for cell models (with suggested uses): square or circular cardboard, pipe cleaners (endoplasmic reticulum), kidney beans (mitochondria), green split peas (chloroplast), pearl couscous (ribosomes), small Styrofoam ball (nucleus), bottle cap (vacuole), wide rubber bands (Golgi apparatus), buttons (lysosomes), yarn, glue, toothpicks with labels attached

Presentation:

Teacher will

Student will

-          Open the class by stating the learning objectives for the day -          Review what cells are and their basic function -          Hand out cell parts worksheet/note-taking sheet -          Present new material: discuss the unique structure of plant and animal cells. Show representation of plant and animal cells. Highlight the similarities of plant and animal cells and explain what each organelles’ function is (Padilla, Cyr, Miaoulis, & Padilla, 2008). Provide a variety of pictures of each organelle as it is discussed and compare it’s structure to a familiar object. o   Cell membrane – police officer o   Nucleus – city hall o   Cytoplasm - atmosphere o   Vacuole – warehouse o   Mitochondria – power plant o   Golgi apparatus – post office o   Ribosomes – food-production factories o   Endoplasmic reticulum – road system (Serwatka, n.d.) -          Present the 3 main differences between plant and animal cells o   Cell wall – city wall o   Chloroplast – solar energy plant o   Lysosomes – garbage disposal -          Think-Pair-Share – give an example of how an organelle is similar to a city structure then have student pairs spend 2-4 minutes thinking about an assigned organelle’s functions and how those may be similar to the way a city functions. Call on each group of students for each organelle and write on board the different answers. -          Clarify any misunderstandings about organelle functions

-          On their worksheet, they will label the parts of the animal and plant cells as they are discussed during the presentation (the organelles function will be written below the corresponding box) During Think-Pair-Share -          Think about how an organelle is similar to parts of a city -          Share with a classmate their thoughts on similarities -          2-3 students will share with the class what they came up with

Guided practice:

Teacher will	Students will
-          Separate the students into groups of 2-3 (depending on the size of the class) -          Provide items that can be used to construct a model plant or animal cell (Drayton, n.d.) -          Assign some groups to create animal cells and some groups to create plant cells -          Walk around the room during activity to ensure understanding and give feedback on models	-          Work together in groups of 2-3 to build a model of either a plant or animal cell and label the parts -          Students can use their worksheet to guide them

Independent practice:

-          Homework assignment (which will be discussed at the beginning of next class): Reflect and compose a paragraph on why animal and plant cells are different and how those differences help the cells.

Assessment and Evaluation:

-          Show different types of plant and animal cells on the PowerPoint presentation and have students as a class call out whether it is an animal or plant cell and how they can tell

Monitoring and Feedback:

-          Monitor for understanding and appropriate connections during the Think-Pair-Share activity

-          During the guided practice, check that students are creating a model that closely represents the designated cell and that students are labeling the parts correctly

-          Offer feedback through guided questions

-          Offer positive feedback through genuine praise or acknowledgment of accurate answers

-          During the assessment and evaluation, ensure that students have at least an 80% accurate ability to distinguish between the cell types

-          Positive reinforcement/incentive: If students finish their projects, they have been assessed for accuracy, and there is still time, the teacher will allow the students to play the cell explorer game  

 (I created this lesson as part of one of my classes)