Introduction
Cells are the basic unit of life. This means that all living things are made up of cells. Living things can be unicellular (made up of only cell) or multicellular (made up of many cells). Cells are so small that you need to use a microscope to be able to see most of them. Inside cells are even smaller structures called organelles. Organelles are parts of a cell that perform specific functions necessary for the cell to survive.
Task
Your task is to further develop your knowledge on cells as the building blocks of life. You will achieve this by learning about different cell types, different cell organelles and their function.
You will be directed to a number of different websites that will assist you in learning about the different parts of cells. Based on the information provided on these websites you will complete a number of interactive activities to revise what you have learned. At the end you will complete an online quiz that will also help you to self-evaluate your learning.
Process
Organelles are parts or structures of a cell that have a specialised function, i.e. they perform a particular role, just like organs of the human body (such as the heart for pumping blood around the body, kidneys for filtering blood, lungs for breathing).
The following activities are designed to help you learn about the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and the function of organelles.
There are three lots of activities. The first set of activities take you to a number of different websites that will build your knowledge of cell organelles. The second set of activities will direct you to a number of online games that will you revise what you have just learned. The third activity is an online quiz that will assess your knowledge.
First activity set
Visit the following webistes to help you build your knowledge on cell organelles.
- Visit this website to watch these four videos for an introduction to cell organelles and a deeper explanation of them. Watch these videos in the following order:
Intro Parts Cell --> Cell Nucleus --> Cytoplasm Organelles --> Cell Membrane
http://www.mrfordsclass.net/index.php/human-anatomy-and-physiology-guest/the-human-cell-guest?vblimits=0
The first video presents an interesting comparison of cells to a renaissance fair. The last 2 videos are a bit lengthy and the last video in particular, goes into more detail than is required for you to know and viewing the entire video is optional.
- Visit these interactive websites to view cell model animations to learn more about the organelles in bacteria, plant and animal cells. Simply roll over and/or click the cell organelles to pull up their description and function. After reading the tutorials on the second website, you may play the labelling games and do the short quiz (animal cells only) to test your knowledge.
http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/3dcell.htmhttp://www.sheppardsoftware.com/health/anatomy/cell/index.htm
- Explore this website to gain an in depth understanding of the functions of organelles. You can select organelles from the menu on the right, titled “cell structure”, to jump straight to a specific organelle.
http://www.biology4kids.com/files/cell_main.html
- View these songs to wrap up what you have just learned about cell organelles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zafJKbMPA8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABKB5aS2Zg
- Based on the information you gathered from the provided hyperlinks, summarise cell organelles from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in a table. You can construct your table on either Word or PowerPoint.The table should include name, description and function of the organelle and identify if present in plant, animal or bacteria cells. Refer to the example below for an idea on how to set out your table.
You must include the following organelles in your table: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, chloroplast. You should also include these organelles: ribosome, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (smooth and rough), Golgi apparatus, lysosome, capsule, nucleoid, pili, flagellum.
Post your table onto Padlet - http://padlet.com/16758836/cellorganelles
You may find that a table like this will be helpful when summarising your own notes of cell organelles and revising them. An example has been provided.
|
Organelle |
Present |
Description |
Function |
|
Cell wall |
Plant cells Bacteria cells |
Rigid, outer covering of the cell. Made of cellulose in plant cells. Made of peptidoglycan in bacteria cells |
Maintains shape and provides protection to cell. |
Second activity set
Play the following interactive games to help you revise what you have just learned about cell organelles.
- Labelling parts of a cell
These three games involve you labelling the organelles of plant, animal and bacteria cells against a timer. Can you beat your own time?
http://www.purposegames.com/game/87f8690a03/info?l=14496http://www.purposegames.com/game/labelling-an-animal-cell-game/info?l=14496http://www.purposegames.com/game/e7df631486/info?l=14496
- Wordshoot
Select the “wordshoot” game. In this game, a description of an organelle will appear at the bottom of the screen. From the list, select and “shoot” the matching organelle. As you progress up levels shooting the correct target gets harder. Do not worry about progressing up levels if you have difficulty aiming at the targets. This aim of this activity is to test your knowledge, not you hand-eye coordination. What is important is that you know what is the function of an organelle.
http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_59/Cell_organelles_nhAfM.htm
- Anagram archery
Words relating to cell organelles have been scrambled. In this game, you’ll unscramble the words against a timer to improve your archery aim. The faster you unscramble the words, the better your aim and the more points you can score. The higher difficulty levels have increased wobble when trying to aim.
http://www.what2learn.com/cell-organelles/
- Dustbin
This game compares plant and animal cells. Place each organelle into its correct bin.
http://www.classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_9/h8aQT.htm
Third activity set
Complete this quiz to self-evlaute your learning.
- Click on the following link to complete the quiz and test your knowledge. Enter your name and password to start the quiz. The password for the quiz is: science08
- The quiz consists of multiple choice, true/false, matching and single word answer questions
https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=NjkxOTc1Y35K
Evaluation
- Summary table of cell organelles posted onto Padlet
- Teacher views the tables students post to evaluate if the information provided on the websites effectively communicates the content to students
- Results from online quiz
- Students can self-evaluate their own learning and helps them to identify and address any areas that need revising
- Teacher can view students' results to evaluate the effectiveness of the Webquest in teaching students about cell organelles
Conclusion
By the end of this Webquest you will have learned:
•Cells make up living things•Cells can be unicellular or multicellular•There are prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells•Structures in cells called organelles and their function•Organelles work together for cells to survive