Sarah Ireley

Cell Membrane Unit Plan

Sarah Ireley
SECD 592D
Action Research Project 5E unit
Structure and Function of the Cell Membrane: A 5E Unit
Incorporating Role-Play into Science Education
Broad Unit Objectives:
Identify parts of the cell membrane.
Describe the structure and function of the cell membrane.
Give analogies for components of the cell membrane.
Define passive transport: diffusion, and osmosis, giving examples
of each.
Predict the movement of particles in the presence of a
concentration gradient for active and passive transport.
Explain the effects of diffusion and osmosis on cells and whole
organisms given several real world scenarios.
Define and differentiate active transport: phagocytosis, and
pinocytosis and give examples of each.
Role-play the processes of active, passive and facilitated
diffusion
Compare and contrast passive, active and facilitated diffusion.
Big Ideas
Students will understand the structure and function of the cell
membrane as a working system with the help of real-world
application and analogies.
Essential Questions
Why is the proper function of the cell membrane essential for
survival?
How does the cell membrane work with other parts of the body to
maintain homeostasis?
AAAS chapter 11: Common Themes:
11a: Systems: The usefulness of conceptual models depends on the
ability of people to imagine that something they do not understand is
in some way like something that they do understand. (267) Students
will be introduced to the concept of diffusion through a model using a
balloon and vanilla flavoring. Students will also build a physical model
of the cell membrane using foam characters.
Standards:

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

NYSED Living Environment Core Curriculum Guide

NYSED Core Curriculum Guide Standard 6: Students will
understand the relationships and common themes that connect
mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these
and other areas of learning
NYSED Core Curriculum Guide Standard 1: Students will use
mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as
appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
Key Idea 1: The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to
develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing
and creative process
NYSED Core Curriculum Guide Standard 4: Students will
understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories
pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize
the historical development of ideas in science.
Key Idea 1: Living things are both similar to and different
from each other and from nonliving things
o Performance Indicator 1.2: Describe and explain the
structures and functions of the human body at different
organizational levels.
NYSED Intermediate Level Science Core Curriculum Guide
STANDARD 6Interconnectedness: Common Themes
Students will understand the relationships and common themes that
connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes
to these and other areas of learning.

Key Idea 1: Through systems thinking, people can recognize

the commonalities that exist among all systems and how
parts of a system interrelate and combine to perform specific
functions.
o 1.1 Describe the differences between dynamic systems
and organizational systems.
o 1.2 Describe the differences and similarities among
engineering systems, natural systems, and social
systems.
o 1.4 Describe how the output from one part of a system
(which can include material, energy, or information) can
become the input to other parts.

Key Idea 2: Models are simplified representations of objects,

structures, or systems used in analysis, explanation,
interpretation, or design.
o 2.1 Select an appropriate model to begin the search for

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

answers or solutions to a question or problem.

o 2.2 Use models to study processes that cannot be
studied directly (e.g., when the real process is too slow,
too fast, or too dangerous for direct observation).
o 2.3 Demonstrate the effectiveness of different models to
represent the same thing and the same model to
represent different thing

Day 1
Big Ideas
Students will gain a better understanding of the size of a cell.
Essential Questions
How big is a cell?
How big are the different parts of the cell
Whats the environment of a cell like?
How many cells are in my body?
Indicators
Students will complete pre and post reading questions.
Students will participate in class discussion
Students will complete formative assessment exit slips.
Objective
Students will complete a pre-assessment unit questionnaire,
participate in a discussion activity about the size of the cell and
react to reading passages about the size of a cell.
Materials
Pre-assessment
Selection from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill
Bryson
The Way Life Works by Hoagland and Dodson
Journals
Engage
1. Pre-Assessment Questionnaire
Students will complete a short questionnaire (See Appendix
A), which will assess prior knowledge on this subject.
o I will use this to evaluate prior knowledge on the topics

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

addressed in this unit and adapt future lessons

accordingly.
o I will also compare scores on this assessment with a
summative assessment to evaluate learning.
Time = 15 minutes

