Middle School Inquiry Lab on Plant and Animal Cell Organelles
In this lab students will use household items as models of cell organelles.
Each inquiry lab will contain an essential question that will drive the lesson and make students think. For this lesson, the essential question is:
- What is the difference between structure and function in plant and animal cell organelles?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MATERIALS LIST:
Students will begin the lab by reading the essential question and background information. This can be done individually, as lab groups, or as a whole class. If you consider lab groups, you also might include some type of whole class formative checks before digging into the lab.
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Materials List:
- organelle cards
- 1 2″ x 2″ piece of bubble wrap
- 1 inflated zip-close bag
- bag with 1 AAA battery
- bag with 3 AAA batteries
- 2 plastic Easter eggs
- 1 empty plastic storage container
- 1 plastic storage container with an inflated balloon inside
- 1 inflated balloon
- 1 or more solar calculators
PROCEDURE:
For this lab, students will have to explain which household item provided best represents cell organelles based on their structure and function. Students start off by looking a set of cards and sorting which organelle belongs to plant cells, animal cells, or both. Students will have to record the organelle, cell type it belongs to, and the difference between organelle shape/function based on cell type.
Next, students get to decide which items better represent a plant cell and which are more like an animal cell. Using their cell comparison sorting page, students look through items provided and decide which fit as examples for listed organelles in animal and plant cells. Students will also discuss the differences and how these differences affect the type of cell.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:
At this point in the lab, students will be checked for understanding by answering questions about their findings. Here is one that comes with the lab:
- Based on your comparison of the organelles, explain why plant and animal cells would need different organelles.
CONCLUSION
Students will go back to the essential question and write a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) to conclude the lab. Once completed, students will reflect back on their learning by answering the following questions:
- Name two structures or organelles in plant cells that animal cells do not have.
- How do the shapes of plant cells and animal cells differ? Why do you think this is?
MODIFIED AND INDEPENDENT INQUIRY VERSIONS
All of the Kesler Science inquiry labs come with three different modification levels. Each lab is differentiated using the icons below.
STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
TEKS: 7.12D – Differentiate between structure and function in plant and animal cell organelles, including cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondrion, chloroplast, and vacuole.
