- Instead of requesting for your students to bring in frosted cupcakes decorated like a plant cell, have the students create their own cupcakes during class time. Set out many different kinds of frosting and toppings, from candy to colorful cereal for parts of the cell, and then let them get to work. Post a large picture of a plant cell posted in the front of the classroom for students to have an example to work from. This learning activity is a blast for everyone; what child doesn't enjoy a table full of sweet treats and then get to eat their own creation? Before the cupcakes are devoured, you may want to allow each child to tell the group about their plant cell creation.
- Show students that everyone's mouth has more going on than just teeth and a tongue. Give each student his own petri dish and a few cotton swabs. Have each student write her name on a piece of tape to stick to her dish. Then instruct everyone to swab the inside of their cheeks with cotton swabs and then rub the swabs in a squiggly pattern onto the agar (clear, gel substance) portion of the petri dishes. Emphasize that they shouldn't touch the cotton swabs to anything other than their mouths and then the agar in the petri dishes.
Have the students put the lids back on their dishes and tape them closed. After a day or so, the results will be obvious; various colonies of bacteria will begin to form in each dish. Some may have more than others, but if a student has a huge amount of bacteria, he may have swabbed something else in addition to his mouth. - Hand each student a set of 10 to 12 white paper squares, each one 4 x 4 inches. Explain that each square is to represent a different aspect of their individuality. Write leading questions on the white or chalk board to help students with ideas. Questions like, "My most proud moment was..." or "I am really good at..." or "My favorite activity is..."
Then, instruct the students to illustrate a single quality or talent that represents who they are on each quilt square. For example, if a student's best talent is his athletic ability in basketball, he could draw a picture of a basketball and a goal on one of his squares. If that student also loves reading, he could create a picture of himself holding an opened book sitting under a tree on another quilt square.
Pass out pastels and colored pencils for students to illustrate their quilt squares. Once students have completed each square, have them tape the squares together on the backside so as not to cover up their creations.
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