2. Size of a Cell discussion: Think/Pair/Share

Ask students to answer the following questions individually (3-5
minutes), share with a friend (3 minutes) and offer answers to
the rest of the class (5 minutes)
o How big is a cell? Can you think of anything to compare
it to?
o How many cells to you have in your body?
o If you could travel inside a cell, what would it be like?
Total time = 10-15 minutes
3. Size of a Cell Reading
I will read an excerpt from A Short History of Nearly
Everything (See Appendix A) to the students; this excerpt
describes the size and number of cells in our body in a
narrative fashion. Students will be instructed to make notes of
anything they hear that sounds interesting or surprising.
We will then have a class discussion on reactions to the
reading. I will call on volunteers for this. I will ask questions like
What did you find interesting about the reading? Were there
any words that you didnt understand? What surprised you in
the reading?
I will read another excerpt about the size of the cell parts from
The Way Life Works (See Appendix A). This selection is about
the scale of life, using common objects as analogies for
microscopic particles (an atom) to macroscopic organisms (a
human).
I will ask the class if they have any more suggestions for
analogies that relate to the size of the cell. They will write
answers in their journals.
Total Time = 10 minutes.
4. Wrap Up: Exit Slips
Students will answer the following questions
1. 1 thing you learned today
2. 1 thing that surprised you
3. 1 thing youre confused about
I will read these after class and address questions in the
following days lessons
Time = 3 minutes

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

Day 2
Big Ideas
Students will continue to explore the size of the cell
Students will be introduced to the structure of the cell membrane
Essential Questions
How big is a cell related to other objects?
What everyday object can we relate the cell membrane to?
Indicators
Completion of Cells Alive activity
Answer Balloon pin and skewer activity questions
Class discussion
Objective
Students will gain understanding of the scale of microscopic
organisms and particles by completing an interactive web
activity.
Students will use a balloon as a model for comparison to the cell
membrane.
Materials
Computers
Cells Alive: How Big is a
Handout
Helium balloon

Latex balloon
Wooden skewer
Pin
Tape
Soap

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

Explore

1. Warm Up: Journal: Students will answer the following question,

which will be on a PowerPoint slide as they enter the room.

o
o
o
o

Arrange the following into order from smallest to largest

Human hair
o Ebola virus
Red blood cell
o Ragweed pollen
Dust mite
o Pin head
Rhinovirus

o Time = 5 minutes
o
o
o
2. Cells Alive
Students will complete Cells Alive: How Big is a ? handout
(See Appendix A).
This activity compares the size of several types of cells, viruses,
and bacteria using interactive software. In this activity, students
are asked to draw, measure, and describe the appearance of
several microscopic cells and organisms.
Time = 7-10 minutes.
o Engage
o
o 3. Helium Balloon: introduction to structure of the cell
membrane.
I will ask students How is this helium balloon like a cell?
o Possible answers: separates whats inside from whats
outside, the Contents inside the balloon (helium) differ
from its outside surroundings (air)
Time = 3-5 minutes.
o 4. Pin and skewer through a balloon
I will ask students to answer What will happen if I try to put this
needle through the balloon? In their journal.
Students will volunteer their answers
o Possible answers: it will pop, it wont pop.
I will demonstrate how it is possible to stick a skewer and a
needle through a balloon without popping it.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

o Skewer through a balloon: I will blow up a balloon, dip a

wooden skewer into liquid soap and slowly penetrate the
balloon, through one end and out the other.
In their journal students will answer
o Were you surprised that Ms. Ireley could put a skewer and
a pin through a balloon?
How do you think this is possible?
Possible answers: the skewer was put through
the thickest parts of the balloon, and those
parts are more flexible then the more stretched
out areas of the sides.
Students will form groups of 3 to discuss their answers. Within
their groups, students will answer
1. How is this balloon like a cell membrane? Possible answers:
Lets things into it (skewer, pin)
2. How is this balloon unlike a cell membrane? Possible
answers: Its not living, not fluid, unchanging
I will collect students answers and look over them for formative
assessment.
Total time = 10-15 minutes.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

o Day 3
o
o Big Ideas
Students will understand the concept of the cell membrane as
a semi-permeable, fluid-like structure.
o Essential Questions
How is the cell membrane like and unlike a colander and soap
bubble?
How can we use models to understand the function of
microscopic structures?
o Indicators
Students complete two hands on activities which explore the
structure and function of the cell membrane, answering
discussion questions and participating in class discussions
o Objectives
Students will apply their understanding of particle size related
to passage through a colander to the rate of molecule
passage through a cell membrane.
o Materials
Colanders, sieves
(various sizes)
Sand
Flour
Pebbles
Water

