Plant Cells

Seventh grade science begins with the study of ecosystems.  So right now were focusing on plant cells. Of course, I want students to know the parts of the plant cell and their functions.  Our book is pretty old and does not go into as much detail as I would like.  So another teacher showed me the iCell iPad app which was great for what I wanted my students to accomplish.  It provides 3D exploration of the plant cell and describes each structure and function.  The app is available for iPhone, iPad, and even your computer.  It also has three different levels of information.  Basic was just enough for us.  After exploring the app and taking notes, they created their own labeled plant cell.  However, to spice up the old colored pencil drawing of the cell, they used the AutoShapes in MicrosoftWord.  Here are some of the finish products.


Illinois State Standards: 
12.A.3a  Explain how cells function as “building blocks” of organisms and describe the require­ments for cells to live.
12.A.3c  Compare and contrast how different forms and structures reflect different functions (e.g., similarities and differences among animals that fly, walk or swim; structures of plant cells and animal cells).

Objectives:
-Students will:
-draw a plant cell using MicrosoftWord.
-label the structure of the cell
-recognize the difference between a plant and animal cell

Assessment:

Students were assessed on the inclusion of all cell structures, appropriateness of chosen shapes, and chosen location of shapes.  Along with this illustration, students also turned in notes after exploring iCell and took a quiz on plant cell structures and functions.