This week I used an idea I found on the Internet to help students remember and understand the functions of different parts of animal cells. We had already created diagrammed posters during an earlier lesson, so this project was mainly for review.

Labeled 3D Animal Cell

I divided the class into pairs so that the work would go faster and I would need fewer resources. Each team received:

  1. Four colors of Play Doh
  2. A stiff piece of card stock paper with a glossy finish
  3. Scrap construction paper for creating labels and arrows (because the glossy finish on the paper doesn’t hold pen or marker ink well)
  4. Directions to use the poster drawings they had already created to make a 3D model of a cell, then label each part and describe its function

 

They loved it and created very nice models that we then displayed in the hallway outside of our room. As the saying goes, “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”