Bubble solution
Transparencies
Straws
Bubble within a Bubble
handout
Particle Size Handout

Explore
1. Warm Up: Journal
In their journals students will answer: what did you learn
yesterday about the cell membrane?
Time = 3-5 minutes.
2. Particle Activity
In groups of three, students will be given the following
materials.
o Colander or sieve

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o Materials varying in size: flour, sugar, sand, pebbles,

marbles
o Particle Size handout (See Appendix A)

Students will explore these materials through an inquirybased activity. Included in this activity are making
observations about the materials and exploring their
properties. Students should conclude from this activity that
the cell membrane is like a strainer or sieve that lets certain
particles through while keeping others out.
o Time for activity = 10-15 minutes
o Class discussion about results = 5 minutes.

3. Bubble within a Bubble

Students will be given the task of making a bubble within a
bubble using the following materials: bubble solution, straw,
transparency.
Students will complete the Bubble Within a Bubble Handout
(See Appendix A), which gives them the task of producing a
bubble within a bubble.
I will circulate around to each group, asking them what the
bubbles represent.
This activity demonstrates selective permeability
Anticipated student answers: The bubble is like a cell
membrane because its fluid-like and it allows the straw to
penetrate it, but only when the straw is wet (selective).
Time = 10 minutes
Class discussion about results = 3-5 minutes

4. Wrap up: Comparison Chart

Students will complete a chart comparing and contrasting the
models that we have used as analogies to the cell membrane
so far.
Time = 3-5 minutes

Model

Balloon

Coland
er / sieve

Cell Membrane Unit Plan

Soap

How its like a cell

membrane

How its unlike a cell

membrane

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bubble

Cell Membrane Unit Plan

10

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

11

Day 4

Big Ideas
The structure and function of the cell membrane.

Essential Questions
What is the cell membrane composed of?
How can large particles pass through the cell membrane?

Indicators
Student notes
Student answers on role-play activity

Materials
Journals
Guided Notes
Vocab. Practice
Puzzle pieces
White boards
Sign

Explain

Bag of trash
Egg
Vinegar
String, ruler, triple-beam
balance

1. Warm Up: Journal

The students will answer the following question in their journal:
Using your experience from the activities weve done in class,
why is a soap bubble a better model of the cell membrane than a
balloon?
o Answers might include: The balloon isnt fluid like; the
balloons structure is unchanging. A soap bubble is fluid
like, a soap bubble is continuously moving
Time = 3 min. individual time, Discussion of answers: 2 min.
2. Begin Egg Lab (See Appendix A)
This is the first day on a multiple day lab, which will span the
majority of the length of this unit. Students will begin filling out
the vocabulary terms on the prelab according to what we have
covered so far in class. I will encourage them to add to the
definitions of these words as we cover them throughout the unit.
On this day, students should be able to define semi-permeable,
impermeable and permeable membrane.
Student volunteers will measure the circumference and mass of a
raw egg.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

