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Lesson 3: Cells
Subject: Science
Objectives: The students will be able to describe some of the components of cells. The students will be able to distinguish between an animal cell and a plant cell.
Standards: 12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments.
Materials: science book, Venn-diagram worksheet, shoe box, 1 plastic zipper bag, several green grapes, 1 large marble, yellow gelatin mix
Preparation: Create a model of a plant cell. Make yellow gelatin. Put gelatin, grapes and one large marble in a zipper bag. Then put the zipper bag in a shoe box.
Procedure:
Introduction: Can someone tell me what a cell is? Have students
look at page A10. Explain that cells are very tiny and they are the smallest
unit of life. All living things are made up of billions of cells.
Body: Have students look at the diagrams on page A10 and A11 of plant and animal cells. Ask students what are the parts of the plant cell. Then ask a student what are the parts of the animal cell. Have the students compare the plant cell to the animal cell.
Show the students the shoe box (model cell). Explain that it is a model of a plant cell and be sure to explain that this model is much larger than an actual cell, since cells are so small we cannot see them with the human eye. Start with the shoe box (cell wall). Ask what part they think the shoe box represents and explain that part. Then open the box. Show them the zipper bag (cell membrane). Ask what part they think the zipper bag represents. Then have them determine what the gelatin (cytoplasm) represents, what the marble represents (nucleus) and what the grapes (chloroplasts) represent.
Closure: Pass out the Venn-diagram worksheet. Then model on the board how to use a Venn-diagram. For guided practice, complete one example as a class.
Adaptations for Special Needs: Allow students with ADD/ADHD to work with a partner to complete the Venn-diagram.
Assessment: The students will complete the Venn-diagram on plant and animal cells.
Lesson 6: What’s Inside a Seed?
Subject: Science
Objectives: Students will be able to identify a plant embryo.
Standards: 12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments.
Materials: 2 large lima beans for each student, peanuts in the shell for each student, magnifier for each student, blank file cards and bowl of water
Preparation: Presoak the lima beans for at least three hours. Each student will receive on wet bean and one dry bean.
Procedure:
Introduction: Pass a file card and a dry lima bean to each student.
Have them fold the file card in half. Next, have them to draw the outline of
the lima bean on one half of the file card. Explain that it needs to be large
and fill half the card. Draw a model on the board for them. Tell the students
to draw what they think is inside the lima bean. Have them draw it in their
outline.
Body: Pass out a soaked bean and a magnifier to each student. Then demonstrate how to peel off the outer skin of the lima bean. Ask the question, “What do you think the skin does for the seed?” (protects, like our skin)
The seed should begin to open slightly, however they still need to be pull it open the rest of the way. Tell students to look inside their seed for an embryo. Explain that it is very tiny and that it is the same color as the seed. Have them look carefully between the two halves of the seed to find it. Explain that the embryo has a thick root and two flattened leaves with veins to help them find it. Also, give them the definition of an embryo.
Have students examine the embryo with their magnifiers and find details. Tell them to make another outline of a lima bean and draw the embryo they see inside their seed on the other half of their file card.
Closure: Ask students, “Do you think that an embryo is inside every seed?” Pass out a peanut in its shell to the students. Ask if nuts are seeds. (yes) Tell the students to open the peanut shell and look inside. Then have students carefully open the peanuts in half to see if there is an embryo inside. They should discover that there is a tiny plant inside the peanut if they look closely.
Now ask students if they think that an embryo is inside
every seed. Explain that baby plants live off the substance within the seed
until they grow into adult plants and can make their own food. Allow the
students to eat the peanuts so they can see that people can eat the food in
these seeds and get nutrition from them just like the tiny plant does. (Make
sure students do not have allergies, before you let them eat the peanuts.)
Adaptations for Special Needs: Write the directions out for students
with hearing impairments.
Assessment: Have the students compare what they have learned about seeds since they made the first drawing by comparing their first drawing with their second drawing. Then on the back of their file card, have them write one thing they learned about seeds in a complete sentence.