cells

I am just beginning my cells unit with my grade 8 students. This year, I want to cover a little of the basics, but then I want to dive into the hearty issues that will require my students to really think and to make judgments about where they stand on some controversial issues.

As my school is an IB world school, we will be exploring this unit with the following question in mind: How do we use biotechnology to meet our needs?

We well begin by covering some of the basics, such as:

Cell Theory
Plant and Animal Cells (for this I am planning on having the students do an analogy assignment where they compare the parts of the cell to parts of cities, factories, houses, schools, airports…you get the idea)
Use and Care of the Microscope
Osmosis and Diffusion

The following sites support learning in the topics listed above:

Camilla Senior Cells Page

Science Spot Microscope Links

Teachnology Cells Page

Intel Cell-to-Cell Page

CREATE for Mississippi Microscopes and Cells

Internet4Classrooms Cell Structure and Function

The following are some assignments that I have used in my unit which support the topics above:

Use and Care of the Microscope

Cells Lab

Plant and Animal Cell Scavenger Hunt

Cell Superheroes Assignment