12

Students will predict what will happen if the egg is placed in

vinegar overnight, writing that prediction in the lab.
Time = 5 minutes.
3. Notes: Structure and Function of the Cell membrane
Guided notes (Appendix A) linking activities in days 1 and 2 to
the structure of the cell membrane will be given. Included will be
an introduction to key vocabulary terms, such as: selectively
permeable, lipid bilayer, fluid mosaic, and proteins commonly
located within the cell membrane including; channel, carrier,
receptor and marker. I will use analogies to introduce the
different types of proteins in the cell membrane.
Time = 10 minutes.
4. Role-play: Different proteins of the cell membrane
The students will play parts of the cell membrane.
This will be played like charades: I will tell the students what to
do, the rest of the class will write down their guesses of what the
people are demonstrating on white boards, holding them up to
show me their answer.
Roles:
o Channel: London Bridge
o Carrier: Taking out the trash
A student carries a bag across the room.
o Receptor: puzzle piece
I will give two students puzzle pieces that fit together
o Marker: Holding a name sign at the airport
One student holds a sign up with another students
name on it.
o Discuss the importance of the function of these proteins
passing larger molecules into the cell.
o Students will pair together to write notes about the activity.
Activity Time = 5-8 min.
Student note taking = 5 minutes.
5. Wrap-up: Exit Slip
Students will answer the following and hand in as their leaving
1. 1 Thing you liked about this activity
2. 1 thing you didnt like about todays class
3. 1 thing you learned in todays class
Time = 3-5 minutes

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

14

Day 5

Big Ideas
Students will understand one type of Passive Transport, Diffusion.

Essential Questions
How do molecules move inside and outside a cell?
What is diffusion?
How can I relate the concept of diffusion to my everyday
experiences?

Indicators
Involvement in class discussion.
Construction of class notes on diffusion
Completion of vocabulary concept circle.

Materials
Box
Balloon
Vanilla extract
Perfume
Mystery Box handout

Egg soaked in vinegar

overnight
String
Ruler
Triple beam balance

o Explain
o
o 1. Warm-up: Journal
Students will answer the following question: How do
molecules move within a cell?
Time = 3-5 minutes.
o 2. Egg lab: Day 2
Volunteer students will measure mass, circumference and
make observations about an egg that was placed in vinegar
overnight.
Students will be instructed to fill in additional vocabulary
terms in the pre-lab.
o 3. Molecule Movement
I will read an excerpt from A Short History of Nearly
Everything (Appendix A) about molecule movement. This
excerpt explains the movement of molecules as chaotic and
dangerous for the microscopic observer.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

15

I will ask students to write their reaction to the reading in their

journals.
I will show a short video clip of molecule movement in order
to present material in a visual medium.
Time = 5 minutes

o 4. Example of Diffusion: Mystery Box (See Appendix A)

Before class, I will put vanilla extract inside a balloon; the balloon
will then be blown up and put inside a box. The sealed box will
be passed around the class
Students will try to determine what is in the box by smelling it.
I will ask students to brainstorm suggestions on their paper
silently, so that students may form hypotheses individually.
o Possible suggestions: cookies, cake, soap, candle
We will then discuss how the balloon is like a cell membrane
o Lets vanilla vapor out but keeps the liquid in: semipermeable
o Discuss how the concentration of the vanilla shifted
From high concentration inside the balloon to low
concentration outside of the balloon.
Down the concentration gradient.
I will ask students to draw a model of what has happened on
their paper, calling a volunteer to the board to draw an example.
Intended Drawing:
o
o
Movement
o
High
of vanilla
concentratio
o
Low concentration of
n of vanilla
vanilla
o
o
o
o Time = 10-12 minutes.
o 5. Example of Diffusion: Perfume
While students are drawing the model for the mystery box
activity, I will spray several squirts of perfume without them
seeing. The students in the front should start to make comments
about the smell before the students in the back
After they complete drawing, talk about the spreading of the
perfume and connect that to the mystery box.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

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o The perfume must have been sprayed in the front of the

room because those students smelled it before the
students in the back of the room.
o The perfume moved from an area of high concentration (in
the bottle) to an area of low concentration (throughout the
room).
o The perfume went down the concentration gradient just
like the vanilla vapor.
o Time = 5 min.
o
o 6. Diffusion Notes
With student input, we will construct notes of activity on
diffusion. Key points to cover in the notes will include the
following:
o Diffusion is the movement of particles from high to low
concentration.
o Diffusion is a type of passive transport because it does not
use energy.
o Since diffusion does not use energy, it moves down or
along the concentration gradient.
o Examples of diffusion that weve used in class include:
vanilla vapor diffusing through a balloon and perfume
spray.
o Other examples of diffusion in biology include:
Gas exchange at the alveoli oxygen from air to
blood, carbon Dioxide from blood to air.
Gas exchange for photosynthesis carbon dioxide
from air to leaf, oxygen from leaf to air.
Time = 10 minutes.
o 7. Wrap Up
Vocab. Concept circle: Write about your understanding of the cell
membrane by highlighting the connections between and among
each of the terms in the concept circle. What is the significance
of each one and how do they fit together?
Time = 3 min.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Diffusion Cell
Membrane
SemiConcentration
permeabl gradient
e

