Create Cell Models
You will create an animal cell, a plant cell, and a bacterial cell using household items to represent the different organelles present in each type of cell.
Suggested Materials (you can come up with your own as well):
Sheets of paper
Plastic Eggs
Pipe Cleaners
Kidney Beans
Beads
Aluminum Foil
Miscellaneous Household Items – get creative – you can use paperclips, hair ribbons, coins, pine cones, buttons, etc.
PROCEDURES
1. Draw a plasma membrane on a sheet of paper (one sheet for each cell). Make it large enough to hold all the organelles.
2. Use your textbook as a reference to make sure you include all the organelles/structures. Make sure the correct organelles go into the proper cell.
3. Label them as a “Plant Cell”, an “Animal Cell”, and a “Bacterial Cell”.
4. Add items that represent the “organelles/structures” to the cells. For example:
• Construct the rough endoplasmic reticulum by stringing beads onto two of the pipe cleaners
• Pipe cleaners (with no beads) will represent the smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
• Construct a cell wall using the aluminum foil into a square shape (around the edge of the plasma membrane).
5. Include a legend identifying the household item that represents each specific organelle/structure. Do not use arrows or lines to point out the names of the structures, you need to include an actual legend.
Example:
Animal cell legend
Mitochondria – batteries
Ribosomes – beads
Etc.
