TITLE: JELLO CELLS
AUTHOR: Kate Hayne, Soroco Junior High
Oak Creek, Colorado.
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: Appropriate for JHS
Life Science Students!
OVERVIEW: Cells as 3D objects is a difficult concept for
students to grasp as all diagrams and cells under the
microscope appear as 2D objects. This activity allows the
students to build 3D cell models and so have a concrete
example to help them to develop this concept.
OBJECTIVE(s): Students will be able to:
1. Describe the cell as a 3D object rather than the 2D
object they are accustomed to observing.
2. Describe the appearance and location within the cell
of the various cell organelles.
3. Compare and contrast their 3D plant cell and their 3D
animal cell.
4. Compare and contrast 3D plant and animal "tissues"
RESOURCES/MATERIALS:
Teacher materials: Plastic sacks,twist ties,jello, gelatin
and boiling water as well as large mixing bowls and spoons.
Student materials: Plastic "tupperware" sandwich
containers, canned fruits, paper and writing implement.
ACTIVITIES:
1. Students, in groups or individually, will select 2
plastic sacks. They will put one plastic sack in a
small square "tupperware" container so that the plastic
sack completely lines the container and the extra sits
outside the container. The other sack should be open on
the desk.
2. Each student or group of students should then put
similar amounts of "Knox Blox", warm, lemon gelatin
into the two sacks so that the container will be close
to full. Then fruits representing required cell
organelles should be put into the gelatin: plums to
represent nuclei, mandarin oranges to represent
mitochondria, grapes to represent chloroplasts etc.
The plastic sacks represent cell membranes while the
plastic container represents a cell wall.
3. The "cells" should then be closed using twist ties and
refrigerated to set (several hours or until next day).
4. The completed cells can be compared for structural and
overall shape differences, stacked to form "tissues"
showing the difference between plant and animal tissue
and then eaten and remembered for many years!
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: It is always interesting to observe
all the differently shaped "animal cells"(depending how they
were stored to set) and the regularly shaped "plant cells".
Students can observe and draw their cells from various
angles as well as make various cross and longitudinal
sections. It is easy to duplicate the "brick wall" plant
cell pattern so often seen under the microscope- but in 3D
cells!
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