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

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o
o
o

Cell Membrane Unit Plan

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

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o Day 6
o Big Ideas
Students will understand an additional type of passive transport:
osmosis.
o Essential Questions
How does water enter a cell?
How does osmosis compare to diffusion?
o Indicators
Students participation in tea bag discussion.
Students notes on osmosis.
o

Materials
Journals
Tea Time handout
Tea bag
Water
Hot plate
4 Eggs soaked in vinegar
for 48 hours

Blue water, molasses, corn

syrup, distilled water
String, ruler, triple beam
balance
Video clips of osmosis and
diffusion

Explain / Elaborate
1. Warm-Up: Journal
Students will answer the following question in their journal as
they enter class.
What happens when you put a tea bag into hot water? How does
this activity relate to what weve been discussing in class?
o Time = 5 min.

2. Tea bag Demonstration

I will demonstrate how water molecules move when a tea bag is
placed in hot water.
The tea is diffusing out of the tea bag
The water is moving from high concentration outside the tea bag
to low concentration into the tea bag
Time = 3-4 min.
3. Osmosis notes: Students will participate in constructing
notes by an interactive, question/answer session. Pertinent
information for notes includes:

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

19

Osmosis is the movement of water across a semi-permeable

membrane from an area of high concentration to an area of low
concentration.
In osmosis, youre measuring the concentration of water, which
is the solvent.
In diffusion, youre measuring the concentration of solvent in a
solution.
Real world example of osmosis in nature: Absorption of water by
plant roots.
o Water moves from an area of high concentration in the
ground to an area of low concentration in the roots.
Real world example 2: Fingers pruning after a bath
o Our cells are slightly salty, so they are at a lower water
concentration than the water in the bathtub, therefore
water moves from an area of high concentration in the
bathtub to an area of lower concentration in our cells,
plumping and wrinkling our fingers.
Vocabulary terms: osmosis, hypertonic, isotonic, hypotonic
Draw osmosis and diffusion

o Time = 10 min.

4. Video clips of osmosis and diffusion, which will be used

so that students can visualize these processes.
Time = 2-3 min.

5. Egg Lab: Day 3

A student volunteer will measure and record mass and
circumference of the egg that was placed in the vinegar 48 hours
ago.
Students will make observations of the egg. Anticipated
observations include:
o There was a chemical reaction between the vinegar and
the eggshell; the vinegar dissolved the calcium of the
eggshell so the egg is soft.
o This egg serves as a model of a cell.
The students will record mass and circumference of 3 other eggs,
which have also been placed in vinegar for 48 hours. They will
also predict what changes will occur when those four eggs are
placed in different solutions for an additional 48 hours:

Difuson

Sarah Ireley

Cell Membrane Unit Plan

o Water
o Blue water

o Corn Syrup
o Molasses

o Students will record initial volume of solutions and place

the eggs in their respective solutions.
Time = 10 minutes.

6. Wrap up: Venn diagram

Compare and contrast Osmosis and Diffusion

o Day 7
o
o Big Ideas
The students will understand passive transport through
constructing a model of the cell and observing substances
passing through it.

o Essential Questions
How do we know that substances pass through membranes?
How does the size of molecules affect passive transport

o Indicators
Completion of the Diffusion Through a Membrane lab activity
o Materials
Lab packet
Dialysis tubing
Glucose indicator solution
Test tube rack
Concentrated glucose
solution
Funnel
7 test tubes
Explore / Elaborate

Starch solution
Pipettes
Goggles
Starch indicator solution
250 ml beaker
Hot water bath
Diffusion Through a
Membrane Lab Handout

