Download Baggie Cell Model Recommended Group Size

Grade:
Activity #:
Activity Title:
Recommended Group Size:
4th
1
Baggie Cell Model
Individual
Purpose
To construct a model that shows the parts of an animal cell. Cells are the building
blocks of all living things.
Equipment
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(An asterisks (*) indicates that an item is provided in the Learning Lab.)
Plastic Cups*
Ziploc Sandwich Bags*
Plastic Eggs*
Green Yarn (3 each, 6 inches long)*
White String (6 feet long)*
Pipe Cleaners (2 each)*
Toothpicks (5 each)*
Kidney Beans (15 each)*
Alaska Peas (20 each)*
Colored Beads (20 each)*
Sodium Polyacrylate*
Water*
Measuring Spoons and Cups*
Instructions
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Place the plastic bag (cell membrane) inside the plastic cup. Fold the
edges of the plastic bag over and around the lip of the cup.
Place the Alaska peas (lysosomes), kidney beans (mitochondria),
toothpicks (microtubules) and green yarn (Golgi apparatus) inside the
plastic bag in the cup.
Take 10 of the colored beads (ribosomes) and thread them onto 1 pipe
cleaner (endoplasmic reticulum). Space the beads apart evenly. Bend
the pipe cleaner to resemble the shape of the ER by folding back and
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forth. Place the bent pipe cleaner with colored beads (rough
endoplasmic reticulum) inside the plastic bag in the cup.
Bend the remaining pipe cleaner to resemble the shape of the ER. Place
this bent pipe cleaner (smooth endoplasmic reticulum) inside the plastic
bag in the cup.
Place the remaining colored beads (ribosomes) inside the plastic bag in
the cup.
Add 1 teaspoon of sodium polyacrylate to the bag.
Take the white string (DNA) and place it inside the plastic egg (nucleus).
Close the plastic egg tightly and set it aside.
Carefully add 6 oz of water to the bag in the cup. The sodium
ployacrylate will swell in the presence of water to give a gel-like
consistency.
Place the plastic egg (nucleus containing DNA) inside the plastic bag in
the cup.
Carefully remove bag from cup, push air out and seal the bag.
Gently massage the bottom of the bag to aid in gelling the water. Be
careful not to puncture the bag. The gelled water represents the
cytoplasm of the cell.
You have created a model of an animal cell.
Suggested Discussion Topics
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The Cell is the basic unit of life on Earth. All living things are composed
of cells. Living things might take the form of small, simple, unicellular
organisms like bacteria, or the form of large, complex, multicellular
organisms like pine trees and human. Generally speaking, the cells of
complex, multicellular organisms are specialized cells. Each cell has a
specific job and this job is reflected in the shape and structures of the
cell itself. Specialized cells are organized into tissues, tissues into
organs, and organs into complex organisms.
Jobs of cell components and organelles:
Cell Membrane - the thin layer of protein and fat that surrounds the
cell. Provides the cell with its shape and structure. The cell membrane is semipermeable, allowing some substances to pass into the cell and blocking others.
Cytoplasm – the jellylike material outside the cell nucleus in which the
organelles are located.
Nucleus – the control center of the cell. It is the place where hereditary
information – the DNA- is located. DNA does not leave the nucleus. Instead, it
sends messages out from the nucleus to the rest of the cell.
Lysosome –round organelles surrounded by a membrane and containing digestive
enzymes. They break down molecules in the cell.
DNA – Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA, is the cell’s hereditary material. It is
arranged in a twisted ladder or “double helix” shape. A complete set of genetic
instructions is present in the DNA of each cell.
Ribosome – make proteins. They exist in the cell’s cytoplasm and associated
with the endoplasmic reticulum.
Mitochondria – can be considered the “power plants” of cells. They are
responsible for converting glucose to energy.
Golgi Apparatus – flattened, layered, sac-like organelle that looks like a
stack of pancakes and is located near the nucleus. The Golgi apparatus packages
proteins and carbohydrates into membrane-bound vesicles for “export” from the
cell.
Endoplasmic Reticulum – or ER, acts as a passageway for molecules in the
cell to travel through. For this reason, its shape is long and ribbon-like. There
are two types of ER: rough and smooth. Rough ER is covered with ribosomes,
smooth is not.
Microtubules – rod-like structures that help the cell maintain its shape.
Vacuole – Fluid-filled, membrane-surrounded cavities inside a cell. The vacuole
fills with food being digested and waste material that is on its way out of the
cell.
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Microscopes (There are “microscopes” in the yellow cases on the back
shelf of the Learning Lab. There should be one for every student and
there are plastic slides some of which have images of cells and their
components)
Similarities and differences of Plant and Animal Cells – How could you
make your animal cell a plant cell?
How could you compare a cell to a factory?
Additional Resources
http://www.carolina.com/text/teacherresources/instructions/miscbiology/baggie_cell_mod
el.pdf
http://www.carolina.com/category/teacher+resources/instructions+and+buying+guides/misc
ellaneous+biology+instruction+manuals/baggie+cell+model.do
http://www.biology4kids.com/files/cell_main.html
http://www.neok12.com/Cell-Structures.htm
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/cells-for-kids
Adapted by Science Works from Carolina Biological