Introduction
This WebQuest will introduce you to cells - what they are, some different types, and what they do.
The focus is on introducing you to the structures inside of cells, called organelles, and the differences and similarities between plant and animal cells.
Task
This task will unfold over 2 70 minute lessons.
Lesson 1 -
Working in small groups students will research some different types of cells (plants and animals). This will focus on the organelles common to both of these and the organelles that are unique to each category.
This will then be summarised through the creation of a Venn Diagram.
Lesson 2 -
The results of lesson 1 will be revised through a quiz.
Again working in small groups students will summarise the functions of cell organelles through creation of a table.
Students will rank the importance of each organelle within cells, justifying each decision.
Students will then test their knowledge of the function of cell organelles.
Process
Lesson 1 - Some of the different types of Cells
Introduction to Cellls
What Does a Cell look like?
Types of Cells
http://basicbiology.net/micro/cells/plant-cells/
http://basicbiology.net/micro/cells/animal-cells/
Create a Venn Diagram of all of the organelles, with two categories, plant and animal. This will include a picture of the organelle and name. This site can be used to create Venn Diagrams. Keep in mind that you cannot insert pictures into this tool, so leave room between each name to paste or draw in each organelle.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/venn_diagrams/
This should be printed out for each group member and a copy given to the teacher.
Lesson 2 - What do the Organelles do?
Revision from Lesson 1 - different types of cells
https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/start_new/57f792d92ce4a7595193fa12
Create a table summarising the role of each organelle and what type of cell it is located in from the information at:
http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model_js.htm
This should be done in a google document which is then printed for each group member and put into a folder for revision later on, and a copy given to the teacher as proof of work.
Once this is complete, rank the importance to the survival of the cell of each organelle within a plant and animal cell, justifying your decisions. This is to be done individually then compared as a group. before each group is compared against the rest of the class. This type of activity is called "Ranking".
Following this students will complete this worksheet to the best of their ability without access to the resources they have put together.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2010/05/organelle_function_checklist.pdf
Evaluation
| VHA | HA | SOUND | Developing | Not Met | |
| Cell Types | Correctly identifies over 85% of the cell types | Correctly identifies 65%-85% of the cell types | Correctly identifies 50%-65% of the cell types | Some cell types correctly identified | Could not accurately identify cell types repeatedly |
| Cell Organelles | Correctly places over 85%of the organelles in Venn Diagram | Correctly places 65%-85% of the organelles in the Venn diagram | 50%-65% of the cell organelles placed in the correct position. | Some organelles placed in the correct place on the Venn Diagram | No Venn Diagram or very few organelles correctly placed. |
| Organelle Functions | Correctly matches over 85% of the functions of organelle to correct organelle name, picture and location with few mistakes | Correctly matches 65%-85% of the functions of organelle to correct organelle name, picture and location with few mistakes | 50%-65% of the organelles are correctly labelled and functions identified. | Some progress made on the table, though largely incomplete or incorrect. | No table or unable to correctly match functions with names |
There is no criteria for the Ranking activity, just ensure you can justify each decision as you will be arguing your case to the class.
Conclusion
Final student created resources of these two lessons:
- Venn Diagram of Organelles (Plant Cell v. Animal Cell).
- Self evaluation revision of cell types.
- Table of Organelle functions.
- Self evaluation of organelle function knowledge.
After completing these activities students should have a solid foundation from which the basics of cell biology can be based. This is a foundation level activity that leads into more in depth learning about cell biology.
Credits
Resources used in the WebQuest. All hyperlinks current as of 28/07/2017.
http://basicbiology.net/micro/cells/plant-cells/
http://basicbiology.net/micro/cells/animal-cells/
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/venn_diagrams/
https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/start_new/57f792d92ce4a7595193fa12
http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model_js.htm
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2010/05/organelle_function_checklist.pdf
Ranking activity taken from
Ginnis, P. (2002) The Teachers Toolkit. Wales, UK: Crown House. page 148
Reference List (for Rationale provided on Teacher Page)
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), (n.d), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability, retrieved from: http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Pdf/ICT
Milson, A. & Downey, P. (2001) WebQuest: Using Internet Resources for Cooperative Inquiry, Social Education 65(3) pp. 144-146, retrieved from: https://uta-ir.tdl.org/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/11730/WebQuest%20using%20internet%20resources.pdf?sequence=1
Wilson, L. (2013), Understanding the New Version of Bloom’s Taxonomy, retrieved from: http://thesecondprinciple.com/teaching-essentials/beyond-bloom-cognitive-taxonomy-revised/
Teacher Page
Created by Michael Lewis for the purpose of an assessment in EDU302 at USC. Any use outside of this should be modified where suitable to fit with teaching requirements.
Rationale
Utilising a WebQuest as the mode of delivery allows students to become familiar with utilising computers and the internet to learn. This utilises every aspect of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), including hardware, software and connectivity (internet). This is an essential part of student learning as set out by the Australian Curriculum. This WebQuest introduces students to research on the internet as a tool for learning, however it is highly structured as students have not had much exposure to individualised research at this level of education. This is a key component of a WebQuest as it removes the hassle and time of searching for information (Milson & Downey, 2001). The fact that this WebQuest utilises multiple sources which describe the same things slightly different forces a student to critically analyse each source to draw out the common message.
As this is a foundation to a new unit of work students will have had little to no exposure to, that being cell biology, lesson 1 and the beginning of lesson 2 is focused on lower order thinking. Specifically remembering and understanding. However the ranking activity requires some organisation of knowledge based on their analysis of the importance of the organelle. According to Wilson (2013), these fall under evaluating and analysing respectively. This is of key importance to the functionality of WebQuests and of teaching as a discipline. Ensuring that students are able to extend their learning through higher order thinking stretches all students regardless of level.
Group work is included to ensure that all students have access to equipment if there is a limited number. However group work in the context of a WebQuest also can improve participation, particularly in students usually disengaged from normal learning (Milson & Downey, 2001). The functionality of this WebQuest is improved
The content of this WebQuest was also designed to target the Year 8 Australian Curriculum, specifically section ACSSU149. It is not feasible to target all of the descriptors in such a short number of lessons and so only elaborations 2 and 3 were targeted. ACSIS144 and ACSIS148 were hit as secondary objectives of this lesson, through the use of Venn Diagram creation to organise data and communication between peers to convey ideas utilising scientific language. This also follows through with the general capability of literacy by introducing students to new language specific to biological sciences, increasing their scientific literacy.
All of these considerations were made when creating this WebQuest to allow students the best learning guided by research and the Australian Curriculum.