Reader's Theater, Turn & Talk, Focus Words

READER'S THEATER: Two cells, or not to sell

Characters: Xiomara, Aviv, Veda, Remigio, Ysabel, and Ms. Portugal.

​

The city’s largest park is hosting a regional soccer tournament. A group of enterprising friends from a nearby school has organized a fundraising booth to sell protein bars and other snacks, bottled water, and sports drinks. All the proceeds will go to support scholarships for the local youth soccer league, where Xiomara and Aviv first met as preschoolers. Veda, Remigio, and Ysabel have arrived early to help them set up.

Xiomara: Look at how many fields there are, and I can see already it’s going to be a hot, hot day.

Remigio: We are going to make so much money when we sell all these snacks and drinks!

Ysabel: Don’t worry about that now. Let’s focus on setting up our space.

Aviv: I have a sketch here. I think we should put six of our seven tables into a ring shape.

Xiomara: Why not just put all of the tables in one big line? That way, we could serve a lot more customers.

Aviv: I thought we could put one table in the middle where we can store all our stuff: our products, our bags, the tablet with the credit card reader, and our cash box. Then it’s all in one central place and no random thief can come by and swipe our valuables.

Remigio: Also, we’re right in the middle of the fields, and our customers will come here from all sides. I like it, Aviv.

Veda: I borrowed my neighbor’s canopy to protect us from the sun. Can we set that up above our space?

Xiomara: Great idea, Veda. It’ll also keep the birds from coming in.

Ysabel: Or worse—the bird poop! We are so close to that big tree.

Remigio: I’ll set up the trash, compost, and recycling bins over here.

Aviv: Good plan! Every once in a while, we’ll have to haul our full bags over to the dumpsters. I promised the tournament directors that we would take care of our own trash.

Ysabel: Having the bins inside our space is better, so that we aren’t handling trash for all the picnickers around here.

Remigio: Don’t worry, guys. I’m on it.

Veda: This is looking good, but what if it gets really busy?

Xiomara: That’ll be a good problem to have! I can text my sister and ask her to bring more tables, so we can extend our space outward. More tables to serve more customers.

Ysabel: Or we could use some of our earnings to rent some more tables from the tournament headquarters. I think they’re only about five bucks apiece.

Veda: It could get really busy inside our booth, too. What time are the other volunteers coming?

Aviv: We get a few more helpers at 8:30. The second shift comes for the lunch rush at 11:00, and then the third shift at 1:30. We’ll be fine.

Having set up their booth, the five friends relax until the tournament players and spectators start arriving. With six tables and 16 volunteers by 11:00, the booth is bustling with activity, with money coming in and snacks and drinks going out. Supplies are getting low.

Remigio: [coming back from a trash drop-off] Wow, it’s gotten really busy all of a sudden.

Veda: Yeah, no kidding! Our new volunteers are kind of getting in the way because our space is so small. And they don’t know what to do.

Ysabel: Meanwhile, the lines are getting too long, and people are walking away. Xiomara, I’m going to go rent those extra tables so we have more space.

Xiomara: Sounds like a plan. It feels like we’re going to run out of food, too. We didn’t buy enough to last us through lunch!

Aviv: We could just shut down when we run out.

Xiomara: Think of the kids! We want to earn a lot of money for more scholarships.

Ysabel: She’s right. Maybe your sister could make a run to the grocery store, Xiomara. We’ll pay her back with all the earnings from this morning.

Xiomara: I’ll check with her.

Aviv: Could you ask your sister to bring your tablet so we can set up a second credit card station? Having just one, mine, has slowed us down a lot.

Veda: With a second credit card station we could set up a second booth to sell from.

Aviv: Good idea! Listen up, everybody. All of you who just arrived at eleven, take a look at what we’re doing. Watch and learn. We’re going to set up a second booth that does the same thing over there under that shade structure.

Everybody: We can do it!

Remigio: But first, let’s take the order from Ms. Portugal, our biology teacher. Hi!

Ms. Portugal: Hello, Remigio! I’m glad to have made it to your membrane.

Remigio: My mem-what now?

Ms. Portugal: The membrane. It’s part of your cell.

Remigio: We’re not selling membranes, Ms. P.

Ms. Portugal: Cell, with a C, not sell! While waiting in line, I had a chance to watch what you were all doing, and it seems to me you have made a cell to sell your goods. Someone was taking notes during our cell lesson on Friday!

Remigio: [looking around] Now that you mention it, I guess we do have a lot of the elements of a cell.

Aviv: Wow, Ms. Portugal! It’s all here. The money is coming in and out of our booth is fueling all our activity, helping us rent more tables.

Remigio: Our table membrane.

Ysabel: When we run out of stuff to sell, Xiomara’s sister uses the money to buy more stuff to sell. Individuals give us money, and we give them their order: it’s a kind of respiration.

Ms. Portugal: And did I just hear that your booth is getting so busy you’re about to make another cell to sell from?

Xiomara: It’s all for a good cause, Ms. P!

Ms. Portugal: For biology?

Xiomara: I meant for scholarships for kids. But, sure, for biology too. Two good causes.

Ms. Portugal: And two tasty treats. Thanks, kids. Good luck with selling from your cell!

 

 

TURN AND TALK

This Reader’s Theater shows one super-sized model of a cell. All living things are made of cells. Single-celled organisms are made of just one cell each; multicellular organisms are made of multiple cells joined together in a cooperative group (sometimes a few, sometimes trillions!).

Whether working in a multicellular group or going it alone, a cell is often said to be the smallest unit of life. Living things (organisms)

• are made of one or more cells
• get and use energy and materials (metabolism)
• respond to their environment
• maintain a fairly stable internal state (homeostasis)
• grow
• have an inherited set of DNA instructions that guide how they function
• reproduce themselves, passing on DNA to the next generation

 

• How does the fundraising booth in Reader’s Theater demonstrate all these aspects of a cell?

 

 

FOCUS WORDS

boundary

dynamic

equilibrium

homeostasis

membrane

osmosis

polymer