Unit Overview:

This unit, comprised of three lessons, introduces sixth graders to the world of cells. Pairs of students will study, analyze, and draw an organelle. Each organelle will be used to create a composite cell. Students will investigate how cells reproduce, and they will calculate the rate at which a hypothetical cell reproduces.

Lesson Overviews:

What is Inside a Cell?

Students learn cell components and contribute to a class drawing of a cell by depicting a specific organelle within the composite cell.

How Do Cells Reproduce?

Students explore scientific drawing as a means of communicating ideas and information as they learn about the process of mitosis, or cell division, in yeast.

How Many Cells are Born in a Day?

Students predict and graph the number of cells resulting from a series of divisions, as part of an exploration of pattern and repetition in nature.