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Plant Cells

Decent Essays

Activity 3: Sugar Cube Plant Cells
Students will understand the shape, function and purpose of differentiated organelles by modeling a plant cell with sugar cubes. They will also be tasked to label and write down the function for five of the more important organelles.

Set-up:
Every student will need 20 sugar cubes, one piece of chip board and five toothpicks. At each table, you can place markers, glue and address labels for the students to share.

Demo and discussion:
Introduce the concept of plant cells and animal cells. Make sure your students understand that cells are the basic structural, functional, and biological unit of all known living organisms and that cells are the smallest unit of life that can replicate independently. Focus …show more content…

Plant cells specifically contain cell walls, a very large vacuole and plastids – the most important of which is the chloroplast.
Eukaryote – Any organism whose cells contain a nucleus and other organelles contained within a membrane.
Organelle – A specialized subunit within a cell that has a specific function or job.
Nucleus – The control center of a eukaryotic cell. The nucleus contains most of the genetic material of the cell, and the main function of the nucleus is to maintain the integrity of these genes and to control the activities of the cell by regulating gene expression.
Mitochondria – The powerhouse of the cell – mitochondria generate most of the cell’s supply of adenosine triphosphate which is a source of chemical energy.
Cell Wall – In plant cells, the cell wall is primarily made of cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin and is important for the structure and protection of the cell.
Chloroplasts – The organelle that is most involved with photosynthesis – the conversion of light energy from the sun into chemical energy or “food” for the plant. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the light and converts it into adenosine triphosphate that provides the plant necessary energy. Chloroplasts also free oxygen from

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