20

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

21

1. Diffusion Through a Membrane (NY State Lab): part 1 (See

Appendix A)
Students make a model cell out of dialysis tubing; fill the cell with
starch solution and glucose solution. The cell is placed in a 250ml
beaker, in which water is added to cover the cell. Starch indicator
is then added to the water in the beaker. Which is then set aside.
The students then test water, the starch solution and the glucose
solution using glucose indicator solution and starch indicator
solution. The results conclude that there is glucose in the glucose
solution and starch in the starch solutions indicated by the color
change when adding their respective indicators.
After about 15 minutes, the contents inside of the cell start to
turn blue-black, indicating that the starch indicator has diffused
into the cell.
The students then test the solution outside of the cell and
determine that the water contains glucose, indicating that the
glucose has diffused out of the cell.
Students answer several questions about the lab activity
throughout it in addition to analysis questions, which incorporate
real world situations pertaining to the processes studied in the
lab.
Total time of Part 1 = 40 minutes.

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Cell Membrane Unit Plan

Day 8

Big Ideas
The students will understand Osmoregulation in plant cells

Essential Questions
What does osmosis look like?
How does a plant cell react to salt water versus distilled water?

Indicators
Completion of Diffusion Through a Membrane NY State Lab.

Materials
Red onion
Cover slips
Pipette
Glass microscope slides

Distilled water
Colored pencils
Salt solution
Diffusion Through a
Membrane Lab Handout

22

o
o Explore / Elaborate
o
o 1. Diffusion through a Membrane (NY State Lab) part 2 (See
Appendix A)
Students make a wet mount slide of red onion epidermal cells.
They then make a labeled diagram of these cells and predict how
the cells will change with the addition of salt water.
The specimen is then washed with salt water and students
observe the reaction of cells to this change: the cell membrane
shrinks within the cell wall. Which is a result of osmosis in a
hypertonic solution. Students make a labeled diagram of this
change.
The specimen is washed one more time with distilled water and
the students observe the cells plumping up again, a result of
osmosis in a hypotonic solution.
Students are asked to answer several questions throughout the
lab about what is occurring between the cells and the solutions.
Analysis questions at the end use several real-world examples to
evaluate understanding of the concepts presented in the lab.
Total Time of part 2 = 40 min.
o
o

o Day 9
o Big Ideas
The students will understand passive transport.
o Essential Questions
What does osmosis and diffusion look like?
o Indicators
Completion of Egg lab
o Materials
4 eggs that have been soaking in four different solutions for 48
hours.
String, triple beam balance, ruler, toothpicks
Egg lab
Safety goggles
o Explore / Elaborate
o
o 1. Warm up: Journal
Can you relate what you learned yesterday to what you think will
happen to the eggs that were placed in different solutions for 48
hours?
Time = 5 min.
o 2. Egg Lab (See Appendix A):
Students will break up into four groups. Ill have one egg at each
of the four stations. Students will record the final mass,
circumference and make observations about the egg at that
station.
Rotate to a different station every 3 minutes.
Time = 4 stations x 3 min. = 12 min.
At their last station, each group will put on safety goggles and
alternate using a toothpick to pop the egg while the rest of the
class watches and records observations.
Time = 4 min.
Students will answer analysis questions to explain the processes
that occurred between the egg and its environment.
Time = 5-7 min.
Total Time for activity = 20-25 min.
o 3. Class discussion

Fill in a table (work in pairs) placing the models and examples

weve looked at in class and organize them as either diffusion or
osmosis.
Time = 5-8 min.

o
o
o
Type
of passive
transport
o
Mod
els /
Examples

Diffusion
o Vanilla vapor
through a balloon
o Perfume moving
through a room.
o Blue food
coloring through
an egg
o Glucose moving
out of and iodine
moving into
model cell.
o Oxygen moving
from lungs into
capillaries

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Osmosis
o Water and tea
o Salt/distilled
water and onion
cells
o Water moving
out of eggs in
hypertonic
solutions (corn
syrup, molasses)
and into eggs in
hypotonic
solutions
(distilled water)
o Environmental
problems due to
salting roads.
o Water entering
plant roots.
o Fingers pruning
after a bath

o
Students fill in their answers on a transparency, adding to their
own lists.
Time = 8-10 min.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
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o
o

o
o

o
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Day 10
Big Ideas
Students will understand what active transport is.
Students will understand how active and passive transport
compares.

