Cells Teaming Up

Sample Prompt:

Initiate a class discussion prior to beginning the Science Scene.

Ask the class to consider individual sports and team sports.

Paraphrase:

What sports can you think of that people play only as individuals? Only as a team? What sports can be easily be played one-on-one? What kinds of sports wouldn't work if played as teams?

Show:

Slide of one-on-one basketball vs. team basketball.

Ask:

What's the difference between playing basketball one-on-one and playing on a team? How are they the same? Which is the better way to play?

One phrase your students may be familiar with is "The system is greater than the sum of the parts."

Some teachers have several groups of students read at the same time. Other teachers select a few students to "perform" in front of the class.

You may want to read the entire passage out loud to the class once before assigning roles to students or dividing up into groups.

While most of the Focus Words appear in this script, there are a few terms that appear in other activities in this unit but aren't used in the student dialogue:

• tissue
• organ
• system
• hierarchy
• immunity
• transplant
• infection
• bacteria

 

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The Script:

Setting: Asia and Jalen chat between classes on their way to their lockers. Their friend Raven has an adjacent locker.

Asia: I think Coach Kim hates me.

Jalen: I seriously doubt that. I have her for P.E., and she’s really cool.

Asia: She doesn’t yell at you?

Jalen: No! Never.

Asia: Yesterday at basketball practice she kept shouting, “There is no ‘I’ in team! There is no ‘I’ in team!” What does that even mean, anyway? Raven was there. She can tell you.

Raven: I’ll tell you exactly what it means. You’re thinking of yourself instead of the team. You never pass. You never even look around for other players.

Asia: What’s wrong with that? I’m trying to make a shot, the way my brother and I used to play.

Jalen: Didn’t you ever play with other kids?

Asia: There were no other kids where we lived. We always just played one-on-one.

Raven: Well, you can't play that way on our team. It's a bad strategy. We’ll lose. And it’s annoying.

Jalen: (confused) Uh… I’m not into basketball. What’s the difference anyway, between playing basketball one-on-one or on a team? Aren’t you just trying to throw that orange ball into the loop?

Asia & Raven: HOOP!

Asia: (eyes roll) Not loop.

Jalen: Whatever.

Raven: Team basketball is totally different than one-on-one. And it’s really complex. That’s why we have to practice so much. We move up and down the court in certain ways so we can all play our positions and communicate effectively. Each one of us specializes, meaning we have a special job and we cooperate—work together—to win. I’m the point guard. That means I’m supposed to make sure the ball gets to the right players at the right time. It’d help, Asia, if you stopped trying to do everything yourself.

Asia: OK, point guard, I get your point. I’ll work on it.

Raven: I’ll believe it when I see it.

Jalen: Asia, sounds to me like you’re an amoeba on the court.

Asia: Excuse me?

Jalen: Remember when we studied amoebas in science class?

Raven: Oh yeah, I get where you’re going! Amoebas are just single cells, right? They move around and take care of all their needs by themselves.

Jalen: Sounds like Coach Kim wants you to stop being an amoeba.

Asia: You lost me.

Jalen: Let me see how I can explain this…. Think about a plant or an animal. They have a bunch of cells, but they’re not all trying to do the same thing. Here, look at my hand. Just right here you have skin cells that protect, muscle cells that move, bone cells to make a structure. If all my cells were just one kind, like skin, there’s no way my hand would even work!

Raven: (laughing to self)

Asia: What’s so funny?

Raven: I was just thinking about baseball.

Asia: And…?

Raven: How stupid would it be if all nine players on the team tried to do the same thing? Like covering first. They wouldn’t even fit on the bag.

Jalen: (quietly) What bag? I thought it was called a base.

Asia: Or what if all the baseball players tried to play all the positions at the same time? That would be even more crazy!

Raven: Yes, Asia, and that’s how you play basketball!

Asia: Oh, I see.

Raven: You need to switch from being an amoeba that does everything to being a part of a … what did Mr. Kato call it? A multicellular organism. A team.

