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Unity in diversity: cells

11-13 yrs old

Science

Students were asked to recreate, with guidance and provided materials, models for plant and animal cells.

Submitted By: Andreia Salgueiro

February 14, 2018

Lesson Plan
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Skills

Collaboration
Creativity
Project Based Learning

External References

Example student work

Project overview video

Learning Objectives

Compare the structure of plant and animal cells.
Identify the structures present in plant cells: nucleus, nucleolus, chloroplasts, cell wall, cell membrane, mitochondrion, Golgi apparatus, lysosome, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm, vacuole.
Identify the structures present in animal cells: nucleus, nucleolus, cell membrane, mitochondrion, Golgi apparatus, lysosome, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoplasm.
Understand that cells can be grouped together to form tissues, organs and organisms.
Understand that all living forms are made of cells.

Guiding Ideas

Throughout the project, students followed the objectives checklist that was provided right at the start, while researching and completing small tasks regarding each of the objectives (watching a video, taking notes, answering orientated questions, etc.).

One of the main ideas was avoiding the misconception that cells are "flat"; Minecraft gave them the opportunity to fully recreate a 3D model and label the most important organelles.

Student Activities

Here is an example of a groups' work.

Performance Expectations

It was not a requirement that the final product was done using Minecraft; all students should recreate a model using the platform / materials they felt most comfortable with. An overview of the project can be seen here.