Essential Questions
What is active transport?
How does active transport compare to passive transport?

Indicators
Class discussion while completing notes.
Critique of Osmosis Jones video clip.
Accurately acting out phagocytosis and pinocytosis.

o
o

o
o
o
o

Materials
Osmosis Jones
Active Transport Guided notes
Explain
1. Warm Up: Journal
What are the two types of passive transport? Using what you
know about passive transport as a guide, form a definition for
active transport.
Time = 5 min.

o 2. Introduce active transport: I will guide students by

questioning and answering to develop notes on active transport.
Passive transport moves down the concentration gradient, so
active transport must move up the concentration gradient and it
takes energy to move up a hill.

Time = 2-3 min.

o 3. Notes
Notes on active transport: I will give students guided notes
through interactive questioning and answering.
o Active transport uses energy to move something across a
concentration gradient, so substances move from low to
high concentration.
o Example of active transport: sodium potassium pump using
a carrier protein and ATP to pump sodium and potassium
ions against their concentration gradients
o Video clip of sodium potassium pump.
Phagocytosis and pinocytosis, describing each then showing a
video clip of both.
o Example of phagocytosis: macrophage engulfing a
pathogen.
Time = 10 min
o
o 4. Video clip of Osmosis Jones
Macrophages engulf pathogens with shop vac backpacks
How is this accurate and how is this not accurate?
Accurate because the macrophages are
sucking up the pathogens.
Inaccurate because the macrophages are not
surrounding the pathogen and forming a
pocket around it.
Time = 5-7 min.
o 5. Role-play: Students act out both pinocytosis and
phagocytosis as follows.
Pinocytosis: Several students form a circle (cell membrane). An
outside student (molecule) holds the arm of one of the cell
membrane molecules, the circle forms a pouch around the
molecule and the molecule enters the circle
Time = 5 min.
Phagocytosis: pouch is formed around molecule without
attachment, molecule moves inside the circle
Time = 5 min.
o 6. Wrap up: Venn diagram: compare and contrast the three
types of active transport
Time = 5 min.

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Day 11

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o Big Ideas
Evaluate understanding of the structure and function of the cell
membrane.
o Essential Questions
How does active transport compare to passive transport?
What is my knowledge of the cell membrane, and how does it
compare to others in my class?
o

Indicators
Completion of the Venn diagram.
Being able to condense material into a review sheet.
Performance on review games.

o Materials
Unit notes
Jeopardy PowerPoint

o Elaboarate / Evaluate
o
o 1. Journal: Compare and contrast active and passive transport
Time = 5 min.
o

o 2. Discussion: Discuss answers to the journal, having students

add to their diagram
Time = 5-7 min.
o 3. Make review sheet
Students pair up to condense notes theyve taken in class into a
review sheet. During this time I will circulate around the room
addressing questions and evaluating understanding of core
concepts.
Time = 10-15 min.
o 4. Review Game: Jeopardy (See Appendix A)
Students will form teams of 4. The person being asked the
question will rotate each turn.
Time = 15-20 minutes.
o 5. Wrap up: Students will answer the following question,
handing it in on the way out of class
Is there anything that we talked about in todays review that you
are still unsure about? If so, describe it.
I will review these and address any questions before taking the
exam the following day.

o
Day 12
o
Big Ideas
o Evaluate understanding of the structure and function of the cell
membrane.
o
o
Essential Questions
What is the structure and function of the cell membrane?
o
o
Indicators
Performance on the unit exam
o
o
Materials
Unit exam
Post-unit Questionnaire
o
o
Evaluate
o
o
1. Warm Up: Address student questions
I will address any questions that the students had on the wrap up
activity yesterday. I will also answer any additional questions
students have at this point.
o
o
2. Unit Exam: Students will complete summative unit exam.

Time = 40 min.
o 3. Questionnaire: Upon completing the exam, students will
take a questionnaire (See Appendix A) on their responses of the
activities that were included in this unit.
o