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Category: Cells

6 EASY ways to model OSMOSIS

Teaching osmosis? Osmosis is one of my favorite topics to teach during the cells unit because it’s so easily visualized. There are quite a few ways to easily see osmosis in action! Here’s a round-up of six labs and the pros and cons of each: 1. EGG OSMOSIS The “naked

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Tips for Teaching Cell Organelles

Hi teacher friend. I’ve been putting this blog post off for a long while…. cell organelles. Why? First off, this is not one of my favorite topics to teach. Yes, getting out the microscopes are a blast, but overall organelles are a really abstract topic for students. I’ve gone back

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Cell Theory Microscope Lab

Teaching the cell theory? If you just throw a bunch of names at your students, chances are they aren’t going to remember them. How can you make this topic more interesting? I like having students actually SEE what these scientists discovered (yes, you will need microscopes). In this cell theory

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Cellular Respiration Resources

As teachers, we all have that one topic we hate to teach. For me, it’s photosynthesis and cellular respiration. They learn the basics in middle school: plants need water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight, and in turn they create oxygen and glucose. Then glucose gets broken down and turns into energy.

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Photosynthesis Teaching Resources

As teachers, we all have that one topic we hate to teach. For me, it’s photosynthesis and cellular respiration. They learn the basics in middle school: plants need water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight, and in turn they create oxygen and glucose. Eventually glucose gets broken down and turns into energy.

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Homeostasis Lesson Ideas

As a biology teacher, when I introduce the characteristics of life at the beginning of the year we discuss the term homeostasis. Students seem to remember the term for about a week, and it vanishes from their memory. When we could circle back to the term during cells (when observing

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Introducing Diffusion with Smelly Balloons

Diffusion is a topic that is covered in biology (when we introduce cell membranes) and chemistry (particle movement and kinetic theory). I came across this “smelly balloons” activity on Flinn’s website and thought it was such a fun way to introduce diffusion. In this activity, students will smell balloons that have

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How To View Stomata Under The Microscope

Viewing stomata is a fun one-day lab during your photosynthesis or plant unit. The first time I had students do this lab, I got out razor blades (I know) and tried to have students cut off thin slices of the leaf. Needless to say it didn’t work out terribly well.

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10 Resources for Teaching Cell Membranes

One of my favorite parts of the cell unit is teaching about membranes. If you ask me, they are by far the most important part of the cell. Everything the cell does is because it is responding to signals received by the membrane. While many students think the nucleus is

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Transforming Your Microscope Unit from GOOD to GREAT

Getting out the microscopes is one of the best parts of teaching biology. I love hearing the ooh’s and aah’s when they finally get the specimen into focus. But if you’ve taught biology before you know it can also be one of the most exhausting units- constantly running around the

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How to use an onion for your osmosis lab

I’m excited to share with you an EASY PEASY way for students to see osmosis in plant cells! In the past, I always used elodea leaves for this lab. Elodea can be hard to find at pet stores and is a little temperamental to keep alive. This year I decided

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