Lab Project- Build A Cell, Unit 1

Materials included: Styrofoam molds, spray paint, markers, Christmas tinsel, a plastic ball, construction paper, pipe cleaners. paper plates, sequins, embroidery thread, thumb tacks, tooth picks, and labels.

I decided to create my model using craft supplies. My daughter, a classic "tactile learner," has an endless supply. The actual cell itself was created using Styrofoam models that I spray painted. To illustrate the inner parts, mitochondria, Rough ER, Smooth ER, ribosomes, and Golgi Apparatus, I used a combination of embroidery thread and markers. The flagellum and was created with a pipe cleaner and the lysosome and vesicle were made with thumb tacks. The cell membrane is made out if construction paper. The nucleolus is represented by a plastic ball.

The cell model itself shows the cell in interphase, the stage a cell spends most of its time in. I tried to illustrate a vesicle going through exocytosis, but I do not think I got the full effect. Below you will see a couple of transitional pictures of the cell assembly.

Here I am creating a mitochondria out of embroidery thread... not easy to do.


The cell in progress, no ribosomes yet.

My next step was to illustrate Mitosis. I was inspired by the illustration in the book, pages 382-383. This illustration was instrumental in helping me understand this process. I used paper plates to create a cell and drew a cell membrane. Pipe cleaners with sequins (for centromeres) were the chromosomes. I used pipe cleaners, and markers to show the spindle fibers and asters.

My purpose was to illustrate the different phases of mitosis. The movement of the chromosomes and spindle fibers is shown in the model. At the end, you should be able to see the two duplicate cells.

Illustrating mitosis, a work in progress.




The cell model and mitosis together.

An up close and personal view of my cell model, complete with labels for each part.

Next I worked on DNA replication, transcription to mRNA, and mRNA translation to proteins. For the DNA and mRNA I used pipe cleaners. I illustrated the bases using different colored pipe cleaners. This was time consuming and did not look as nice as I had hoped. I do realize that my double helix is not twisting as it should *sigh*. Do notice that I changed the color of the mRNA base for Uracil (orange), Thymine is blue. The white pipe cleaners are the sugar/phosphate back bones in DNA and I used blue (I ran out of colors) for the mRNA. For translation I used construction paper for the ribosomes and sequins for the polypeptide. The tRNA is green construction paper.

DNA replication, the new strand is on the right.

Transcription to mRNA, mRNA is on the right.

Translation and protein synthesis in the ribosomes.

Cell membrane: construction paper

Cytoplasm: Styrofoam

Nucleus with nuclear membrane: Styrofoam, paint, markers

Nucleolus: Plastic ball

Rough ER: Embroidery thread, marker

Ribosomes: drawn with marker

Smooth ER: Embroidery thread, marker

Golgi Apparatus: Embroidery thread.

Flagellum with microtubules: Pipe cleaner

Lysosomes and Vesicles: Thumb tacks, marker

Mitochondria: Embroidery thread

Chromatin, chromosomes: Pipe cleaners

DNA: Pipe cleaners

mRNA: Pipe cleaners

Enlarged Ribosomes: construction paper

Polypeptide: Sequins

So basically I have illustrated the parts of a cell, cell interphase, mitosis, DNA replication, transcription and translation. The last chapter, 21, was not sinking in with me. Working on this model helped me to get a better "feel" for DNA and RNA structure and function. I had been holding off on the test because I was not getting it. After working on this model I was able to successfully take the test. I guess I am a "tactile learner" as well.