Cell Membrane Color Sheet and Build a Cell Membrane
Students color-code a schematic of a cell and its cell membrane structures. Then they complete the "Build-a-Membrane" activity found. This reinforces their understanding of the structure and function of animal cells, and shows them the importance of being able to construct a tangible model of something that is otherwise difficult to see.
Students learn about the animal cell and its componentsCopyright Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/0312_Animal_Cell_and_Components.jpg
To understand intracellular engineering, students must have a basic understanding of the cell and cell mechanics. Through this activity, students take a hands-on approach by identifying and shading cell components on a cell diagram, as well as building a cell membrane model. Through this exercise, they relate building and design with science structure. Buiding models is a common approach used in the engineering design process, especially to study or manipulate objects that are at scales too difficult to see. Engineers often build models of cells to better study and understand how their structure and functions are related.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Define the relationship between the structure and function of a cell membrane.
- Describe the different types of membrane proteins.
- Build a model cell membrane.