Teacher & Student Materials > Feeding a Hungry Planet
How are cells different from each other?
90 minutes
Derived from cultured meat, students will shift their focus towards cells and tissues, which align with content standards. They will delve into understanding how cells differentiate based on their roles and identify the common characteristics all cells share. Following this, students will explore cells using microscopes, culminating in understanding how these cells come together to form tissues.
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All necessary background knowledge will come from this lesson.
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Materials:
Teacher slides: 4.2 How are cells different from each other?
The process of producing cultured meat focuses on two organizational levels: cells and tissues.
Whole-class discussion
Show pictures of a red blood cell/nerve cell/sperm cell and ask the students to write on sticky notes what each cell is (an educated guess) and discuss its role.
Then ask them: how does the structure of the cell correspond to its function? Continue with generalizing and explaining that it is always like this, and the structure always corresponds to the function (in cells and the living world in general)
Now discuss with students the connection between the specific structure of the cell and its specific function.
Different cells have different structures and, therefore, different shapes. Observe muscle and fat cells. Do they have the same shape? What is their function?
Here you can discuss organelles that can be found in all cells. Not all animal cells have the same organelles. While some organelles are commonly found in most animal cells, the presence and structure of organelles can vary depending on the type of cell and its specific function. Here are some organelles commonly found in animal cells:
Notes
It can be also done with virtual microscope or images.
If students need help using microscope
use the following worksheet.
Investigations
Small group discussion
Short microscope video showing cell division and tissue formation.
Cells are not created centrally in our body, but cell division occurs in every organ.
How do the animal cells become our steak or hamburger?
Are the cells that make our hamburgers the same as those that make our pizza?
Small group discussion
Can we grow our cultured plant cells in a lab? Do you think it is necessary?
Small group discussion
Cells and tissues – more info can be found here.
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