[AL GIRL]

I need some activities on cells. If you have any ideas it would be great.

[J.Elaine]

Do you and your students have access to computers? I use an excellent website: www.cellsalive.com
Kids can click on cell parts and see a thorough description of the cell part and its function. I usually have my students make sketches with labels and take notes as the explore the website. There are lots of ideas for making plant cell models in ziploc bags (baggie represents the cell wall) and jello (to represent cytoplasm), grapes, etc (to represent organelles). I'm sure someone here on ProTeacher will post the instructions.

Sorry I can't help more, but I go back and forth between 4th and 5th (cells are a 5th grade topic) so it's difficult to remember details about specific activities.

[churchr]

I'm going to try the incredible, edible cells this year. I googled "edible cell" and found quite a few sites with instructions and photos.

Try this link to "cells for kids." There are tons of ideas!

http://www.kathimitchell.com/cells.html

Good luck and have fun!!!

[Snierman]

You make jello (yellow is best) and 2/3 fill up the baggies. Keep them in the fridge overnight. Take them to school and have peanut, green grapes and red grapes for each bag. Explain the parts of a cell and add something to the bag with each description. The baggie is the cell wall, peanut is the nucleus, the red grapes are the mitochondria, and if you want to show the difference between a plant cell and other cell, put green grapes for chloroplasts. After you have done it, let them do them their own. When you seal the ziplock baggies, squeeze out the air so they lay flat with no air pockets.

If you leave them out for a week or so, they provide a great example of how/why their bodies make gas! If you squeeze all the air out, they will be able to see that after time, the food products in the baggies break down and form gas. It was an accident that I discovered this but my fourh graders LOVED the little side lesson. (I am known for being the "gross" teacher.... Fun stuff, and kids really remember it!)

[Pookie61]

I gave each student a brown paper lunch bag and they needed to find something that represented the job of each part of the cell ie. battery to represent the energy produced by the mitochondria. The kids then presented their cell in a bag to the class. They loved it and were really very creative in their choices.

[kyfroggie]

I use slice and bake sugar cookie dough for the cytoplasm, cake sprinkles, tubes of decorating icing, and various candies to represent the organelles. Look for different colors and shapes of candy - mostly small. The students work in pairs to create an animal or plant cell. They have to make a key of the organelles and the material used to represent it. We sometimes take digital photos of the finished products. It's a great assessment after learning the organelles and their functions. (I teach 7th grade life science but it could be simplified for younger grades - include fewer organelles.)

Try the Incredible Edible Cell. Have your students study plant cells (an onion cell is a great cell to observe) and animal cells. Then, tell them to build a 3-D cell (not drawn) showing the lysosomes, mitochondra, cell membrane, cell wall (if a plant cell), etc. But the trick is, it has to be totally edible. It forces students to construct a cell, which for tests and quizzes, it gives them the idea of where organelles are located. It also forces them to have a little fun. You can even make them eat it after. Google it for more info.