Teaching Guide
Cells
produced by 
Hallie Peskin
Web Institute for Teachers, Summer, 2003

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Introduction 

Aim

Rationale

Goals and Objectives

Audience and Prerequisites

Subject-Matter

Instructional Plan

Materials

Assessment and Evaluation

Resources

Glossary

Implementation Plan

 
 
Introduction
 
 

This curriculum is an introduction to cellular biology. Students will be able to identify the organelles found in plant and animal cells as well as explain the functions.

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Aim
 
 

This curriculum is designed to allow students to gain an understanding of how cells function.
 
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Rationale
 
 

Students will be exposed to key concepts and principles of life science. These principles provide students with a foundation that will allow them to gain a deeper understanding of biological concepts and processes as they continue their studies of life science.
 
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Goals and Objectives
 
 

Upon completion of this curriculum, students are expected to have mastered the following Illinois State Goals.

STATE GOAL 12: Understand the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections of the life, physical and earth/space sciences.

  • 12.A.3a Explain how cells function as "building blocks" of organisms and describe the requirements for cells to live.
  • 12.A.3c Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different functions (e.g., structures of plant cells and animal cells).


 
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Audience and Prerequisites
 
 

This curriculum targets 7th graders who have a basic understanding of life science, but who have not yet been introduced to cellular biology.

 
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Subject-Matter
 
 

The students will be discovering visual and verbal aspects of cellular biology. Through various activities, students will learn the correct terminology, and functions of cells and their parts.
 
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Instructional Plan
 
 

Throughout this curriculum plan, students will partake in the following activities.

  • take a virtual tour of a cell
  • view labeled diagrams of plant and animal cells
  • complete diagrams
  • prepare a presentation demonstrating in-depth knowledge of an organelle, it's function, and how it relates to other parts of the cell.

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Materials
 
 

Listed below are the necessary materials:


 
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Assessment and Evaluation
 
 

Students will be assessed in the following ways. There will be a combination of formal and informal assessments.

  • Student science journal
  • Completed crossword puzzle
  • Completed diagram activity (students need to print out their results)
  • Oral presentation of organelle


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Resources
 
 

Click here for a link to a great list of resources!

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Glossary
 
 

Organelle Vocabulary Links

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Implementation Plan
 
 

This curriculum web is designed to be used in a lab setting. Each student will be using their own computer. As an introduction to the unit, students will be guided through an orientation of the website. This will serve not only as an introduction to the "CELL" curriculum web, but also as an assessment of students' technological skills.

There are non-internet activities that will be used, and if necessary, the order of lessons can be changed in order to deal with any technical glitches that may arise. I intend to work closely with the technical coordinator at the school regarding lab time, and maintaining and improving the site.

Students will be given guidelines of expectations regarding performance and behavior. If students misbehave, they will lose the privilege of working on the computers for a specified amount of time. If the poor behavior continues, they will lose priveleges entirely, and be given an alternate assignment.

The final project will include oral presentations by each student. Each student will demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the function, location, and relation to other organelles, of their part. This will be done in the StarLab with the cell cylinder. Students will also be assessed informally throughout the unit.

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Developed by Janet Gray-McKennis based on previous versions created by Craig Cunningham, Mecca Murphy, Nenette Luarca, Nicole Zumpano, and Linda Dernbach.
Last updated on May 10, 2003.
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