Jello Cell Dissection Lab WebQuest
TEACHER PAGE
This WebQuest is designed for high school science to reinforce the structure and function of cellular organelles. I would perform this activity after the initial power points and exploratory activities which introduce and expound upon the animal and plant cell. The extension research links will also introduce and spark interest in such concepts as mitosis, cell cycle, and cellular metabolism. This activity could also be used post cellular metabolism, photosynthesis, cell division and genetics, as a spiral back to help solidify student knowledge and recall regarding organelles and cellular structure and function. This WebQuest requires that students have some background in the techniques lab safety and basic cooperative etiquette.
Missouri Standards Addressed:
3.2.a.c
3.2.b.a
Missouri Standards Addressed:
3.2.a.c
3.2.b.a
Matrials Required (Cell):
Jello (Red and Green) Jelly Beans Fruit Roll Ups Sprinkle Candies Graham Cracker Crust Marshmallow Peanuts Gummie Bears Gummie Worms Red Hots |
Materials Required (Dissection Tools):
Plastic Knives Clear Plastic Wrap Green Tinted Plastic Wrap Plastic Platters or Large Paper Plates Paper Towels Wooden Tooth Picks Safety Goggles Latex Gloves (or acceptable substitute) Digital Camera |
Various Resources:
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Artifacts and PortfoliosClick the photo to look at student artifacts from this WebQuest activity.
Click link to view: Student WebPortfolios Biology class 2010-11. To see discussion posts from "Extension Activity" for the Biology class 2010-11 click here. (10 Student Class)
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Helpful Notes and Suggestions:
We designed this experiment to be "Edible Cells" but found that the candies and jello combination led to things melting and loosing color coding, which made the identification stage much more difficult. I believe an agarose gel with objects that will not melt or lose their color such as marbles, beads and ribbons, etc... would prove far more instructional. Also as a rule, we do not eat in the lab, so although we created these as edible cells we did not eat them...so it was all for not to use candies and marshmallows and the like.
Another issue was keeping the cameras clean and photo journalist checking their photos as they worked. We had numerous blurry and unusable photos which could have been avoided with previewing the pictures being encouraged...a good lesson for next year.
Posting of photos on student webpage was slowed due to Weebly pages not being created prior to event. This web creation as an independant aspect would be a recommendation I would encourage classes to start with the web portfolio creation. This allows all artifacts from various activities to be uploaded as the year goes on. Our Biology students share the laptops with all of my other math and engineering classes, and unfortunately some files were lost. Another issue is if you save work to your computer, then you must have that particular computer to continue. The web page has worked as a nice way to save our work on a private page, and post it once complete. The ability of students to acquire their work form any computer, or from home, has alieviated a lot of stress which we had experienced since early in the school year. The nice thing is this allows time to be the variable, rather than quality and content retention.
The creation of the cells took time and money...it also required refrigerator space to plan accordingly. We spent approximately 24 hours making 16 cells, eight animal and eight plant. We probably spent around $150 for materials and bun tins to mold these objects, so if you have a 150 biology students this cost in time and dollars might prove prohibitive. I will add that after this hands on aspect the students had a much better handle of the organelles of a cell. So I believe this was an effective tool for learning.
Another issue was keeping the cameras clean and photo journalist checking their photos as they worked. We had numerous blurry and unusable photos which could have been avoided with previewing the pictures being encouraged...a good lesson for next year.
Posting of photos on student webpage was slowed due to Weebly pages not being created prior to event. This web creation as an independant aspect would be a recommendation I would encourage classes to start with the web portfolio creation. This allows all artifacts from various activities to be uploaded as the year goes on. Our Biology students share the laptops with all of my other math and engineering classes, and unfortunately some files were lost. Another issue is if you save work to your computer, then you must have that particular computer to continue. The web page has worked as a nice way to save our work on a private page, and post it once complete. The ability of students to acquire their work form any computer, or from home, has alieviated a lot of stress which we had experienced since early in the school year. The nice thing is this allows time to be the variable, rather than quality and content retention.
The creation of the cells took time and money...it also required refrigerator space to plan accordingly. We spent approximately 24 hours making 16 cells, eight animal and eight plant. We probably spent around $150 for materials and bun tins to mold these objects, so if you have a 150 biology students this cost in time and dollars might prove prohibitive. I will add that after this hands on aspect the students had a much better handle of the organelles of a cell. So I believe this was an effective tool for learning.