Animal cell fun!

I recently did this project to teach myself the main organelles and structures within a cell, and it was so much fun I wanted to share. I think that this would be a fun homeschool science project for a middle schooler, and it's a great way for a Kinesthetic learner to delve into a complex subject.


                                                            Animal Cell Cake

I found this great website called,  Cells Alive , they have a wonderful interactive animated program and this would be the best place to get a fun introduction to cells. Below is a list of the organelles and cellular structures that I have labeled on the cake above.


1. Nucleus

2. Nucleolus

3. Rough endoplasmic reticulum

4. Ribosomes (which stick to the rough endoplasmic reticulum)

5. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

6. Golgi apparatus

7. Lysosome

8. Mitochondria

9. Centrosome

10. Microtubules


All of the organelles/structures where made with fondant, which I picked up at Walmart for around $6 a box. One box was plenty for the project, even considering for mistakes and a little play. I already had some Wilton icing color on hand, but those are also available at Walmart (in the same aisle). Otherwise, regular food coloring really works just fine!

                          Fondant is wicked fun for kids (and adults). You've been forewarned! 

 

Below are links to websites, and worksheets that would further be an asset for a Cell Mini Unit.
 

Websites:

Khan Academy video Parts of a cell

National Institute of Medical Sciences Inside the Cell

Mrs Science Nut  The Great Cell Webquest



Worksheets:

Biology Junction  Plant and Animal Cells Worksheet

Davis Joint Unified School District Cell Organelles Worksheet

                                                                   Enjoy!!

Fun with Imaginary Islands

One of my favorite projects over the last five years has been making an Imaginary Island. The concept was introduced to the Montessori community in the 1980's by  Harvey Hallenberg, and other than inspiring creative play, the Imaginary Island was multipurpose. Younger children could learn major geographical features such as; island, ocean, river, lake and valley.  While older children could go beyond the basics learning; peninsula, bay, estuary, atoll and so on.

I have to admit that this project was really daunting, which is probably why it's been a work in progress for the last 5 years, lol! I have slowly been working on features (such as texture for the hills) and plan on laminating each piece when finished. I began the project by making a list of  what geographical features I wanted displayed on our map, and then after trying to badger my husband into drawing it for me, I broke down and sketched it out. To make the puzzle, I bought blue and green poster board and copied my Island onto it freehand, cut out the pieces and then glued the green land over it to match. One side of the puzzle piece contains the island while the other has a number and geographical feature written on it.

1. cliff                                                                   8. cape                                                           

2. hills                                                                   9. lake    

3. beach                                                                10. valley                                                     

4. cove                                                                  11. bay

5.  river                                                                 12. peninsula                                                           

6. prairie                                                               13. atoll              

7. ocean                                                                14. estuary                                                        

                                                        
Here's how I work with the Imaginary Map with my preschooler. First we pull out our air, land, and sea cards. These are laminated, color-coded cards with animals, people and places on them. She sorts them into piles based on where she would find that item, and if she gets confused she can turn them over and look on the back for the answer and we can talk about it. Air is coded with yellow, land brown, and sea blue.

    At times all she wants to do is sort the colored sticker dots on the opposite side!

 Afterwards we get out our map and various toys and,"play." I let her put it together however she likes and we talk about and point out any major geographic landmarks we can spot, (e.g., island, ocean, river, lake). Then we discuss the animals on our map; which are mammals, amphibians, reptiles? Which give live birth or lay eggs?

Okay...so you don't find giraffes on islands in the ocean, but we had fun anyway!

For basic nomenclature practice, I made definitions to go with the labels and printed them on cardstock and laminated. With my first grader we put the map together and we sort through our landform labels and definitions and find all of the geographic features on the map.

She isn't quite up for matching landforms to their definitions yet, usually I read the definitions aloud to her and let her find the place on the map where the label goes.

For those of you interested in making your own map, here's the geographic landform label and definition document. Feel free to print them out for your own use!

Geographic landform Document

From Peaceful Mann Geography Montessori and More:

My imaginary Island Worksheet