Jalen: (slapping a high five with Raven) Score!

Raven: Teams win when different positions work together well. You’re tall. Maybe you can play center?

Asia: I’ll talk to Coach Kim about that. And if all else fails, maybe I’ll try another sport.

Jalen: (teasing) Oh yeah, how about golf? That’s always one-on-one! And with your aim, you could get lots of goals in one.

Asia & Raven: HOLES in one, Jalen!

Jalen: (eyes roll) Sheesh, holes in one. What is it with all these weird sports terms?

When finished with the Science Scene, ask students to answer these four questions.

You may opt to assign single questions in the third section, rather than having all the students answer all the questions. Students can discuss with their partners and try to reach an agreement about their answers to the questions. This activity is an opportunity for students to practice using scientific language as they discuss the questions.

Paraphrase:

A single-celled organism (like an amoeba, a yeast cell, or a paramecium) performs all the basic functions it needs to live. In organisms with a few thousand to trillions of cells, known as multicellular organisms, the cells divide up the tasks necessary for the organism to live. The different types of human cells make different contributions for the benefit of the whole organism. And just like players on a well-coached team, these highly specialized cells all receive support from each other, to make up for the things they can’t do for themselves. They all work together in a complex, cooperative division.

When reviewing the answers, you can compare their replies to some of the advantages that multicellular organisms have over single-celled ones:

• Multicellular organisms can be more complex.
• Multicellular organisms can be larger.
• The cells of multicellular organisms can specialize—each kind of cell having specific functions that benefit the whole system of cells.
• Multicellular organisms live longer.
• Multicellular organisms can live in a variety of environments (since they can have "inside cells" protected by "outside cells."
• The cells of multicellular organisms can take care of each other.

Here are some sample responses to the questions:

• Jalen points out skin cells, muscle cells, and bone cells in her hand.
• Advantages of teaming up include: you can cover more territory; have different team members get good at different tasks by focusing on them; and make more complicated plays. Advantages of working alone are that you don't waste time communicating to others, and you can adapt more quickly to changes.
• Some students will think team sports are objectively better than individual sports, others will think individual sports are objectively better than team sports. Some may have no opinion.

Respond in writing to the questions, then compare and discuss your answers with someone else.

​ The trillions of cells in a human body can be sorted into about 200 kinds. What kinds of cells does Jalen point out?

​ The friends discuss how Asia is not a team player. What are the advantages of teaming up or working alone?

​ Are team sports objectively better than individual sports?

Before turning to the discussion questions, make a bridge between the team metaphor in the dialogue and what the students know about multicellular organisms. The topic of multicellularity will be explored in greater depth over the course of the week.

Paraphrase:

What would happen if we cut a finger off of our body? Would it continue to inch around the room?

Assign students to one or more of the questions. Have students discuss with their partners and try to reach an agreement. This activity is an opportunity for students to practice using scientific language as they discuss the questions.

Here are some sample responses:

A single human cell removed from an organism would die without being a part of tissues that are part of organs that are supported by the whole organism and all its organ systems. Any part of a multicellular organism would die outside of the body system, unless artificially supported outside of the body (as happens when organs are transported from one location to another for transplants).

Like a multicellular organism, a single-celled organism like a yeast cell or an amoeba can perform all the basic biological functions it needs to survive. A yeast cell in a blob of bread dough does not depend on its neighboring yeast cells the way the cells of a human body depend on each other. True, a yeast cell can’t do all the interesting things a human can do. But the yeast cell’s needs are relatively simple, and it is able to cope on its own.

Turn & Talk

• ​ An organism has all the parts it needs to live. What would happen to a single human cell when you take it out of your body? What would happen to one finger of your hand if it were cut from your hand? Could your whole nervous system survive outside your body? Why or why not? Would these pieces of the body still be considered alive when they are outside the body?
• ​ Can we say which is a better biological strategy: being single-celled or being multicellular?