Download What Makes Up A Living Thing

Unit 4:
What Makes up a Living Thing?
Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
 Explain the structure of the cell as well as organelle functions (cognitive)
 Work and discuss ideas with peers (affective)
 Build a cell model representing their analogy (psychomotor)
 Demonstrate their understanding of cell structure through abstract means (psychomotor)
Process Standards
Design Process Standards
Identify a need or problem to be solved. Brainstorm potential solutions. Throughout the
entire design process, document the design with drawings (including labels) in a portfolio
or notebook so that the process can be replicated. Select a solution to the need or
problem. Select the most appropriate materials to develop a solution that will meet the
need. Create the solution through a prototype. Test and evaluate how well the solution
meets the goal. Evaluate and test the design. Present evidence using mathematical
representations like graphs and data tables. Communicate the solution (including
evidence) using mathematical representations (e.g., graphs, data tables), drawings or
prototypes. Redesign to improve the solution based on how well the solution meets the
need.
Core Standards: Life Science
MS-LS14.
Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an
explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant
structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants
respectively.
Misconceptions1:
 All cells are the same size and shape
 There are no single celled organisms
 Some living parts of organisms are not made of cells
 Plants are not made of cells
 Cells do not eliminate waste
 Animal cells do not carry out essential life functions for themselves
Materials:
1. Microscopes
2. Premade plant and animal slides
3. Construction paper (one per student)
1
Misconceptions found from http://assessment.aaas.org/topics/CE#/
Engagement:
Students will examine several objects in the front of the room and will try to differentiate
between living and non-living things using the whiteboard to categorize. This will include
materials listed in number one. This facilitated discussion will include questions such as:
 Since we know that we (people) are living things, which objects are most similar to us?
 Where does one see living things? – “Nature”
 Does one see a windup toy in the woods? –“No”
 What similarities does this pet have with the plant? – “Grows, responds to stimuli,
reproduces”
Exploration:
Then, students will venture outside and try to observe and record the living things they see in
their journals. These could include anything and more from the following: grass, bugs, squirrels,
flowers, and trees. This will venture into the next day if there is not enough time. However, once
students are finished they will need to construct a concept map of the characteristics of living
things. Hopefully the students will connect living organisms with the following traits: organized,
respond to stimuli, use energy, reproduce, grow and develop.
Students will split to lab tables and look at the prepared slides of animal tissues and onion root
tips through a microscope. The students will see that the same living things that they saw the
other day are made up of cells. This is mostly just exploration of the cells recording their
observations and noting the differences between the tissues and roots in their journals.
Explanation:
Students will create a table in their journals that state the organelles of the cell and their function.
An example is seen below:
Organelle
Description
Cell Membrane
Membrane of lipids and proteins surrounding the cell; controls what goes in
and out of the cell
Cell Wall
Cellulose covering outside the cell membrane of a plant cell; is rough and rigid
Cytoplasm
Gelatin-like material in which organelles are suspended; includes all
organelles except the nucleus (optional academic vocabulary)
E.R.
Network of membranes involved with making, storing and transporting
material; rough ER has ribosomes (optional academic vocabulary)
Ribosomes
Site of protein production; some float freely and some are attached to the
rough endoplasmic reticulum (optional academic vocabulary)
Golgi apparatus Stacks of membrane sacs; sorts and packages proteins, and delivers them for
secretion or use within the cell (optional academic vocabulary)
Chloroplast
Found in plant cells; contains chlorophyll; site of the process of photosynthesis
which converts the sun’s energy into glucose
Lysosome
Small membrane sac that contains digestive chemicals (optional academic
vocabulary)
Mitochondrion
Small double-membrane organelle; called the power plant of the cell because it
converts energy from food to energy the cell can use through the process of
cellular respiration
Nucleus
Directs all the cell’s activities; contains genetic material called DNA
Vacuole
Sac for storage, digestion, and waste removal; is large in plants (optional
academic vocabulary)
Assessment:
The table will need to be turned in after class to make sure each student understands the function
of each organelle.
Students will also create a foldable and section it into four squares with two squares designated
for pictures of an animal cell and a plant cell, and the other two describing the function of the
organelles of the adjacent cell.
Elaboration:
Starting the second week of the lesson, students will begin to create analogies for the cell and its
organelles. The teacher will explain that the students will create a map of a city, house, and farm,
what have you, to explain the function of organelles. Students will then record their ideas in their
journals as the class discusses various possibilities of comparisons. Discussion may resemble the
following:
 “What is the function of the lysosome?”
 “To digest incoming materials”
 “Ok, So what else can you think of that is similar to a lysosome?”
 “Stomach” “Trash Can” “Garbage men”
 “Why those things?”
 “The stomach digests things.” “A trash can is where we put uneaten food.” “Garbage men
take the trash out of the city.”
Students will need to create a blue print and a list of materials with estimated cost for their cell
city.
Evaluation:
The evaluation occurs during the presentations of each individual. The rubric for presentations
will be as follows:
Grading criteria
Organelles
Represented
Construction of
environment
Organelles labeled
and defined
Environment
structures identified
Accuracy of
organelle structure
Environment named
0 points
None
3 points
Few
5 points
Some
8 points
Most
10 points
All
None
Falling apart
None
Few
One-month
warranty
Some
Five year
warranty
Most
Lifetime
Guarantee
All
None
Few
Some
Most
All
None
Few
Some
Most
All
None
Not a lot of
thought
General
Something’s
missing
Unique
Environment
blueprint
None
Presentation
None
Few structures
identified
Some
structures
identified
Average
Needs a little
work
PowerPoint Material (lecture notes)2
Most
structures
identified
Better than
most
Exact blueprint
Tell me more
What makes a living thing?
Def: an organism is any contiguous living system (such as animal, fungus, micro-organism,
or plant). In at least some form, all types of organisms are capable
of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance
of homeostasis as a stable whole.
 Cells
 Growth and Development
 Reproduce
 Respond to stimuli
 Use energy
 Maintenance of homeostasis
Cells
 The basic unit of life
 Made up of organelles
 Living things
 Plant and animal
Cell Membrane
 Made of phospholipids and proteins
 Controls what enters and exits the cell

Phagocytosis/pinocytosis

Endocytosis/Exocytosis
Cytoplasm
 Fluid in between area
 Suspends organelles
 Includes everything but nucleus
Endoplasmic Reticulum
 Making, storing, transporting,
 Smooth and Rough
 Rough – has ribosomes attached to them

Making, storing, transporting ribosomes
 Smooth – no ribosomes

Making, storing, and transporting lipids, phospholipids and steroids

Detoxifies poisons
Ribosomes
2
Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, and Jackson – Campbell Biology 9th edition
 Makes protein
 Some free and some are bound to E.R.
Golgi Apparatus
 Stacks of membrane sacs
 Sorts and packages matter
 Ships matter to exit the membrane or enter rest of cell
Lysosome
 Digestive part of the cell
 Very acidic
 Only animal Cells
Mitochondrion
 Double membrane organelle
 Creates own free ribosomes
 Converts energy from food to energy for the cell
 Cellular respiration
Nucleus
 Contains DNA
 Controls the process of the cell
 Made up of Nucleolus, chromatin, and nuclear envelope
Vacuole
 Fluid sac
 Storage
 Waste removal
 Digestion
 (large in plants)
Plant Cell ONLY
Cell Wall
 Made up of cellulose
 Rigid
 Encases membrane
 Helps in support
Chloroplast
 Photosynthesis

Turning energy from the sun to sugar/food energy (glucose)

Byproduct is oxygen
 Double membrane
 Contains chlorophyll
 Thylakoids